|
|
Anne Arundel County Master Gardener News | |
|
August Meeting:
Field Crops Research Twilight, Barbecue
and Ice Cream Social
| |
|
Our August monthly meeting will take place at the Fields Crops Research Twilight, Barbecue and Ice Cream Social at the Central Maryland Research & Education Center, 2005 Largo Road, Upper Marlboro, Maryland on Wednesday, August 3, 2022 from 4:00 to 9:00 PM. A barbecue dinner will be served at 4:00 pm followed by homemade ice cream prior to the evening tour. University of Maryland Extension Educators and Specialists will showcase their field crop, vegetable and fruit research plots.
Barbeque begins at 4:00 PM
Ice cream Served at 5:15 PM
Crops Twilight at 6:00 PM
Please arrive on time as the tour will start promptly at 6:00 PM. This event is free, however a reserved meal ticket is required.
REGISTER ONLINE
| |
Coordinator's Corner
Rachel Carey, Master Gardener Coordinator
| |
|
Happy August folks!
I admire the work that continues within our projects during the dog days of summer. I’d love to recognize a few people working on “approved other” projects that don’t have a place on this newsletter to update us.
Good work!:
Our fellow Master Gardener, Elizabeth Bublitz, has been putting in hours with Monsignor Slade Catholic School in Glen Burnie, consulting them on a new butterfly garden for the children. Elizabeth had her own landscape design company and is able to use her talents, along with UMD information, to spend 12 pre-approved hours guiding this school towards a successful garden, and boy do they already have big plans on how the school will engage the students. As an extra fun touch, Elizabeth suggested the garden be the shape of a butterfly!
Nancy Allred represented us at the annual Grow It Eat it meeting in Stevensville, MD. She gave Anne Arundel County updates for Hancock’s Resolution, the Dairy Farm, Chase Lloyd and the Apprentice Gardens. Thank you for showing off our veggie garden work!
Fresh Greens:
July gave us three more intern-turned-active-master-gardeners on our team! And we are very lucky to have these go-getters continuing with us. Beth Shoults, Linda Elliott and Trish Hennessy-Webb - congratulations!
Please email me if…:
…you’d like to be a guest during an EAB meeting! As a reminder, we encourage anyone who is interested to join us. It gives cool insight to just hop on zoom and listen. We also would love to hear from you if you are interested in a leadership position. It’s fun running this ship, so if you are someone who has occasional opinions on ‘how to do things’... this opportunity might be for you!
… you are interested in participating in our extension office open house/Fall Festival. Anne Arundel County UMD Extension Office is pulling this event together tentatively for Friday, October 14th. We would love MGs to be involved! Get creative! Prepare an activity! Set up a table or give-aways! Create a children’s game! Additionally, we specifically NEED 15-20 able bodied people the day before to harvest the corn and pumpkins from our Farm Research Clinic and during the event to assist patrons in shucking (& possibly popping/grinding) corn, and taking home their pumpkins! You in?
| |
|
Master Gardener Project Reports
| |
|
Greetings all Master Gardeners and interns.
It is time to start thinking about the County Fair in September and make room on your calendar for a fun experience. The Fair for us begins on September 10, when we clean up and prepare our booth and ends on September 19, when entries are released.
All are invited to participate and get your last- minute hours. No need for experience. We will have a training class on August 25, from 6:30 – 9:00 pm at the Fairground office. There you will learn how to take in entries, assist the judge and release entries to exhibitors. Even if you have done this before, you may wish to attend this class since the Fair is now accepting online entries and there will be some changes.
We continue to have a great turnout of MG’s for this event and we are so grateful. Without you, this project could not continue.
Contact information to sign up:
Contact information to sign up:
Claudia Ploor,cploor@aol.com, Pat Shema, pshema@aol.com, Trish Lilek, trish.lilek01@verizon.net
| |
|
The Apprentice Garden spaces are full and growing the summer crops which were planted in the spaces between the spring greens that have now been harvested: lettuces, spinach, kale, chard, and collard greens, plus radishes, beets and carrots. Summer crops this year include string beans, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, okra, basil, cucumber and squash. Plus, the four Brussels sprouts, that are growing remarkably well.
In July, families and volunteers tended the gardens, weeding, watering, and harvesting weekly, and applied organic fertilizer.
By mid-July, the potatoes were ready to be harvested, and the Master Gardeners, parents and children all shared in the fun of digging them up. Potatoes are always a surprise and a treat since the children cannot watch the potatoes growing underground. At the end of the month, we are still waiting for the rush of ripening tomatoes, and poblano peppers, spicy peppers, and tomatillos.
The perennial flower gardens planted by the Master Gardener volunteers are well established, especially the milkweed and black-eyed Susans, under the careful watch of Master Gardeners Kristin Silva and Kathy Enderle. And, Kathy Albers has maintained the pollinator garden along the back fence with sunflowers, yarrow, zinnias, snapdragons and sweet alyssum.
| |
|
The Mediterranean herb garden is full and beautiful with sage, rosemary, chives, thyme, and lavender all growing well, and providing stems weekly for the gardeners’ meals. Separate pots planted with mint help control the spread and provide sprigs for cooking and spicing beverages.
A pool party and pot-luck supper was hosted at Janet’s house on July 13 for all the volunteers and families. Lots of splashing, and a good time was had by all.
Master Gardener volunteers in the Apprentice Garden continue to do a wonderful job participating in work parties, tending the gardens, and most especially, working with our families on Wednesdays. Many thanks to the Master Gardener volunteers in July: Kathy Albers, Kathy Enderle, Lourdes Hergenroeder, Megan Jacob, Kristin Silva, Beth Shoults, Eric Smith and Sharon Whitney.
Throughout the season, April through September, the project meets at 6:30PM every Wednesday at the community gardens at Kinder Farm Park in Millersville. Please consider volunteering in the Apprentice Garden. Volunteers, and interns are welcome anytime. You can do the Wednesday meetings, and/or do other-day garden checks and extra watering. Your children are welcome to join you. There is always a sign-in sheet in the garden mailbox for noting your presence and recording your hours. Many thanks.
The names of Apprentice Garden volunteers are provided to the gatekeeper so there is no entry fee for people participating in the Apprentice Garden project. Please advise Deb if you are new to the project.
You are welcome to join us in the Apprentice Garden this summer, and if you would like more information, please contact Janet or Deb.
Co-chaired by Janet Clauson and Deb Fritz
janetclauson301@gmail.com, 410.987.2027
debfritzdesign@gmail.com, 410.279.1077
| |
|
The garden is open Monday through Friday from 11:00AM until 3:00PM. Since MG Docents opened the garden gate for tours in early May, more than fifty local residents and those visiting from throughout the country have toured the thirteen unique areas of this Bay-Wise certified public garden. A one-hour guided tour highlights the native plants throughout the garden as well as the Bay-Wise and sustainable horticulture practices in place. Visitors also learn about the history of the house, the Chase and Lloyd families, and the mission of the Chase Home, Inc. “By, Of, and For Women.”
http://www.chaselloydhouse.org/
Makayla Kret, MG Intern [left] and Rachel Carey, Horticulture Agent/Master Gardener Coordinator, UMD Extension, Anne Arundel County [right] enjoyed some fresh pea pods during their visit to the garden in June.
| |
|
Greetings from the Dairy Farm Project.
We had another washout on our fist work session of July, so things need attention. MG workers continue to do a wonderful job keeping our gardens in great shape. With all the rain, we have not had to water the main gardens. The veggie garden has a crew. Now that it is August, we will need to water. Sue Owens has gotten a crew together for that.
The veggie garden is coming along nicely after a bad start. We have harvested garlic, peppers, carrots, beans, lettuce, beets, squash, kohlrabi, broccoli, and a few tomatoes. Squash borer has destroyed the squash as it does every year despite Pat treating it. We may not plant summer squash next year. We did plant Fall/Winter squash and are keeping an eye out for squash bugs.
If you are interested in the Dairy Farm Project, please feel welcome. All are invited, including interns.
Our next scheduled work session is Saturday, August, 11, from 8:00 – 11:00
| |
|
PLEASE NOTE THAT WE ARE SHIFTING TO SUMMER HOURS FROM 8:00 TO 11:00 TO AVOID THE HEAT.
We have tools, but please bring your own as well as gloves, water, etc.
NOTE REGULAR SECHEDULED WORK SESSIONS ARE THE SECOND SATURDAY AND THE FOURTH THURSDAY OF EACH MONTH FROM 8:00 -11:00
If you have any questions, please contact one of us.
Main Gardens, Malcolm Doying, oldcelt100@aol.com
Veggies, Pat Shema, pshema@aol.com
| |
Native Plant Propagation | |
|
A big “Thank You” to those of you who participated at the Native Plant Nursery this past Spring and Summer. Your work at the Nursery is instrumental in supporting the RePollinate Anne Arundel County initiative.
RePollinate Anne Arundel had a successful launch in 2022 thanks to the efforts of University of Maryland Extension Master Gardeners and Anne Arundel County Watershed Stewards Academy. Volunteers from both groups assisted in propagating and growing-out these valuable and difficult to obtain native plants.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/U.S. Geological Survey, Native Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab, Native Plant Nursery provided access and expertise; along with plant materials, hoop houses and irrigated pens to enable the growing of these straight species herbaceous perennials.
We have produced approximately 3000 plants that are now growing and will be ready for distribution to the Anne Arundel community in the Fall.
| |
|
Our native plant donation program aims to support communities in Anne Arundel County with their community greening and environmental efforts, resulting in the reintroduction of numerous genus and species vital to the counties ecological services. A primary goal is visibility and exposure that further introduces and educates residents to the natural beauty and importance of these native plant species in providing habitat for our many native pollinators.
Applications for plants will be accepted between August 1 and August 31, 2022. Project locations that are open and accessible for viewing will be given priority. Decisions as to who will be granted plants will be made by September 15, 2022, followed by distribution scheduling shortly thereafter.
To access the application please use the link below to the RePollinate Anne Arundel County website:
http://aawsa.org/repollinate-anne-arundel
| |
|
Things naturally slow down in summer at Tawes, as folks go on vacation and life is lazy. This is when having a native plant-based garden really is appreciated. Last year's ambitious planting program using our Unity Gardens grant has created a beautiful palette of colorful blooms, covered in bees and butterflies. We have impressive sweeps of Echinacea (both purple and multi-colored Cheyenne Spirit), Black-eyed Susan, Liatris, Phlox, Joe Pye Weed, Bergamot and Bee Balm. In fact our Bergamot really took off and is now about 5 feet tall, crowned by soft pink flowers. So far, the garden has survived this summer's hot weather very well and looks healthy and inviting to native pollinators as well as strolling garden visitors. We are busy planning for the fall with our eye on re-positioning some plant groupings, as well as adding in even more native plant blocks. A special shout-out to Meg Hosmer and Kathy Devine who have been key in planning our fall planting scheme.
Mark your calendars for a free garden concert on Wednesday, September 21st at noon, on the Tawes Garden Patio. This will be the first post-pandemic concert at Tawes, re-establishing a tradition of years past. The concert is open to the public so pack a picnic and stop by Tawes to take in the music and a walk through the shady garden.
Cindy Wells and Kathy Devine
If you have any questions, contact one of us.
Cindy Wells Cwells5953@cs.com
| |
2022 is the Year of Soil Health!
| | | | |
