April 2024 Master Gardener News

April 2024

Gardens Alive!

Once April arrives, we witness bud break as trees and shrubs begin their spectacular show of color starting the seasonal dance of yet another year. How does your garden grow in 2024? Is there an aggressive invasive that needs to be yanked out? Might a native like this Eastern redbud find a place in your landscape? Is this the year to design a rain garden to capture and divert storm water runoff?

Master Gardener PLANT SALE

SATURDAY, APRIL 27

Suffolk County Farm, Yaphank

8AM-3PM

The Master Gardener Plant Sale will be shining on its own at the end of this month. Flowering annuals, herbs, vegetables, perennials and native plants will fill the Pole Barn at Suffolk County Farm.

How can Master Gardeners help?

Join volunteers on Friday for delivery, pricing and setup.

Join volunteers on Saturday for sales support and plant collections management.

Come Saturday to shop for terrific plants.

Come Saturday to represent the Master Gardener Program at an info table or activities.

MG Denise Zizzo will be organizing her reliable crew of talented Master Gardeners Please reach out to her if you've been on Denise's team.If you'd like to be added to the Plant Sale helpers, please drop me a note.

In addition, Master Gardeners are celebrating EARTH DAY at Suffolk Farm in a couple of ways. More native plants will be available for sale. Regional stewardship groups will be on hand providing interactive displays about best gardening practices. Among these will be the LI Garden Rewards Program, and LI Sound/Sea Grant and Suffolk County Water Authority. Master Gardeners will also be at a table talking about pollinator gardens and rain gardens.

Any SAP MGs interested in spreading the word at our MG table?

At the suggestion of our collaborators, we've added FAMILY FRIENDLY activities to celebrate EARTH DAY at the Farm. To show off what our Master Gardeners have been doing in the Children's Garden, MGs will have activities and displays for the public. There will be a pollinator hunt, rain barrel demonstration, face painting, bubble blowing and bug origami. Feed for the animals and wagon rides tickets may be purchased from the Farm's new Welcome Center parallel to the middle of the parking lot.

To offer this array of ACTIVITIES and the PLANT SALE, we truly need your help.

Please drop me a note if you're available on Friday or Saturday for any of these activities at Suffolk Farm. rz378@cornell.edu

SUMMER CAMP

Children's Garden

Suffolk Farm, Yaphank

Wednesdays, 10-noon, July 10-August 21, 2024

Master Gardeners are back with a Summer Camp program. Have kids or grandkids who might enjoy this experience?

Cultivate a connection to nature and plants in 7 weeks of discovery.

Play in the soil by growing seeds and planting vegetables in square foot beds and tepee gardens. Hunt for butterflies in the pollinator garden while finding the flowers they treasure. Find the Fairy Garden and the strawberry patch. Identify tasty herbs in the Herb Garden.Make compost, find worms, check out the bugs and see the rain barrels in action. Enjoy a hayride around the farm and a celebratory harvest “feast.”

Green Thumbs Summer Camp is limited to the first twenty children to register. Early registration is suggested. Exploration and instruction are provided by Suffolk Master Gardeners.

Ages 5-12

Fee:$80 for one child, $60 for each sibling

For additional information, please contact Roxanne Zimmer at rz378@cornell.edu.

SPRING GARDENING SCHOOL 2024

Thanks to the many Master Gardeners who made this year's SGS a successful day full of in person gardening outreach. Whether offering programs, helping with check in and lunch, setting up on Friday night and then break downing on Saturday, Suffolk Master Gardeners were doing what we do best! We were sharing gardening best practices to a wider community.

We were also happy to see a good number of you registered for classes this year. That said, over 40% of our audience had never attended SGS before this year!

A special thanks to MG Reid Bielecki who delivered Lighthouse Mission tables and chairs to accommodate the 211 SGS participants. Thanks, Reid!

Please count your volunteer and continuing education hours for SGS. Here's the link to the MG volunteer survey.

MASTER GARDENER TRAINING 2024

We have a full house in Master Gardener Training this year with 48 participants. The course is a hybrid mix of 16 weeks of in person sessions, online learning and field trips. A special thanks to Class of 2023 members who are teaching assistants: MGs Linda Carlson, Deb Davenport, Mary Greiner, Carol Holmes, Rita Moloney, and Bridget Nelson.

Here are a few photos from the Plant ID class at Suffolk Farm. Alice Raimondo from our Cornell Extension Hort Lab staff is showing trainees how true and false terminal buds present.

Some of you may recall as I do the weekly tests that were once part of the MG training experience. These have been replaced by periodic homework assignments and an Action Project.

The Action Project is a group endeavor that serves as a culminating experience for MG training. This year, I'm actively discouraging proposals focused on digging new demonstration gardens. Instead, I'm making a concerted effort to guide trainees toward Action Projects that connect to existing MG sites and activities. The emphasis is extending community outreach with workshops, demonstrations, programs and youth and adult education.

The Suffolk Alliance for Pollinators is a good example of four distinct regions where an Action Project might contribute to extending our efforts on pollinator themes.

I'm also encouraging them to reach out to Approved and Provisional MG site leaders. You may get a query about what a trainee could contribute to your site. Remember. Master Gardeners are leaders, not weeders.This is not about lending a helping hand with maintenance for an Action Project. Rather, how might this site benefit from the addition of a feature, or a workshop or other educational opportunities? Although this Master Gardener may choose to volunteer at your site POST graduation, the Action Project lays out a plan that's focused on LEADING, not WEEDING.

CONTINUING EDUCATION

NATIVE SEED SWAP & INVASIVE PLANT WALK

Saturday, April 6 (10-1pm. Invasives Walk, 11-12pm)

Co hosted by the Suffolk Alliance for Pollinators, North Fork and the Group for the East End. (This is a reschedule.)

Bring native seed or come to get some. Downs Farm Preserve, 23800 Main Rd, Cutchogue

HUMMINGBIRD TALK

The Ketcham Inn, Center Moriches Friday, April 5th, 10 am- noon.

No charge for Master Gardeners, limited seats. Pre registration required. Email MG Jane Corrarino

janecorrarino@yahoo.com

Kubecka Memorial Garden

CLEAN UP Dunlop Rd., Huntington

April 9, 10,17, 18 at 10:00 AM

“Wake Up The Garden”

East Hampton bioswales:

Village Green - Sunday, April 7th (rain date April 21st) noon to 3pm

Methodist Lane - Thurs. April 11th (rain date April 18th) 2:30 to 5:30pm

Cleaning debris, removing invasives, sowing seeds and assessing the gardens readiness. Gardeners are encouraged to bring their own tools. Seeds gathered last fall to distribute to any volunteers.

Contact MG Kris Liem krisliem@earthlink.net

Tell a Master Gardener not receiving this newsletter that it's posted on our MG webpage:

Click here:

http://ccesuffolk.org/gardening/master-gardener-volunteers

If you have photos, events and news to share in the newsletter, please email me at rz378@cornell.edu

Happy Gardening!

Roxanne Zimmer

423 Griffing Avenue, Suite 100, Riverhead, NY 11901-3071

631-727-7850

Cornell Cooperative Extension is an employer and educator recognized for valuing AA/EEO, Protected Veterans, and Individuals with Disabilities and provides equal program and employment opportunities.

Cornell Cooperative Extension is funded in part by Suffolk County through the office of the County Executive, and the County Legislature.