15th of the month is the DEADLINE for information for ATF. Submit items by to editor, Jane Ford at:

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1 Home and Garden Show - March 2-5 Inside the Fence Ricky s Reflections (pages 2 & 3) Educational Opportunities (page 4) Plant Sale News (page 5) Questionnaire for Home & Garden Show Seminar (page 5) What s Happening in the Gardens (page 6) Brussels Sprouts and Seed Starting (page 7) Pictures of Seed Packaging (page 8) Home and Garden Show Booth Schedule (page 9) Home and Garden Show Speaker Schedule (page 10) Response Center Volunteer Forms (pages 11, 12, & 13) Display Garden List (page 14) Coordinators (page 15) Beekeeping School (page 16) 15th of the month is the DEADLINE for information for ATF. Submit items by to editor, Jane Ford at: bloominthing@gmail.com Extension Office: Option 3 FAX #: TDD:711/for hearing impaired Allen County Extension Web Site MG Hours: Ricky at See page 2 Ricky s kemeryr@purdue.edu Garden Coordinator Jackie Hoopfer Response Center Coordinator Denise Lloyd lloyddenise@gmail.com Across The Fence Editor Jane Ford bloominthing@gmail.com Community Garden Manager Jane Ford Plant Sale Coordinators Simone Alberding Jennifer Redwine Sherri Knisley Speaker Coordinator Anita Crusoe anitacrusoe@gmail.com Workshop/Seminar Coordinator Pam Snyder psnyder414@gmail.com Home & Garden Show Coordinators Dave & Nina Thierer Home Cell ntteach2001@gmail.com Purdue Extension - Allen County 4001 Crescent Avenue, Fort Wayne, IN Phone

2 Thank you all for doing such a great job of sending your signup sheets for various events to your coordinators. This has streamlined the process of registration for activities and helped save our support staff valuable time. If you have questions about any event you can text or call me at or you can contact the coordinators of those events directly. Our coordinators contact information is in atf. The 2017 Home and Garden Show will be held March 2 March 5. In this ATF you should see volunteer assignments for the Fort Wayne Home and Garden Show. You should also see a list of the speakers for the show. Being a first timer to the show can be daunting. Follow the instructions from your coordinators as well as the general guidelines below. Info for first-timers: Purdue Cooperative Extension has cooperated with Fort Wayne Shows (the folks who run the Home & Garden Show) for many years. Allen Boger (my predecessor) and I have scheduled educational gardening seminars at the show for many, many years. In return, Fort Wayne Shows allows us to utilize space in the Garden hall to set up a Purdue Master Gardener booth. This is a great deal because booth space at the show is very pricey. In the past some Master Gardeners have complained about the various booth locations we have had at the show. I wouldn t be complaining about free space that would cost a ton if we had to pay for it. Fort Wayne shows and the coliseum have many rules - that we cannot change - and must follow. At the booth, MGs answer gardening questions from show attendees. For many years, MGs also have sold seeds and other items as a fundraiser for the Display Gardens. MGs who work in the Information Booth will be assigned to answer questions, help sell seeds, or be a cashier for the seed sales. We'll have a MG notebook at the booth. Those who work as a host or hostess for the seminars will introduce speakers, greet people at the door, hand out publications, and/or assist the speakers with any needs they might have. All your time at the booth or serving as a host/hostess, including travel, will count as volunteer hours. MGs will also receive continuing education hours when they attend any the seminars meaning that host/ hostesses receive both volunteer and continuing education hours for that activity. Important: MGs who wear their badges will have free admission to the show. Those who work in the booth need to look carefully at the completed forms in this ATF as you may be assigned times on different days. Again, be sure to wear your badges to get in the show free and to identify you when you work in the booth. You can enter the show at the special exhibitor s entrance to the left of the ticket area turnstiles. Our MG booth is located in the Garden Hall. Turn right as you enter the rotunda area from the entrance area and head down the Garden hall ramp. Turn right at the bottom of the ramp as you come down into the garden hall. The Purdue/MG booth will be a short distance down on the right. There will be up to 4 MG volunteers in the booth and at the sale table at any one shift. Guidelines for booth and seminar volunteers: 1) Make a mental note of where you parked - many times the lot can be overflowing. It is easy to forget exactly where you parked, and I don t want you wandering around in the dark or in bad weather looking for your vehicle. This is where the Find my car app comes in very handy. 2) Be on time - try to arrive about 5-10 minutes before your shift begins Dates ~ April 29 First Workday and May 20 and May 21 Plant Sale Turn the page for more guidelines for working at the Home and Garden Show.

3 3) Absolutely do not bring children or other special visitors to the booth or speaker area during your volunteer shift. We cannot be liable for kids or other visitors at the booth or speaker area. If you bring children or guests who are not assigned volunteers - we will have to ask you to leave. Sorry, but it is the way it has to be. 4) Stay at the booth and don t drift off to shop, etc. If you need to use the facilities, or get a drink or snack; that s ok but let us know beforehand. 5) Don t attempt to rearrange or reinvent items at the booth. Items are placed in locations for a reason. If you have suggestions or ideas to make things better then let a coordinator know but we won t be changing things during a current show. 6) Listen to your coordinators. They won t hover over you, but they do have loads of experience. If any situation occurs, it is better to let a coordinator handle it. Don t try and take matters in your own hands. 7) Have fun and remember you are representing Purdue University at a public event. Your positive professional attitude makes everyone s day brighter. 8) I would discourage you from bringing large purses, etc., containing valuables to leave at the booth. You cannot depend on Fort Wayne Shows (or us) to keep those items secure. We have little room for extra stuff at the booth location. Items you leave at the booth are likely to be mixed up with other items. Also, try not to hang around behind the booth when your shift is completed. The booth area becomes very crowded and chaotic when this occurs. 9) We will try to have a laptop computer at the booth. This primarily will be used to access information about the seed varieties we are offering. Show Coordinators: Advanced Master Gardeners, Nina and Dave Thierer, Nannette Coble, and Shirley Strope and others will serve as Coordinators to make sure you know what you are supposed to do and to help make sure things run smoothly. Parking: Parking for the show can be difficult at best sometimes, especially on the weekends. Everyone will have to pay the parking fee as the parking fees are handled by the Coliseum not Fort Wayne Shows. There are special lots that are closer to the main entrance with higher fees. Sometimes Fort Wayne Shows sends a few free parking passes that I give to Coordinators. It s the least I can do for all the hours they spend at the show. Seminars: The seminars will be located upstairs in the Red room. Just head down the hallway to the left after entering. The red room stairs are located in the first alcove to the right after the restrooms. Special thanks in advance to all the volunteers who help make the Home & Garden Show a great success! You will find signup sheets for the Phone Response Center in this ATF The format is similar to the Home show. Fill out the forms with the times you believe you might be available and return the forms (mail or ) to our coordinator Denise Lloyd. Denise will do her best to pair new people up with experienced volunteers. Those assignments from page 1 will appear in the March ATF and pages 2 and 3 assignments will appear in the June ATF. I will offer Phone Response training in mid-march. The Display Garden teams will begin to meet and plan for Thanks to all who attended the callout in January and also those who attended the seed packaging. Dave and Nina do a great job in coordinating the seed packaging. Jackie has coordinated the Display Garden assignments and sent a lot of material via to save paper. I am looking forward to another great year in the gardens. Display Garden Community Garden If any of you have been thinking you would like to rent one or 2 of the raised beds in our community garden, there are only a few left. AMG Jane Ford is managing the gardens this year so contact her if you are interested at bloominthing@gmail.com or text or call (Cost for one bed is $15, $10 for the 2nd one. Maximum available to rent per family/individual is 2.)

4 By AMG Pam Snyder WOW! I can hardly believe it s nearing the end of January already. I ve been receiving so many wonderful and colorful garden and see catalogs and can hardly wait to order some new and exciting seeds and plants for my garden. Now is the time to start putting some dates on your calendar for upcoming educational opportunities. I think you will enjoy the first two programs/seminars planned for March. ARACHNIDS OF NORTHEAST INDIANA with Kaylee Kloer will be a very interesting presentation that will introduce you to the arachnids, spiders of Northeast Indiana and elsewhere. This presentation will surely put arachnaphobes at ease while learning the truth behind the myths concerning spiders and their bites. She will also cover the environmental benefits and overall importance spiders provide in our ecosystem. Don t miss this exciting presentation. March 11, 2017 at 1:00 p.m. at Fire Station #4 located at 4130 Lahmeyer Road, Fort Wayne Cost this class is $4.00 and the deadline to register is Monday, March 6. THREE RIVERS FRUIT GROWERS CLUB This is the clubs third annual grafting workshop. Each year the club purchases or grows fruit tree rootstock and either gathers or purchases scion wood to teach grafting to those interested. The majority of the fruit trees we graft are heirloom apple trees but the same techniques can be applied to other fruiting varieties of wood. Participants may, after the educational portion of the workshop, try their hand at grafting or if they prefer the club members can graft tree(s) for them. There is a minimal charge for the grafted trees in order to cover basic costs. Workshops are: March 18 at St. Henry s Community Garden; March 25 at Fire Station #4 at 4130 Lahmeyer Road; and at Dick s Organics (Rick Ritter s place). To reserve space to attend one of these workshops leave a message at the Fruit Growers Facebook page. Workshops are free. Please direct all questions regarding these workshops to Rick Ritter, AMG at Be sure to check ATF each month for updates and additional information on workshops and seminars. Please remember that payment of all class fees is due at the time of registration. Contact Pam Snyder at or her at psnydeer414@gmail.com for registration information for classes. *If you have questions about any of these educational opportunities or suggestions for some other class, please contact Pam at or psnyder414@gmail.com.

5 Greetings from your Plant Sale Coordinators, Simone Alberding, Jennifer Redwine and Sherri Knisely. We wanted to thank you all for all the generous plant and garden related items donated last year. These made the cash registers sing very happily in We are happily moving forward with planning for 2017 Plant Sales. Please be thinking of your team gardens and personal gardens to see what you might be interested in donating this year. We will accept volunteers up until the days before set up days so if you didn't indicate interest on your volunteer form you may call or us. You do need to be on our volunteer list in order to work set up and sale days. In addition to working the actual sales, we need MGs interested in assisting in donor digs which will be coordinated as we receive requests. We already have two donor gardens so any help is appreciated. We actually go to donor properties and dig their plants as requested by them in a very non-intrusive way, meaning we don't tear up their spaces! Please feel free to contact us with questions. Our telephone numbers are on the front of the ATF and I am adding my address (simonekitty@aol.com) for your convenience as well. There will be ongoing articles regarding soil, pots, etc. available to you when you are potting donations. As we get closer to time, you will be contacted by Kay Musgrave since she is handling our volunteer base this year. We are all looking forward to working with you in We have such fun doing these activities and welcome you to participate too! By AMG Simone Alberding MG Stephanie Bailey will be presenting at the Home and Garden Show and her topic is the emotional side/reasons for gardening. She would like MGs to fill out this brief questionnaire and /mail it to her by February 15. Your survey questions are as follows: 1. Did someone in the generation(s) before you, mentor you in the garden? A Parent B Grandparent/Aunt/Uncle C Neighbor/Friend D Other E No, I m a first generation gardener. 2. If you gardened as a kid, you: A Loved gardening B Didn t care/neutral C Hated gardening 3. Circle the aspects in your life in which gardening is helpful: (A) emotional (B) social (C) physical 4. If you planted something or added a feature in your garden as a reminder of someone, what is it? 5. Most beloved garden activity: 6. Most hated garden activity: 7. Are you mentoring someone in the garden? 8. My favorite thing about being an MG? A The people I work with B The beauty produced C The produce produced D The people I work to assist E Other Optional question: Why I keep putting seeds and plants in the soil and expecting good things to happen (brief story). Have a great day! Send the survey back to: Stephanie Bailey, 1645 High Street, Fort Wayne, IN or ourmaletribe@aol.com. For questions call: phone:

6 By AMG Cindy Trygg, Display Garden Reporter (Photos on this page by Cindy) GARDEN TEAM CALL OUT DAY Saturday January 14th was Garden Team Call Out Day. It was nice to see familiar faces and some new ones too. Seems like everyone has recovered from the holidays and are eager to get gardening again. Last year each garden group took on the task of taking inventory of all of the plants in their individual gardens. We now know every perennial planted at the extension and what garden it is located in. From the discussion at this meeting, that was not an easy task. With this knowledge it will be easy to see what we have planted and not duplicate the same plant in another garden. The goal now is to add new plants to the inventory sheet as they are purchased and remove any plants that that may be removed from a garden. A big thank you went out to Peggy Davis for compiling all of this information into a master book and individual books for each garden. The overall goals for 2017 are to go paperless (use more electronic communication) and to have brighter colors in our gardens this year. Ricky showed pictures of what's new for Most are familiar names with new and brighter colors, such as a coral colored Yucca (that the Humming birds like), a Liatris named Blazing Stars, and Echinacea called Sombrero Salsa Red, and Ruby Ribbons, a prairie switch grass, just to name a few. That had me grabbing my seed catalogs and a cup of tea when I got home, making my want list for my own garden. Another mentioned change in the gardens was dividing what had been grounds (the area around all of the named gardens) to the Promenade and Glade gardens. Over the last few years there have been twenty lilacs planted in the now Promenade garden. That should be a pleasant place to stroll through come May. The overall idea of call out day is to get everyone excited and informed of any changes in the gardens for the new year. I for one thought the gardens were exceptional last summer, they should be spectacular this year with the addition of the new brighter plants. If this makes you wish you had joined a garden this year, there is still time. Please contact Jackie at jackiehoopfer@aol.com.

7 By AMG Peg Erpelding & Luna People either love or hate them, Brussels sprouts are a member of the Gemmifera Group of cabbages (Brassica oleracea). They are grown for their edible buds. Brussels sprouts have been popular for centuries in Europe, especially in and around Brussels, Belgium where they received their name. The buds resemble miniature cabbages and are a cultivar of the same species as collard greens, broccoli, kale and kohlrabi all belonging to the cabbage family. French settlers in the 18th century brought them to Louisiana. Currently several thousands of acres are planted each year in California. In our area of the United States it is best to start seeds indoors or purchase plants to transfer to the garden. The Brussels sprout plants should be planted 12 weeks before first frost. The edible tiny cabbages grow like buds on the sides of thick stalks, maturing from the bottom to the top of the stalk. Brussels sprouts are considered a winter stock vegetable and harvesting can be done after frost as the plants are not damaged by the frost. The tender, young buds can be harvested when they are small or left on the plant well after frost. Many claim that the sprouts are at their sweetest after frost and that is the prime time to harvest them. Since they grow from the bottom to the top of the stalk it is best for home gardeners to pick them that way. Brussels sprouts are a good source for vitamin C, vitamin K and contain potential anti-cancer properties. Prime harvest times (in Northern areas) is considered to be from September to March. A few interesting statistics; 80-85% of Brussels sprouts in the U.S. market are harvested and frozen, the rest are sold fresh for consumption. Also read that if you or family members don t particularly care for the strong cabbage smell when cooking the Brussels sprouts you should put a whole walnut in the boiling water to reduce that odor. If purchasing fresh sprouts make sure they have a good green color, their leaves look fresh and crisp and there is no strong odor to the sprouts as that denotes that they are older. And if you are not a huge Brussels sprout fan, but have been wanting to give them a try, the best tip I can give (the voice of experience here) is whatever recipe you are using just be sure to add lots (and I mean LOTS) of bacon! =^,,^= By AMG Bethany Beebe One way to create a garden full of exactly the plants one wishes and save money at the same time is to start seedlings indoors. This labor of love can attain positive results for almost any gardening skill level. Seed packages will most likely offer specific directions on the time to plant inside for best introduction into the garden. The package should also identify those seeds best directly sown into the garden. Many options are available as growing media. Peat discs can act as foundation. Recycled containers filled with organic growing medium can provide the airy foundation required for growth. If the container has been used for something else, wash it first with soap and water and then rinse with a solution one part bleach, nine parts water to provide a sanitary environment. Temperatures in the 65 to 75 degree range, out of direct sunlight, and covered offer kind environment until germination. Daily checking for appropriate moisture levels and emergence of sprouts give the grower a chance to watch for any molding or disease issues developing. Keeping the growing medium constantly moist, but not soggy, requires regular attention. A few days after germination, the moisture added should contain halfstrength fertilizer, following label-recommended fertilization after that. Individual seedlings should be isolated from crowded seedling conditions as soon as their first leaves appear. Gradually harden the young plants for the outdoors, optimally about two weeks before garden planting. Source: University of Missouri Extension

8 A huge thank you to all who came out for seed packaging. We had over 40 the first day, and 20 plus the second day. We can t do it without you. This is a big fundraising event for the Master Gardeners. Looking forward to seeing many of you working at the booth or introducing speakers at the Home and Garden Show or at least stopping by the booth and buying seeds. From AMG Nina Thierer February 2017 Volume 19 Issue 2

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10 Bethany Beebe

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15 Ricky Kemery Horticulture Educator MG Program Coordinator AMG Jackie Hoopfer, Display Garden Coordinator (260) AMG Jane Ford Editor of Across the Fence (260) AMG Simone Alberding Plant Sale Co-coordinator (260) AMG Pam Snyder Workshop/Seminar Coordinator (260) AMG Anita Crusoe Speaker Coordinator (260) AMG Nina Thierer Home & Garden Show Co-coordinator AMG Denise Lloyd Response Center Coordinator (260) AMG Dave Thierer Home & Garden Show Co-coordinator AMG Peg Davis, Bill Oliver, & Kathy O At-Large Council Members (Pictures to come)

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