The Garden Gate. In This Issue. President s Note

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1 The Garden Gate February 2011 Please contribute to The Garden Gate. Informational articles, garden tips, announcements, and digital photos are welcome. For questions or comments please When ing, please put MG in the subject line. In This Issue President s Note Continuing Education Committee Report Seeking School Garden Committee Members Directory On-Line Grow Lights Class January Gardening To Do List County Fair Booth Committee Needs Chair Garden Pot Lucks Home & Garden Show Update Upcoming Meetings Minutes of February BCMG Meeting Home Hort Schedule Spider Mites on Houseplants BCMGA Event Calendar President s Note Dear Master Gardeners, I have received many comments regarding Mike Bauer s recent announcements regarding severing ties with the Bonner County Master Gardener Association. My apologies to you for not responding individually. What does it all mean? I don't know yet. Mike's announcements came as a surprise to me as well as to you. I had attempted to meet with Mike over the last couple of months and was unable to schedule a meeting. He has also been unavailable for our last 3 membership meetings. The Board met last week to review Mike s revised policy statement. There are many questions still unanswered. It is our desire to resolve any disagreement and to continue to provide support to the U of I Extension Program. I have sent a formal written response to Mike and his superiors regarding his comments in an effort to seek clarifications. As soon as I have a response I will let you know. Hang in there and think good thoughts. I am hopeful that we can bring this to an agreeable resolution. In the meantime I located the following poem and it brought thoughts of anticipation and warmth for a season yet to come: "Every gardener knows that under the cloak of winter lies a miracle... a seed waiting to sprout, a bulb opening to the light, a bud straining to unfurl. And the anticipation nurtures our dream." - Barbara Winkler As always, if you have any questions, ideas or concerns please don t hesitate to contact me. Zoe Zoe M. Bolton, President zbolton@gmail.com

2 Continuing Education Committee Report The Continuing Education committee would like to offer a class on Ergonomic Gardening Tools and Gardening Techniques. Do you have any suggestions for someone who may be capable of and interested in teaching such a class? Perhaps a Physical Therapist or Chiropractor? Please contact Janae dalejanae@gmail.com if you have any ideas." The Continuing Education committee met January 25 to discuss classes, forms, and meeting times. The Teaching to Teach Public Speaking class was held and seemed to be most successful. Everyone who took it was most enthusiastic! We hope to offer it again in the future. As a result of the class, several MGs are now planning to make presentations at the Home and Garden show as well as teaching a Continuing Education class. Currently scheduled classes include: Growing Indoors with Grow Lights - speaker from River City Hydroponics - Saturday, February 26 at 6 pm at the Extension Office. Contact Robin Beams, , (preferably evenings), or rbeams@verizon.net to sign up for the class. Grafting with Apple Trees - Dr. Bob Tripepi - Saturday, April 2 at 2:30 pm at the Extension Office. Contact Bob Blair, , or rangerman@hughes.net to sign up for the class Jay Baker has agreed to teach a class on Making and Using Soil Blockers for Indoor Seeding. This will be scheduled sometime in March. Ann Warwick is coordinating a class this spring on Plant Identification with Jennifer Costich-Thompson. Jon Porter is coordinating a class for additional instruction on Plant Problem Diagnosis, some Monday in June. Could we ever have too many classes on this topic? is coordinating a class on Insect Identification and Control for sometime later in the summer. Seeking School Garden Committee Members Educating the general public on gardening has been the focus of the BCMGA since its inception. Historically the focus has been on the adult population. As many of us know growing our own vegetable garden provides a learning, rewarding experience along with allowing us to harvest the fruits of our labor. But what if we could sow the seeds of interest in gardening at a much younger age? Recent local school gardening activities have shown that children enjoy participating in the planning, seeding, maintaining, harvesting and eating or maybe better put overall enjoyment of the work and the results of their hard gardening efforts. The Beautification Committee proposed that the one community service project we would be our efforts behind in 2011 is an expansion of the school gardens. It was approved at the last Membership Meeting. So now the real work begins. That entails contacting the local schools that have expressed an interest in a school garden project. Our first step is to form a committee to work through the process. We need your help! Please contact Mikey Haven at jake4u@frontier.com or to express your interest. This is the big community service project we want to hang our hats on for 2011 so don t be shy! We want to embrace this program and give it all the assistance it deserves. These are YOUR classes. The committee is always looking for ideas for more topics. Please contact Janae dalejanae@gmail.com with any suggestions and ideas you may have.

3 Directory Available On-Line Sow seeds for tender perennials The BCMGA 2011 Membership Directory is available on-line. For those of you with access, you should have received an with the Directory attached. If you need a hard copy they will be available by the end of the month. Thanks to all that provided input and corrections. If you need another copy of the on-line directory contact Zoe at zbolton@gmail.com Zone 4 Order seeds Sow seeds indoors for hardy springblooming plants Cut back on feeding houseplants (do not feed dormant houseplants) Sow seeds for cool-weather vegetables Sow frost-tolerant perennials indoors Zone 5 Class Reminder This is a reminder that the Grow Lights class will be held at the Extension Office on Saturday, February 26 at 6 pm. We have never had a Saturday night class before, so it will be interesting! Robin Beams has arranged for a speaker to come from the River City Hydroponics store in Spokane to answer all your questions about growing indoors, using grow lights. To sign up for the class, please call Robin at and leave a message, or Janae at dalejanae@gmail.com. Order seeds Sow seeds for hardy spring-blooming plants Cut back on feeding houseplants (do not feed dormant houseplants) Sow seeds for cool-weather vegetables Sow frost-tolerant perennials indoors Bonner County Fair Booth Needs Chair January Gardening To Do List The BCMGA County Fair Booth needs a chair person to organize the committee members for set up and take down of the booth, for help designing the booth in accordance with the 2011 fair theme, and to schedule MGs to man the booth. Help will be available from the MG bible in the plant clinic, which outlines the procedures involved, and from former chair, Gail Locke. If you are able to help out, please contact Ann Warwick at Zone 3 Thank you for your help. Order seeds Cut back on feeding houseplants (do not feed dormant houseplants) Water cymbidiums weekly until they bloom

4 Garden Potlucks Continue in 2011 The garden visit potluck events last year were very popular, and all who participated had a great time and learned some new garden tricks, as well. Becky Reynolds and Ann Warwick plan to continue these social events this year, and are working on compiling a list of those who would like to host garden visits in You don t have to have a perfect garden; in fact, if you want advice about what to do about a particular aspect of your garden, this is a great opportunity for gathering ideas from a group of interested folks. will be Friday, April 8. With many hands, this activity takes only a couple of hours. The booth will be manned by MGs, who will be available to introduce the speakers and interact with the public. Tentatively, the schedule will be set up in two hour increments, and will require two persons per period, for a total of about 14 volunteers. Take down of the booth is on Sunday at 4 pm. The BCMGA provides plates, cups, flatware, napkins, ice for coolers, etc for these events, and people bring a potluck offering and a lawn chair, so hosts do not have to think about anything but welcoming people and showing them around. If you are interested in being a host, contact Becky Reynolds or Ann Warwick. More details will be ed to those on the committee as plans progress. Those who have signed up to participate with the Home and Garden Show are: HOME AND GARDEN SHOW HOME AND GARDEN SHOW UPDATE Robin Beams Martha Fortunati Jan Hansen Zoe Bolton Howard Fennimore Chris McIntosh Barbara Moore Ellie Lizotte* Jay Baker Jennifer Costich-Thompson Jenna Bertus Jane Roach Kathleen Huntley Mikey Haven Ann Warwick* Kim Peterson Lexie de Fremery Donald Childress Laurie Brown Penny Goodman The Home and Garden Show is slated for Saturday, April 9 (9:30 to 5:30) and Sunday April 10 (10 to 4) this year, and will be held at the Fairgrounds. The committee is chaired by Ellie Lizotte, and will feature brief talks, primarily by Master Gardeners this year, on a variety of gardening topics. Set up for the event Anyone else who wishes to participate may call either Ellie Lizotte or Ann Warwick. This is a fun event and it also provides a venue to educate the public. Thanks to all who have volunteered.

5 Membership Meeting Minutes BCMG Membership Meeting Feb. 2, 2011 Present: Valerie Ripley, Penny Barton, Jon Porter, Becky Reynolds, Janae Dale,, Jay Baker, Zoe Bolton, Kit Cooley, Jan wilfert, Ann Warwick, Mikey Haven, Lynn Pietz. The meeting was called to order at 9:10 a.m. by President Zoe Bolton. She emphasized the focus of the Master Gardeners: to promote education, community service, and socialization, and to increase membership participation. Treasurer s Report: $ Committee Reports: Mentoring Program, Lynn Pietz, chair: The group met Jan. 19. They will coordinate field trips with Continuing Education and Home Hort. Classes so as to reinforce those classes with hands-on and continued learning. There is an opportunity to take a Food Preservation class online. BCMGs will not coordinate such a program here; instead will work to get more interested people in Bonner County involved. They will offer support for the Community Garden. Continuing Education, Janae Dale, chair: A flyer was circulated with Latah County continuing education classes. She then discussed the classes scheduled so far, including a Gro-Lights class February 26. After a discussion about how to deal with expenses of a person coming to Sandpoint to make a presentation, it was turned over to a committee. Home Hort Classes, Don Childress: reported that reservations are coming in for the classes, with most so far being from MGs. Gail suggested that MGs move our chargeable events to The Events Center, behind Sandpoint Furniture in Ponderay. It is a large, well-equipped facility. Currently, for any chargeable event, MGs must pay a fee to reserve the room at the Extension office, as well as to use technical equipment. It was agreed to use this facility for future events. Jon Porter asked MGs to purchase a laser pointer. Mikey Haven said she would work to have that donated, as well as possibly a laptop and fast printer Community Project: The committee recommended that we not take on a new beautification project around Sandpoint for 2011, and the moneys allotted for that project should be returned to the general fund. We will instead place more focus upon the continuing School Gardens project. MGs can get educational volunteer credit for teaching gardening techniques to the school children. Home and Garden Show, Ellie Lazotte, chair: Ann Warwick, assistant chair, reported that they are looking for people to teach 15-minute classes at our booth, April 9 & 10. We agreed to ask children from the School Gardening project to teach some classes. BCMGA Potlucks, Ann Warwick & Becky Reynolds: This popular activity will continue in Ann emphasized that MGs do not have to have a perfect yard to host a potluck; MGs could ask for advice on what to do with a problem area. U of I Extension Report, Mike Bauer, Horticulture Educator: Mike was unable to attend this meeting. New Business: Tax Returns: Federal and state tax returns are due; we are under the $50,000 limit for a nonprofit paying taxes. Bonner County Fair Chair: Needed Farmer s Market Chair: Needed Membership Directory: Zoe Bolton asked if it would be acceptable with for those with access to receive the copy online. The MGs present indicated that they would like to continue receiving the hard copy. Currently there are 71 total members; 44 recertified members; 15 associate members; 21 dropped out entirely, for many various reasons. Plant Clinic: Begins April 19. It will be 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

6 2011 Home Horticulture Spring Workshop Series Presented and coordinated by Bonner County Master Gardeners Association All programs will be held from 6pm 8pm At the Bonner County Extension Office 4205 N. Boyer Sandpoint, Idaho Each class - $10.00 or all 8 classes for $ inquiries to: bonnermg@uidaho.edu Website: Dates and Topics February 23 Xeriscaping Presented by horticulturist Bob Wilson of Cedar Mountain Perennials. Xeriscaping is a valuable approach for conserving water in the home landscape. Practical techniques for making do with less water and still creating a lush, colorful landscape will be discussed with an emphasis on native plants. March 2 nd Pruning Presented by Gail Locke, Certified Master Gardener Pruning insures safety, increases yield, and maintains the health and appearance of your plants. Several techniques will be demonstrated. Learn when, how, and what to prune, and how to maintain pruning equipment. Bring your pruning tools for evaluation and maintenance. March 16 Small Orchards Presented by Robb McCracken, Executive Director of Clark Fork/Pend Oreille Conservancy. Learn all aspects of growing fruit trees in northern Idaho - includes growing sites, varieties, planting and avoiding problems. March 23 rd Berries Presented by Jon Bair, Certified Master Gardener Take a journey through nature s bounty of berries. Learn varieties and techniques for a successful harvest. Also includes a discussion on native berries for the landscape. March 30 th Basic Gardening I Presented by Kit Cooley, Certified Master Gardener Get started growing your own vegetables. This first session will look at planning, choosing location, preparing soil, seed selection, and will include starting seeds, both indoors and out. April 6 th Basic Gardening II Presented by Kit Cooley, Certified Master Gardener Review seed starting, and then cover transplanting, irrigation, weed and pest control, and general care and maintenance. Other topics include options for protected plantings, container gardening, and preparing for harvest/seed saving. April 20 th Seed Saving Presented by Jennifer Costich-Thompson, Botanist Idaho Panhandle National Forest, Certified Master Gardener. Jennifer will discuss the basic principles and low-tech methods for saving seed and will help you prepare for your seed-saving this year. Bring your garden planners, along with the lists of plants (including cultivar names or seed packets) you hope to plant. April 27 th Basics of Low Pressure Irrigation Presented by J.R. North of Groundskeeper, Inc. Does hand-watering ever seem like an endless chore? This class will teach you the fundamentals of installing microirrigation (drip irrigation) into your outdoor containers, veggie gardens, and landscape beds. Class space is available on a first-registered and paid basis. Spring classes typically fill up fast. Please check or circle the classes on the registration form that you wish to attend, and mail the form with a check to: Bonner County Master Gardeners Association P.O. Box 58 Ponderay, ID

7 Fees cover the cost of publications, materials, and the support of non-profit activities of the Bonner County Master Gardener Association Spring Home Horticulture Workshop Series Registration Form Name: Address: City: State: Zip: Phone#: (Used for future notifications) Please circle or check the classes you wish to attend. February 23 - Xeriscaping Bob Wilson March March March March April April April 2 - Pruning Gail Locke 16 - Small Orchards Robb McCracken 23 - Berries Jon Bair 30 - Basic Gardening I Kit Cooley 6 - Basic Gardening II Kit Cooley 20 - Seed Saving - Jennifer Costich-Thompson 27 - Irrigation J.R. North Each class - $10.00 or all 8 classes for $60.00 $ enclosed - Please make checks payable and mail to: Bonner County Master Gardener Association P.O. Box 58 Ponderay, ID Houseplants being plagued by spider mites this winter? Spider mites thrive in dry conditions, which describes most of our homes in winter. To control them, first take the plant to the sink or bathtub and wash the entire plant well, getting the bottoms of the leaves and into all the branch angles. Allow the plant to dry, then spray thoroughly with an insecticidal soap like Safers, once again being sure to get the bottoms of the leaves and into all the crevices. Before the soap is completely dry, was gently with water againsome houseplants are sensitive to insecticidal soap. Repeat at one to two week intervals until you find no more evidence of mites. It also helps to increase the humidity in your home, either by putting a pot of water on your stove when it s warm or by using an ultrasonic or cool mist humidifier. Put a saucer or plate under the plant that has mites, put a layer of gravel on the plate so the plant s pot doesn t sit right on the saucer and keep water in the saucer. Come summer, most houseplants do well if put outside. Out there, the natural predators can take care of pest problems for you. The trick is getting them to survive until then!

8 Master Gardener Event Calendar Event Date* Chair(s) Notes Home Hort - Xeriscaping 2/23/11 Speaker Bob Wilson Continuing Education Grow Lights Sat 2/26/11 Robin Beams, to sign up call Robin at and leave a message or Janae at dalejanae@gmail.com Extension Office 6p Speaker from River City Hydroponics Membership Meeting 3/2/11 Zoe Bolton see above Extension Office 9am Home Hort - Pruning 3/2/11 Speaker Gail Locke Home Hort Small Orchards 3/16/11 Speaker Robb McCracken Home Hort - Berries 3/23/11 Speaker Jon Bair Home Hort Basic Gardening I 3/30/11 Speaker TBD Membership Meeting 4/6/11 Zoe Bolton, zbolton@gmail.com or Extension Office 9am Home Hort Basic Gardening II 4/6/11 Home and Garden Show Sat & Sun - Apr 9 th and 10th Home Hort Seed Saving Home Hort Basics of Low Pressure Irrigation 4/20/11 4/27/11 Ellie Lizotte, hopeellie@aol.com, Speaker TBD Bonner County Fair Grounds Speaker Jennifer Costich- Thompson Speaker J.R. North