Reminder Enter Volunteer/ Educational Hours

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1 Vol. 28, No. 12 Editors: Julie Stark/Lisa Slattery December 2018 LINN COUNTY MASTER GARDENER EVENTS Steering Committee Meeting Extension Office December 4 6:30 pm Extension Council Meeting Extension Office December 10 5:00 pm Executive Council Meeting Extension Office December 17 3:00 pm Volunteer/Educational Hour Entry Deadline December 31 Planned WGF Preview Dates Extension Office December 6 5:00-9:00 pm December 11 5:00-9:00 pm December 15 9:00 am-5:00 pm December 18 5:00-9:00 pm (Titles/Presenters Page 4) Reminder Enter Volunteer/ Educational Hours Time is ticking for those of you who need to enter your hours into the VRS System. If you have questions on how to login or have problems entering hours, please contact the Extension Office and they will direct you for assistance. PLEASE NOTE: Any hours submitted after December 31 for the 2018 year, will not be accepted! What s Inside Reminder Enter Volunteer/ Educational Hours Page 1 Fall Celebration Recap Page 2 Welcome New Program Coordinator, Jean Wilson Page 3 Winter Gardening Fair Preview Schedule Pages 4-5 HACAP Thanks MG Page 5 Volunteer Spotlight: Meet Cindy Lehman Page 6 Meet Our 2018 Master Gardener Class Pages 7-8 Steering Committee Report Page 9 December

2 Fall Celebration Recognizes New Trainees/Interns and Expresses Warm Wishes to Outgoing Coordinator This year s fall celebration at the Lowe Park Facility, was held the evening of November 8, Thank you so much to all who came and the wonderful food and conversation that you shared with everyone. From the 12 trainees who completed the fall Flipped Classroom instruction, 7 were in attendance (photo below left). See pages 7 and 8 in this Germinator issue for a short bio of each of our new trainees. Also recognized was the Class of 2017 (photo below right) who have completed their required 40 volunteer hours to receive their Master Gardener status, their MG shirt and official MG nametag. Trainees in attendance (left to right): Gina Milroy (Benton County), Teresa Wake, Juli Schoff, Rebecca Riedesel, Sue Murphy, Dixie Long and Rose Blank. Trainees not pictured: Heather Robertson, Karelyn Pohl; Christina Littler, Carine Klein and Wanda Ohrt. Interns in attendance (left to right) Floor: Robyn Clark-Bridges. Kneeling: Lois Buntz, Brooke Paulson, Hannah Nichols, Tiffany Miller and Jennifer Reed. Standing: Pam Wild, Wanda Lunn, Tracy Hansen, Cathy Holub, Diana Lopata, Pat Beaty, Julie Quebe, Cindy Lehman and Diana Christianson. Interns not pictured: Lynn Brokaw, Peggy Pearson, Beth Herrick, Nicole Brighton, Valerie Kantro and Nancy Shey. Master Gardener Coordinator, Kristen Peyton, was thanked for her service to the Program and extended best wishes in her new position by County Director, RaeAnn Gordon (photo right). Following the ceremony, both classes were excited to speak with the committee/ project chairs to sign up to volunteer for the upcoming year. 2 Germinator

3 A Familiar Face in a New Position Meet our New Master Gardener Program Coordinator, Jean Wilson By RaeAnn Gordon, County Director Thank you all for your patience during our time of transition in the MG program and in the office as we are short two of our staff at this time. MANY thanks to the other staff members who helped keep things moving forward. Johanna and Janice have been key in this transition and we appreciate them very much! The Master Gardener Coordinator position was posted recently and we received 11 applications for the position. Monday night at the Extension Council meeting, the Council approved the hire of Jean Wilson as your new Master Gardener Coordinator for Linn County. Some of you may already know Jean as she went through training in 2013, and became a Master Gardener in Jean has been active in several different roles over the years. Jean has a degree in Landscape Horticulture and a degree in Information Science and English Language/Literature. The skills and experience that Jean brings to the Extension office and the Master Gardener Program will help us to continue moving the program forward. Jean will start on December 5, 2018, and at that time will become inactive as a Master Gardener volunteer. This is necessary as our Linn County Coordinators of MG cannot volunteer with the program at the same time. In her role as Coordinator, Jean will work closely with the Executive and Steering Committees for continued improvement of communication from the office, improved volunteer experience, and increased consistency in practice of current State and Linn County policies which affect the program and all volunteers. All of the staff in the office are committed to continual improvement of the experience for our clients and volunteers! We are excited to welcome Jean to ISU Extension and Outreach! Please help us in congratulating Jean! Stay tuned for more updates! December 3

4 Winter Gardening Fair Previews in Full Swing By Sue Usher Come to the Winter Gardening Fair Preview Sessions! Enjoy a time of educational opportunities and fellowship with your MG friends. The following is the schedule of the November preview sessions for the 2019 Winter Garden Fair. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend. Be sure to watch your for any possible updates. Thursday, December 6 5:00 - Seed Starting - Zora Ronan 6:00 - Beginning Vegetable Gardening - Diane Wiesenfeld 7:00 - Gardening for Good Health - Diane Wiesenfeld 8:00 - Open Tuesday, December 11 5:00 - Climbing Color: Clematis in Your Garden - Wanda Lunn 6:00 - Celebrating Median Bearded Iris - Wanda Lunn 7:00 - Treasuring Historic Bearded Iris - Wanda Lunn 8:00 - Choosing True Lilies for Your Garden - Wanda Lunn Saturday, December 15 9:00 - Hosta Landscape Design - Karen Woeste 10:00 - Tier Gardening - Karen Woeste 11:00 - Rotation and Design Gardening - Heather Robertson 12:00 - Seasonal Gardening Calendar - Heather Robertson 1:00 - Weed ID - Fran Potratz and Karla McGrail 2:00 - Gardening and Landscaping Do's and Don'ts, Tips and Tricks - Karla McGrail 3:00 - Open 4:00 - Open Tuesday, December 18 5:00 - Mulch - This Covers It - Phil Pfister 6:00 - Earth Friendly Lawn Care - Phil Pfister 7:00 - Growing Produce at Home the Hydroponics Way - Phil Pfister 8:00 - Life and Times of a Japanese Beetle - Larry Edwards Saturday, January 5 9:00 - Open 10:00 - Open 11:00 - Open 12:00 - Open 1:00 - Overwintering Tropicals - Clark Herbin 2:00 - Planting Salsa Gardens Correctly - Clark Herbin 3:00 - Houseplant Care During Winter Months - Clark Herbin 4:00 - Open Continued Page 5 4 Germinator

5 Continued From Page 4 Tuesday, January 8 5:00 - Open 6:00 - Begonias, a Must for Any Flower Garden - Lori Bailey 7:00 - For the Love of Monarchs - Carol Elliott 8:00 - Outdoor Rooms - Carol Elliott Saturday, January 12 9:00 - My Favorite Gardens - Zora Ronan 10:00 - Daylilies - Zora Ronan 11:00 - Containers: Beyond Thrillers, Spillers and Fillers - Cindy Fagan 12:00 - Peonies - Alicia Jackson 1:00 - Cutting Gardens - Chrissy Littler 2:00 - Kitchen Gardens, Potager Heaven - Chrissy Littler 3:00 - Don't Pitch It - Chrissy Littler 4:00 Open Please come in November and December to complete your education hours. Your presence allows the speakers a chance run through their presentations and fine tune their content and timing. Then come in January 2019 to get a jump start on your education hours. Linn County Master Gardeners Receive Appreciation from HACAP Food Reservoir December 5

6 Volunteer Spotlight Meet Cindy Lehman By Lois Buntz, Master Gardener Intern Becoming a second-generation Master Gardner was a goal Cindy Lehman had thought about often as she transitioned into retirement. Her mother, Victoria Freie, a lifetime Master Gardener had completed the same program at ISU Extension and Cindy hoped to carry on the tradition. After spending more than thirty years in Michigan working at a nuclear power plant as a trainer and raising her son, Cindy recently returned to Cedar Rapids to be closer to her family. Her retirement provided the opportunity to pursue her passion of gardening, which had been previously limited to landscaping and growing vegetables in a very shady yard. Cindy said she loved the Master Gardener program because I learned a little about a lot of different things. The program also prompted her to become one of the most active volunteers. This past year, she worked at the Lowe Park Greenhouse transplanting plants, the Winter Garden Fair, Summer Garden Walk and scribed for the Hortline. She is also serving on the Steering Committee for future Master Gardener events. Her accumulation of over 200 hours far exceeded the required amount for MG interns. Gardening has certainly become her primary retiree hobby, in addition to shopping and visiting her two brothers and two sisters who reside in Cedar Rapids. Her other goal is to conquer the art of growing lilacs, her favorite plant. Unfortunately, Cindy s mother passed away before she could see Cindy s graduation from the MG program. If she were still here, I m sure she d be proud to see Cindy s love of gardening growing from the seeds she planted many years ago. 6 Germinator

7 Please Welcome the Class of 2018! Rose Blank has been gardening since she was in 4H and has had a garden at most of the homes she has had. She is excited to become a part of the MG Program to share the importance of being in touch with the earth and its well-being. With a Clergy background, Rose feels comfortable with public speaking and conducting garden tours and would be interested in writing articles once she is more familiar with a topic. Carine Klein is a self-taught gardener with 20+ years of gardening experience ranging from tiny city lots of a farm-ette outside of Mt. Vernon. Prior to moving to Iowa, her primary experience was ornamental gardens but has since transitioned to a mix of agricultural and ornamental gardens. She is interested in helping to teach the children of Wellington Heights about plants and gardening and to write for the newsletter. Christina Littler is employed at Rockwell Collins and has volunteered at Rockwell Collins FeedIowaFirst gardens for two summers. Two years ago, Christina purchased a bungalow and completely gutted the front yard to make her cottage garden. This ongoing adventure has taught her a lot about plants and about herself, which she is anxious to share with others. She is looking forward to public speaking as well as writing articles. Dixie Long is from Cedar Rapids and a retired Rockwell employee who has done a great deal of volunteering in her church s garden. Dixie considers herself a self-taught gardener who would like to learn more about starting a garden, i.e., soil preparation. She is primarily interested in volunteering with garden tours, educating youth and helping with workshops. Susan Murphy lives in Mt. Vernon and is retired from the Cedar Rapids School District. She loves working with flowers at her own home and is looking forward to interacting and sharing knowledge with the public and the comradery the Master Gardener Program will offer. She has learned primarily by trial and error and has attended many MG learning sessions over the past couple of years. Susan is interested in doing some writing and in public speaking, both after increasing her knowledge. Wanda Ohrt has been interested in gardening since she was very young and is now excited about continuing to learn and passing her knowledge on to others. Wanda s interests with the Program are in gardening workshops, garden tours, demonstration gardens and greenhouse duties, and she likes conducting research. Karen Pohl lives in Cedar Rapids and is a science teacher at Metro High School. She was a container gardener while living in an apartment but after purchasing a home two years ago has expanded her now in ground garden experiences, into what transformed as more of a neighborhood Continued Page 8 December 7

8 Continued from Page 7 garden. As a teacher, educating youth is her passion. Karen would also like to get involved with the greenhouses and demonstration gardens. Becky Riedesel is a Pharmacy Technician and works part-time at Culver s Greenhouse. She was raised on a farm and helped her mother with the family s vegetable garden and is now passing that passion on to her daughter. Becoming a Master Gardener was a goal for Becky and she is excited to learn more. She is interested in becoming involved with educating youth, workshops, greenhouse duties and writing articles. Heather Robertson lives in Anamosa and is employed at Rockwell Collins. She grows all of her flowers and vegetables from seed and recently installed grow-lights in her home to grow plants year round. She is primarily knowledgeable about flowers and vegetables, but has recently been successful with growing apples, pears and peaches. She is excited to demonstrate how working with the land can be rewarding in beautiful flowers and bountiful food. Juli Schoff has always been interested in gardening and would like to help others in addition to furthering her own knowledge. Due to space limitations in her yard, she hasn t had any experience with vegetables, but does have a flower garden. She has attended the Master Gardener Plant Sale for many years and looking forward to helping with that event. Teresa Wake is employed as a System Administrator at ImOn Communications. She has wanted to be in the Program for a while and with her children out of high school, felt this was the perfect time. She has had a great deal of gardening experience as her father owned a lawn and garden center for 40 years. Teresa s primary interests in the Program are educating youth, public speaking and workshops. 8 Germinator

9 November 6, 2018 Steering Committee Minutes DRAFT The meeting was called to order, roll called, quorum established, and minutes from last meeting approved. Present: Steve Bartlett, Kathy Carew, Randy Dusil, Cindy Fagan, Sam Krumbholz, Jackie MacLaren, Kay McWhinney, Bev Whitmore, Diane Wiesenfeld, Jean Wilson, and RaeAnn Gordon. Absent: Glenn Babinett, Linda Hinzman, Linda Shepherd, and Sylvia Kelly. Financial Report: Jean Wilson presented the Financial Report for Linda Hinzman, who was absent. We currently have $45, in our account as of October 31, 2018, and the Executive Committee will look at some of the excess money to be spent down. A list of items that could be purchased with this money has been started. Master Gardener Coordinator Report: RaeAnn reported that interviews for the new M.G. Coordinator position were completed and there would be an announcement soon of our new replacement! Old Business: The revised checklist for projects and events is now completed and a copy was given to the committee; document will be given out to project chairpersons. NewBo Market Project More dialog is needed with the NewBo coordinator and our new MG coordinator. They are interested in hands on activities for participants. We are not sure yet how that might look. New Business: The Fall Celebration will be November 8 th. Several candidates have missed 1-2 classes and were given homework assignments and completed them. Presentation and voting on candidate slate for the 2019 Steering Committee seats and 2019 vacant Steering Committee Board candidates was approved. The candidates are: Diane Brooks, Lynne Brokaw, Linda Hofmesiter, Deb Walser, Cindy Lehman, Julie Clemens, and Jan Knott. The Steering Committee will invite these candidates to the December meeting as our guests to observe. The new Board members will be Bev Whitmore (VP), Cindy Lehman (Treasurer), and Randy Dusil (Secretary). A discussion took place on the amount of detail that needs to be included in the minutes. Pertinent information and personal information will be given at the discretion of the committee. Randy Dusil shared a Lowe Greenhouse Org chart. This is work in progress but looks promising on how duties can be shared at the greenhouse. Motion to Adjourn Next Steering Committee meeting: December 4, :30pm Next Executive Committee Meeting: November 11, :00pm Respectfully submitted, Sam Krumbholz, acting secretary for Linda Shepherd December 9

10 Linn County Extension Master Gardeners 383 Collins Road NE, Suite 201 Cedar Rapids, IA ph (319) Hortline (319) The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Many materials can be made available in alternative formats for ADA clients. To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC or call Germinator