Master Gardener News 2018 UPCOMING EVENTS. Inside this issue:

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1 Master Gardener News Inside this issue: Reminders 2 MG Training 3 Events 4 Opportunities 5 President Message 6 Final Thoughts 7 Volunteeer Opps 8 Plant Disease 9 Scholarship Info MG OFFICERS PRESIDENT: Della Julseth SECRETARY: Donna Bulahog TREASURER: Cyndi Snyder BOARD MEMBERS Joanne Elliott Linda Bailey Robyn Preston EXTENSION COMMITTEE Chairman - Barb Morgan Vice Chair - Florence Johnson Committee - Fred Nickel Committee - Paul Pisellini Committee-Dan Wysocki NEWSLETTER COORDINATORS Lynn Dolata Della Julseth January/February 2018 Volume, Issue 2018 UPCOMING EVENTS January 9 - Board Mtg. at the Community Center, 9:30AM, 569 N. Cedar St, members welcome! January 23 - General Mtg. at the Community Center, 6:30PM, speaker Becky Gutzman-WIGMA February Wisconsin Garden Expo, Alliant Energy Center, Madison, see pg. for further info on this event. February 13 - Board Mtg. at the Community Center, 9:30AM, 569 N. Cedar St, members welcome! February 27 - General Mtg. at the Community Center, 6:30PM, Brian Stanley, Property Works- Adams March 13 - Board Mtg. at the Community Center, 9:30AM, 569 N. Cedar St, members welcome! March 27 - General Mtg. at the Community Center, 6:30PM, Patrick Creed, Anchor Floral, Adams April 10 - Board Mtg. at the Community Center, 9:30AM, 569 N. Cedar St, members welcome! April 14 - Fruit Tree Sale Pick-up at the Adams County Fairgrounds April 24 - General Meeting at the Community Center, 6:30PM, Sharon Hartz Propagating Plant Cuttings April 28 - Kids Day May 8 - Board Mtg. at the Community Center, 9:30AM, 569 N. Cedar St, members welcome! May 22 - General Mtg. Garden Tour/Potluck, Northwoods Orchard, Mauston, 6PM June 12 - Board Mtg. at the Community Center, 9:30AM, 569 N. Cedar St, members welcome! June 26 - General Mtg. Garden Tour/Potluck, Della & Dennis Julseth w/gwen Ramsell-Langan with seed plant exchange, 6PM July 10 - Board Mtg. at the Community Center, 9:30AM, 569 N. Cedar St, members welcome! July 24 - General Mtg. Garden Tour/Potluck, Patrick Creed, Adams, 6PM August 14 - Board Mtg. at the Community Center, 9:30AM, 569 N. Cedar St, members welcome! August 28 - General Mtg., Garden Tour/Potluck, McGowen House, Friendship, 6PM September 11 - Board Mtg. at the Community Center, 9:30AM, 569 N. Cedar St, members welcome! September WIMGA Conference, Lismore Hotel, EauClaire, WI September 25 - General Mtg., Adams Community Center, 6:30PM, Mike & Sharon Hartz Developing a New Flower - Vegetable Bed October 9 - Board Mtg. at the Community Center, 9:30AM, 569 N. Cedar St, members welcome! October?? - Annual Meeting, more information in later newsletter.

2 Deadline for the 2018 Fruit and Tree Sale is fast approaching. The order deadline is January 10, 2018, and plant pick-up is scheduled for April 14, 2018 at the Adams County Fairgrounds, at which volunteers are needed during the week of April Get your Plant Order Form now at the UW Extension! EDIBLE FOOD STARTUP Lunch and Learn - January 18, 2018 Developing Local Food Products-Local Opportunities Update & application of Wisconsin Pickle & Cookie Laws for entrepreneurs Developing your food product idea to market Area food entrepreneur who has product in 62 retail locations Public Welcome! UW-Extension, 211 Hickory St., Mauston. Please visit the Juneau Cty UWEX Facebook page, or their website. Anyone who thinks gardening begins in the spring and ends in the fall is missing the best part of the year...for gardening begins in January, with the dream. ~Josephine Nurse

3 AGMGA Questionnaire At our Annual Meeting an ACMGA Questionnaire was filled out by our members in attendance. Here are the results of the area that you were interested in and would like to know more about. 1. Perennials/Annuals 3. Pruning 5. Growing Vegetables 7. Landscaping 9. Fruits 11. Organic Gardening 13. Plant Diseases 15. Water Gardening 2. Container Gardening 4. Growing Vegetables 6. Composting 8. Houseplants 10. Seed Starting 12. Herb Gardening 14. Invasive Plants 16. Garden Planning We are now trying to include these in our General Meetings. Master Gardener Training Classes Juneau County Monday Evenings 6-9PM, January 22 - April 23, 2018 Do you want to learn more about plants, growing things, and gardening? Do you want to find environmentally sound solutions to gardening and landscape problems? Do you want to meet and share experiences with others that have a love of gardening? If you answered yes to these questions, then Master Gardener Volunteer Training is for YOU! Juneau County Note: Credit for classes taken in Juneau County may be transferred to Adams County Location: Juneau County UW-Extension Office 211 Hickory Street, Room 301 Mauston, WI For more information contact

4 Wisconsin Public Television s Garden Expo is a midwinter oasis for people ready to venture out and dig their hands in the dirt. Now in its 24th year, this three-day event celebrates the latest trends in gardening, landscaping and edibles, and attracts more than 20,000 people from across the Midwest. Join other gardening enthusiasts to share ideas, gain inspiration and create something new. All proceeds support Wisconsin Public Television. Things to do at the Garden Expo: February 9-11, 2018 Learn something new at one of the more than 150 free educational seminars and demonstrations. Visit with hundreds of businesses, independent contractors, nonprofits and artists to share ideas and learn about the newest in gardening, landscaping and local foods. Discuss innovative gardening techniques with experts from UW-Extension Horticulture. Relax with a casual walk through the central garden courtesy of Wisconsin Nursery & Landscape Association, Madison Chapter Inc. Purchase seeds, tools and everything else you need to be ready when the trees bud and the ground thaws. For more information on this event or to register on-line visit the Garden Expo website at ww.wigardenexpo.com/about Garden Expo is presented by Wisconsin Public Television and UW-Extension Horticulture as a fundraiser for Wisconsin Public Television. Annual conference of North Central WI Master Gardeners. Slow Food Dinner on Fri 1/19/18, featuring speaker, Inga Witscher, of Around the Farm Table. Keynote speaker on Sat 1/20/18 is Ellen Ecker Ogden, Author and Kitchen Garden Designer. 18 breakout sessions with great topics and speakers, vendors, & lunch! For full information visit: Friday s Slow Food Dinner, registration begins at 5pm, dinner and presentation end at 9pm Saturday registration begins at 7:30am, conference ends at 4:15pm

5 Computer Coaching at the Adams County Library Available by appointment after 5:00PM on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday with Judy. Daytime hours available with MaryLu time permitting. Call and ask for Judy or MaryLu. Judy works with our PCs or your laptops MaryLu works with your tablets. Wireless printing now available.

6 Della Julseth Welcome to a New Year. We at Master Gardeners have been working hard to put together a program we hope you will enjoy. But first I would like to introduce our officers for The are President, Della Julseth, Secretary, Donna Buhalog, and Treasurer, Cynthia Snyder. The Vice-President position is vacant at this time. Serving on the Board are Linda Bailey, Joanne Elliott, and Robyn Preston. Our advisor is Mary Anne Keul. We would like to thank Betty Conrad, Carole Dzieglelewski, Robyn Gabriel and Donna Bruno for serving on the Board in Anyone who is a Master Gardener is welcome to come to our Board meetings which are held the 2nd Tuesday of every month at 9:30AM at the Adams County Community Center. We will be having five(5) speakers and four(4) Garden Tours in Our speakers meetings will start at 6:30PM at the Adams County Community Center, 569 N. Cedar Street. There will be coffee, beverage and snacks provided. On January 23, Becky Gutzman President of WIGMA will be speaking about the WIMGA Association and how they can be a collective voice for our local Master Gardeners. She will also try to answer all the questions we will have. February 27, we will have Brian Stanley who is part owner of Property Works in Adams. They do a variety of services including lawn care, insect control, irrigation systems, landscaping, pruning, erosion control and fertilizer/herbicide control. They also are planning to sell greenhouse plants. March 27, Patrick Creed the manager of Anchor Floral in Friendship will be designing some floral arrangements. April 24, Sharon Hartz will be doing a presentation on Propagating Plants by cuttings. September 25, Mike and Sharon Hartz will be helping us get ready for next years planting by showing us How to Develop a New Flower/Vegetable Bed. As for Garden Tours, they will begin at 6PM. We will have a potluck meal, so please bring a dish to pass. We will furnish the coffee, beverage, plates, silverware and cups. Please bring a lawn chair. May 22nd, a tour/potluck ill be held at Northwoods Orchard which is on Hwy 82, 2 miles west of Mauston. This is a 30 acre orchard with 11 varieties of apples, u-pick strawberries, a greenhouse, butterfly plants, bulk food store, produce in season, some farm animals and a beautiful view. June 26th a garden tour at Dennis & Della Julseth s home, 2166 W. 10th Drive, Adams. Gwen Ramsell Langan will be showing us how she designs edible flower/vegetable arrangements. There will be one design at the potluck table to eat. There will also be a seed plant exchange if you would like to participate. July 24th Patrick Creed will be hosting a garden tour/potluck at his home in Adams. More on this later. Aug 28 Pat Kierstyn from the McGowen house in Friendship will be giving a tour of the gardens there and also of the house and school. In October we will be having our annual meeting. More to come in future issues of this newsletter. We hope that everyone will be able to join us to any or all of these great events. If you know of anyone who would like to come to these events or join Master Gardeners please feel free to invite them.

7 Alana Voss Greetings Adams County Master Gardeners, I hope this holiday season is treating you well and you are able to stay warm during this chilly weather. I would like to thank you all for creating such an awesome experience my first year at UW-Extension. The friendships and the positive impact you have made in the community will never be forgotten. I am excited to see where the future for the Adams County Master Gardener s will take you for new educational moments and more volunteer opportunities in the community. With all of these joys and wonderful moments I have been able to partake in this past year, it is difficult for me to write this end of the year letter to you. The New Year brings some changes to the UW-Extension office and my current position. I am sad to say that I will be transitioning to full time Agricultural Educator in Juneau County. This means Adams will be vacant for a short time frame, until they are able to rehire for the half time agricultural educator. Lynn Dolata will be your main contact for Mast Gardener needs in the New Year. I will be available for urgent questions or if there are needs for contacting the State office until the new position is hired. I know the new agricultural educator will enjoy working with you as much as I have this past year. You are a wonderful group with a lot of potential for new and exciting projects. Also, I hope in the future we can work together through Master Gardener events. I would like to wish everyone a very happy holidays and wish the best to you all. You are more than welcome to reach out to me if you would like to share any questions or concerns during this transition time. I will be in the office until the end of the year. Again, thank you for all the wonderful memories and friendships that I have gained from working with your group. Happy holidays and best wishes to you all in the New Year!

8 Page 8 Volunteer Opportunities VOLUNTEER NEWS Volunteers Make a Difference Each year the ACMGAV publishes a list of volunteer opportunities. Some are on-going throughout the year, and others are one-time dates. All of these activities qualify for your volunteer hours. We will add to the list as opportunities become available. If you have any questions, wish to chair or be a co-chairperson for any events, want to volunteer, or need additional information, please contact the chairperson(s) listed after the event. Our volunteer activities will be starting soon. We always need volunteers, chairs and co-chairs. If you have a volunteer activity you wish to promote, please contact any officer or board member. 1 or Limited Days Volunteer Opportunities If you know of anyone who you think would like to speak at any of our General Meetings on a subject in horticulture, or sponsor a Garden Tour, please contact an officer or board member with information for consideration. You are always welcome to come to our board meetings and submit your ideas or suggestions. Board meetings are held the 2nd Tuesday of each month (except December) at the Community Center, 9:30AM. General meetings and Garden Tours are usually held the 4th Tuesday of the month, January through November.

9 Page 9 Master Gardener Happenings DECEMBER... TIS THE SEASON From the UW Plant Disease Diagnostic Clinic It s holiday time and while most folks have visions of sugar-plums dancing in their heads, my mind takes a detour to the dark side as I think of how plant pathogens can influence the holidays. Interestingly, the examples that first come to my mind are positive influences on the holiday season. Poinsettias anyone? If you are lover of brightly-colored poinsettias and enjoy them sitting on tables in your home, you have a plant pathogen to thank for the look of most modern poinsettia varieties. In their native, tropical habitat, poinsettias have an upright tree-like form, and grow up to 10 ft. in height. Modern, ornamental varieties of poinsettias are infected with phytoplasmas, bacteria-like organisms that colonize the phloem (i.e, the food-conducting piping ) inside the plant. The presence of phytoplasmas leads to a stunted, compact growth form with lots of extra branching. And guess what you get with all of that branching? You got it: lots and lots of flowers. Hitting the slopes. If you are a skier and hate the thought of dry, snowless winter, don t despair. There is a plant pathogen that can come to your rescue. When Mother Nature doesn t cooperate and you re speeding down the slopes on artificial snow, take a minute at the end of your run to talk to the owner of your favorite ski slope about how the artificial snow is made. Chances are he/she is using a product called Snomax. The active ingredient in Snomax is a protein derived from Pseudmonas syringae pv. syringae, a bacterial pathogen involved diseases such as bacterial blight of lilac, bacterial canker of stone fruits and bacterial brown spot of snap beans (a personal favorite given that this disease was the subject of my PhD thesis). So while Pseudmonas syringae pv. syringae can wreak havoc in the summer, it can atone for its sins in the winter by helping provide a snowy wonderland for skiers to enjoy. Pathogenic kiss? As you stand under the mistletoe canoodling with your sweetie this holiday season, consider exactly what it is that you are standing under. Mistletoes (there are lots of different kinds) are parasitic seed plants that infect their hosts (usually some type of tree or shrub) and siphon off water, minerals and sugars (as well as other organic compounds) that they use to grow and reproduce. The typical holiday mistletoe is leafy and green and can photosynthesize, so it is not totally reliant on its host for all of its nutritional needs. Other mistletoes are devoid of chlorophyll (the green pigment involved in photosynthesis) and are totally reliant on their parasitized host for water and nutritients. Whichever mistletoe you choose to hang from the rafters, remember the sacrifice of its parasitized host each time you enjoy a clandestine kiss from a loved one. With that, enjoy the holiday season and I ll see you with my next article in the new year. To learn more about common diseases and disease management, explore the Plant Disease Diagnostics Clinic (PDDC) website ( and in particular, check out the University of Wisconsin Garden Facts fact sheets that can be found there. Also, follow the PDDC on Facebook and to receive updates on emerging diseases and their management.

10 SCHOLARSHIPS Deadline: April 1, 2018 The Adams County Master Gardener Volunteers offer a scholarship for post-secondary education to Adams County residents accepted and pursuing related fields of study. Qualifying courses may include: Agriculture Economics, Agriculture Education, Agronomy, Botany, Entomology, Forest Science, Horticulture, Landscape Architecture, Plant Pathology, Soil Science and Wildlife Ecology. For more information or to obtain an application, contact your local high school guidance counselor or Ag. Teacher or online at: fyi.uwex.edu/acmga/scholarships. Contact either Mary Anne Keul, or Donna Bulalog, for further information or to have a copy of the application mailed to you. Applications must be turned into the Extension Office, 569 N. Cedar Street, Suite #3, Adams, WI by April 1, 2018 Adams County UW Extension 569 N Cedar Street, Suite 3 Adams, WI Phone: Fax: lynn.dolata@ces.uwex.edu adams.uwex.edu Be the first to know. Join the Master Gardener Blog at: The University of Wisconsin Extension provides affirmative action and equal opportunity in education, programming and employment for all qualified persons regardless of race, color, gender/sex, creed, disability, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, sexual orientation, pregnancy, marital or parental, arrest or conviction record or veteran status.