Volunteers in Horticulture. Annual Accomplishment Report of the University of Wisconsin Extension Master Gardener Program

Transcription

1 2011 Volunteers in Horticulture Annual Accomplishment Report of the University of Wisconsin Extension Master Gardener Program 1

2 The Wisconsin Master Gardener Program is administered from: The Master Gardener Program Office Department of Horticulture, Room 481 University of Wisconsin Madison, WI Program Coordinator Susan Mahr (608) , Interim Program Assistant Mike Maddox (608) , A full copy of this report is available on the WIMGA website at wimastergardener.org 2

3 Table of Contents Program Highlights for Executive Summary Community Impacts in Special Report: Educating the Next Generation of Gardeners Statistical Report Local Association Narrative Reports Adams County Master Gardeners Ashland-Bayfield County Master Gardeners Barron County Master Gardeners Bluff Country Master Gardeners (La Crosse Co.) Calumet County Master Gardeners Chippewa Valley Master Gardeners Clark County Master Gardeners Columbia County Master Gardeners Crawford Co. Master Gardeners Dodge County Master Gardeners Door County Master Gardeners Dunn County Master Gardeners Eau Claire Area Master Gardeners (Eau Claire Co.) Fond du Lac County Master Gardeners Glacial Gardeners (Florence Co.) Grant County Master Gardeners Iowa County Master Gardeners Jackson County Master Gardeners Jefferson County Master Gardeners Juneau County Master Gardeners Lafayette County Master Gardeners Lake Superior Master Gardeners Madison Area Master Gardeners (Dane Co.) Manitowoc County Master Gardeners Master Gardeners of the North (Oneida Co.) North Central Wisconsin Master Gardeners (Marathon & Lincoln Cos.) North Country Master Gardeners (Burnett, Sawyer & Washburn Cos.) Northeast Wisconsin Master Gardeners (Brown Co. & surrounding area) Northern Lights Master Gardeners (Marinette Co.)

4 Northwoods Master Gardeners (Forest Co.) Outagamie County Master Gardeners Polk County Master Gardeners Portage County Master Gardeners Racine-Kenosha Master Gardeners Range Master Gardeners (Iron Co.) Rock Prairie Master Gardeners (Rock Co.) St. Croix Valley Master Gardeners (Pierce & St. Croix Cos.) Sauk County Master Gardeners Shar-a-Gardeners (Waushara Co.) Sheboygan County Master Gardeners South Central Wisconsin Master Gardeners (Green Co.) Southeast Wisconsin Master Gardeners (Milwaukee & Waukesha Cos.) Thyme Shares Master Gardeners & Friends (Marquette Co.) Vilas County Master Gardeners Walworth County Master Gardeners Washington County Master Gardeners Waupaca County Master Gardeners Winnebago County Master Gardeners Wolf River Master Gardeners (Shawano & Menominee Cos.) Wood County Master Gardeners Local associations that did not submit narrative reports for 2011: Coulee Region (Buffalo, Jackson & Trempealeau Cos.) A Ozaukee Master Gardeners B Rusk County Master Gardeners C Taylor County Master Gardeners D 4

5 Master Gardener Volunteers Make a Difference Program Highlights There are over 3025 trained MGVs who have certified or recertified for Approximately 775 MGVs were trained in 2011 through the MG Program Office and are now working to complete their initial volunteer and certification requirements. Master Gardener Volunteers in Wisconsin contributed 199,500 hours to UW-Extension and their communities in The value of their volunteer service is worth more than $4.27 million* throughout the state. (* using an estimated dollar value of volunteer time of $21.36 per hour as calculated by Independent Sector) 11,589 hours in Youth Education 35,979 hours in Community Education 151,932 hours in Support Services This represents an average of approximately 62 hours of service per volunteer annually. MGVs also participated in 70,978 hours of continuing education hours to keep them actively learning and updated. Outstanding accomplishments in cumulative volunteer efforts through 2011 include: 3,193 with 150 hours of service (267 new this year) 2,022 with 250 hours of service (201) 941 with 500 hours of service (119) 542 with 750 hours of service (63) 347 with 1000 hours of service (46) 63 with 2500 hours of service (4) 15 with 5000 hours of service (0) 2 with hours of service (0) 1 with hours of service (0) 5

6 Executive Summary The seed for the Master Gardener (MG) program was planted in 1972 by Washington State Cooperative Extension. MG Volunteers (MGVs) were trained to extend Extension s outreach to community residents in educating people about horticulture. The MG program began in Wisconsin through the UW- Extension in the late 1970 s. Local MG groups banded together in 1992 to form the Wisconsin Master Gardener Association (WIMGA). The mission of the WIMGA is to support and provide leadership to individual MGVs and local organizations in their mission to assist UW-Extension in community horticultural programs through volunteerism, education and environmental stewardship. The WIMGA is the communication link between MGVs throughout the state and a voice for ideas and issues relating to the MG program. Several members of the WIMGA Board of Directors sit on the WI MG Advisory Committee with UW- Extension Horticulture Specialists and Agents to recommend policy for the MG program. The WIMGA is a statewide organization that supports 53 local MG associations and individual MGVs. WIMGA s Board of Directors is made up of 15 dedicated MGVs, with two Directors from each of the 6 UW-Extension districts plus three Members-At-Large. They meet monthly over the WisLine network and at least twice a year face-to-face. Some of the major accomplishments of WIMGA for 2011 include: Published the WIMGA Annual Accomplishment Report for Conducted the 2011 Annual Meeting in Madison, with approximately 230 MGVs attending. Worked with the WI MG Coordinator on website, bimonthly newsletter and more. Awarded a total of $3,400 in Education Grants to local MG associations: Three $100 grants: Calumet Co. MGA, Shar-a-Gardeners MGA (Waushara Co.), and Vilas Co. MGA. Six $250 grants: Door Co. MGA, Fond du Lac Co. MGA, Grant Co. MGA, Jefferson Co. MGA Vilas Co. MGA, and Washington Co. MGA. Four $400 grants: Dunn Co. MGA (pop-up canopy with MGA name for events); Lake Superior MGA (Permanent labels and markers for garden projects); North Central WI MGA (teaching vegetable garden supplies); Shar-a-Gardeners MGA (laptop computer). Contributed $1,000 to the WI Junior Horticulture Association to help defray the costs of WI youth attending the National Conference and $750 to the National Jr. Hort. Association for program expenses and Contest Sponsorship. Donated $3,000 to the UW-Extension Master Gardener Foundation Fund. Provided $4,000 to Wisconsin Public Television to sponsor The Wisconsin Gardener program. Provided $2,000 to Wisconsin Public Radio to sponsor Larry Meiller s Garden Talk program. Assisted UW-Extension with a booth at Farm Technology Days. The MG Program Office The MG Program Office, housed in the Department of Horticulture on the campus of UW-Madison, is the centralized location for administration of the MG program. The MG Program Coordinator, Dr. Susan Mahr, and Program Assistant Mike Maddox work closely together to plan, organize and implement various projects for MGVs in Wisconsin. The MG Program Office has a close relationship with the WIMGA, and provides support services to WIMGA members, affiliated associations, and all MGVs throughout the state. Susan Mahr (608) semahr@wisc.edu Mike Maddox (608) mike.maddox@ces.uwex.edu 6

7 Activities of the MG Program Coordinator Respond daily to inquiries by phone, or and provide information on the MG program, policies, projects, activities, and training, and general horticulture questions. Update website weekly with calendar of events, horticulture information and timely educational articles. Thirty five educational articles were posted on the MG website (a new title approximately every 10 days). The site structure was refined to make information more accessible. Participate in monthly WIMGA board meetings and twice yearly WI MG Advisory Board meetings and provide updates on progress of various projects and input on issues. Publish bi-monthly (six issue/year) 8-page newsletter that is direct mailed to all members of the WIMGA, each county Extension office and others, or sent electronically upon request. Produce the WIMGA annual accomplishment report. A 64-page report was produced for 2010 and was distributed to all local association board representatives, Extension administrators, and others, with access to anyone as a downloadable file on the MG website. Collect annual volunteer hour reports, tabulate in database, and summarize statistics for reports. Assist WIMGA in planning annual conference, registration forms and publicity materials. Develop program policies. Evaluate and improve training materials. With the retirement of the former Educational Director in the spring, the entire MG Program including all aspects of training was reviewed. With the leadership of the new interim program assistant, a survey of MGVs was conducted and the process of evaluating all facets of the program was started in order to determine needed changes and improvements. Provide program supplies to MGVs and local Associations (name badges, certificates, member cards, banners, displays, etc.). Organize displays for and staff booth for statewide MG Program at Farm Technology Days. The MG Foundation Fund established through the UW Foundation in December 2001 had a market value of over $72,800 (last valued June 30). Provide information about the MG program. Activities of the Former Educational Director The Educational Director provided general training in the spring, including scheduling, preparing and distributing course materials, coordinating fiber-optic and WisLine presentations, until his retirement half way through the course. Activities of the New Program Assistant Assumed responsibility for spring general training after the Educational Director s retirement half way through the course. After this training was overhauled to change the order, structure and focus of the presentations (emphasizing volunteerism), activities were included, a new delivery method was trialed, and program materials were updated for the new Level 1 training offered in the fall as a pilot program to selected counties. Conducted a survey of MGVs about all aspects of the MG Program, including training. Began the process of program evaluation along with the Program Coordinator. This included development of a logic model for the program, starting to include diversity, evaluation, and other topics in program materials and policies, and discussion of long term goals. Participated in continuing horticulture topic updates through weekly WI Horticulture Update teleconferences. Edited and posted the recorded audiofiles to web archives. Assumed responsibility for the monthly MG Brown Bag teleconferences. 7

8 Master Gardener Volunteers Make a Difference Community Impacts Master Gardener Volunteers (MGVs) in the state s 72 counties provide a tremendous resource in solving local issues and providing valued education. Their work has an impact on a wide diversity of people and communities across the state. Assisting UW-Extension with Consumer Horticulture Questions. Barron Co. has implemented an Online Horticulture Hot-Line where plant questions can be submitted online and answered by MGVs with special training to be Plant Health Advisors (PHAs). Dodge Co. residents can avail themselves of MGV expertise through at askamastergardener@att.net. Jefferson Co. MGV PHAs answered questions at the UWEX office twice weekly and wrote the Ask the Master Gardener column for the local newspaper. Manitowoc Co. MGVs staff their Plant Clinic at the UWEX office three times a week to answer homeowner horticulture questions. Members of the North Central WI MGA (Marathon Co.) handled over 300 questions from their Garden Clinic and Garden Line this year. The Rock Prairie MGA has a team of PHAs that answers gardening questions at the Rock Co. UWEX office. Wolf River MGVs took week long shifts to assist the UW-Extension Offices in Shawano and Menominee Counties answering horticultural questions. Providing Valued Education. Eau Claire Area MGA s annual winter seminar Ready, Set, Grow! helped educate 176 attendees on a variety of topics. Over 165 people attended the Outagamie Co. MGA s 5 th annual conference Garden Expectations in March. The Range Masters (Iron Co.) annual fall conference included four specialists teaching 84 northern gardeners. The Wood Co. MGA provides two half-day garden seminars (spring and fall) open to the public. Beautifying Our Communities. Upon completion of the lecture portion of an advanced training class on landscape design at Edgerton Public Library, participants split into teams and worked collaboratively to create and present unique and exciting landscape designs to the library Board to choose from for their planned landscape renovation. Crawford Co. MGVs made several additions to the Prairie du Chien, St. Feriole Memorial Gardens, including a shade garden, grape arbor and circle patio. Juneau Co. MGVs plant and maintain gardens around the historic Boorman House in Mauston. Sheboygan Co. MGVs planted 1,200 aquatic plants in the new wheelchair-accessible fishing pond at Kohler Andrae State Park. The gardens maintained by Wood Co. MGVs at the Marshfield Fair Grounds, located in the center of the fair park and around a wood gazebo donated to the fairgrounds, have trees, shade gardens, alpine gardens, native plants and a spectacular metal urn planting, as well as educational signage. Partnering with Other Organizations. Door Co. MGVs enlisted local businesses as sponsors for their annual Taste of the Garden Door / Pesto Festo event to encourage gardening and healthy eating of fruits and vegetables. The Iowa Co. MGA teamed up with the Uplands Garden Club to share the cost of bringing in an educational speaker that would have otherwise been too costly for either group alone. MGs of the North (Oneida Co.) partnered with the Rhinelander School District to present fall gardening classes, sponsored by local retailers. North Country MGVs (Burnett, Sawyer and Washburn Cos.) joined forces with the Northwood School community education director and the Spooner Garden Club in organizing a spring garden seminar for over 200 people. Restoring Historic Gardens. Sauk Co. MGVs have restored gardens at the Sauk Co. Historical Society in Baraboo and at the Historic Log Cabin Museum in Reedsburg. Wolf River MGVs developed an heirloom rose garden at Heritage Park in Shawano (home to the Shawano Co. Historical Society), choosing cultivars to represent roses early settlers would have brought with them when this area was settled (prior to 1867). 8

9 Working with Inmates. Dunn Co. MGVs assisted with the Dunn Co. Jail Garden Project by helping supervise and assist Huber inmates with planting, weeding and harvesting vegetables, as well as planting some fruit trees for future harvest. Wolf River MGVs assisted inmates at the Shawano Co. Huber Center with planting, maintaining and harvesting a vegetable garden, with the produce used in inmate meals. Assisting Habitat for Humanity. The Outagamie Co. MGA sponsored seven homes in 2011, working on the landscaping for each house and teaching the owners how to maintain the plants and lawns. Portage Co. MGVs designed the landscaping for a Habitat for Humanity house, acquired donated plants, compost and mulch, assisted the residents in planting bushes, perennials and a tree around their new home and educated them on taking care of the new plants. Educating about Composting. Ashland-Bayfield MGVs taught home composting workshops and conducted demonstrations in their communities. Their exhibit on composting won a blue ribbon at the Bayfield Co. Fair. Over 50 residents purchased compost bins and learned the basics of composting from the Columbia Co. MGA. Providing Scholarships to Encourage Students in Horticulture. The Adams Co. MGA awarded their 8 th and 9 th $750 scholarships this year. Calumet Co. MGA provided 5 $500 scholarships to students attending University of Minnesota or UW schools. The Southeast Wisconsin MGA (Milwaukee and Waukesha Cos.) donated money to scholarship funds at MATC, WCTC, UW- Madison, and UW-Stevens Point. Battling Invasive Species. The Ashland-Bayfield MGA co-sponsored a National Public Lands Day event, with presentations on invasive plants. The Chippewa Valley MGA sponsored a specialized training for area MGVs on identifying and controlling problem invasive plants. Supporting Community Gardens. Jackson Co. MGVs held workshops on a variety of topics related to growing vegetables at the Spaulding Road Community Garden in Black River Falls. Jefferson Co. MGVs were instrumental in starting the new Rock River Community Garden and maintained a plot there, with the produce being donated to the food pantry. Sauk Co. MGVs helped create a new community garden in Reedsburg where they will provide educational opportunities to those who rent plots. Washington Co. MGVs manage the Kewaskum Community Garden and work on the West Bend Community Garden in association with the Ozaukee MGA, with the produce from their plot in the latter donated to the local food pantry. Vilas Co. MGVs helped create the Northland Pines community garden with other organizations, teaching the high school ecology class as they started seeds for the garden, and donating produce to the Eagle River Food Pantry. Teaching the Public About Growing Food. Polk Co. MGVs offered classes on vegetable gardening at the Clear Lake Library. The South Central Wisconsin MGA (Green Co.) presented their 4 th annual gardening symposium Gardening Inspirations for All Seasons Fruit Salad from the Garden to inspire people to grow fresh food. The Winnebago Co. MGA co-sponsored the Shared Harvest program to promotes home vegetable gardening and educate and encourage families to plant and grow tomatoes and peppers. Hosting Plant Sales. Northwoods MGVs (Forest Co.) sponsored their 2 nd annual Garden Fair, bringing together many vendors to one spot for gardening enthusiasts to purchase plants of all types. Polk Co. MGVs made succulent dish gardens to sell in addition to flower and vegetable plants at their annual Mother s Day plant sale. The Thyme Shares (Marquette Co.) MGA has a popular annual tree sale that provides homeowners with fruit trees, asparagus, strawberries, grapes and raspberries at reasonable prices. The Southeast Wisconsin MGA s huge annual plant sale generates thousands of dollars each year to support MGV projects, community gardens and multiple scholarships. Clark Co. MGVs organize an annual plant swap for area vendors to trade or sell their divided perennials and extra vegetable and bedding plants. At the Walworth Co. MGA s plant swap, they trade plants for plants, or plants for food donations which go to local food pantries. 9

10 Donations to Local Libraries. Glacial Gardeners (Florence Co.) purchased adult and children s books for a new volunteer library in a small village. Range Master Gardeners (Iron Co.) donated over $250 worth of garden books to libraries in Ironwood, MI and Hurley, WI. Shar-a-Gardeners (Waushara Co.) donated books to every library in the county on pertinent horticultural subjects. Maintaining Demonstration Gardens. Northeast Wisconsin MGVs developed and maintained square foot gardens in local neighborhoods and at the Green Bay Botanical Gardens to educate youth, the Hispanic community, and the general public on growing vegetables in limited spaces. Northern Lights MGVs focused on tomatoes in the vegetable beds at the Harmony Demonstration Garden (Marinette Co.), reaching over 2,000 people through tastings and displays. Racine-Kenosha MGVs maintain a meadow garden based on drought-tolerant perennials near the Town of Norway government building and a much-used public park to demonstrate which plants can thrive in a poor soil environment. Growing Produce for Donation to the Needy. Calumet Co. MGVs renovated and maintained the plantings in several raised beds for the Salvation Army Food Pantry. Lafayette Co. MGVs plant and help maintain the Argyle Community Garden, with the harvest donated to local food pantries. The Lake Superior MGA continues to provide expertise and support for the Solid Rock Garden that provides fresh food for many in need, working every Tuesday afternoon throughout the growing season and involving high school students in work evenings. Besides demonstrating organic vegetable and fruit production, Racine-Kenosha MGA grew and donated more than 1,000 pounds of produce at the Racine Co. Food Bank Teaching Garden. The Thyme Shares (Marquette Co.) MGA s Plant-A-Row for the Hungry program begins in early spring when they prepare packages of seeds, brochures, markers, and an information sheet on how to donate produce that are given away at spring events throughout the area. Enabling and Therapeutic Gardens. Eau Claire Area MGVs and other volunteers built wheelchairaccessible raised beds at the Phoenix Park Community Garden and helped adults with special needs maintain the plants. Northeast Wisconsin MGVs partnered with the Brown Co. Community Treatment Center to designed and established a therapeutic garden in the treatment center s inner courtyard to help connect the local patients with nature. Waupaca Co. MGVs teamed with various organizations to install a reflection garden at Riverside Medical Center in Waupaca. Educational Displays at County Fairs. Columbia Co. MGA s display showcased familiar plants that originated from various parts of the world in keeping with the fair s theme of Around the World. The Grant Co. MGA s booth showcased how to integrate edible and ornamental plants in gardens. Jackson Co. MGVs promoted composting, while the Lafayette Co. MGA had a demonstration of lasagna gardening. In Washington Co., MGVs planned, planted, and staffed several display gardens and educational activities at their fair. Community Gardening Grants. The Bluff Country MGA (La Crosse Co.) gives several annual grants, up to $200 each for a total of $1,200, to help with community projects; one this year went to the Chasing Daylight Animal Shelter in Tomah, with the funds used to buy plants to landscape the new shelter. The Madison Area MGA six grants totaling over $4,750 to organizations ranging from a church that grows vegetables for donation to a local food pantry to an elementary school for installation of a rain garden. Proceeds from their annual plant sale allowed the St. Croix Valley MGA to give $3,500 in grants to 20 organizations to help community gardens including the youth garden at Hudson YMCA, a new flower garden at Hudson Library, a prairie garden at Willow Park, and a rain garden at the Phipps Center for the Arts in Hudson. Improving Landscapes for Lower Maintenance. The Fond du Lac Co. MGA renovated a large flower bed in front of the Fond du Lac Humane Society shelter, planting low-maintenance, drought resistant perennials and grasses to ensure that the garden is not time consuming for the shelter staff and volunteers. 10

11 IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Educating the Next Generation of Gardeners Children have a natural affinity for gardening. Kids love to get dirty and wet, and are fascinated by how things grow. They like to watch insects, create, experiment and be outside. Wisconsin Master Gardener Volunteers (MGVs) are helping introduce wonders of nature and the pleasures of gardening to these young people. MGvs throughout the state work with local K-12 schools on gardening projects to enhance their curriculum; guide their area 4-H groups, FFA or other youth in preparing and displaying horticultural projects; and participate in many other youth gardening projects and programs. Many MGAs have started or help maintain school gardens at elementary, middle and high schools. Fond du Lac Co. MGVs worked with Riverside School planting seeds in the class rooms and transplanting to gardens where kids harvest the produce. Glacial Gardeners (Florence Co.) provided financial and volunteer support to a school that is incorporating fruit trees and vegetable growing on school grounds in order to include fresh produce in school lunches. Iowa Co. MGVs helped cared for the gardens at Dodgeville Middle School. Jefferson Co. MGVs worked with the after school program at Jefferson West Elementary School this summer to create a bird and Houlton School Garden Club St. Croix Valley MGVs assist with the Houlton Elementary School Garden Club, which meets weekly during their noon recess in the spring and fall. Three students from each of the 12 classrooms maintain a perennial flower bed and help plant and harvest fresh vegetables to be used in their cafeteria. Each grade has a planting bed and specific crops, with the 1 st graders growing pumpkins and radishes, while the 3 rd graders plant a 12 ft diameter bed into a pizza garden. butterfly garden, with the children planting native perennials while learning about plant needs, soil types and more. Lake Superior MGVs (Douglas Co.) celebrated the second year of the Cooper Elementary School Learning Garden complete with several raised beds for vegetables, apple and cherry trees, a strawberry patch, and hedges for butterflies and pollinators, as well as a gathering space for outdoor classes and a life size checkerboard with a Harvest Fest that included demonstrations on composting, preparing the garden for winter, and pruning. MGVs in Oneida Co. helped revive and replant a garden at a local elementary school; the highlight was a half-barrel pizza garden planted to look like sauce, cheese, and toppings. Racine-Kenosha MGVs helped 5 th graders build raised beds at the Curtis Strange Elementary School Learning Garden, then provided instruction for planting seeds and plants. In summer, MGVs cared for the garden and donated produce to a food pantry. Once school started, MGVs helped teachers and students harvest food from the beds and create a compost pile. Gardens are constantly changing and highly attractive learning labs, offering numerous opportunities for seeking information, observing changes and nurturing the skills of creativity, problem solving and teamwork. Science and ecology are natural lessons, but the garden can also be used to teach math, reading and writing skills; social studies concepts like foods of other cultures or feeding the homeless; and art skills. Northeast Wisconsin MGVs engaged children in an Arbor Day Program at Franklin Middle School where they learned about the benefits of trees and assisted in planting swamp white oak, ginkgo, and serviceberry trees on their school grounds. Bluff Country MGVs (La 11 Photo by Eric Kramer, East Troy Times

12 Crosse Co.) did an afternoon workshop on vermicomposting with 22 6 th graders who enjoyed hands-on exploration with the worms and learned about recycling food waste into something great in which to grow food. Several Barron Co. MGVs who are also teachers promoted gardening in their classrooms through a sunflower contest, with the largest one receiving a prize from the MGA. MGVs in several counties work with FFA and horticulture students at local high schools. A Bluff Country MGV worked with several Onalaska High School students to plant, maintain using organic methods, and harvest a 1,000 ft 2 vegetable garden, with all the produce donated to the food pantry. Lake Superior (Douglas Co.) MGVs helped 20 Superior Senior High School students learn about planting and garden maintenance, as well as community involvement and life skills, at Solid Rock Community Gardens where the produce grown was donated to the local food pantry. Several FFA members worked under the supervision of South Central WI (Green Co.) MGVs to plant trees on Arbor Day and participate in a village spring clean-up. Education can start even before kids enter school. Chippewa Valley MGVs helped Head Start students prepare and plant a garden on their property with beans and squash. A Crawford Co. MGV started a Toddler Time at the library in Prairie du Chien for ages 9 months to 3 years to share her gardening knowledge and experiences with children. Projects included planting sunflower seeds for the children to take home and care for, planting marigolds in the library s flower beds, and finding pumpkins and apples in the flower beds in the fall. Children love to try new foods, especially when they have grown the food themselves or at least been involved in collecting the food source. A gardening program allows children the opportunity to make food choices based on new experiences and learn about nutrition. When the kids are involved with the growth and care of the vegetables, they are much more willing to try the new fresh grown produce that they pick. Many of them are amazed to see how the plants mature into vegetables like they see in the grocery stores. A typical comment from parents is I couldn t get my kids to eat vegetables before. Now, they re actually eating vegetables! Several MGAs, including Barron Co., Bluff Country (La Crosse Co.), Chippewa Valley, North Country (Burnett, Sawyer and Washburn Cos.), and Winnebago Co. are involved with the Got Dirt? gardening initiative. This Wisconsin Department of Health Services program is designed to create an environment to increase children s physical activities and increase their consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables. Using the Got Dirt? training materials and resources, North Country MGVs initiated school garden projects at Winter School and Spooner Elementary School. Both started with a few after school gardening sessions, but quickly gained support for classroom activities during the school day and the development of an outside raised bed school garden. Now eight area schools have some sort of school garden program, with MGVs providing hands-on teaching to kids both inside the classroom and outside in the gardens, and the school meal programs are incorporating vegetables harvested from the school gardens. A number of MGAs engage youth in growing food through use of micro-farm projects. Columbia Co. MGVs worked at two elementary schools where students learned how seeds grow and planted fast growing greens, such as lettuce, spinach, beets, and herbs. The students tended their garden under grow lights for four weeks, and MGVs helped the student farmers harvest the 12

13 greens and make them into salad. Every child sampled the greens and many said they were going to garden at home because of this experience. Vilas Co. MGVs taught the 10-week Got Veggies? (a youth garden based nutrition program from the WI Dept. of Health Services and Troy Gardens in Madison with the primary goal of getting children to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables) as part of their YMCA Summer Children s Program. Glacial Gardeners built earth boxes to teach children to grow vegetables in limited spaces. Grant Co. MGVs engaged children at the Lancaster Home and Garden Show with a station on starting seeds, showing them how to plant and take home a pot of lettuce. MGVs from the North Central WI MGA (Marathon Co.) taught a series of three sessions on vegetable gardening for children and their parents, where families planted their own take-home Pizza-in-a- Bucket garden with a tomato plant and herbs and vegetables of their choice, learned about square foot gardening and harvesting their produce. Portage Co. MGVs became involved with the Stevens Point YMCA s Growing Together project to create a community garden that would build strong kids, strong families and strong communities. They helped build raised beds, assisted youth with planting, and taught families to grow and use healthy foods they knew they were successful when the 4-5 year old group requested peas that they had planted, tended and harvested as their afternoon snack! Many MGVs work with youth through the 4-H program. Clark Co. MGVs taught a handson workshop for 4-H members on the basics of starting seeds, with participants taking home the tomato seedlings that they transplanted. Dunn Co. MGVs worked with 137 children at the Dunn County 4-H Discovery Day, where they planted seeds in small containers and were asked to keep track of how their plant grew and if they returned their form later in the year they received free ice cream! Members of the Little Elk Creek 4-H club helped plant 200 native plants in a rain garden under the supervision of Dunn Co. MGVs. A Waushara Co. MGV helped the Busy Bee 4-H group develop a flower bed around the Public Library Sign in PoySippi by installing brick edging, filling the area with soil, and planting it. Gardening is a fun way to teach our children many things, encourages children to dream and use their imaginations, and provides a sense of responsibility and accomplishment as their plants grow. Gardening programs outside of schools can promote environmental stewardship, allow children to practice personal growth and social skills, give opportunities for multidisciplinary, active learning, and facilitate science education. MGVs have developed numerous programs to introduce young children to gardening outside of school and 4-H programs. Crawford Co. MGVs offered children s activities at the 2 nd annual Oktoberfest at the Prairie du Chien Memorial Gardens on St. Feriole Island, which included Make It-Take It projects such as creating dried flower arrangements; decorating minipumpkins; and making bird feeders using pine cones, seeds and peanut butter. In Door Co. MGVs have a fun and educational hands-on program for 3rd and 4th graders based on the Wisconsin science and social studies curriculum that teaches biology and Wisconsin history. As 3rd graders students 13 Super Seed Starters Almost 20 4-H members learned from Columbia Co. MGVs how to start seeds at home instead of buying plants commercially. Participants learned how to test seeds for germination, and what seeds need to grow. They made pots out of newspaper, recycled deli containers, and planted seeds in Jiffy-7s and in potting mix. MGVs prepared learning activities for different types of seeds, and had the 4-H members take home and grow a variety of seeds. Hands-on education is a great way to engage kids and adults in horticulture projects!

14 planted six plots in The Garden Next Door, with one plot planted in the Native American tradition of three sisters corn, beans and squash; three pioneer plots planted with the types of vegetables grown by nineteenth-century settlers; and two plots planted with small squash for the students to take home and giant pumpkins to provide fall decoration outside the school doors. The children and their parents were encouraged to help weed and maintain the plots during the summer and in fall, as 4th graders, they harvested their crops to take home. Fond du Lac MGA has had a Junior MG program for years, spanning spring planting and summer garden maintenance, with a variety of activities during this time. Juneau Co. MGVs presented a program a program to children at the Elroy Library teaching them how to plant sunflowers. Sauk Co. MGVs taught underprivileged children at the Kids Ranch to appreciate growing and eating their own vegetables, as well as the beauty and diversity of flowers. MGVs in Milwaukee offer short, one hour classes to area youth through recreation departments, area libraries, scout groups, classrooms, and other venues to teach kids about composting, seeds, veggies, gardening for butterflies, growing healthy foods and more. Walworth Co. MGVs assisted the Michael Field s Agricultural Institute in East Troy with their Little Green Thumb project which teamed high school students with over a hundred 1 st graders to plant and maintain raised gardens both at the Institute and at their school. The Waupaca Co. MGA has three children s gardens, where about 60 children a year learn about gardening from the ground up through 12 week summer programs. Northern Lights MGVs engage kids in various programs in their Children s Learning Garden at the Harmony Demonstration Garden in Marinette where a huge mural depicting native plants and animals fronts a building filled with educational opportunities. Southeast WI MGVs offer a weekly Garden Storytime for the children, their siblings and families staying at the Ronald McDonald House near Children s Hospital of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. When the weather allows they meet in the Secret Garden to learn about seed planting, vegetable gardening, butterfly plants, Wisconsin native plants, trees and bulbs, and more through garden games, poetry and literature. Over 1,400 tomato and pepper plants were adopted by area families at the Farmers Market in Oshkosh, as part of Shared Harvest, a program sponsored in part by the Winnebago Co. MGA Each child got a short lesson on planting and caring for their tomato or pepper and gardeners were encouraged to donate fresh produce to area food pantries. MGVs participate in many other youth gardening projects as well all with the expectation that exposure to gardening at an early age will generate the interest for a lifetime of gardening, enhance an appreciation for the natural world, and increase environmental awareness. And many groups are now using social media the way younger generations communicate to promote the MG program, share information, and showcase their community projects. 14 Fairy Gardens MGVs in Oneida Co. helped children at the Hodag Farmers Market in Rhinelander to plant miniature fairy gardens to take home, giving many their very first garden. The miniature dish gardens included live plants, animal figurines, and other tiny objects and gave each child the experience of caring for their own garden.

15 Statistical Report: 2011 MG Volunteer, Continuing Education and Certification Records This information represents 3250 records submitted by both local MG associations and other counties that are not presently affiliated with the WIMGA. The non-affiliated counties are shaded in the table. All hours are listed as whole numbers. Any fractions were rounded down to the nearest whole number. The Certified MGVs column represent those MGVs who completed the minimum volunteer and continuing education hours required for certification or recertification for The records information in the table below is listed by county. The totals by county are also depicted on page 17. However, some local associations include more than one county and some associations have a name different than their county location. These are designated with an asterisk in the table. Statistical Information for the Wisconsin MG Program, 2011 (as of November 23, 2011) County State Members in 2011 Youth Education Hours Community Education Hours Support Services Hours Total Volunteer Hours Continuing Education Hours Certifi ed for 2012 Adams Ashland* Barron Bayfield* Brown * Burnett * Calumet Chippewa * Clark Columbia Crawford Dane * Dodge Door Douglas * Dunn Eau Claire * Florence * Fond du Lac Forest * Grant Green * Green Lake Iowa Iron * Jackson Jefferson Juneau Kenosha * Kewaunee La Crosse * Lafayette table continued on page 16 15

16 Statistical Information for the Wisconsin MG Program, 2011 (as of November 23) cont. County State Members in 2011 Youth Education Hours Community Education Hours Support Services Hours Total Volunteer Hours Continuing Education Hours Certifi ed for 2012 Langlade Manitowoc Marathon * Marinette * Marquette * Milwaukee * Monroe Oconto Oneida * Outagamie Ozaukee Pierce * Polk Portage Price Racine* Richland Rock * Rusk * Sauk Sawyer * Shawano * Sheboygan St. Croix * Taylor Trempealeau Vernon Vilas Walworth Washburn * Washington Waukesha * Waupaca Waushara * Winnebago Wood TOTALS * part of a multi-county group or one with noncounty name. These counties and their groups are: Brown Co. = Northeast Wisconsin (NEW); also includes members from surrounding counties Burnett, Sawyer and Washburn Counties = North Country MGs Chippewa Co. = Chippewa Valley Dane Co. = Madison Area (MAMGA); includes some members from surrounding counties Douglas Co. = Lake Superior; includes some members from surrounding counties Eau Claire Co. = Eau Claire Area; includes some members from surrounding counties Florence Co. = Glacial Gardeners; includes some members from adjacent counties in Michigan Forest Co. = Northwoods Green Co. = South Central Wisconsin 16

17 Iron Co. = Range Masters; includes members from Gogebic Co., MI Kenosha Co. = part of Racine-Kenosha MGA La Crosse Co. = Bluff Country; includes some members from adjacent counties in Minnesota Marathon Co. = North Central Wisconsin; includes some members from Lincoln Co. Marinette Co. = Northern Lights Marquette Co. = Thyme Shares MGs & Friends Milwaukee Co. = Southeast Wisconsin (SEW); includes members from Waukesha Co. Oneida Co. = Master Gardeners of the North; includes members from surrounding counties Pierce Co. = St. Croix Valley MGs; includes MGs from St. Croix Co. and adjacent counties in Minnesota Rock Co. = Rock Prairie Rusk Co. = North Country Millennium Gardeners Shawano Co. = Wolf River; includes members from Menominee Co. St. Croix Co. = St. Croix Valley MGs; includes MGs from Pierce Co. and adjacent counties in Minnesota Trempealeau Co. = Coulee Region; also includes Buffalo and Jackson Counties Waukesha Co. = Southeast Wisconsin (SEW); includes members from Milwaukee Co. Waushara Co. = Shar-A-Gardeners 1, , , , , ,868 2,400 4,661 1,696 1,327 1,866 4, ,353 5, , , ,794 4,190 4,387 9,301 3, , , ,912 2,271 8,307 3,984 2, ,012 5, ,035 1, ,488 1, ,932 1,881 6,050 3,5417 2, ,070 7,004 4,088 4,503 7,549 3,251 20,921 Total Volunteer Hours for Counties participating in the Wisconsin MG Program, 2011 (as of November 23, 2011) Local MG Association Narrative Reports On the following pages are reports for 49 of the 53 WIMGA-affiliated local MG associations, and one non-affiliated group. These reports include a brief summary of the major activities of each group, highlighting one project in greater detail. These are intended to provide greater detail about local activities than what is included in the executive summary and short list of community impacts.

18 Adams County Master Gardeners We now have 50 members, with 17 certified for hours in youth education 38 hours in community education 909 hours in support service 379 hours in continuing education The Adams Co. MGVA meets monthly with education emphasized. We always invite the general public to participate in the educational lessons. In addition to our winter lessons, we hold tours of member s gardens or community locations. Some of our educational topics included Shade Gardening, Harvesting and Making Maple Syrup (including a pancake and sausage meal with maple syrup!), Starting Plants from Seeds, Building a Garden Workshop, and Starting Plants From Cuttings. During the summer months we hold tours to individual gardens, including the plantings at the Adams Co. Historical Society Museum, Fern Creek Winery and the Griffith Nursery. 1. The Adams Co. MGVA helps maintain plantings at several gardens, parks, and other places. For example, we maintain the flower garden at the McGowan House (at the Adams Co. Historical Society Museum) and planted and maintained the planters around each entrance and walkway at the Moundview Memorial Hospital, and removed buckthorn at the Adams Co. Humane Society. 2. MGVs maintained three 2-mile sections of highway for Adopt a Highway. Last year we collected 80 bags of garbage; this year we only gathered 40 bags and the roadways still look great! 3. We have a small fruit plant and tree sale as a major fundraiser each year in addition to a bulb sale. This year we made $2800 on the plant sale and $300 on the bulb sale. The profits from these events allowed the MGVA to offer scholarships to area youth and to donate landscape plants to a Habitat For Humanity family as well as fund other community activities. This year we awarded our 8th and 9th scholarships; receiving $750 scholarships were Ethan Olson from Adams-Friendship and Ben Babcock from Wisconsin Dells. 4. MGVs volunteer in the gardening section at the Adams Co. Library and maintain the plants there. We donated a copy of Insects of the North Woods by Jeffrey Hahn to the library. 5. We had fun, interactive activities for Kids Day and staffed information booths at Women s Night Out and at the Adams Co. Fair. Highlighted Project: Keep It Native Our theme for this year was Keep It Native where we educated and encouraged members to use plantings native to our area. Members researched and wrote articles for our newsletter which arrives in 266 households. Articles included soils, trees, grasses, and pollinators native to central Wisconsin. The theme continued with talks at an area farmers market. The culmination of our theme was a 20 foot fair booth which had pictures, exhibits and copies of all of our Keep it Native articles to share with fairgoers. MGVs staffed the booth during the fair and interacted with approximately 1000 fairgoers. We gave out seeds, answered questions and drew for door prizes. Two pots of native grasses were given as door prizes. 18

19 Ashland/Bayfield County Master Gardeners There are 36 members in our organization, which includes members from Ashland and Bayfield Counties, with 27 certified for hours in youth education 82 hours in community education 1,401 hours in support service 515 hours in continuing education 1. Co-sponsored a National Public Lands Day Event. The annual National Public Lands Day is coordinated by the National Environmental Education Foundation with support of federal agencies. The day focuses on educating the public about natural resources and shared stewardship in order to improve and enhance public lands. We co-sponsored our event with the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service and others at the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center in Ashland. Participants were involved in a presentation on invasive plants, and worked for over two hours to remove invasive and non-native plants at the nearby Aldo Leopold Native Seed Orchard. The movie Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for Our Time was viewed. Volunteers each received leather gardening gloves, a water bottle and a pizza lunch. (To see photos Google 2011 National Public Lands Day Weed Warriors (Ashland).) 2. Winter-Spring Garden Series and Fall Workshop. This year s annual series at the AERC (Agriculture and Energy Resource Center in Ashland), featured workshops and presentations entitled Let s Make Hypertufa; Primroses and Hoop Houses and Season Extenders. The public was invited to attend, handouts were received and refreshments were served. A fall meeting featured Jason Fischbach, UWEX Ag Agent for our two counties, with a presentation on All Things Allium: Growing Garlic, Leeks, Onions and Decorative Alliums. Handouts and allium bulbs were provided for attendees. 3. Plant Sale and Garden Tours. Our first plant sale took place in early June with members and friends providing plants from their gardens. It was a huge success! Our members enjoyed touring public and private gardens in Bayfield and LaPointe (Madeline Island) with dinner and potted plants (grasses) provided. We had two garden tours in Iron River followed by our annual potluck dinner. 4. Enhancing Our Communities. Members plant, weed, maintain and in some cases, established or rejuvenated gardens, parks and community centers and public walkways from Namakagon, Cable, Iron River, Ashland, Washburn, Bayfield and Madeline Island. Invasive plant eradication was a focus for several projects. A long-time 4-H leader-member has shared his gardening knowledge for many years. He supervises an annual pumpkin-growing-contest with youth of all ages. Other members gave presentations at public events such as Senior Expo where over 1,000 seniors gather each year. Several members opened their gardens to tours for the public. MGVs staffed the Ask the Master Gardeners booth at various events (Bayfield in Bloom and The Farm and Garden Show/Dairy Breakfast). One member coordinated a five-session program with the Cable Natural History Museum entitled Feed Them and They Will Come, which consisted of garden tours in her backyard featuring plants that attract birds, insects and butterflies. Highlighted Project: Master Composter Program We continued the Master Composter Program this year with trained members teaching workshops and conducting demonstrations in our communities. Last year we won a blue ribbon at the Ashland County Fair. This fall we received a blue ribbon and a 100% rating for our exhibit at the Bayfield County Fair. Ashland and Bayfield Counties emphasize environmental stewardship and sustainability. As a result of our educational efforts, we see many more gardeners involved in composting. 19

20 Barron County Master Gardeners There are 51 active members in our association with 39 certified for 2012 and 22 interns. 63 hours in youth education 195 hours in community education 1,651 hours in support service 770 hours in continuing education The Barron Co. MGA is committed to promoting horticulture education in Barron Co. This year s Spring Garden Expo was a success with the help of a WIMGA grant to pay for speakers. The Expo satisfied the quest for knowledge for backyard gardeners looking for the latest plant varieties and vegetable gardeners wishing to grow better crops for their families or expand gardens to sell produce. 1. Several MGVs attended the annual Horticulture Team s in-service with Barron Co. s Horticultural Agent, Tim Jergenson. Their education was put to use during the summer as Plant Health Advisors working in the UW-Extension Office answering phone calls and helping walk-ins. In addition, Barron Co. has implemented an Online Horticulture Hot-Line where plant questions can be submitted online and answered by plant advisors from home. The Horticulture Hot-Line has moved one step further with the help of our Vista Volunteer. The new service, called Plant M.D., is available on the Barron Co. Horticulture website and allows anybody, anywhere, anytime to ask a trained Plant Health Advisor questions. Their subsequent answers can be seen online. 2. BCMGVs also hosted a Plant Clinic in August. Several MGVs assisted Plant Pathologist Dr. Brian Hudelson, who was on hand for two hours to analyze plants for their diseases and suggest remedies. 3. MGVs took part in a rain barrel class. Participants learned how easy it is to capture and re-use rainwater and went home with a rain barrel ready to attach to a downspout,. 4. The area around the new Benjamin s House Homeless Shelter in Rice Lake on Heart Island that opened in the spring of 2011 had been neglected for many years. Five MGVs worked on the gardens throughout the summer, weeding and creating new plantings. Most of the time was spent reclaiming a Meditation Garden near the lake on the north side of the property. With a grant from the BCMGA, a bench was placed in the garden along with stepping stones donated by a MGV. 5. This year the BCMGA published three newsletters with a fourth due out this winter. This newsletter goes out not only to MGs but to anyone who has expressed an interest in horticulture in Barron Co. Highlighted Project: Landscaping at the Barron Co. Pioneer Museum The Barron Co. Pioneer Museum, located near Cameron, has more than 30 buildings representing area history. With the recent addition of a Cultural Arts building, the museum now has facilities available throughout the year. Director Caroline Olson was thrilled that MGVs were willing to take on the museum grounds as a project. In the spring, five MGVs began the major work of waking up the beds of the museum grounds. A year before, one MGV had been instrumental in getting a garden area developed in front of the new Cultural Arts building. Using plants left over from the plant sale, they continued to develop this area. With a passion for history, and a love of gardening, the museum became an outlet for these MGVs. One garden site incorporated history and gardening by creating an herb wheel next to one of the historical houses by planting herbs in different sections of an old wagon wheel. Not only did it receive attention because of its appearance, but the wheel provided an opportunity to educate visitors to the museum about the use of herbs in times past. 20

21 Bluff Country Master Gardeners There are 71 members in this association (which includes members from La Crosse, Trempealeau, Buffalo, Vernon, Monroe and Houston, MN counties), plus 18 interns. Of those 89, 68 are certified for hours in youth education 277 hours in community education 3,223 hours in support service 1,279 hours in continuing education This year we participated in over 85 different projects, presentations, and events, including 24 youth projects and beautification of numerous public spaces in various communities. We are very proud of our annual grants, up to $200 each, given to members to help with a community project consistent with our mission. We gave out $1,200 this year. One project this year was for the Chasing Daylight Animal Shelter in Tomah, WI, with the funds used to buy plants to landscape the new shelter. In addition to the grants, we award a $500 scholarship to a student in Landscape Design at Western Technical College. 1. Lakeview Medical Center is a facility for the mentally challenged in our community. When we started at Lakeview, the courtyards and gardens were not kept up and very unattractive. In the past six years we planted and maintained approximately 8 gardens large and small. Staff members and guests have given us very positive feedback over the transformation we have accomplished. This year we added a new garden by the entrance. 2. Hixon House is a local historical home, owned and maintained by the La Crosse Historical Society. Care is taken to maintain the time period of the Hixon House gardens (circa 1910) and so heirloom tomato plants from Seed Savers in Decorah, Iowa were planted in the new vegetable garden. Special projects this year included replacing barberry shrubs in the border around the formal garden, remulching the formal garden, beginning a new vegetable garden, creating a new sweet pea planter, and a much needed thinning of the side gardens. 3. Kane Street Gardens is a local community garden in La Crosse that is annually planted and maintained by a large group of volunteers, including several MGVs. In addition to helping prepare, plant, water, weed and harvest the garden, MGVs act as a resource of information, skills, and basic garden knowledge and share this with all the other volunteers. 4. Our Spring Into Gardening is a successful annual educational workshop for our membership and the public. In 2011 Pam Duthie was our keynote speaker, and we also offered 5 smaller workshops, 3 of which were presented by our MGVs. With almost 200 people enjoying a winter holiday indoors, we all had a great time and learned something too! Highlighted Project: Riverside International Friendship Garden This year we completed our 5th garden in the Riverside International Friendship Gardens, in La Crosse. Our Norwegian Garden honors La Crosse s sister city, Forde, Norway. Forde is located in the part of Norway known for its many waterfalls, so it was essential that our Norwegian garden include waterfalls. One of the most famous waterfalls near Forde is called Huldefossen, named for the legend of the beautiful woman who lived in the mountain and would entice men into the forest. Other features in the Norwegian garden include the unique fencing, surrounded by rhubarb, strawberries, blueberries, and other plants one might find on a typical farm in Norway. One can enter the garden through the beautiful torvtak, reminiscent of the many sod-roofed structures still found throughout Norway. The goat on the roof is a beautiful weather vane. 21

22 Calumet County Master Gardeners Our membership has remained constant at 40 members, with 37 recertified for hours in youth education 529 hours in community education 1,546 hours in support service 546 hours in continuing education We have tried to make our meetings fun, educational and relaxing. We continue to have our Board Meeting right before the membership meeting and have found that to be very productive as our attendance at meetings has increased. We usually have some training and/or an educational program every month to encourage attendance. Our fun project of planting thirty different kinds of dried beans was very successful and we displayed them at our County Fair over Labor Day Weekend. We created a cookbook with all bean recipes to go along with the display. 1. Our annual plant sale, held on May 21, was again a huge success. This is our major funding effort of the year and the proceeds go towards our scholarship program, funding for our yearly educational events, and library book donations for our three local public libraries. This year we awarded five $500 scholarships. Two were new scholarships one being awarded to a young lady attending the University of Minnesota and the other to a young man attending UW-Stevens Point. The other three scholarships were renewals for two young men attending UW-River Falls and one young lady attending UW-Platteville. 2. We continue to plant and maintain numerous flower beds around the county including the City of Chilton, Calumet Co. Courthouse, Calumet Co. Fairgrounds, Homestead Care Center flower beds and the Optimist Riverwalk Beds. 3. We continue with the ongoing battle of control of purple loosestrife in Calumet Co., sometimes feeling it is a losing battle, as we get one area under control and then another new area appears. 4. Several MGVs are involved with the Chilton Tree Board and also with the Chilton School District, assisting with the school forest and establishment of a prairie area and long range planning. 5. Our membership enjoys the yearly event of our county fair, working with the youth and judges on the entry days and then staffing our MG booth to answer all kinds of questions from fair attendees. Highlighted Project: Salvation Army Vegetable Garden Several years ago our MGA had built and planted some raised beds behind what is now the Salvation Army Food Pantry, but the beds had been neglected for several years. The Director of Salvation Army of Chilton contacted one of our MGVs to request help with the beds. The beds were loaded with weeds, which we got under control, and then we tilled and prepared the beds for planting with the help of a few teenagers. New soil was added to each of the six beds as well. MGVs planted the beds with tomatoes, peppers, squash, broccoli, kohlrabi and cucumbers to provide a variety of fresh vegetables to be harvested by the volunteers at Salvation Army. Being in a microclimate between two buildings, the tomatoes and peppers did extremely well but the broccoli did poorly, quickly bolting. The zucchini plants produced such a bumper crop that two of the plants were removed before the season was in full swing. Overall it was a productive activity and MGVs got good experience in garden maintenance. Based on this experience, next year we will focus on warm-season crops that thrive in this location. We plan to have two beds devoted to tomatoes and two for peppers, including both bell and hot peppers. We will continue to plant cucumbers and zucchini, but will also add some bush acorn and butternut squash. 22

23 Chippewa Valley Master Gardeners There are 40 members in our association, including 16 newly certified for 2012 and 6 currently in training. A total of 32 are certified for hours in youth education 454 hours in community education 1,331 hours in support service 432 hours in continuing education The Chippewa Valley MGA is in the process of reviewing the organization s activities and charting a course for the future. To help focus our efforts, four goals have been set: a) Encourage MGVs to be active in the organization and become involved in a variety of volunteer opportunities; b) Provide research-based educational opportunities for members and area residents; c) Promote environmental stewardship by advocating the use of sustainable horticultural practices; d) Support UW-Extension by sharing skills with the public. At our annual business meeting in November, we will list projects and programs under each goal and form standing and project committees to help reach the goals. Adding educational components to all projects is a priority. 1. As interest in community gardens are growing in Chippewa Co., we sponsored a plot for a local family. MGVs also helped Head Start students prepare and plant a garden with beans and squash. 2. This year s Think Spring Garden Seminar drew nearly 200 people including attendees, volunteers, and vendors. The keynote speaker was Jeff Gillman who presented sessions on The Truth about Garden Remedies and The Truth about Organic Gardening. Since the Chippewa Valley endured late spring frosts, hopefully, Susan Frame s Extending Your Growing Season proved useful in A workshop, Create Your Own Succulent Dish Garden, was also popular. The seminar was a welcome green note in a long, snowy winter. 3. Booths continue to be a way to promote the MG Program. This year CVMGA had a booth at the Northern Wisconsin State Fair and sent volunteers to the MG Program booth at Farm Tech Days. 4. CVMGA monitored 36 bluebird nest boxes along area bike trails. In spite of a cold spring that delayed nesting and an unusually hot summer, 78 bluebirds were fledged in Highlighted Project: Invasive Species Programming As interest in more natural landscapes and reclamation and restoration grows, invasive species impact our own spaces as well as public lands. Part of land stewardship is the ability to identify and avoid the introduction of invasive species. Another responsibility of MGVs is to suggest native species that are positive alternatives to exotic plants such as burning bushes and Asian honeysuckles. CVMGA volunteers developed a PowerPoint presentation on Living with Invasives that was part of MG training in Chippewa and Barron Counties. The CVMGA sponsored the 2011 Western District MGA Specialized Training that involved identifying and controlling problem invasive plants. Attendees were given a copy of the Field Guide to Terrestrial Invasive Plants of Wisconsin and provided with a Bag a Buckthorn activity to use with upper elementary school students. Three members of CVMGA were also involved with Irvine Park s Native Tree Project throughout the past year. Along with planting, identifying, watering, and mulching young trees, the project involved the removal of non-native invasive understory trees such as buckthorn and Asian honeysuckles. Volunteers also assisted Friends of Lake Wissota State Park in identifying, surveying, and pulling garlic mustard at Wissota State Park campgrounds and trails in early May. 23

24 Clark County Master Gardeners There are 27 members in our association with 21 certified for There were nine participants in the general training class in 2011, and two have completed the requirements for certification. 92 hours in youth education 168 hours in community education 1,092 hours in support service 588 hours in continuing education The Clark Co. MGA formed as an organization open to the public called Over the Garden Gate. While we encourage everyone to become a MGV, anyone who enjoys gardening is welcome at our meetings. We meet the fourth Monday of the month at the Clark Co. Courthouse at 6:00 p.m. 1. Ask the Master Gardener sessions continued this summer. MGVs are available every other Wednesday from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. to answer horticulture questions from the public as well as questions received by the UW-Extension Agent throughout the week. We noted an increase in questions from last year. 2. Two of our members participated in composting training and held composting workshops complete with demonstrations. These were open to the public at no charge and will be offered again next year. They also made several rain barrels and sold them for $20 each as a fundraiser for our group. 3. We sponsored two free educational opportunities for the public and fellow MGVs. In April the Wood Co. Horticultural Educator, Teri Lessig, presented a hands-on pruning workshop at the Neillsville Library, and in August, Dr. Brian Hudelson, Disease Diagnostician at the UW-Madison, presented a program on plant diseases and diagnosis. Both events were well attended. 4. In July, our group sponsored a bus tour for members and the public to the Allen Centennial Gardens in Madison and the Flower Factory in Stoughton. Everyone participating is eager to find out where we ll go next year. 5. We offered two educational opportunities for 4-H members to help participants with their horticulture projects for the fair. In late winter, two of our members conducted a hands-on workshop in seed starting. In early summer, two volunteers gave 4-H members tips and suggestions for choosing and displaying their vegetable and flower projects at the fair. Special emphasis was placed on closely following the entry specifications. Highlighted Project: Plant Swap Our annual plant swap, held the Saturday before Mother s Day, is an event that serious gardeners in Clark County look forward to with excitement and anticipation. Vendors appreciate the chance to swap or sell their divided perennials and extra vegetable and bedding plants, and customers are waiting in line for the doors to open at 7:30 a.m. so they can buy top quality plants at less than nursery prices. Garden art, furniture, bluebird houses, and numerous preplanted containers and hanging baskets sell so quickly that by 10:30, most vendors have little left to take home. The swap is not a fundraiser for our group, but rather a public service. We reserve the building, set up tables, advertise, contact vendors, collect boxes, and provide wagons and set-up help. We also display our MGV story board, and provide literature about Master Gardener training, composting, and rain barrels, in addition to answering gardening questions. Various 4-H groups take turns providing refreshments each year as their fundraiser. 24

25 Columbia County Master Gardeners There are 45 members in the association, with six newly certified in General training was conducted again in 2011, with 10 participants. 56 hours in youth education 47 hours in community education 1,196 hours in support service 551 hours in continuing education CCMGA meets monthly, with the exception of December. Most meetings include a brief business session, followed by an educational speaker. Instead of our usual tour of members gardens in June, the group visited the DC Smith Greenhouse and the Allen Centennial Gardens on the UW-Madison campus. In May the group hosts a potting party to help 4-H club members create planters for beautifying the county fairgrounds. This year, several members presented information on container gardening before turning the members loose to choose plants. 1. Over 50 county residents purchased compost bins and learned the basics of composting from CCMGA. MGVs partnered with two other county departments to promote the sale and educational effort. MGVs created posters and contacted every municipality in the county to publicize the sale. 2. MGVs taught 20 Extension Home and Community Educators (HCE) a lesson about new ways to garden. They included tools to make gardening easier, discussed the pros and cons of new garden products, the basics of square foot gardening and raised beds. HCE members then return to their local clubs to present the lesson, so this information potentially reached 220 county residents. 3. CCMGA presented its 4th annual Gardener s Field Day in March. Each year the group selects a theme for the event, and this year it was Backyard Wildlife: the Good, the Bad and the Unwanted. A new feature of the Field Day was to include some hands-on activities, so participants were able to make bird houses and mason bee houses to take home. 4. Columbia Co. MGVs provide valuable leadership and support to many other horticultural efforts in the county. Goose Pond Sanctuary, Arlington Research Station, Historic Indian Agency House, farmers markets, community gardens, and others all benefit from MGV participation in planning programs, providing educational programs, identifying weeds, organizing tours, and more. Highlighted Project: Columbia Co. Fair CCMGA members play several roles in making the Columbia County Fair educational, colorful, and motivating for youth and adults. In addition to teaching 4-H members how to create planters to beautify the fairgrounds, each year an educational booth is created for the floral exhibit area. This year, the fair board had selected the theme Around the World so the MGVs narrowed that to Around the World in Your Backyard, showcasing familiar plants that originated from various parts of the world. Actual specimens and a map were used to create an interesting display. Members staff the display during the fair, answering horticulture questions and promoting the MG program. A traditional part of any fair is the competition of entering your best produce or flowers, and CCMGA annually selects Gardeners Choice winners, who receive plaques and cash awards during the fair s Parade of Champions. In the Junior Class division, a top choice is made in both Vegetables and Flowers to give youth additional encouragement to grow and enter projects, and in the Open Class division, there is one winner that can be any arrangement, plant, or specimen flower. This year, the superintendant of the open class department, was hospitalized unexpectedly right before the fair. An to the list-serve rallied many helpful volunteers who carried on her duties, including entries, judging and results. CCMGA feels that visibility at the fair is one of our best promotion efforts. 25

26 Crawford County Master Gardeners The Crawford County Master Gardeners Association has 28 members, with 16 certified for hours in youth education 235 hours in community education 1,738 hours in support service 489 hours in continuing education The Association did a survey of its members and changed the meeting date to the second Tuesday of the month hoping to include those members who weren t able to meet on the first Thursday of the month. This past summer, several garden tours were planned. Tours included: Five Special Gardens in Bloomington, WI held by the Grant Co. MGA; Gardens at the Crawford Co. Courthouse and the gardens at St. John s Catholic Church in Prairie du Chien. 1. MGVs made several additions to the Prairie du Chien, St. Feriole Memorial Gardens this year. A new shade garden was planted with several types of hosta, coral bells, astilbe and ferns on the south end of the gardens. A platform was built for a bench under the shade trees. After the Mississippi River spring floods, a new grape arbor was created to replace another arbor. A circle patio was built with paver bricks and wrought iron tables were placed on the patio. The patio has been used for a couple of small weddings. In the Children s Garden, a new in-ground checkerboard was laid in time for the Oktoberfest held October Each year MGVs staff a booth at both the Home and Garden Show held at the National Guard Armory in Prairie du Chien and at the Crawford Co. Fair, Gays Mills, where they answer questions. 3. With the help of a Girl Scout Troop, MGVs landscaped with flowers the new Veteran s Memorial at the Old Rock School on Highway 18 coming into Prairie du Chien. 4. MGVs tended gardens at several sites including government buildings, churches, the Villa Louis Historical Site and other gardens on St. Feriole Island. 5. The second annual Oktoberfest was held on October 15 at the Prairie du Chien Memorial Gardens on St. Feriole Island. MGVs offered children s activities which included Make It-Take It projects such as creating dried flower arrangements using donated items; decorating mini-pumpkins; making bird feeders using pine cones, seeds and peanut butter; and Halloween bats and ghosts. A maze made of straw bales was created for children to either walk or ride through. Scarecrows made by MGVs, community organizations, and businesses were displayed in the Memorial Gardens. Highlighted Project: Bluff View Middle School Garden Before Lisa Lewke-Rogers became a MGV, there was a large area outside the Bluff View Middle School that was mostly dirt, a few weeds and a lot of garbage. It was a depressing way to begin and end your day. When Lisa became a MGV, she enlisted the help of several friends and students to create a school garden as a community project. Truckloads of leaves and chicken manure were brought in to amend the sandy soil. Friends donated plant divisions and students brought packages of annuals. A group of students and Lisa planted all the plants. The students helped carry buckets of water out of the school and as the little plants began to grow, the students began to take ownership of the space. Now twelve years later, the garden is a lot more self-sufficient. Over the years two other MGVs and Lisa s husband have been great volunteers. The original student helpers still ask about the garden and come over to see it. They are now starting to bring their children to come see the garden that they helped to start. That was the plan all along, to create a beautiful space that everyone can enjoy for years to come. 26

27 Dodge County Master Gardeners In 2011 we added two new members for a total of 42 MGVs. Twenty six are certified for hours in youth education 166 hours in community education 1,645 hours in support service 1,439 hours in continuing education Our meetings are held January through October at 6:30 p.m. on the fourth Thursday of each month at our county administration office in Juneau. The meetings are educational programs with speakers covering a range of topics. The programs are free and the public is always welcome to attend. Members are kept informed through s and our newsletter, Digging in Dodge. Webpages are maintained at both the state MG Program and Dodge Co. UW-Extension websites for members and the public. 1. Dodge County MGVs stepped up efforts to make our annual plant sale a success. Many volunteers participated in a major plant dig removing, repotting and labeling plants for the sale. Three new signs were painted to advertise the event. 2. Area residents can avail themselves of MGV expertise through at askamastergardener@att. net. Two county newspapers run a biweekly Ask a Master Gardener column in which a variety of questions are answered by MGVs. 3. Members successfully undertook the massive Clearview Garden relocation project along with the regular maintenance of theses gardens. 4. A number of members again staffed booths at the Beaver Dam and Waupun Home Shows, and Old Time Gathering. We displayed pictures of our projects, offered informational material, answered gardening questions, and provided educational activities for the benefit of the community. 5. MGVs gave educational presentations and demonstrations on a range of topics to various organizations and groups, wrote informational articles for a local newspaper on a monthly basis, worked with group homes and schools providing landscaping and gardening education, and continued to work on previously established beautification projects, including the gardens at the Seippel Center Homestead and Center for the Arts, Mayville Historical Society Gardens, Horicon Satterlee Clark Historical Garden, Mayville and Beaver Dam Senior Centers, Neosho Old Village Hall Museum, as well as numerous schools, churches, libraries, public parks and city planters. Highlighted Project: Solve a Landscape Problem Workshop The Dodge Co. MGA sponsored a Solve a Landscape Problem Workshop in May Applicants submitted photos of their home landscaping problems as well as details about size, orientation, soil types, drainage, and problem issues. The project provided an excellent opportunity for MGA involvement with seven clients in six different communities in Dodge Co. MGVs teamed up to tackle projects including an overgrown front yard that needed updating; a very dry, sloping, overgrown back yard area that needed beautification; a front and side area of a home of a busy mother of three with minimal time for maintenance; an overgrown side yard of an elderly couple with limited mobility; a very dry, long-neglected area along a mobile home; a fragmented, unmatched side yard with a drainage problem; and an area surrounding a new deck. Final plans were presented to the clients at the May 26th regularly scheduled meeting. In the press release announcing the meeting, the offer was also made to help a limited number of walk-ins with their landscaping problems. Several clients took advantage of that opportunity and MGVs were on hand to answer questions and help those individuals. Each client gave overwhelmingly positive feedback and asked if the workshop was going to be repeated soon! 27

28 Door County Master Gardeners In 2011, we had 92 returning members and 11 new members who completed training in 2011 for a total of 103 members, with 87 certified for hours in youth education 180 hours in community education 6,340 hours in support service 2,481 hours in continuing education This year our education programs emphasized stewardship of the environment. Programs of note were Roy Diblik, emphasizing low maintenance garden design, Cliff Orsted on landscaping with native plants, Phil Pellitteri on insects in the garden, Roy Lukes on birds, and Roger Kuhns on sustainability and local geology. We invited Wild Ones, as well as the general public, to our programs. We had attendees at each program. As an organization, we joined and committed to making a significant annual donation to Crossroads at Big Creek, a local environmental education organization. In return, we use their auditorium and AV equipment for our free public programs. 1. This year we participated in the Door Co. Builders Association Show with both a booth and a member giving a presentation on grasses. We had a video loop of our youth program, information on our educational programs and information on events at The Garden Door, as well as general information about Door Co. MGA and The Garden Door. 2. We continually make an effort to publicize what we do, working on getting information on our events in the Door Co. Visitors Bureau publications and website. This year we were contacted by the Visitor s Center to submit information on our main events so they can be published. 3. Our Youth Committee received a $400 WIMGA grant to help fund our youth gardening program. Last spring third grader students had planted six plots in The Garden Next Door as part of our Youth Program. This year totes were purchased for the now fourth grade students to take home the produce they harvested this fall. 4. A Legislative Open House was held at the Peninsular Research Station in August to highlight the importance of the station to the local growers and through them, to tourism. We gave a brief presentation on the importance of the station and The Garden Door and promoted the number of tours, events and visitors we have there. 5. As a result of our goal setting process this summer, the DCMGA established an Awards Committee to both recognize the effort put in by our members and to encourage greater participation by more members. Some of the many ideas proposed at the first committee meeting will become reality at our annual banquet and other MG gatherings. Highlighted Project: Partnering with Others for Taste of the Garden Door / Pesto Festo The Door Co. MGVs try to include and partner with others in the community for our activities. For our annual Taste of The Garden Door/Pesto Festo we have enlisted sponsors who support our efforts to encourage gardening and healthy eating of fruits and vegetables. This year we had six sponsors: The Oilerie of Fish Creek, Door Co. Coffee & Tea, Cornucopia, Ministry Door Co. Medical Center, Maas Floral and Briggsville Gardens. Next year we hope to increase the number of sponsors for this event. The Oilerie also had a booth at The Taste that provided samples of sautéed veggies for our visitors. Some of these sponsors, as well as other community businesses and members, provided the prizes for the Pesto Festo. Judges for the Pesto Festo are community members or special guests. And of course we have both DCMGA members and community members enter their best pesto recipes in hopes of being one of our prize winners. This year we had around 500 visitors at this event. 28

29 Dunn County Master Gardeners The Dunn Co. MGA had 29 dues paying members in Thirteen people from the spring General Training class became association members. 82 hours in youth education 84 hours in community education 1,161 hours in support service 439 hours in continuing education DCMGA celebrated our first year anniversary as an official MG Association in September. We met at the garden of Denny Kropp, past mayor of Menomonie, who takes care of several gardens in city parks in Menomonie. Our diverse membership includes people with an interest in agriculture and farming, home gardens and flowers. Our members are involved in 28 different projects, as well as organizing our first spring seminar, our first spring plant sale, and evening seminars on fruit production. We are in the process of forming committees to handle the basic organization to be more efficient. 1. Plant sale at the Dunn Co. Dairy Breakfast. The dairy hosting this event featured a robotic milker so it was very well attended, which helped to introduce our new organization to a much wider audience. We sold many plants, but was also an opportunity to promote the MG Program. Many people expressed interest in upcoming training. 2. Spring Seminar. In March we held our first spring seminar with 69 people attending. Our half day seminar featured three speakers, one vendor and our membership provided treats. This was a learning experience the event went smoothly but we have decided that there really wasn t enough time for questions and discussions, so we will have only two speakers next time. 3. Jail Garden. Several of our members assisted with the Dunn Co. Jail Garden Project by consulting about soil amendments, helping supervise and assist with Huber inmates with planting, weeding and harvesting the vegetables, as well as planting some fruit trees for future harvest. The produce was used by the jail for inmate meals but some food also went to the local food pantry. 4. Garden Tour for Stepping Stones (our local food pantry, homeless shelter, home health help). Five of our members assisted with this annual Garden Tour this year. It was also a good opportunity to distribute information about the MGA and opportunities for becoming a volunteer. 5. Help with Gardens. Our members helped maintain many gardens in the area. Although these projects do help improve the visibility of the MGA, we plan to try to reduce these types of service activities in order to focus on education in the future. Highlighted Project: Dunn County 4-H Discovery Days The Dunn County MGVs had a table at the Dunn Co. 4-H Discovery Day on April 9. Over 135 children (ages 3 to 16) planted 2 seeds each into empty pudding cups (donated by ConAgra Foods, Swiss Miss). We had 4 different types of seeds for the children to look at and choose from. We also had 4 different colored smiley faced stickers for the kids to mark their cups so they would know which seed was in each container (tomatoes red / peppers green / marigold yellow / zinnia pink). Each child was given a form with some directions to care for their seeds and asked to keep some records for us. If they returned the completed form to us at the Farmers Market during the Dunn Co. Fair or to the Dunn Co. UW-Extension Office that week they were given a token for a free Dilly Bar which was donated by the Dairy Queen in Menomonie. Our costs were minimal, amounting to only 18 cents per child because of all the donated items. 29

30 Eau Claire Area Master Gardeners The Eau Claire Area MGVA (ECAMGVA) has 79 members from Buffalo, Chippewa, Dunn, Eau Claire, Pepin, and Trempealeau counties, with 58 certified for Two general training sessions were held in hours in youth education 642 hours in community education 3,517 hours in support service 1,158 hours in continuing education Our volunteers organized monthly educational presentations for the general public and membership. We stay informed through the monthly newsletter and Board meetings and website and updates. 1. The Landscape Design Committee worked with Boy Scout Kaleb Spindler at the ECAMGVA Demonstration Gardens at the Eau Claire Co. Exposition Center as he completed a project required to gain the rank of Eagle Scout. Kaleb submitted an original design for trellises to be placed in the new daylily garden. He not only built three of his unique trellises, but also sought donations for trail surface mix to improve the garden path system. Kaleb and a crew of about 10 others were able to re-surface well over half of our paths, including the enabling garden area. The crew also had a compactor to give a firm surface to the paths. 2. The ECAMGVA and the American Cancer Society (ACS) joined together to create a Garden of Hope. Over 30 MGVs and cancer survivors gathered at the Eau Claire Co. Exposition Center for a dedication reception to honor the Garden of Hope s first growing season. With 800 daffodils spelling out the word HOPE, Eau Claire joins other communities across the US that have planted a Garden of Hope with daffodils arranged in the same manner. 3. The ECAMGA sponsored their first fundraising raffle to support programming in horticulture education and environmental stewardship. As a 501(c)(3) organization, our raffle tickets are tax deductible. Prizes included two quilts (made by ECAMGVs), two Leopold benches (constructed by ECAMGVs), a compost bin, a bluebird house, and a photograph. 1,640 tickets were sold and after expenses the association raised nearly $950! 4. The annual Winter Garden Seminar: Ready, Set, Grow! helped to educate 176 attendees on topics such as landscaping, water resource issues, composting, daylily and peony care, butterfly habitat, and garden photography. 5. The Ask-A-Master-Gardener booth continued this year at the Eau Claire Downtown Farmer s Market every Saturday morning. Eight MGVs staffed the booth for over 150 hours. Highlighted Project: Enabling Gardens at Phoenix Park Community Gardens MGV Intern Karen J. Olson and City Council Member Andrew Werthmann teamed up to build seven raised beds at the Phoenix Park Community Garden location. Over 75 community volunteers came together this spring to make the beds and brick pathways to ready the gardens. The UW-Eau Claire Best Buddies group (a group of college students who pair with adults with special needs in the community in one-on-one friendships) and MGVs maintained the beds throughout the growing season. They grew herbs that were donated to the Community Table and the Campus Kitchen Project. Several community organizations donated time and supplies for this project. 30

31 Fond du Lac County Master Gardeners We have 59 active members, plus 11 new members who took general training last spring. 166 in youth education 302 hours in community education 3,544 hours in support service 2,068 hours in continuing education The Fond du Lac MGVs meet the second Tuesday of the month. We are very active within the community, working with schools, the City of Fond du Lac, the UW campus flower beds, the Fond du Lac Co. Fair, veterans parks, senior center, Prairie Fest, churches, and other worthwhile projects. 1. This spring the Fond du Lac Public Library requested help in designing and planting the current beds near the main entrance. Three of our members took on this project which included general spring clean-up, mulching the beds, acquiring two urns to place near the main entrance and planting them with seasonal items several times a year. Our MGA helped with the funding of this project and in turn the library staff handed out fliers at the library for our plant sale. 2. We renovated a large flower bed in front of the Fond du Lac Humane Society shelter, removing extensive weeds and planting drought resistant perennials and grasses. Low maintenance plants were selected to ensure that the garden is not time consuming for the shelter staff and volunteers. 3. The first thing one sees upon entering Pier Elementary School is the courtyard garden, with an explosion of plant life. This micro-climate cottage garden has inspired everyone who sees it. The I-spy feature, which teachers have integrated into their curriculum, has engaged the students and increased their learning. A MGV rearranges the I-spy items weekly and adds new things regularly. 4. Our Horticulture Helpline was busy again this year with phone coverage three days per week from April 11 through September 30. Our team of seven MGVs responded to 118 phone calls and 37 ed questions. The major issues for the growing season were disease and growing conditions. 5. In addition to the planting and maintenance of the annuals and perennials at the Free Spirit Garden, this year we put four truck loads of wood chips over newspapers around the perennials. Also, with the WIMGA grant we received, we purchased some pavers and edged the paths with them. Highlighted Project: Junior Master Gardeners Our Junior Master Gardener program (the first in Wisconsin) has been ongoing every year since We have a great base group of MGVs who comes in for the March, April and May sessions to help the kids plan the garden and participate in the planting. After school is out, kids from the Boys and Girls Club come weekly to help with garden maintenance and pick fresh produce which we then prepare as a healthy snack. At one of their last meetings, we have them prepare a celebration day and invite all the staff from UW-Extension to partake in a healthy lunch. Later in summer, we help them with the final harvest and then take the garden produce to a local food pantry. When the kids are involved with the growth and care of the vegetables, they are much more willing to try the new fresh grown produce that they pick. Many of them are amazed to see how the plants mature into vegetables like they see in the grocery stores. This program has now been moved into local schools and nature centers. Some teachers are utilizing gardening in their curriculum, while produce has also been used in the school s cafeteria and the pumpkins they grew were used as fall decorations in the school. This year we took the JMGs on a field trip to Madison. First stop was the West Madison Research Station where they toured the grounds and trial gardens with all the varieties of vegetables and flowers. Then we went to Olbrich Gardens, where we toured the butterfly exhibit and some of the beautiful gardens. 31

32 Glacial Gardeners Glacial Gardeners Master Gardener Volunteer Association had 27 members in Twenty-four are certified Wisconsin MGVs, two are Friends of MGs, one a Junior GG Associate, and one is a Michigan MG planning to switch over to Wisconsin. 85 hours in youth education 718 hours in community education 2,064 hours in support service 434 hours in continuing education Glacial Gardeners includes members from two counties in Michigan (Iron and Dickinson) and two counties in Wisconsin (Florence and some of Marinette). We are located in a very rural, low population part of the state. We work as a unit on many projects and break into smaller groups or as individuals on others. This past year, in spite of low membership, we were able to purchase an over-the-main-street banner to advertise our annual plant sale, maintain a number of community plantings including two native species gardens, support the local MGV training with speakers, and many other projects, as well as taking an active role in supporting the planning of the 2012 WIMGA conference. In order to help members with continuing education and to retain membership, we toured member s gardens, held a plant auction with earned Funny Money, and had two speakers at winter meetings. 1. Partially funded the Summer Horticulture Assistant position at Florence County UW-Extension. 2. Purchased adult and children s gardening books for a new volunteer library in a small village. 3. Assisted Summer Horticulture Assistant with Therapeutic Horticulture classes using living/dried natural items to create crafts such as dried-flower bookmarks and cards, pinecone birdfeeders at a local senior living center. This project will continue through the coming winter. 4. Grow from seed, cuttings, by division and whatever method available, over 1,000 plants for our annual fundraiser plant sale which is our major fundraiser. We also participate in a local paper s 50/50 ad which brings in revenue to support our programs. 5. Provided leadership and volunteers for the North Stars Garden Conference in conjunction with area garden clubs and individuals. We had a craft night where garden art was created to be displayed at next year s conference. Highlighted Project: Growing a Younger Generation of Gardeners As our population ages, it is important to involve younger people in gardening. Our Gardening With Children grant program provided $675 to four organizations. Projects included building earth boxes to teach children to grow vegetables in limited spaces; for a school that is incorporating fruit trees and vegetable growing on school grounds to include fresh produce in school lunches; two were for school beautification projects. MGVs assisted each group with their project. We also awarded two $500 college scholarships for area students who were planning to major in horticulture, agriculture, forestry or environmental sciences. One award went to a past winner and returning student in forestry who is the Head Student Forester at Treehaven, and the other to a new recipient who plans to major in environmental sciences/natural resources with an emphasis on invasive plant species. Another way of involving youth was the addition of a membership category called Junior Glacial Gardener Associate. Young people must be at least 10 years of age and pay lower annual dues. At this point we have one young man, the son of a MGV and also a 4-H member, who maintains his own vegetable and flower gardens, assists at our plant sale, reports on his work and generally participates the same as adult members. We are looking forward to his younger brother joining in the future. 32

33 Grant County Master Gardeners We have 26 members with 26 certified for 2012, including 4 newly trained this year. 111 hours in youth education 395 hours in community education 1,134 hours in support service 608 hours in continuing education Our association, located in rural southwest Wisconsin, began in Our members have projects in their local communities and we come together for county-wide events such as our plant sale, fair booth, garden tours, and bus tours. We host a monthly event 11 months per year and conduct a business meeting before the program. Each November, we have an appreciation potluck to award certificates to volunteers and invite our scholarship winner from UW-Platteville to join us. The program includes reports from MGVs who attended the state conference and a presentation on the year s activities. 1. Apple Pruning, Beekeeping, and Hoop House Presentation. One of our members who recently became interested in beekeeping for a pastime and pollinating his crops and now has grown into producing a product for the farmers market hosted this event. Our host, along with his orchard partner, showed us how to prune new and old trees and encouraged attendees to try their hand at pruning. We had a taste of his spinach and lettuce grown in the new hoop house that he sells to a local organic market. We also sampled the different types of apples from his orchard. Everyone who participated agreed that we should repeat this workshop in Cuba City and Bloomington Garden Walks. Several members organized a garden walk for the enjoyment of members and the public, which was a first time for both communities. In Cuba City, a donation of $3 went to our scholarship fund and we were able to raise $300 for that. We toured six gardens in Cuba City in June and five in Bloomington in July that included unique flower and vegetable gardens. Two of the hosts were MGVs. 3. Booths at Local Fairs. Our theme this year was on combining edible and ornamental annuals and perennials. Volunteers staffed the booth for 15 hours with handouts and free seed packets from Olds Seed Company for the public Thursday through Sunday. Two weeks later we offered similar material and free seed packets at a display booth at Belmont School Fair. We promoted our organization and had a display showing how to prepare gardens in the fall. 4. Grape Pruning Workshop. Forty growers attended the workshop by Bob Tomesh, held at the Lancaster Experimental Farm. The vines had been neglected, impacting production and growth. Next year volunteers will prune using the information we learned. Highlighted Project: Lancaster Home and Garden Show The theme for our booth at the spring s Lancaster Home and Garden Show was on how to start seeds. It included a station for children, showing them how to plant and take home a pot of lettuce. Our panel display showing spring garden chores created interactions with people who had questions about the upcoming gardening season. This booth and our coordination with the radio station, along with arranging for two speakers for the program, gives our association credibility and visibility with the public. MGVs staffed the booth for seven hours to field questions, provide educational material and information about our upcoming events, and interact with other gardeners, having a positive impact in the community. 33

34 Iowa County Master Gardeners The Iowa County MGA is a small group, with 12 members certified for hours in youth education 62 hours in community education 518 hours in support service 248 hours in continuing education We had several educational meetings this year. In March, Susan Mahr gave a presentation on Growing Your Own Salad; in May we traveled to the Four Elements Farm in North Freedom to visit Jane Hawley Stevens, who specializes in growing herbs, their healing qualities and organic agriculture; in July we had a potluck and prairie gardens tour at a MGV s house; and in August and September we had joint meetings with the Grant Co. MGA. 1. A New MGA Brochure. With the help of Iowa Co. UW-Extension we developed a brochure about our organization (see iowa.uwex.edu/files/2011/03/2011-master-gardener-brochure.pdf), and a list of 16 ongoing projects, (which is more than one per member!) to help publicize our purpose and goals and encourage new members. 2. Joining Forces. In April, we teamed up with the Uplands Garden Club to share the cost of bringing in speaker, Jeff Epping on Sustainable Gardens: Creating & Maintaining a Gravel Garden, that would have otherwise been too costly for either group alone. In August we had a joint meeting with the Grant Co. MGA at the site of one of Roger Reynolds impressive school lasagna gardens. This gave us a chance to meet other MGVs in the area and exchange ideas about how our organizations work and get ideas for meetings. In September Grant Co. MGVs presented a lesson at our meeting on dyeing scarves using natural plant materials. We have found that working together with other groups is very beneficial, especially to a small group like ours. 3. Library Garden Change. Because of remodeling, the garden that MGV and artist Jennifer Sharp established and tended for a number of years at the Village of Mineral Point s public library will be eliminated. The library Board requested she paint a watercolor of her proposed idea for the new entrance and the landscaping around it. The completed, framed picture may be seen in the library. 4. Lasagna Garden. We helped Shake Rag Alley in Mineral Point with landscaping in an area around the Potters House that needed improved drainage. Foundation plantings were not an option due to moisture issues in the 1800 s building. To achieve a similar effect, a garden bed alongside the boardwalk with its rustic railing seemed the perfect solution. The new bed was created by ICMGVs and other volunteers using a somewhat scaled down Lasagna Garden method much easier than digging, especially in the rocky clay soil there. Highlighted Project: Iowa County Humane Society Landscape Project When the Iowa County Humane Society purchased a new facility in Dodgeville, WI the landscaping needed extensive renovation. Under the direction of MGV Denise Marino, a team of MGVs removed overgrown shrubs and did extensive pruning to the flowering crab apple tree in front of the building. We created two small perennial beds bordering each side of the walkway to the front door of the building with heuchera, yellow day lilies, and achillea. The area near the entrance door and bordering the front of the building was filled with low growing viburnums and nine bark shrubs. The entire area was mulched with bark after planting. This project was funded by a grant from the Upland Hills Garden Club of Iowa Co. The Humane Society was very grateful for our help in planning and installing this garden, as it made their new facility look very inviting. Now they just have to keep the dogs out of the flower beds! 34

35 Jackson Co. Master Gardeners There are ten active MGVs in the county (as well as some others affiliated with other area MGAs). Nine people took training in 2011, of whom two have already completed the requirements for certification. 2 hours in youth education 549 hours in community education 115 hours in support service 248 hours in continuing education Although not an official association, the Master Gardener Volunteers of Jackson County participate in a number of service and educational activities. In 2011, they estimate over 600 educational contacts with community members. 1. MGVs held workshops on a variety of topics related to growing vegetables at the Spaulding Road Community Garden in Black River Falls. Many volunteer opportunities are available at this 150 ft 2 neighborhood garden, including providing maintenance for the garden, leading garden tours, and working on a shared plot to benefit the Community Food Pantry and Friends Sharing Food. 2. We had a booth at the Jackson Co. Fair that was staffed by MGVs July The theme was composting, with a display of a working compost pile and educational handouts about composting. There were daily presentations on making and using compost in the garden. 3. Our information booth at the Black River Falls Farmers Market and County Dairy Breakfast helped promote the MG program in Jackson Co. as well as providing information about composting. MGVs were available to answer horticulture questions at both events. 4. MGVs helped individual gardeners and horticulturalists by utilizing UW-Extension resources and other materials to answer their questions. Highlighted Project: Buy Local Eat Fresh This year MGVs worked with area fruit and vegetable producers in Jackson County to develop the Buy Local Eat Fresh map of local produce farms. This brochure indicates where Jackson Co. residents can find locally grown produce throughout the growing season. The map, with farm directory, indicates the location of the farm s road side stand, U-pick, or farmer s market stand. The map indicates the days of the week the produce is sold and what type of produce visitors can expect to buy from apples and blueberries to squash and zucchini. Area businesses sponsored the printing of the map, which MGVs worked to promote and distribute across the county. Over 1,000 maps were given to citizens interested in buying locally grown produce. In addition, each farm participating had the opportunity to tell the story of their farm. Stories were submitted to the local paper for a weekly column on area produce farms, which included photos of the farm family and produce grown. 35

36 Jefferson County Master Gardeners The Jefferson Co. MGVA has 32 MGVs certified for 2012, and additional associate and intern members. 145 hours in youth education 674 hours in community education 1,718 hours in support service 717 hours in continuing education Our meetings are the third Thursday of the month (excluding December), generally at the Jefferson Co. UW-Extension building, feature garden walks during summer months, and include an educational presentation during each meeting. We initiated new projects this year in community gardening, composting, and rain gardening, and wrote a new weekly Ask the Master Gardener column in the Daily Jefferson Co. Union newspaper. We also created and delivered presentations on composing, vegetable gardening, rain gardens, Native American gardening, shade gardening, and peonies. 1. Rock River Community Garden. Seven MGVs met with the Director of Parks, Recreation, & Forestry to discuss the direction of the community garden and the best way to begin. They advised on how to start the garden; helped plan the initial 12 plots that were rented to nine people; and maintained a plot with the produce being donated to the food pantry. Two MGVs created and presented a vegetable garden PowerPoint to interested members of the community. 2. Master Composting Group. Eight MGVs took a master composting class in Walworth Co. With a WIMGA grant they created a display that was used at our plant sale, the county fair, and farmer s markets, and presented two workshops. 3. Plant Health Advisors. In the Extension office, we had 11 PHAs who received a total of 84 questions, meeting twice a week for 2-3 hours. We have a new microscope in use to identify insects and diseases to reduce diagnosis time. PHAs also wrote the Ask the Master Gardener column. 4. Hoard Museum, Fort Atkinson. MGVs have taken a leadership role in designing, developing, and maintaining the Hoard Museum Gardens. A new 800ft 2 rain garden was prepared and planted with native plants (some grown from seed by elementary students or MGVs), a presentation on rain gardens was given to the public, and the JCMGVA donated funds for installation of a permanent informational sign. MGVs were also involved in creating a brochure and presentation about the year-old Roger F. and Sandra L. Anderson Intersectional Peony Garden, to be dedicated next year. 5. 1st Congregational Church, Watertown. In early winter 2009, one of our members was asked to redesign a memorial garden for the church. The site was a large 18 year-old raised bed in the parking lot at the church. It was totally replanted, attracting butterflies and hummingbirds, and was elected by the Watertown Arts Council in August to receive their Garden of the Month award. Highlighted Project: Jefferson West Elementary School Several MGVs worked with the after school program at Jefferson West Elementary School this summer to create a bird and butterfly garden. They designed a program to fit the time frame of instruction, reviewed the area to be planted, and then taught several half hour sessions to 35 second through fifth grade students. The students first learned about plant needs, soil types and compost, concluding the session with actually working mushroom compost into the garden. Another session involved how to plant and how to choose plants, then used a MG plan to actually plant the garden with native perennials. And finally students added mulch, signage, and student-made garden art to the garden. This project has blossomed into a school vegetable garden that is being planned and implemented for the school year at the request of the students. 36

37 Juneau County Master Gardeners The Juneau Co. MGA had 44 paid members. Of those, 24 are certified for hours in youth education 149 hours in community education 1,056 hours in support service 564 hours in continuing education Juneau Co. is mainly a rural area with a relatively small population. Our members tend to work on small individual community projects. We did not add any new projects this year, but continued to maintain our ongoing projects. 1. Two of our members were asked to give a presentation at the state Home and Community Education (HCE) meeting this fall. They developed an hour-long PowerPoint presentation on container gardening and gave this talk to their local HCE meeting as practice, and then to the State meeting. It was extremely well received, and went on for 1½ hours as they had great participation by their audience. These two plan to present their talk to the Juneau Co. Master Gardeners in The Boorman House in Mauston continues to be a major effort by our members. Gardens are planned and maintained in front of the historic home, and throughout the back forested area where there is a walking path and shade garden. Additionally, we participate in their holiday open house by decorating the entry porch each November/December. 3. Planters to welcome visitors to New Lisbon were again planned, planted, and maintained, as were flower boxes at the Mauston Visitor s Center. 4. Buckhorn State Park gardens were maintained at the main entrance as well as around the handicapped cabin. 5. Grayside Community Garden in Mauston was again a focus for many of our members. This year plot numbers were again increased, and there was a special plot designed for young gardeners. Two 4-H gardeners won grand champion ribbons at the Juneau Co. Fair for produce they grew at the community garden. Highlighted Project: Educational Programs at Meetings Our group felt that we needed to increase our educational programs at our own meetings and as a resource to the general public. To that end, one of our members agreed to head up an effort to identify topics our members felt comfortable presenting to groups. Topics identified by our committee chairman as available for presentation included container gardening, drying flowers, garlic planting, harvesting and eating, invasive species, plant photography, psychology of gardening, building raised beds, managing a local food pantry, and organic gardening solutions. We plan to build on these topics in the future. Our initial emphasis was for our members to give their talks at our monthly meetings a friendly, comfortable audience, to build confidence with a future aim to make our speakers available to other groups as they felt comfortable. This has worked moderately well this summer, and we plan to improve in the coming years. 37

38 Lafayette Co. Master Gardeners We currently have 25 members, including 9 new members in 2011, with a total of 11 certified for hours in youth education 154 hours in community education 419 hours in support service 134 hours in continuing education Our MGA meets bimonthly for our business meeting and an educational program. We advertise in the local newspapers and invite the public to join us. Our educational programs this year included Michael McCarthy on English gardening, including his experiences as a gardener for a large estate in England; Barb Smith on tall grass prairies; Jean-Margret Beech on plant entries at the Lafayette Co. Fair; and a program on perennials. We have an annual plant sale in May to raise money for our projects. We also have an annual potluck and plant exchange with our members. 1. MGVs take turns providing a question and answer service on gardening topics from May through September through the Lafayette Co. UW-Extension Office. 2. One member continues writing a weekly gardening column each week for our local newspaper with educational gardening information on a variety of garden related topics. 3. MGVs plant and maintain gardens at schools, churches, and parks throughout the county. MGVs started a lasagna garden last fall in front of the Masonic Center in Argyle and planted it this spring with perennials donated by our members. The raised bed at the Lafayette Co. Manor was donated by our group three years ago. The residents of the Manor are encouraged to help us plant, and they enjoy watching the plants mature into a rainbow of flowers and foliage. Several MGVs have adopted garden plots on the Riverwalk trail in Darlington where they plant and care for the gardens and help make the trail inviting and beautiful. 4. One MGV purchased pots of geraniums and placed them by the War Memorial in New Diggins with a red, white, and blue theme. 5. MGVs plant and help maintain the Argyle Community Garden. The vegetables grown there are donated to local food pantries. Highlighted Project: Lasagna Gardening at the Lafayette Co. Fair Each year our group has an educational booth at the Lafayette Co. Fair. This year we focused on lasagna gardening, a technique of layering organic materials on top of the soil to create a no-dig, no-till garden bed over time as the materials essentially compost in place. As part of our display we created a mini lasagna garden in an old aquarium, where the many different layers were easy to see through the glass sides of the aquarium. We provided handouts and answered questions about this easy technique, and sparked interest in lasagna gardening by many people we talked to. Approximately 75 people stopped at our display, and of those about a dozen were extremely interested and planned to try this gardening method using the information we provided to them. 38

39 Lake Superior Master Gardeners Lake Superior Master Gardener Association (LSMGA), with members from Superior, Duluth, and the Upper St. Croix River Basin of Douglas Co., had 40 MGVs in 2011 with 35 certified for hours in youth education 296 hours in community education 1,377 hours in support service 675 hours in continuing education Lake Superior Master Gardeners Association (LSMGA) uses displays, hands-on workshops, field trips, and on site design and planting projects to engage the community. We participate in plant sales, offering educational resources to customers. The LSMGA brings horticultural research unique to the climate and the soils of the Lake Superior Clay Plain. This past season, we offered the most northern UW Plant Disease lecture with Dr. Brian Hudelson and attracted fruit tree growers from northern Wisconsin and Minnesota for our Pruning and Grafting workshop. We celebrated the success of local growers with a tour of one of the most northern Community Supported Agriculture farms in the state. 1. Solid Rock Garden. The LSMGA continues to provide expertise and support for this beautiful and productive garden that provides fresh food for many in need. MGVs met every Tuesday afternoon throughout the growing season to tend the gardens. This year the Superior High School students of the Senior Sociology class raised funds for the garden work evenings. 2. Richard Bong Veterans Garden. This museum on the shores of Lake Superior has several gardens around the building grounds, but an invasion of horsetail and lack of funds left them languishing. The LSMGA rehabilitated several of the gardens, cleaning and replanting the beds. 3. Container Gardens for Seniors. This year a program was offered through Superior Senior Connections to enable seniors to produce herbs and vegetables for their own use in a small space. Over 20 gardeners planted container gardens to bring home, learning that they do not need backs and knees of a younger gardener to grow their own food. 4. Trees Slow the Flow. The LSMGA partnered with the City of Superior to help educate the public about how healthy trees can slow runoff water as it makes its way to the largest of our Great Lakes. For the city s Arbor Day celebration MGVs developed a planting demonstration, tree planting display, and neighborhood tree tour to offer the proper planting and care of trees. MGVs also taught the value of trees and demonstrated tree planting for 5 grade schools in the Superior District. Highlighted Project: Gardening For Food With the intent, desire, and demand to grow food continuing to increase in Douglas Co., LSMGA supported home and community gardening by offering a series of on site gardening for success classes throughout the county. The four class sites had community gardening space, ensuring an engaged audience. Topics were coordinated with the time in the season, starting with preparing the soil, soil testing and amending with compost in the spring. In late July and August, there were handson workshops for pest identification and control, and at the end of the season, the presentation Putting Your Garden to Bed emphasizing harvest and garden sanitation to help control next seasons pests. Ten MGVs taught the classes for over 50 gardeners, guiding them through the basics of gardening for food production so that next year they will be more confident and successful in their northern gardening. LSMGVs are now forming a Gardening 101 class to expand on the audience for successful home and community gardening in the north. They intend to include the potential student gardeners in developing the class in order to help put community into community gardening. 39

40 Madison Area Master Gardeners There are over 390 members in our association with 190 certified for hours in youth education 626 hours in community education 10,904 hours in support service 3,015 hours in continuing education The Madison Area Master Gardeners Association (MAMGA) is a large organization with many diverse projects. Our members enjoyed many fascinating programs throughout the year. Our annual meeting in February featured presentations by a school garden project that received one of our 2010 grants and urban gardening by the Community Ground Works. In April we learned how to make pebble mosaic containers. We toured area gardens with the Hardy Plant Society in May and July. A program on Dividing Fall Plants at The Flower Factory this fall was followed by a potluck luncheon. 1. MAMGA awarded six Community Gardening Grants totaling $4, to organizations ranging from a church that grows vegetables for donation to a local food pantry to an elementary school for installation of a rain garden. $500 in Partnership Grants went to Allen Centennial Garden, the Dane County Extension Teaching Garden, University Display Gardens, and the UW Arboretum Native Plant Demonstration Garden. 2. Ten MAMGA members were sponsored to attend a series of three small on-site group classes on organic urban agriculture classes organized by one of our long-time members. 3. MAMGA hosted our second annual Summer Service and Social at the Extension Office in June, combining a salad luncheon with a Teaching Garden work day. MGVs are instrumental in planting and maintaining the Dane Co. UW-Extension s Teaching Garden at the Extension Office. 4. We co-sponsored the Olbrich Home Garden Tour in July, including funding a shuttle bus providing access to the lovely HospiceCare gardens. 5. We created and published the beautiful 17 th annual Wisconsin Garden Journal for 2012, Celebrating Our Past, Cultivating Our Future. All proceeds from sales of the Garden Journal go towards funding community grants. Highlighted Project: 2011 Wisconsin Master Gardener Association Conference The 2011 Wisconsin Master Gardener Association annual conference was hosted by the Madison Area MGA August 5-7 in Madison. Over 250 people attended from Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota and Indiana. Ten speakers covered topics including how plants are brought into the market place, perennials for Wisconsin, native orchids of Wisconsin, soil management, fruit for the backyard, tool maintenance, garden journaling, organic vegetable production, shade gardening with natives, and garden design before and after. On Friday, a bus tour took participants to the horticultural gems of Madison: Olbrich Botanic Gardens, Allen Centennial Gardens, the trial gardens at West Madison Agricultural Research station, and the UW Arboretum. The weather cooperated, though a bit on the hot side. Coordinating a conference is a two year process, requiring a dedicated conference committee and dozens of volunteers. Its purpose is not to make money, but to produce a quality educational experience for the attendees, but we did manage to make a small profit. The evaluations were extremely positive about all aspects of the conference. 40

41 Manitowoc County Master Gardeners The Manitowoc Co. MGA has 44 members. Thirty seven are recertified for hours in youth education 493 hours in community education 3,482 hours in support service 1,212 hours in continuing education The MGVs meet every month on the 4th Monday from September through April, with a speaker at each meeting on a variety of horticulture topics. From May through August, we meet at a garden or nursery, with a plant exchange in spring and potluck picnic in between. 1. A plant clinic is held at the UW Extension from April through October for 2 hours on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Members are there to answer homeowner s questions and sending samples to Madison if needed. Voic is used to hold calls until a MGV is in the office. Walkins are welcome. Tree problems are the most common issues. 2. We had a table at our local college s Earth Day Celebration. This year our display focused on vermiculture and trees. MGVs answered questions, explained the displays, and distributed our new handout on becoming a MGV in Manitowoc Co. 3. The yearly bus trip went to northern Illinois, where we visited Cantigny Park & Gardens in the morning before moving on to the Ball Seed Co. 4. MGVs worked on individual projects with gardens at schools, churches, library, Woodland Dunes, Urban Green gang (planters in the downtown area), and the Manitowoc City Zoo. A few members gave presentations and lectures to area groups, one of which was to the County Board on what we do during the year. 5. Farm Market is also a good place to inform people about the MG Program. We shared a table with the UW-Extension Home Economist, providing information on handling and preserving food as well as growing it. Flyers were distributed for the upcoming garden walk and the Mad Dog and Merrill Show we were sponsoring. Highlighted Project: Garden Walk and Grilling Program This year our garden walk s destination was A Day in the Country, to let participants enjoy a day driving the side roads in beautiful Manitowoc Co. There were 9 gardens, each one with a different feature including shade gardens, cottage, vegetable, butterfly gardens, small prairie, many varieties of trees, a cactus garden, water and rain garden. One of the hosts had a large collection of antique farm machinery. Material on the Grillologists, Mad Dog and Merrill, and our MG promotional brochure were handed out at the gardens. Posters, flyers, and small community news papers were used for advertising. Our city newspaper gave us a full front page on the event, publishing photos along with a description of all the gardens and addresses. A small garden plaque is given to each host with the year and Garden Walk engraved on it as part of their thank you. The MGA presented Mad Dog and Merrill, well-known grillologists, at the Manitowoc Expo Grounds. This event was well-publicized in various media, including newspapers and radio and was sponsored by several county businesses. The MGA and the UW-Extension had booths along with 14 vendors selling as well as handing out samples of their wares, from food to plants, and lots of brochures. After the program, there were samples of barbecued vegetables to sample. Door prizes were given our to the 200 participants, including pots of hibiscus donated by a local nursery (that were also used as stage decorations). The program was well received by the public. 41

42 Master Gardeners of the North Master Gardeners of the North (Oneida County and neighboring counties) has 43 members with 44 certified for hours in youth education 328 hours in community education 3,012 hours in support service 940 hours in continuing education Our monthly meetings are held on the third Tuesday of every month in the UW-Extension classroom. Our meetings include a presentation; they are open to the public and we encourage members to bring guests. In the summer we meet in various gardens. updates and the meeting minutes are sent out once or twice monthly to include members who are unable to attend meetings. 1. Hall of Opportunities at the Hodag Home Show. Free table space was given to volunteer groups in order to connect them to the community. This prompted our MGA to develop a flyer that promotes the MG Program and includes our meeting dates and community projects. A photo board display showing MGVs in action helped to highlight our role in the community. Those interested could sign up to receive updates. 2. Garden Expo at Oneida Senior Center. In April, MGVs teamed with our local senior center to present a free one-day gardening seminar. Members gave presentations on No-Till Gardening, Rhinelander Area Community Garden, and Vermicomposting. A table was set up with flyers and the photo board; more names were added to the list. 3. Presentations at Monthly Meetings. Several MGVs shared their knowledge with other members at our meetings. These included a photo presentation of The Flowers of Japan, demonstrations of Garden Art, and Gardening as Art (which was taught by a MGV with a degree in Botanical Art!) 4. Education through the Media. Several MGVs were interviewed for online news sites, television news, and newspaper articles. Two articles were published in the bi-monthly Extension Line News. Topics included our local MGA, the annual plant sale, community garden, and fall gardening tips. 5. Community Education Classes. In September, MGs of the North partnered with the Rhinelander School District to present fall gardening classes. The classes, What Should I Do With My Perennials in the Fall and Beyond Basic Bulbs, were sponsored by local retailers, who provided goodie bags. Attendees learned how to divide and cut back perennials, and got tips for landscaping with bulbs. Highlighted Project: Key Ingredients For six weeks in December and January a national exhibit from the Smithsonian Institution, Key Ingredients, came to Oneida Co. Sponsored by the WI Humanities Council, the traveling exhibition was part of the Museum on Main St. program, designed to bring articles, photos, and history to rural areas; Rhinelander was the only northern WI stop on the tour. Each location was responsible for its own regional exhibit and this is where MGVs got involved. The local exhibit emphasized agriculture and food production, including potatoes, wild rice, maple syrup, dairy farming, and three native fruits: cranberries, blueberries, and grapes. Equipment used in wild rice harvesting and potato processing and other farm implements were put on display. MGVs set up a community garden exhibit, complete with a reproduction of our food pantry. MGVs trained volunteers to lead groups, including school children, and educate them about local agriculture. One MGV coordinated all of the presentations, many led and attended by MGVs, on such topics as Vegetable Container Gardening, Herbs, Heirloom Seeds, Canning and Food Preserving. MGVs were available to answer questions related to horticulture and the MG Program, thus emphasizing our role in the community. 42

43 North Central WI Master Gardeners There are 120 members in the and 32 interns from Marathon and Lincoln counties, with 83 certified for hours in youth education 1290 hours in community education 4,435 hours in support service 2,268 hours in continuing education Our Association sponsored eight 90-minute education programs this year. We also had a display reflecting our annual activities at the Farm Technology Days held in Marathon Co. in July Garden Clinic and Garden Line are our primary service projects every year helping clients with their home garden problems. We handled over 300 questions, especially those relating to our clients concern for the trees around their homes. 2. Garden Visions Conference held in the middle of winter allowed gardeners to talk and learn about summer garden projects. 3. Our 10th annual Garden Walk featured 5 private gardens and this year the developing Robert W. Monk Botanic Garden. 4. We set the trend for plant sales with numerous city sales the same day as our annual Plant Sale. 5. The Woodson History Center, home of the Marathon Co. Historical Society, has a new prairie style trellis in front of their historic building designed by a MGV and donated by the NCWMGA. Highlighted Project: Providing Plant Names with Labels for Garden Tours Garden tours are big events to look forward to each summer. It s an opportunity to see other gardener s creative ideas, landscape techniques, color and texture combinations and a good chance to see unfamiliar or new plants. One of the most frequently asked questions at a tour is, What is the name of that plant? Our Garden Walk Committee has solved this problem by supplying 60 to 80 plant name tags in each of the five private gardens on our annual garden tour. Most of the labels supplied are for perennials, with priority given to the less common or unique plants. If the host gardener purchases annuals, we encourage them to place the nametags supplied by the nursery with each plant. Gardens on tour are selected a year in advance and each host gardener is asked to provide a list of plants or a map with the plant names. The details and accuracy of these lists vary dramatically, with some lists having accurate botanical names and others only containing common names. The names are verified by MGVs using a good directory and plant catalogs listing the newest plants available. Each business card sized (3½ x 2½ inch) label includes the common name and botanical name with variety/cultivar or hybrid if available. The labels are printed on regular paper with a computer printer, then each is laminated using a heat-sealed pouch. The labels are then taped to a metal standard using a quality double-sided carpet tape (the year cheap tape was used many labels fell off before the tour started). The labels are not designed to stay outside year-round, but last well for a couple of weeks each summer. The host gardeners are given their labels about a week before the tour, so they have time to place them in their garden. This system allows labels to be changed every year, reusing the labels and standards. Each year about 100 new labels are made. After seven years our inventory includes 600 standards and 1,000 laminated plant labels. They are stored alphabetically by botanical name for easy retrieval. What s the name of that plant? is no longer a frequent question. We see happy guests with pencils, recording plant names that they might like to try. There is also a space left intentionally on their ticket to take notes in case they didn t come prepared with something else to write on. 43

44 North Country Master Gardeners We currently have 35 active MGVs in our group, with 31 certified for hours in youth education 139 hours in community education 1,560 hours in support service 740 hours in continuing education Our membership includes very active and diverse groups of volunteers working on a wide range of projects in communities across Burnett, Sawyer and Washburn Counties. While our official group meetings are in Spooner, we have several satellite groups in Hayward, Winter, Siren and Grantsburg that are active in their communities. In addition our monthly meetings and various educational events we stay connected through and our North Country Gardener newsletter. 1. New Ventures Garden Seminar co-sponsor. For many years Northwood School community education director and MGV Julie Hustvet and the Spooner Garden Club have organized a spring garden seminar. This year NCMG joined forces with these groups to provide much needed help. This all day seminar featured 5 talks, educational displays, a trade show and lunch. MGVs had educational displays, and assisted with logistics for the day. Over 200 people attended this seminar. 2. Meet Me At The Garden Monthly Garden Walks. NCMGVs assisted UWEX Ag Agent Kevin Schoessow with four Tuesday night educational events throughout the season held at the Spooner Ag Research Station s Teaching and Display Garden. Early season vegetable varieties, deadheading, pest management, irrigation, harvest considerations, seed saving and fall gardening were some of the topics. These sessions allowed MGVs to share their knowledge and gain experience teaching. 3. Northwood School Garden. This spring MGVs assisted AmeriCorp VISTA volunteers and teachers with school garden activities. This included $500 to help purchase a Got Dirt? Micro Farm grow cart and materials for outside raised bed gardens. Students in grades 1-2 got to plant, take care of and eventually eat micro greens that were grown in their classroom in the Micro Farm carts. Northwood school in Minong is now the seventh school garden project NCMGA has help sponsor. 4. North Country Gardeners Newsletter. For years NCMGVs and the local Spooner Area UW- Extension Office have written and published a regional newsletter. More recently MGVs have provided more leadership and assistance in writing articles, editing and processing the newsletter for bulk mailing. MGVs have gained experience in writing and helped save labor costs. Highlighted Project: Vietnam Vet Memorial Moving Wall Flower Arrangements When the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Moving Wall was displayed at the Northern Wisconsin Memorial Veterans Cemetery south of Spooner this summer, the organizing committee solicited support from numerous community groups. Temporary landscaping is essential to providing an eye-pleasing and memorable impression for visitors, so the NCMGA provided 22 potted flower arrangements to decorate the walkway leading up to the moving wall (also center stage for the opening and closing ceremonies). They selected Rocky Mountain Dark Red geraniums and Giant Snowflake bacopa along with Victoria Blue salvia and Blue Moon lobelia to plant in 13 foam containers to carry out the patriotic theme. The plants were potted on May 1 and 3 MGVs maintained them for the next 56 days, protecting them from free-ranging horses, a devastating wind storm, extreme heat and even some botrytis gray mold. Once they were arranged along the walkway, the plants had filled in the pots, creating a wonderful red, white and blue display. We not only learned more about container gardening, but how rewarding it can be to honor the 58,178 causalities of the Vietnam War and the thousands of visitors who came to show their respects. The pots were given to veterans on the final day of the event. 44

45 Northeast Wisconsin Master Gardeners The Northeastern Wisconsin Master Gardener Association currently has 89 members (73 certified for 2012) and 26 emeritus members who still have an interest in the organization, but volunteer on a limited basis. 81 hours in youth education 192 hours in community education 3,540 hours in support service 1,114 hours in continuing education The majority of our members are from Brown Co., but we also have members from surrounding counties. Our MGA has been very active in outreach to communities through several demonstration garden projects, educational classes, Arbor Day tree planting, plant sale, Botanical Garden Fair, and the WBAY Show. We received $15,465 through the Wisconsin Urban Forestry Grant program towards the development of urban tree educational resources in Brown Co. Also, 28 newly certified MGVs joined our association this year. 1. MGVs offered a winter garden workshop for the public on March 5th that focused on various aspects of landscapes presented by 6 speakers. More than 50 people attended this workshop, and the feedback response from the participants was highly positive. 2. We planted trees for an Arbor Day Program at Franklin Middle School. The children were very interested in learning about the benefits of trees and assisted in planting swamp white oak, ginkgo, and serviceberry trees on their school grounds. A proper tree planting demonstration was offered by our Advisor during the event, and we had a wonderful turnout. 3. Our spring plant sale provided the community a chance to buy a wide range of perennials and native prairie plants. Herbs and late blight resistant tomato varieties were also sold during the plant sale. A new addition this year was a book sale (many MGVs donated their gently used books). During the Green Bay Botanical Garden Fair event, our association was able to raise some additional dollars by selling tomato and pepper plants, as well as hostas. 4. An educational booth was set up for the first time at the WBAY Home and Garden Show this year. Our booth showcased how to build square foot gardens, which attracted the crowd. Our MGVs answered various gardening questions and distributed educational materials. 5. We offered a large variety of educational classes for the public throughout the year fruit tree growing, apple pruning and grafting, a series of food preservation classes, landscape tree identification, vegetable tasting for children, and heirloom apple tastings. Highlighted Project: Community Demonstration Gardens This year our new MGVs developed four community demonstration garden projects to educate and serve the local community needs. Two square foot gardens were established in local neighborhoods in partnership with the YMCA Howard branch and St. Philip Parish to educate youth and the Hispanic community on growing vegetables. In partnership with the Brown Co. Community Treatment Center, a therapeutic garden was designed and established in the treatment center s inner courtyard to help connect the local patients with nature. In addition, we also continued to develop and maintain the existing square foot garden at the Green Bay Botanical Garden established in Most of the produce from the square foot demonstration garden is donated to a local food pantry. Also, produce from the square foot gardens was displayed and used for sampling during the vegetable tasting events for children and the general public. In late August, more than 35 MGVs joined in a garden tour to learn about the establishment of these four community demonstration gardens. 45

46 Northern Lights Master Gardeners Founded in 1991 by the first class in Marinette Co., NLMGA celebrated its 20th year in There are currently 70 members in the Association and 30 recertified for hours in youth education 128 hours in community education 2,230 hours in support service 694 hours in continuing education 1. Garden Walk: This year we had a Garden & Gallery Tour where MGVs partnered with the local arts council (Menominee Area Arts Council) to include galleries as well as gardens on the walk. The galleries featured garden art, and participating gardeners were encouraged to include art in their landscaping. The hours were also expanded to include Friday evening as well as Saturday until 3 p.m. The weather was perfect and there was an amazing variety of garden styles, including oriental, garden rooms on a small lot, large sweeping landscapes and many water features big and small. Most of the work for a garden walk is in the organizing and is done ahead of the event. On the day of the walk, MGVs were present at each garden to greet visitors and answer questions. It was a very successful fundraiser for the Association and good exposure for the program as members wore their badges to identify themselves as Master Gardener Volunteers. 2. Tomato Tasting: The main focus in the vegetable beds at the Harmony Demonstration Garden this year was tomatoes. Totally Tomatoes donated seeds from 350 varieties. Of the 280 varieties that were planted, MGVs grew 146 of them from seed and brought sturdy plants to be transplanted into the gardens; UW-Extension staff planted the rest. MGVs also helped at display (local County Fair) and tasting events that were held in August and September. We estimate that around 2000 people saw one of the tomato displays or took part in the taste testing, and most of them were amazed that so many varieties existed. 3. Sundial: The analemmatic sundial was finished this summer and is a key attraction of the Children s Learning Garden at Harmony. The sundial s mosaics add a great deal of eye appeal, and the explanatory signs get adults and children involved in seeing if it really works! Youth were also involved in designing the mosaics on the individual hour stones. Highlighted Project: Mural in the Children s Learning Garden (CLG) Last year an above-ground tunnel was constructed in the CLG at the Harmony Demonstration Garden with the idea that children would enter the triangular building through the tree roots painted on the outside, and on the inside find things that a (very large) chipmunk would encounter in its tunnel. This spring a future MGV painted the 36 foot mural panels in her garage and a team of volunteers erected them across the front of the structure. The entrance and exit were also cut. There are 50 plants and animals depicted on the mural and a key has been created that names them all, from ants to a black bear, together with a short description of each. 46

47 Northwoods Master Gardeners There were 3 members in this association in Forest Co., with 2 recertified for hours in youth education 8 hours in community education 224 hours in support service 52 hours in continuing education Our association, unlike other associations, does not require more than three meetings annually. The meetings were held at different MGV homes. A newsletter kept members informed of activities. All members are from Oneida, Vilas and Forest Counties. Since the other counties now have MGAs, the numbers in Forest Co. have dwindled. On a sad note, Victor Sampon, who had been instrumental in the formation and continuation of the Northwoods MGA, passed away September 21, 2011 at the age of 88. Mr. Sampon had been a certified WI MGV since 1996 and to all who knew him, had an enthusiasm and passion for all things gardening that is rarely matched. He was a leader and a mentor and an inspiration. We will miss him and will do our best to continue his legacy. Highlighted Project: Second Annual Garden Fair This annual plant sale, sponsored by the members of the Northwoods MGA of Forest Co. was held on Saturday, May 22, 2011 at the Hair-I-Tage grounds in Crandon. Although the early spring season in Northern Wisconsin had been unpredictable and cool, the Garden Fair was still well-attended and featured more than a dozen plant vendors, who offered hundreds of beautiful plants of all varieties for sale at bargain prices. Again this year, due to the positive response and overall success of our second annual plant sale, plans are already being made for the 2012 sale! 47

48 Outagamie County Master Gardeners In 2011 Outagamie County had 120 members, with 120 recertifying for The 2011 training class had 31 enrollees with 15 certified for hours in youth education 1,378 hours in community education 7,663 hours in support service 3,398 hours in continuing education This year we registered 38 sanctioned projects, including some local schools, public gardens and nature conserves which have been permanently sanctioned so members can volunteer there at any time. As a group we are focusing on improving ourselves and by advancing our education we are able to advance our public education. We wanted to strengthen the bonds of friend- and fellowship amongst our members. Extra efforts were made to ensure that new members felt welcome and were introduced around. At each monthly meeting one or two projects were featured to attract more volunteers and to share knowledge. It is always easier to volunteer when you know you will be working with a friend. 1. Garden Expectations. The 5th annual conference was held in March with 165 members and general public attending. Speakers included Mark Dwyer, Roy Diblik and Dave Wanniger, in addition to horticulture teachers Jim Beard and Roxanne Rusch from Fox Valley Technical College. 2. Habitat for Humanity. We were able to sponsor 7 homes in The project manager had separate teams working on the landscaping for each house and the owners were taught how to maintain the plants and lawns. In the future we will simplify the task by establishing guidelines for design, supplies and plants and cost. 3. Plant Sale. Our annual Plant Sale, which is our primary fund raiser, was held mid-may. Since we did not have access to the usual greenhouse accommodations this year, the process was revamped to use more mature plants, rather than raise them ourselves. Next year we hope to add some garden items and a few vendors. An informational presentation will be running on the laptop throughout the day, in addition to two or three free classes. 4. Garden Discoveries Private Spaces, Public Places. Our garden walk in June gave the public a tour of six private gardens and a school garden in addition to the local Community Gardens. The gardens varied in size and nature. Our goal for the event is to have people leaving feeling inspired and one comment was overheard that summed up this objective The formal gardens are beautiful, but this is real. I can do this. 5. Outagamie Co. Fair. We staff a booth for three days, meeting and greeting, and making our association known to the general public. The booth was particularly eye-catching this year. 6. Mini-Tours. We also held tours of MGV s gardens during the summer to see specific features, such as rock gardens, ponds, shade areas etc. We also included a couple of demonstrations of leaf molds and garden art. These informal events allowing MGVs and their guests to mingle and get to know one another outside of the structured events, which are now much more friendly as a result. Highlighted Project: Farmers Market Seminars We continued to develop our Farmers Market Seminars in An expanded number of topics were offered by our MGVs. We moved to the permanent venue of the local public library, which has been most generous in helping with publicity. The number of attendees has been gradually increasing and we now usually have anywhere between 35 to 50 people. Many of our members love to travel and visit gardens all over the world. They are very happy to share their experiences, and these travelogs will be an additional new monthly offering to the public during the winter. 48

49 Polk County Master Gardeners The Polk County Master Gardeners Volunteers consisted of 22 paid members in 2011, an increase from the previous year. Training was not held because until recently we were without an UW-Extension agent. There are 17 MGVs in the county certified for hours in youth education 142 hours in community education 402 hours in support service 257 hours in continuing education While we are a small group, we try to remain active in the surrounding communities. We now have a new extension agent and are excited for the new ideas and support she can bring to our group. 1. Several of our members continued to offer classes on vegetable gardens at the Clear Lake Library. One member does regular mini presentations during their lunch hour and one member offered a class and demonstration for the Amery Community Club. We also forward monthly articles to the local newspapers and radio stations inviting the public to attend our meetings, and getting out information regarding our educational speakers, garden tours, and the gardens we work on. 2. Participating at the local Sportsmans Show in the spring and the Energy Fair in the fall were two of our big events this year. We had a display showing various methods of gardening such as lasagna gardening and using straw bales and garbage cans. We were also able to have a continuous PowerPoint presentation showing the different things our groups does and what we are about. 3. This year for the annual Mother s Day plant sale, we made succulent dish gardens, which we had seen demonstrated at the Barron County Expo. We sold these in addition to the flowers and vegetables from our members. Word is out that we offer some quality, locally grown and hardy flower and vegetable plants along with the necessary information on growing them. This is a very successful money making opportunity, as well as informing the public about our group. 4. We have also had success when we set aside an evening for our members and guests to share their gardening experiences for the past year some successful and some not so successful. This September we had a well attended and educational meeting focusing on preserving garden produce, including drying, freezing, and canning. We find that we often learn the most from each other. Highlighted Project: PowerPoint Presentation to Promote our MGA Our Association received one of the WIMGA educational grants that allowed us to purchase a laptop computer. We used it to develop and show two PowerPoint presentations at area events, and will be creating more in the future. The first used graphics and color to promote our local MGA, showcase some of the many projects we participate in, and invite people to join us. This will be updated over the next year with actual photographs of MGVs in action to replace the graphics. The second presentation, used at the Sportsmans Show and the Energy Fair, two large local events that draw hundreds of people, was called Backyard Wildlife - Attracting and Detracting. This presentation showed how to attract wildlife to your yard and some remedies for keeping unwanted wildlife out of the backyard. Both programs encouraged people to stop at the booth and talk to us, and helped us to stand out among all the other vendors. We also have two presentations on Container Gardening, featuring tips for achieving balanced and healthy containers, and using flowers and/or vegetables and herbs. There are two versions (½ hour or full hour) geared to being used while doing demonstrations or speaking to a group. 49

50 Portage County Master Gardeners The Portage County Master Gardener Volunteers (PCMGV) is 83 members strong, with 68 certified for We have 8 interns still working toward certification and 2 associate members. 188 hours in youth education 920 hours in community education 3,082 hours in support service 1,172 hours in continuing education In 2011 our group met on a monthly basis with meetings providing excellent speakers teaching about soils (Ed Lyons), hostas (Ken Ziarek), gardens seen on a trip to Germany (Bob Rausch) and a review of Storybook Gardens at the 2010 WIMGA conference. We also took a field trip to an area whole sale nursery and visited member s gardens to learn about their personal gardening successes or failures. 1. We continue to work with and 4-year-olds in the Head Start summer program with a vegetable garden. This year they added permanent blueberry and strawberry beds, created a sunflower house, and had a spice tree consisting of pots of different spices. 2. Our garden walk in July highlighted MGVs lovely gardens and displayed beautiful container gardens donated by members. The walk raised $5,000 and the 5 containers were raffled off, with the proceeds given to area non-profit organizations. 3. A committee maintains 16 community flower beds, including at the Humane Society, libraries, the courthouse and a special garden at the Portage Co. Care Center. This year the garden was expanded to provide even more sensory stimulation for the nursing home residents. 4. MGVs worked together on landscaping a Habitat for Humanity house. They designed a plan; acquired donated plants, compost and mulch; assisted the residents in planting bushes, perennials and a tree around their new home; and educated the new homeowners on landscape maintenance. 5. MGVs assisted judges at the Portage Co. Fair with 4-H projects ranging from fruits and vegetables to artwork to food. Highlighted Project: YMCA Growing Together This year we began a new project in association with the Stevens Point YMCA which had received a grant to start a community garden that would build strong kids, strong families and strong communities; however, they knew nothing about how this was to be done. After several planning meetings, a design for 16 raised beds was adopted, with a rain barrel collection system to be installed on the YMCA roof. In November a group of 30 MGVs, YMCA and UWSP students built 6 handicap-accessible 4x8 foot beds, 9 regular 4x8 raised beds and one large 4x20 bed along the north wall of the YMCA building. The beds were filled with soil and compost donated from a local landscape company. The following spring, on 15 different dates, beds were planted by MGVs, sometimes assisting YMCA youth. A variety of vegetables filled the beds, and a three sisters garden was included. The rain barrel project was delayed, but MGVs watered, weeded and monitored the area on a twice per week schedule. A record book was kept at the main desk of the YMCA so anyone working at the garden could record activity as well as amounts in the rain gauge. Children attending summer programs at the YMCA visited the garden, watched the plants grow and learned about healthy foods. Despite a late snow, excessive heat, Japanese beetles and a tornado the beds grew and flourished resulting in an abundant harvest that was donated to local food pantries. The YMCA Growing Together garden was a huge success and plans are underway to build more beds, get the water system functioning and continue to improve on an already great project. 50

51 Racine-Kenosha Master Gardeners Racine-Kenosha MGA (RKMGA) has 224 members, with 183 certified for ,026 hours in youth education 2,284 hours in community education 7,489 hours in support service 4,129 hours in continuing education Though MGVs have been active in the bi-county area for nearly 40 years, Racine-Kenosha MGA was only founded in Since then, the organization has grown to more than 200 master gardeners. Dedicated volunteers host more than 40 projects gardens to feed the hungry and gardens to feed the soul. We teach others how to raise vegetables and how to beautify their surroundings. We create gardens at schools, public buildings, nursing homes and a hospice facility. We staff a horticultural help line to answer gardening questions and sponsor an annual gardening seminar, open to the public. 1. Curtis Strange Elementary School Learning Garden MGVs helped fifth graders build raised beds, then provided instruction for planting seeds and plants. In summer, MGVs cared for the garden and donated produce to a food pantry. Once school started, MGVs helped teachers and students harvest food from the beds and create a compost pile. 2. Ridgewood Care Center MGVs have created seven gardens at Ridgewood, including a water garden, vegetable garden and five beds for annuals and perennials. The main garden is near the entrance to the nursing home, but special attention has been given to a more private area where residents and guests can sit and talk among the flowers. 3. Racine County Food Bank Teaching Garden Besides demonstrating organic vegetable and fruit production, the garden donated more than 1,000 pounds of produce to the Racine County Food Bank during MGVs hosted classes on container gardening, square-foot gardening, composting and fall clean-up. 4. Botany in the Classroom Students at 15 schools learned basic plant and soil science through the efforts of RKMGA volunteers in More than 140 presentations were made in participating schools. Two of the 15 schools created new vegetable gardens. Highlighted Project: Norway Gardens Started in 2007, the meadow garden near the Town of Norway government building and a much-used public park demonstrates to residents and visitors which plants can thrive in a poor soil environment. It is based on drought-tolerant perennials requiring minimal watering. MGVs who tend Norway Gardens said the only plants that received water this summer were new ones. Next year RKMGA volunteers plan to redesign plant labels to include information on size, bloom time and water requirements to help gardeners make better choices for their home gardens. 51

52 Range Master Gardeners The Range Master Gardener Volunteer Association (RMGVA) is comprised of Wisconsin and Michigan MGVs from Iron County, Wisconsin and Gogebic County, Michigan. We had 18 WIMGA members in 2011, with 9 certified in WI for 2011 (and many others certified in MI). 23 hours in youth education 18 hours in community education 298 hours in support service 117 hours in continuing education We maintain our own website at rangemastergardenervolunteers1.shutterfly.com. 1. Every year the RMGVA donates $250 worth of books on various gardening topics to local libraries in the area. Range MGV Vice-President Vic Calore presented Mercer, WI librarian, Teresa Schmidt and Barb Braithwaite of the Carp Lake Township (White Pine), MI with donations of gardening books from the RMGV group of Gogebic County, MI and Iron County, WI. 2. Since 2002, RMGV Bonnie Maki has been in charge of the planting project for the City of Bessemer, MI. With help from the RMGVs, Mrs. Malmberg s sixth grade class planted annual flowers at City Hall and along the road to the Hall. New flower barrels were also planted and placed along the main street of Bessemer. Highlighted Project: Fall Garden Conference On Saturday, September 10th, 84 enthusiastic gardeners gathered at the Gogebic Community College Lindquist Center in Ironwood, MI for our annual fall gardening conference. This conference is for all northland gardeners, regardless of age or experience. This was a rare opportunity to learn from the best instructors from Wisconsin and Minnesota. We had four specialists speaking on various topics: Dr. Robert Tomesh spoke on Vegetable Trellising When you don t have enough gardening space-grow up and Small Fruits for the Home Gardener. Bob also discussed his international travels. Clayton Oslund-Duluth, MN presented What s Doin the Bloomin? showcasing a selection of native perennials (wildflowers) suitable for enhancing a garden in shady conditions. Larry and Lori Stute, from Iron River, WI talked about saving money by overwintering patio plants, propagating techniques and saving seeds. They also presented Perennials The Latest, Greatest and Old Stand-bys. The RMGV s had silent auction items to bid on and there were about 60 door prizes from major garden companies given away, totaling about $2000. Each attendee was given a goodie bag worth $20 filled with gardening products. Attendees liked the muffins, pies and desserts and lunch, plus idea that coffee, tea, water and baked goods were available to them all day all for the low price of $30. 52

53 Rock Prairie Master Gardeners The Rock Prairie MGA had 121 members in 2011 and 84 certified for ,126 hours in youth education 948 hours in community education 4,929 hours in support service 1,618 hours in continuing education This year was something of a milestone for the Rock Prairie MGA. We have long been identified with Rotary Botanical Gardens (RBG) because training classes for the original MG program originated there. Collaborative efforts between members of RPMGA and RBG in youth and adult programming and volunteerism at their location contributed to the confused identity. When our Horticulture Educator s position at RBG ended and he no longer maintained an office there, it gave RPMGA an opportunity to apply our efforts to becoming recognized apart from the Gardens. We have moved our base of operations for membership meetings and presentations to UW-Rock Co. We still maintain a cordial relationship with RBG, however, and many MGVs are still avid volunteers at RBG. 1. New mission statement. This year we realized RPMGA needed a short statement that would provide a snapshot of our goals and our abilities in publications and advertisements. A small team of MGVs did research and presented suggestions to the membership, to create and approve a statement. 2. Thursday Evenings at Rotary Botanical Gardens (RBG). This year RPMGA organized six lectures for the series under RBG oversight. 3. Plant Health Advisors. This team of MGVs that answers gardening questions had been operating out of RBG since its inception in When our UWEX Horticulture Educator moved his office from RBG back to the Rock Co. Courthouse, we decided that the UWEX office was a more appropriate location for the PHAs, too. 4. Landscape Design Class at Edgerton Public Library. Upon completion of the class portion of this year s continuing education program, participants split into teams and worked collaboratively to create unique and exciting ideas and eventually gave the Edgerton Library Board detailed presentations of those designs. In the end one main design was chosen, with details added from other designs. 5. Children s Program at RBG. Each year since its inception, RPMGA members have organized, staffed, created lesson plans for and presented children s programming at RBG. 6. WIMGA Annual Conference We prepared an application to host the 2013 WIMGA Annual Conference in Rock Co., and were delighted to be selected to organize this annual event. Teams will be organized soon to begin the planning process that will continue over the next two years. Highlighted Project: Annual Garden Festival This year Taking it to the Grill was a highly successful collaborative effort between a team of MGVs and RBG, where the event was held. Shortly before the event we were notified that RBG was intending to charge an admission fee (due to budget issues), yet we had already advertised this as a free event. Due to some quick work on the part of RBG s Executive Director, a donor was found to absorb the cost of the gate fees, and the event was able to proceed as planned. Once again it was a very successful educational event promoting growing and eating vegetables, as well as showcasing the gardens, with hundreds of people visiting our displays and learning about our projects and association. 53 Mission Statement: Rock Prairie MGA members volunteer in cooperation with University of Wisconsin-Extension to provide research-based educational and community service opportunities to its members and the surrounding gardening community.

54 St. Croix Valley Master Gardeners SCVMGA includes Pierce and St. Croix Counties. We have 185 members including 133 certified for hours in youth education 693 hours in community education 5,385 hours in support service 2,270 hours in continuing education Some of our many annual activities included hosting educational speakers at our monthly meetings and at our 11th annual Garden U educational seminar; MGVs answered questions and gave horticultural advice at farmer s markets in River Falls and Hudson and at Pierce and St. Croix county fair booths; and area community gardens contributed thousands of pounds of fresh produce for distribution. 1. MGVs and Houlton Elementary educates children in gardening through weekly recess Garden Club, whole school composting, and classroom projects. Each grade has a planting bed and specific crops. They harvest and eat fresh produce in school cafeteria. 5th graders work on 1 acre native plants in restored prairie. 2. The Community Garden on ½ acre donated by Hudson Hospital and Clinics rented 40 plots to community members. Provided a compost area and a Charity garden. A Hot Line answered questions, MGVs assisted first time gardeners. Garden talks and a newsletter provided more education and communication. 3. Monument sign project for Spring Valley Middle/High School provided desired outcomes: beauty, feeding wildlife, habitat for small animals, and low maintenance. Student participation has been realized with compost, mulching, bulb planting, winter care of geraniums, building and installing mounting posts and birdhouses. 4. Martel Schoolhouse Historic site Restoration group and MGVs planted shrubs and flowerbeds around school. Improving a public space and turning it into a town asset is a continuing project. 5. Development of small groups within our organization met need of advanced education, camaraderie, and development of speakers for community requests. Flower Garden Design had 5 classes focusing on principles of design. We practiced principles to improve our own gardens providing material for a presentation for speakers. The first presentation, Real Problems Real Solutions is slated for May meeting. Highlighted Project: 11th Annual Octagon House Plant Sale Our annual plant sale activities begin with our MGV Plant Sale Coordinator sending around a sign-up sheet in January. Over 40 members participate by growing plants, donating pots, providing tables, advertising the sale, gathering plants, sorting and pricing, and as cashiers and helpers on the day. The Octagon Historical Society lends us their yard for sale. The Plant Sale Coordinator organizes everything from layout of tables to canopies protecting from rain to color-coordinated plant pricing stakes. Our hundreds of plants are donated by MGVs and other community members. This year we made about $3,000 in revenue. Our profit is used to fund our Community Grant program. This year we gave $3,500 in grants to 20 organizations. Our seed money helped many community gardens: expand the youth garden at Hudson YMCA; establish a flower garden at Hudson Library; reclaim a prairie garden at Willow Park; teach planting and caring for seedlings to children at Family Resource Center locations; install a rain garden at the Phipps Center for the Arts in Hudson; and many more projects. MGV involvement and community volunteers make each grant expand into wonderfully successful projects. 54

55 Sauk County Master Gardeners We have 85 paid members in our association, with 37 certified for Fifteen people took general training in hours in youth education 358 hours in community education 2,004 hours in support service 910 hours in continuing education The Sauk Co. MGA meets on the second Thursday of every month in UW-Extension meeting rooms or on an educational field trip. We have had classes on culinary herbs; vegetable gardening; preserving the harvest; ferns and mosses; wreath making using fresh flowers and dried material; container gardening; and food dehydration. We had our plant sale at the annual Faire on the Square and took field trips to Amish country and Prairie Nursery in Westfield and the Japanese gardens in Rockford, IL. This year marked the 11th annual Get Ready Get Set Garden! seminar in Sauk Co., co-hosted by SCMGA. 1. Restoring the gardens at the Historic Log Cabin Museum in Reedsburg with the help of Huber inmates. 2. Baraboo Community Garden run by volunteers; all food goes to the Baraboo Food Pantry. 3. Restoring the gardens at the Sauk County Historical Society in Baraboo. 4. Public learning sessions for the Rotary Club, schools, senior living center and community garden participants. 5. All planting at the Circus World Museum with the help of the Huber inmates. 6. Teaching underprivileged children at the Kids Ranch to appreciate growing and eating their own vegetables and the appreciation of the beauty and diversity of flowers. 7. Helping with the gardens at Renewal Unlimited; teaching teens to plant, harvest and sell their produce. Highlighted Project: Creating a New Community Garden in Reedsburg This particular quest for a community garden began in 2009 when MGV Carrie Covell was pursuing a leadership project while participating in the Sauk Co. Institute of Leadership (SCIL) program. The City of Reedsburg was in the process of acquiring some properties resulting from extreme flooding in 2008 and the Sauk Co. MGA had for several years been looking for an opportunity to establish a Community Garden in Reedsburg so SCIL presented a plan for using these properties to establish a community garden. Although the City Council was supportive, community input and a comprehensive plan for the properties was required. Carrie was appointed to the Floodplain Review Committee which was established and the committee spent the year reviewing all of the suggested uses for the properties and outlining plans to proceed. The suitability of a community garden in this location was questioned because of the potential for flooding, FEMA restrictions regarding alterations to elevation, and a high deer count in an area where fencing will not be allowed to be put up. Alternative locations were not approved. The final recommended use from the Floodplain Committee, which was approved by City Council, included a community garden. The property has been rezoned conservation/recreation and is under the jurisdiction of the Reedsburg Parks and Rec Committee. The parcel designated to a community garden has been staked and the city has located water. It was hoped to have the parcel plowed/tilled and a cover crop planted before winter, but that did not occur. SCMGA intends to pursue a management agreement patterned after that which they have with Prairie du Sac and provide educational opportunities to those who rent plots. Over the next few months we will need to formalize our agreement with the City of Reedsburg, rent and prepare plots, and establish a calendar. 55

56 Shar-a-Gardeners Shar-a-Gardeners (Waushara Co.) now has 60 members with 6 being newly certified this year and 46 recertified for hours in youth education 132 hours in community education 2,108 hours in support service 878 hours in continuing education Our Association has grown in numbers very quickly and we are now assessing our group s focus so that we can also grow in quality of services provided and emphasize education. We will continue to write articles for the weekly newspaper and our newsletter is an excellent resource of information. In addition to that we are striving to have bi-monthly programs with demonstrations and speakers ranging from our own MGVs, experienced professionals and horticulturists. In the coming months ten of our group will be in a training program learning power point presentations to better help us when requests come in for speakers and other community educational opportunities. 1. We promote horticultural education through public gardens focusing on beautification, identification in a few gardens and using native plants. Also shown are problems such as fighting the invasive buckthorn, working with a difficult slope, and using plants that require less water or can withstand high traffic. We as a group had the opportunity to tour 17 of these gardens. 2. Martin Schulz, arborist, presented Tool Care to our group where we learned to sharpen our own tools we had brought. This hands-on experience emphasized the benefits of sharp tools and those without rust, as well as information on purchasing the tools necessary to do the job correctly. 3. We continue to donate books to every library in the county on pertinent horticultural subjects for the area. We display UW-Extension publications and MGVs are on hand to answer questions at our annual spring plant sale and 4 days at the County Fair, events which attract hundreds of people. 4. One of our MGVs worked with the Busy Bee 4-H group in planning and planting a garden under the PoySippi Library Sign; with their vegetable gardens; and preparing for the County Fair. Another MGV gave a rain barrel presentation to this same group, discussing the benefits of collecting rain water and the many uses of rain water, then demonstrated how to make a rain barrel. Highlighted Project: Gardening in Tune With Nature Our MGA offers an educational seminar every other year. This project involves most of our members in one aspect or another. This year s focus was to raise the awareness of creating beautiful and beneficial gardens utilizing the methods of square foot gardens while being conscious of the sustainability factor. Steve Lesch showed how to incorporate hardy bulbs into our landscape and Arlen Albrecht encouraged everyone to grow vegetables using less space, time and work. Teri Gear introduced Greenscaping using IPM practices, phenology, and permeable surfaces, and Stephani Prellwitz encouraged listeners to better utilize our water resources in her presentation Rain Gardens and Rain Harvesting. The follow-up survey results showed that there was high interest in these subjects. Since the seminar in March there have been several inquiries and reports from our group of implementation of the square foot garden techniques. Along with the presenters, our group had a composting exhibit displayed and an informational booth with an array of UW-Extension horticultural publications available. Five of our MGVs were available at both of these locations answering questions all day. Also invited were local vendors promoting buy local. 56

57 Sheboygan County Master Gardeners We had 104 members in 2011, with 66 recertified for hours in youth education 295 hours in community education 5,389 hours in support service 1,377 hours in continuing education MGV general training was offered to 18 participants in In 2011 we added new projects to our list, including design and installation of plantings at the Plymouth Intergenerational Center, UW-Sheboygan Acuity Technology Center, Kohler Andrae State Park fishing pond and Sheboygan Co Administration Building. 2. MGVs ran the first Amazing Race around western Sheboygan County trying to visit all the MGV projects in the area. Each project leader devised a challenge for racers to complete at their site and prizes were awarded. The event gave volunteers an opportunity to visit projects they had only heard of and view them in a fun format. 3. Other projects included the Bookworm Gardens, Garden Walk, landscaping a Habitat for Humanity home, horticultural hotline and referrals at home and work, Waelderhaus herb garden, Sheboygan Co. Marsh Park Tower, October 11th Memorial, Plank Road Trailhead maintenance, Plymouth Arts Center, Dutch Settlement Historical Marker, Plymouth Mill Street railroad overpass, purple loosestrife/garlic mustard control, Sensory and Peace Tree Gardens, Sharon Richardson hospice, Kohler Andrae prairie garden and rain garden, UW-Sheboygan gardens, and Sheboygan Co. Fair booth. Highlighted Project: Fishing Pond at Kohler Andre State Park Despite being the summer solstice, it was a foggy day when MGVs and recruits from the Wisconsin Conservation Corps planted aquatic plants in the new fishing pond at Kohler Andrae State Park. Planning for this project, one of several MGV projects at the Park, was coordinated with the Friends of Kohler Andrae. The energetic, hard-working crew was not afraid to get their hands mucky and in no time at all nearly 1,200 aquatic plants were installed between the spawning beds that the Corps recruits had built earlier. Along the pond s edge you can find porcupine sedge (Carex hystercina), pickerel weed (Pontederia cordata), hard stem bulrush (Scirpus acutus), giant burreed (Sparaganium eurycarpum), arrow arum (Peltandra virginica) and blue flag (Iris virginica-veris). Fish have been and will continue to be stocked in the wheelchair-accessible fishing pond to provide another activity for the many families that visit this third most popular of our state parks. 57

58 South Central WI Master Gardeners There are 50 members in the South Central Wisconsin Master Gardener Association (SCWMGA) from Green Co., with 37 certified for hours in youth education 169 hours in community education 1,840 hours in support service 516 hours in continuing education We publish an annual SCWMGA Volunteer Directory that contains the names and contact information for the members; lists work project committees, informational resources and websites; and includes a list of educational opportunities and meeting locations for the year. 1. Continued interest from homeowners and small acreage growers to bring local fresh food to the family table inspired the SCWMGA in presenting their Fourth Annual Gardening Symposium. Gardening Inspirations for All Seasons Fruit Salad from the Garden was held on Saturday, March 12th. 2. The SCWMGA continues to maintain many plantings and beautification projects around the Pleasant View Nursing Home Complex. The Bird and Butterfly garden attracts many winged visitors and can be seen through the resident dining room window. Projects are continually added and changed for the enjoyment of the residents of the facility. 3. MGVs presented programs including Alternative Gardening Techniques for the Belleville Senior Citizen group; several sessions on vegetable gardening for the Hope EFC Community Garden that included planting asparagus, seed starting, cold hardening vegetables, weed control and insect control, as well as two sessions on canning fresh grown garden vegetables; an introductory session on seed starting and transplanting at an open house for skills associated with homesteading; hands-on projects with local grade school children including seed starting, growing potatoes and planting trees; and guest lecturers during the local MG General Training. 4. Horticulture calls from the public, made to the UW-Extension office, are routed to 21 MGVs who research, return calls and make visits to homeowners. MGVs also answer questions when working on various projects at the Monroe Arts Center, Historical Museums, Green County Welcome Center, churches, senior centers, area schools and local community gardens. 5. Our annual continuing education scholarship, given to a student enrolled in a horticulture related field of study, was awarded to a Green County youth this year. The scholarship is funded through proceeds of the annual Spring Plant Sale that members raise and donate plants to. Highlighted Project: Garden Bus Tour The history and beauty of Boerner Botanical Garden was the destination for the 2 nd garden bus tour sponsored by the SCWMGA. The group appreciated the educational docent guided tour at the internationally renowned horticultural showplace. Collections including roses, daylilies, peonies, crab apples, annual, perennial & herb gardens were open for viewing. The beautiful gift shop was a delightful stop and the catered lunch by Bartolotta s Restaurant was enjoyed by all. The group toured Reiman Publications Visitor Center in the afternoon. Reiman is the publisher of magazines such as Taste of Home, Birds & Blooms and Country Woman. Volunteer committee members wrote news releases and promotional material, organized activities on the bus ride and acted as guides for the fun and educational day. 58

59 Southeast WI Master Gardeners SEWMGA had 562 members in 2011, primarily in Milwaukee and Waukesha Counties, including 111 trained in A total of 444 members are certified for ,266 hours in youth education 14,687 hours in community education 8,471 hours in support service 13,557 hours in continuing education The SEWMG organization provides horticultural education for the public and for themselves through a great variety of programs, projects, and their gardens, and a bimonthly newsletter written for members. Information was provided to those who attend our educational booths and displays at the Milwaukee Home Show, the Wisconsin State Fair, Waukesha Co. Fair, Milwaukee Co. Fair, and many other venues. In 2011, eleven education programs were offered, as well as two walks at Boerner Botanical Gardens and four educational/informational bus trips. 1. Garden Support Committee. This committee coordinated a one-day Veggie Tour of six MG vegetable gardens to help the public learn more about vegetable gardening. They also organized a Volunteer Opportunity Fair in Spring to highlight over 50 MGV gardens and encouraged participation in these gardens. Twice a year they have a meeting for all garden chairs to explain new policies, procedures, or opportunities and to answer any questions. These meetings also allow networking between chairs to share tips and suggestions. 2. Annual One-Day Fundraiser. The yearly Perennial Plant Sale is a collaborative activity that encompasses a six-week effort of digging, dividing, potting, nurturing, and selling the plants. On the day of the sale MGVs have educational displays and answer horticultural questions. In 2011 the weather, differences in advertising, and economic conditions made the plant sale less successful than other years. Next year we plan to be more technically prepared and advertise in other venues. This event supports the MGV projects and gardens that take place across two counties. 3. Lifelong Gardening Committee. This committee offer programs and displays to help those with disabilities or special needs to be able to garden. This year their wide variety of lifelong gardening tools, along with other machines or objects which are owned by the SEWMGVs, were inventoried and listed so that other SEWMGVs may borrow and make use of available items. 4. Endowments, Scholarships, and Monetary Donations. We have donated money to a scholarship fund at MATC, WCTC, UW Madison, and UW Stevens Point. These scholarships have been given and we have received appreciative acknowledgements from the recipients. Three non-profit agencies also received monetary support. Highlighted Project: Saturday Educational Programs for MGVs We had many discussions about generational differences and how not all members are able to participate in weekday activities. In order to include these members, we decided to offer MGV educational opportunities on Saturdays. These programs would be connected to the MGV organization and horticulture, but the main focus would not be specific horticulture education. Three topics were chosen: Leadership development to encourage future leaders for our organization; a horticultureinspired poetry presentation by a local horticulturist to nurture and inspire growth from within; and a website presentation to assist our membership in negotiating our website and other websites for research-based horticulture information. These presentations were well attended and because these were so well received, we hope to offer more of these programs in

60 Thyme Shares Master Gardeners & Friends There are 40 members in our association from Marquette Co. Twenty-eight MGVs have recertified for 2012, with five who just finished training and eight friends. 58 hours in youth education 648 hours in community education 2,205 hours in support service 658 hours in continuing education We participate in many projects on our own or in partnership with other organizations, including the Marquette Co. Barn Quilts & Hidden History Mural project, Remembering Williams Lake View Farm in conjunction with the Key Ingredients: America by Food exhibit, and visiting the greenhouse facilities at Nelson and Pade, Inc. in Montello. 1. We sponsored a bus trip on September 12 for 50 people to Madison featuring a self-guided tour through Olbrich Gardens, a stop at The Bruce Company, and shopping at The Flower Factory. 2. Our Annual Tree Sale has become a popular event, providing homeowners with fruit trees, asparagus, strawberries, grapes and raspberries at reasonable prices. 3. Our Plant-A-Row for the Hungry program begins in early spring when we secure brochures and plastic row markers from the Garden Writers of America. Small packages of seeds are prepared from seeds purchased in bulk, and packets are prepared with the brochures, markers, and an information sheet on how to donate produce. The packets were given away at spring events throughout the area. 4. The Marquette Co. Historical Society Gardens are now on a maintenance program, as most of the gardens are completed. This has been an on-going project for a number of years now and the results are beautiful a real plus to the grounds of the Historical Society. 5. We sponsored the Scented Sanctuaries Garden Walk on July 16, for attendees to discover some lovely sanctuaries up North in the county and into Coloma. One dollar of each ticket sale went to the newly formed Westfield Middle and High School composting program. Highlighted Project: Mint in Marquette County Thyme Shares MGVs & Friends/UWEX Marquette Co. presented a program on Mint in Marquette County in conjunction with the Key Ingredients: America by Food exhibit. This national traveling exhibit a partnership of the Smithsonian Institution and state humanities councils which will visit more than 200 rural communities across the USA explores the connections between Americans and the foods they produce, prepare, preserve and present at the table. The Marquette Co. Historical Society in Westfield was chosen as one of six sites in Wisconsin to host this exhibit. Marquette Co. MGVs shared information on mint in the home garden, about mint extract and oil and how they are used. With help from local mint producers and the video American Mint Documentary, we looked into the history of mint production, types of mint that are raised in Marquette Co., how the mint is marketed, what products are made from it, family recipes, and stories from the muck of the mint fields. Wisconsin ranks sixth in the nation in production of mint oil and Marquette Co. has five farm units with acreage devoted to it. Along with the presentation, we had story boards on the plant, medicinal uses, foods, Marquette Co. mint history from it s arrival in 1953 to present and more on the importance of this specialty crop. The program ended with refreshments made with Marquette Co. mint oil. Special guest for the afternoon was Christine Lindner, 63rd Alice in Dairyland (Wisconsin s agricultural ambassador), who shared points of interest about this unique agricultural crop. 60

61 Vilas County Master Gardeners We have 19 members, with 16 certified for hours in youth education 336 hours in community education 537 hours in support service 536 hours in continuing education We began in 2003 as the Green Thumbs garden club but officially became the Vilas Co. MGA in February We meet monthly year round on the second Thursday of each month. In the winter months we have speakers with an announcement in the paper, on radio and TV for the public to join us. Summer months we have an annual picnic and outings to horticultural sites. 1. We have worked with the city of Eagle River for many years, planning and planting hanging baskets and large pots for the downtown area for the Eagle River Revitalization Committee and maintaining various city sites seasonally through our Adopt a Garden project. Many people stop while we are weeding or pruning and ask gardening questions. 2. We have a Farmers Market on Wednesdays in Eagle River and many of our members are at the UW-Extension booth to answer questions on gardening. 3. A charter school requested our help to plan a garden with their students. We discussed with the students what plants need to grow: soil, water, sun, and nutrients. The students decided what they wanted to plant in the raised beds, and did all the planting, despite rain that day. 4. MGVs taught the youth garden-based nutrition education program called Got Veggies? (from the WI Dept. of Health Services and Troy Gardens in Madison) to the YMCA Summer Children s Program for 10 weeks on Tuesdays for 1½ hours at the Northland Pines Community Garden. 5. In September our display of composting and vermi-composting at the Youth Coalition Career Days was a hit with over 300 Vilas 6th grade students. Not only did they learn about composting by answering questions correctly, they also were rewarded with gummy worms. Highlighted Project: Northland Pines Community Garden The idea for this community garden began in 2010 as a collaborative project of Vilas Co. Public Health, UW-Extension, the Vilas Co. MGA, and Seed to Seed Edible Garden Project. The Northland Pines School District approved the use of an unused section of school property. Community business and organizations donated cash, materials and services to augment grants received from WIMGA and the National 4-H Council to build the garden. The lasagna gardening technique was used in the fall to prepare the ground, and 7 ft fencing was installed to keep the deer and rabbits out. The grounds of the 50 x 100 ft garden are ideal, with plenty of sunshine and water available on site, and room for expansion available to double the size of the garden in the future. Sixteen 8 x 10 ft plots were offered to the public through the community paper, with the remainder used as teaching gardens. In March, the Northland Pines High School ecology class learned about soil, seeds, and the plant s needs as MGVs worked with them to start seeds for the garden. On Earth Day they repotted the seedlings and helped get the garden ready for planting. In May a workshop on Learning to Build a Hoop House resulted in a 48 x 18 ft hoop house on site. We installed a rain garden in the teaching area and rain barrels on the shed to educate the students and public about water conservation. The Got Veggies? program was conducted here over 10 weeks in the summer. Produce was donated to the Eagle River Food Pantry weekly to distribute to the local community. The year ended with Garden Fest in late October, a work day to clean up and close the garden for the season, and enjoy a potluck of vegetables raised in the garden. 61

62 Walworth County Master Gardeners In 2011, we have 93 dues paying members, with 71 recertified for hours in youth education 330 hours in community education 3,551 hours in support service 1,468 hours in continuing education Walworth Co. is 576 square miles with a population of 102,228 (2010 census). With roughly 75 volunteers, we worked at over 70 different locations and events in 2011, stretching our small group to the limit as we try to fill as many requests as possible. Our county has a mix of agriculture and resort areas, so our field work covers a broad range of maintenance and beautification, including trails and streams along with the more expected public buildings. Plant advisory work, and teaching venues include the usual schools, community garden projects, arbor days, and farmer s markets. 1. Many volunteers work directly with extension on projects such as selling of rain barrels, helping with new classes, community gardens, plant advising, in numerous capacities at the Walworth Co. fair, designing and helping maintain garden areas of county buildings, and assisting with extension s Smart Garden Day project. 2. Our annual plant swap continues to grow in popularity with both the public and MGVs. We don t sell plants; instead we swap plants for plants, or plants for food donations. Each year we designate a different food pantry to receive our food donations. 3. Larger venues with regular MGVs include Badger High School Horticulture program in Michael Field s (see below), Congdon Garden s (formerly Delavan Rotary Gardens), Veteran s Park in Genoa City, Kishwauketo, Lake Geneva farmer s market, and Old World Wisconsin in Eagle. 4. Many members prefer to work with conservation type groups, doing cleanup, restoration, and maintenance of park trails, streams, and such. MGVs worked at over 30 such locations this year. 5. Other members find their calling with projects at churches, schools, libraries, nursing homes, various public buildings, animal shelters, etc. We served at 26 such locations in Highlighted Project: Little Green Thumb Project Michael Field s Agricultural Institute in East Troy is a non-profit dedicated to cultivating the ecological, economic, and spiritual vitality of food and farm systems. This year, their Little Green Thumb project teamed high school students with over a hundred first graders in local schools to plant and maintain raised gardens both at the Institute and at their school. A consortium of parents, teachers, and MGVs helped with start-up, teaching, and summer maintenance. The project provided students with valuable lessons about where food comes from, how plants grow, and the difference between weeds and crop plants. It also helped them learn and improve their behavior towards nurturing plants and each other. When plants didn t do well, the students were encouraged to figure out why. The project involved one school this year, but its success has spurred plans for additional schools next year. Much of the food grown was used in school cafeterias, or donated to the local food pantry. Walworth Co. MGVs are pleased to be involved with a project that crosses several generations, and can be mentored by all MGVs, not just those with professional teaching or horticultural experience. 62 Photo by Eric Kramer, East Troy Times

63 Washington County Master Gardeners In 2011 we had 42 dues paying members with 34 meeting the requirements for certification. We also trained 28 new interns. 249 hours in youth education 301 hours in community education 2,991 hours in support service 1,532 hours in continuing education Washington County MGA meets on the second Thursday of most months. After taking care of association business we routinely have speakers from the local community educate us on horticultural topics of interest. 1. Plant Health Advisor activity has increased this year as more people have become aware of the service. With additional MGVs going through the plant health advisor training, we are increasing our capacity to answer these questions as demand has increased. 2. We organized two outreach educational events, From Seed to Salad and A Year in the Garden, that were attended by nearly 200 people. Encouraged by our success with these outreach events, we will be doing more of this in the future. 3. To answer the public s gardening questions and to help promote UW-Extension and our MGA we staffed booths at the Washington Co. Fair, the West Bend and Hartford Farmers Markets, and at a large family resource fair. 4. The Kewaskum Community Garden continues to be managed by MGVs and there are plans to work toward expansion with help from new Kewaskum area MGVs. 5. MGVs continued to work on the West Bend Community Garden in association with the Ozaukee MGA. The produce from the plot managed by Washington Co. MGVs was donated to the local food pantry. 6. We continued our work on our inaugural project, the beautification plot that was a neglected median triangle that the group took on. They have worked to establish a long term plan for the area, establishing perennial plants that will maximize the beauty and minimize the maintenance. 7. We held a fall bulb sale to raise funds for our association to be used to print educational material and to help fund educational events. Highlighted Project: The Washington Co. Fair Our MGVs planned, planted, and staffed several display gardens and educational activities at the 2011 Fair. The first display garden contained multiple varieties of sunflowers and zinnias; the second contained different varieties of dry beans; and the third was a perennial flower bed planted in honor of a long time fair volunteer. Each of these displays had signage describing each plant and some historic facts about each plant. In addition to these gardens, the MGVs also staffed a booth to answer questions at the fair, planted a sunflower maze, revived a previously neglected water fountain garden, and ran a 4-H barrel planter contest requiring each barrel to have at least one vegetable plant and one purple colored plant. 63