Clinton County Newsletter Over the Garden Gate

Transcription

1 Clinton County Newsletter Over the Garden Gate Volume 9 Issue 7 August 2018 Editor: Carol Machael, cmachael@gmail.com; Published on the first Monday of the month except during January and December. To submit an article it must be sent by as a Microsoft Word attachment - The Fair

2 Master Gardener Advisory Board Meeting Minutes for July Clinton County Extension, DeWitt 9:00 am Roll Call-Deb M., Bev C., Carol Y., Vicki J., Loren A., Linda L., Gayle P., Lindsey T., Kathleen R., Bonnie M., Willard L., Jeff M., Mark S., Margo H., Kathy S., Jan R., Roger R., Mary M. Approval of June minutes - Motion to approve Linda L., Second Kathy S. Financial Report -Master Gardener budget for 2018 will be reformed to a simpler version from last year. It will present as a checkbook format of expenses vs revenue. Our ending general balance as of 6/30/2018 is $ There are still a few outstanding bills to be paid. Mark s Report - Master Gardener class schedule for fall has been completed. Classes will be from September 4,2018 until November 27, Fundraising - Lindsey T. presented several ideas to increase our plant sale revenue, as well as other ideas for county wide activities to increase Master Gardener awareness. Bickelhaupt Arboretum -Last call for the bus trip to Chicago Botanical Gardens. Margo also thanked the Volunteers for their time and efforts. Committees/Projects/Events MG Day at the Fair- Another microphone has been secured thru a donation from Mark S., for the speakers to use at next years event. There were 35 entries for the container contest. The Fairy Garden/Gnome contest had 22 entries. The Bucket of Blooms had 11 entries. The contest rules were discussed and modifications may be made for next year. Monarch Migration Day- Is set for August 25,2018. Rhonda Brady will bring her learning lab. to the OLC from 10:30 until 12:00 noon. Then from 12:30 until 2 p.m. on to Westbrook Park. OLC - A watering schedule will be made depending on weather conditions and upcoming events at the Fairgrounds. Publicity - No report. Habitat for Humanity Planting- Bonnie H., Vicki J., and Gayle P., completed with flowers donated from the Master Gardeners and Home Depot. Old Business Riverfront project judges - Vicki J., Bonnie H., completed the judging of the Riverfront Gardens this month for the Clinton Visitors Association. Petersen plaque - Placque for Glen Petersen completed and a Thank You letter was sent. Food Donation update and reminder - Carol M., is in charge of this task but is looking for fresh vegetable donations for area pantries. New Business Gustafson memorial - Margo,and Jan R.,have been working on the completion of an article for local newspapers. Speakers for next year s fair - Several topics were discussed and possible speakers. Carol Young, Secretary Iowa State University Extension and Outreach does not discriminate on the basis of age, disability, ethnicity, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, national origin, pregnancy, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, or status as a U.S. veteran. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies may be directed to Ross Wilburn, Diversity Officer, 2150 Beardshear Hall, 515 Morrill Road, Ames, Iowa 50011, , wilburn@iastate.edu. EOADV.15.04W November 2016

3 MASTER GARDENER DAY at the FAIR Thank you to all who took part in Master Gardener Day at the Fair, whether helping in some way or attending the seminars. The number of members attending was about 30. Attendance at the seminars averaged about 35. If you have a topic you would like to have next year or have heard a particular speaker you think would be good for the day please tell a member of the Advisory Board. VEGETABLE CONTEST There were thirteen contestants with 47 total entries. Hub Hughes won Best of Show with 3 white onions. Reserve Best of Show was by Sidney Wegener with a large green cabbage. OLC Right now the OLC looks good. There will be several events in the 4-H auditorium so we must continue to keep things looking good. This would be mostly watering, dead heading, and pulling the occasional weed that grows up over night. More help is needed to help with the weekly watering. If you can help with this please contact me at willardflarsen@gmail.com. Vegetable Garden at OLC The vegetable garden this year is a Donation Garden. Iowa State urged Master Gardeners and vegetable gardeners in general throughout the state to take part in a Donation Gardening Program. Reason for Donation Gardening: One in eight Iowans is food insecure, meaning, they do not have enough food to make up a healthy diet. Vegetable gardeners can make a difference. Many gardeners produce more than they can use/need during the summer. Consider donation gardening. Zucchini, summer squash, cucumbers, peppers,and beans have already been donated from the garden. More About Donation Gardening There are multiple sites in Clinton and probably more than one in the rest of the county. The sites most often used are these: Referral and Services Center in DeWitt, 615 8th St. Open M-F, 8-5 Salvation Army in Clinton, 219 First Ave., Open M-F, 8:30-3 Victory Center in Clinton, 505 9th Ave. S., Open M-Sat., 8-6 These centers will weigh all produce and keep a record of donations so a report can be made to the state. Other sites are Community Action Program in Clinton, 240 N. Bluff (their offices are on the 2nd floor), M, T, F, 12:30 to 3:30, and the many churches who provide free dinners on a monthly or weekly basis. Members of these churches may wish to donate directly to their church.

4 Remembering Bill Gustafson By Jan Rittmer Thanks to all you plant people who came to the Outdoor Living Classroom garden during the County Fair in Mid-July. Fair week was informative and fun as usual, but this year, tinged with sadness. Bill Gustafson, Clinton County s long-time Master Gardener, number-one booster and volunteer,died in May from diabetes and multiple unsuccessful hip surgeries. His passing left a void. We missed his flower arrangements in the container contest, and the donuts he liked to share. Sadly, Bill s death went all but unrecognized by the local papers. You may remember Bill as the heavy-set man at the Fair in a motorized wheelchair, who gave flower arranging demonstrations using wild flowers and ditch-weeds, or who won Best of Show for his arrangement in the Container Contest. Bill Gustafson merits this mention because his personal passion and willingness to volunteer time and skill enriched our whole community. He was a good example for us all. Like you, Bill s passion was horticulture and flowers; his skills, however, differed from some of ours: He knew plants, generated ideas like a computer, and could raise funds, donations and services like a wellmeaning school yard bully. He often made people laugh while doing it. Bill idealized his rural childhood on a farm near Calamus. He studied agronomy at ISU, and eventually became a successful beef cattle judge and planner/promotor of cattle shows. When Bill s aging parents needed help, he came home to care for them, working at local nurseries or as a floral arranger or cook. Bill never married, and with his parents and only brother gone, he died alone: no funeral and only a brief death notice marked his passing. From about 1996 Bill and others had rejuvenated the nearly defunct Clinton County Master Gardener Club. The organization s goals became an outlet for Bill s underused planting, planning and promoting skills. In 2002 he and Master Gardener Dwaine Albers drew up ambitious plans for a 10,000 foot teaching garden and asked the Clinton County Fair Board to furnish the sandy, weedy piece at the east end of the fair grounds. Bill and Dwaine believed the garden would be a win for all: an upgrade for the Fairgrounds, teaching facility for the Master Gardeners, and beautiful free, 24 hour access, educational oasis for all Clinton County residents. The Board hesitated, fearing the project

5 would be abandoned if volunteer interest waned. The two men prevailed, and in 2003 they persuaded the Clinton County Development Board to grant $14,000 to start the project. Dwaine rode the end-loader and supervised MG workers while Bill Gustafson s persuasive skills began working full time. He scrounged free use of heavy equipment and sometimes an operator. He solicited plants, donations of many kinds, and money county-wide. The energized Master Gardeners lanted, mulched and watered. The OLC flourishes still, thanks solely to donations and volunteerism. Bill continued volunteering county-wide through the years even after he needed a wheelchair. I wish I had space to list all his projects. He was finishing the partially installed landscape design for the old Lyons High School when he died. Bill was an amazing volunteer, but not a perfect person volunteers don t need to be perfect. I met him in 2002 and always liked him. I enjoyed his sense of humor, and the ideas he generated amazed me. But Bill also generated drama, and yes, sometimes conflict, especially as his health deteriorated. He did not always work and play well with others. His volunteer spirit and skills, though, were undeniable, and his willingness to share time and talent never waned. Bill s example as a volunteer serves as a reminder: Clinton County is rich with volunteer opportunities for people who love plants. The beautiful Bicklehaupt Arboretum in Clinton and De Witt s OLC are great places to work with others who share your plant-passion Bill loved both locations. Or just help beautify your church, your school, or your next door neighbor s yard. Maybe once in a while, to honor Bill Gustafson s memory, bring along a box of donuts to share. Corn -Tastes so good, but is it healthful? One cup of cooked corn has 130 calories, 4 grams of protein and 2 grams of fat. It's a good source of fiber and folate, providing 12% and 18% of the recommended daily doses, respectively. Corn also has a plethora of other good-for you nutrients like B-vitamins, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, copper and zinc. This baby is also brimming with phytochemicals that have been linked to heart health and cancer prevention. Although corn is a starchy vegetable, it's also considered a whole grain (the kernel is a grain). Adding corn to your healthy eating plan can help you meet the USDA's recommendations to make half of your daily grains whole.

6 Moth Magnetism You thought monarch butterflies had a corner on wayfinding skills? Check out the Bogong moth! They are not as glamorous or beautiful as monarchs their name means brown in a defunct aboriginal sect. But their ability to migrate successfully equals that of the monarchs. During their lifetimes, they make two 600 mile trips, from birthplace in Queensland and New South Wales to cool caves in the mountains of Victoria where they spend the summer, and back again. How they find their way is a mystery but recent study suggests that they use a combination if magnetic compasses and topography. Since they travel at night, light from the sun is not helpful. Researchers at first thought the moon and stars would help with navigation during migration, But it was found that, like nightmigratory birds, they were able to sense the earth s magnetic field. The researchers tethered migrating moths in an outdoor flight simulator. They found that the moths' flight direction turned predictably when dominant visual landmarks and a natural Earthstrength magnetic field were turned together. When those two cues were turned in conflicting ways, the moths became disoriented within minutes. The findings led the researchers to conclude that Bogong moths rely on a magnetic sense. Next, researchers want to know how the moths, never having been to the caves before, know when they have reached their destination. The Bogong moth has been a food source for aboriginal tribes because it is high in fat. They have also been found to contain arsenic. Large numbers of the moths in summer during their dormancy period has led to accumulation of arsenic in the surrounding environment and in predators, especially in the mountain pygmy-possum.caterpillars of the bogong moth (called cutworms) are robustly built and considered a pest to crops. They are known for the disruption they can cause when the bright light of Canberra and Sydney divert them on migration. When daylight drives them to shelter they end up blocking air-conditioning ducts, shorting electrical circuits and invading bedrooms! A female moth can lay up to 2000 eggs, most of which can survive if near a food source. Caterpillars of the bogong moth (called cutworms) are robustly built and considered a pest to crops.

7 Castor Bean...an Exotic Addition to Your Garden It has oversized, tropical-looking leaves and bizarre seed pods, and is easy to grow. Ricinus communis is in the Spurge Family (Euphorbiaceae) and is native to tropical east Africa around Ethiopia. It is considered a weed in many places, including the southwestern U.S. Castor bean is a robust tender perennial which can grow to 40 feet tall, developing woody stems over a few years in frost-free climates. Because of its rapid, vigorous growth, it is easily grown as a warm season annual in temperate climates, but it rarely exceeds 6-10 feet in a single growing season. This fast growing plant tends to grow straight up at first, developing branches later in the season to form a well-proportioned shrub with sturdy stems and a dense canopy. The plant is killed when the temperature drops below 32F. The alternate, star-shaped leaves on long petioles can grow over 2½ feet across. Flowers are produced in dense inflorescences 8-18 tall at the tops of the stems. The monoecious plants produce male flowers below the terminal female flowers. The flowers do not have petals and are not particularly showy. The ½ inch male flowers each have a cluster of many cream or yellow stamens that shed large amounts of wind-borne pollen. Each spherical, seed capsule is thickly covered with soft flexible spines and has three sections that separate when the seeds are mature. Each section contains one seed that is ejected, often with considerable force, when the carpel splits open. Each seed has a small, spongy caruncle at one end which helps absorb water for germination when planted. Seeds remain viable for 2-3 years. About half the weight of the seed is a thick, yellowish oil that has been used in many industrial applications. When grown as an ornamental, castor bean can be planted directly in the garden in late spring, or started indoors earlier (6-8 weeks before the average last frost) and transplanted outdoors when the weather warms. Nick or scarify the seeds or soak overnight for better germination. Sow the seeds 1-1½ inches deep. Seedlings should start coming up in 1-3 weeks. The young plants grow quite quickly and may need repotting into larger containers before transplanting outdoors.