Inside the Fence. Seed Packaging January 7 from 8:30 a.m. to?? Garden Team Callout January 14 at 1:00 p.m. Award Banquet January 30

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1 Seed Packaging January 7 from 8:30 a.m. to?? Garden Team Callout January 14 at 1:00 p.m. Award Banquet January 30 Inside the Fence Ricky s Reflections (pages 2 & 3) Awards Banquet Form (page 4) Seed Packaging and Home and Garden Show (page 5) Home and Garden Show Forms (Pages 6 and 7) What s Happening in the Gardens (page 8) Opportunities (page 9) Article (page 9) Coordinators (page 10) 2017 Display Gardens List (page 11) Extension Office: Option 3 FAX #: TDD:711/for hearing impaired Allen County Extension Web Site MG Hours: Ricky at See page 2 Ricky s kemeryr@purdue.edu Garden Coordinator Jackie Hoopfer Response Center Coordinator Denise Lloyd lloyddenise@gmail.com Across The Fence Editor Jane Ford bloominthing@gmail.com Community Garden Manager Jane Ford Plant Sale Coordinators Simone Alberding Jennifer Redwine Sherri Knisley Speaker Coordinator Anita Crusoe anitacrusoe@gmail.com Workshop/Seminar Coordinator Pam Snyder psnyder414@gmail.com Home & Garden Show Coordinators Dave & Nina Thierer Home Cell Purdue Extension - Allen County 4001 Crescent Avenue, Fort Wayne, IN Phone An equal access, equal opportunity university

2 Looking Forward to this New Year looks to be a year for changes for the Master Gardener program. Hours Reporting: John Orick, your state Master Gardener Coordinator, has informed me that the online reporting system will go live beginning in some counties in January. I will keep you informed as to the progress of this system. So far April 2017 looks to be a deadline date to adopt the new system. I know from past experience that many times these deadline dates get pushed back a little. One issue that will affect this is the installation of new servers in all county offices this spring. Another issue is the loss of D-Base - the office database support staff currently use. We will have to save and then enter your total volunteer and education hours into the new system. Eventually, you will go to the Master Gardener website and create an account - much like you create an account for banking, etc. Then you can enter hours for volunteer and education hours anytime on your secure account. This will save everyone time and paper. For now keep your hours the same as you always have. I will let you know when the system will go live for us. Once again a reminder that all questions regarding approval of hours, policy questions, really ANY question regarding the Master Gardener program MUST be directed to me. Support staff do not, I repeat, do not administrate the Master Gardener program - I do. My cell to call or text is I cannot stress enough how important this is. Master Gardener Awards and Recognition Banquet You will find registration forms and an itinerary for this event on Monday, January 30 th at IPFW s Walb Ballroom in this issue. The forms with an enclosed check or money order MUST be sent to me. Do NOT attempt to pay or drop off a form to support staff at the office. I will not take any late registrations. If you have questions - text or phone ME. There will be a box in the phone response center for you to drop off forms for me if you don t want to mail. I really suggest you mail them to me at the office Dates January 7 - Seed packaging day 8:30 or 9:00 a.m. January 14 - Callout meeting for Display Garden teams January 30 - Awards and Recognition Banquet April 29 First Workday May 20 and May 21 Plant Sale

3 Seed Packaging at the Office Saturday, January 7 th is the date for the first seed-packaging event at the Extension office. The event generally runs from about 8:30 AM to approximately 1:00 PM. If you haven t participated before, you don t have to RSVP just show up. You will use little spoons or tools to put seed in a coin envelope. Those of you with good handwriting will label the envelopes. It is as simple as that. We all know we could use computers or add a lot of technical information - we choose not too so don t bother bringing that up - just enjoy the activity. Your coordinators Dave and Nina Thierer will let you know what to do and whether there might be another day needed to package seed. The packaged seed is sold at the Fort Wayne Home and Garden show. The funds are used to support the Display Gardens. Display Garden Callout Saturday, January 14 Sorry about the confusion on dates in the December issue of ATF. The callout is always on a Saturday. So... Saturday, January 14 is the correct date for the callout. Show up around 1:00 PM. It is helpful for at least one member of a garden team to be present to pick up materials, etc. Questions? Again text or call me. Fort Wayne Home and Garden Show March 2 through March 5 Over 50,000 citizens visit the show yearly. Enclosed are forms to volunteer at the show either at the booth in the Garden Hall or as a Host/Hostess at the educational seminars. This year the show runs from March 2 through March 5 th. When you fill out the forms make sure to mark times you would be available to volunteer. Your Show Coordinators will schedule you for time slots- usually only one slot per volunteer - so don t think you will get a ton of slots - it just doesn t work that way. As always, make sure to fill out and return all forms promptly to the proper coordinators shown on the forms. This year forms must be sent directly to coordinators. Again, don t waste the support staff s time by trying to turn in forms to them. Your form may or may not make it to the proper coordinator unless you mail to them directly. Do your best to follow directions and protocol as we head into a very busy Needed help with food for Master Gardener classes by Gwen Raupfer There will be sign up sheets at the Banquet for setting up and preparing soups, casseroles and such for the Spring Master Gardener Class. The time commitment is from 5 till 9 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays of April, May, and early June. You will need to attend an orientation meeting tentatively scheduled for March to participate and then you will be scheduled for a few times during the class. Look for Kay Musgrave at the Banquet. She will have the sign up sheets.

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5 Note from Pam: This is a reminder that there are no classes scheduled for January and the new season for continuing education classes will begin in February As always, I am working on setting up programs for this new year so keep an eye on ATF announcements and be sure to take advantage of the opportunities as they come along. Also we will be changing how you register and pay the fee. That will be explained in detail in ATF along with the next Continuing Ed opportunity. For now, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at (260) or send an to psnyder414@gmail.com. Until then, Happy New Year to all!!! Pam Seed Packaging and Home and Garden Show 2017 Dave and Nina Thierer First I want to invite everyone to seed Packaging day, weather permitting, will be January 7 th. Please use common sense if the weather is bad. We understand that safety is first. We have a great time visiting, eating and even packaging up some seed. You are welcome to bring snacks to share. We will have at least one and maybe two additional days if needed. One will be on the morning of the garden call out and if we need additional days those will be communicated to you. The Home and Garden assignment sheets are in this Across the Fence. Please return them as quickly as possible. You may bring them to seed packaging. Mail the forms to Dave and Nina Thierer, 6616 Arnel Ave, Fort Wayne IN or them to ntteach2001@gmail.com. (Receiving them this way will make it easier for me to keep track of the forms and not have to make several trips to the office.) Volunteer spots fill up quickly. You are welcome to list as many times as you can help but it is very helpful if you specify your first, second and third choice. Also it is helpful if you only want to work one day please tell us that. I don t want to schedule you for one time say Thursday and one Saturday if you did not want to come 2 different days. Be as specific as you can. Please print your name, phone number and in a legible fashion so if we need to contact you we can. Also helps to spell names correctly on the list. The finished list will be out in the February, Across the Fence. If you need to make a change after the list is published you will need to contact us. You can use the listed above or call our home phone or you can call or text Nina s cell phone but keep in mind you might get voice mail on either but we will call you back. We will list the basic rules of being a volunteer at the Home Show in the February Across the Fence but basically you are there representing Purdue and the Master Gardener Program. We need you to engage the public and have fun. No Children are allowed in the booth. The only people allowed in the booth are the scheduled volunteers, Ricky and the Home and Garden Show Coordinators. Don t plan to leave purchases at the booth we just don t have the room. More information will be coming but that is the basics. We are still trying to get the speakers set for the show that is why they are not listed on the sign up sheet. We still have a couple spots to fill but for the most part we are waiting for the ones we have contacted to confirm. If you really want to present at the show and were not contacted you may , text or call Nina and she will pass your information on. But keep in mind we actually have most of the speakers we need.

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8 By AMG Cindy Trygg, Display Garden Reporter (Photos on this page by Cindy) SEED PACKAGING While the gardens are under several inches of snow and are resting until spring I thought I would write about some of the other volunteer opportunities for master gardeners. This month I'm writing about seed packaging that will be going on January 7th at the extension. This is the packaging of the seeds for the Home and Garden show coming up in March. The sale of these seeds are a big part of fundraising for the display gardens. For those of you who have not participated in seed packaging before this is a very low key event and you work at your own pace? Dave and Nina Thierer have been organizing this for the last five years and they have created quite the system. They start out in September or October meeting with Ricky to decide what seeds to order. That might be determined by what sold well the previous year, what the public has requested, and what is new on the market. Ricky tries to go with disease resistant varieties, organic, or heirloom seeds when possible. These are being requested more and more by the public. After the seeds have been ordered the master gardeners get together in January and package and label the seed packets with the plant name and description. When all the seeds have been packaged Dave and Nina take all the seeds and separate them into categories, such as vegetable, flowers, and herbs. They are then put in bins in alphabetical order and stored until the Home and Garden show. Dave has also put together a notebook with pictures of each plant along with growing instructions, the color, height, and special care instructions. This has come in very handy at the Home and Garden show when someone wants to know what a particular plant looks like or how to grow it. They can show them what it will look like. They can even take a picture with their phone and have all the information about the seeds they are purchasing. Did you collect any flower seeds from your garden this fall? Would you like to donate any extras you might have? Bring them in on the 7th. Be sure they are clean and include any information you may have, such as height, color, annual, biannual, or perennial. Also if you have any spring flowering bulbs, such as cannas, glad s, or dahlias you would like to share bring them along also. Make sure to label them also. If you would like to bring a snack to share that is welcome too. Don't forget you get volunteer hours on seed packaging day. Pics by Lyle January 2017 Volume 19 Issue 1

9 Contact Carrie Duke, , of Blue Jacket is requesting the assistance of a Master Gardener with their community gardens on Calhoun Street next spring. Drought-Resistant Gardens by Advanced MG Art Stahlhut One of the most financially and environmentally costly aspects of gardening is water usage. We will talk about how to improve the water-holding capacity of your soil so that you can use less water throughout the year. Topics for discussion include: what an inch of water means for plants, the effect of organic matter on water-holding capacity, and how much water it takes to grow your favorite veggies Instructor Art Stahlhut has decades of experience in producing successful crops in raised bed systems and will be happy to answer your questions. Ages 15+. Registration deadline: January 12. Min. 8. Max. 20. Code Date Day Time /19 Th 5:30pm-7:00pm #Sessions/Fee: 1/$8 Member or Volunteer Fee: $6 Location: Botanical Conservatory, 1100 S. Calhoun St. By AMG Peg Erpelding & Luna Another new year is beginning with loads of possibilities for us. As gardeners most of us just can t simply be satisfied with planting the exact same things every year. We all have our favorite perennials we just could never do without, but longingly look at and want that latest find in the plant world. Whether browsing thru the new seed/plant catalogs, checking out the latest offerings of the on-line garden stores or frequenting the isles of our go-to garden center we are always on the lookout for something different, sometimes even a bit of a challenge. So this year I challenge all of you to pick one single species of plants that you have not grown before, but would like to try or simply learn more about and really dig (yea, bad pun) into it. Find out all you can about your chosen plant and if possible acquire that plant and see how things go, either with it residing in a pot or directly in the soil. If you would like, it would be great if you would share with us (in Across the Fence) in 1 or 2 sentences what plant group you have chosen. I have already officially started the challenge when I spotted a small plant at the local grocery that begged for me to take it home (before said grocery store killed it (sorry)). A little Silver Variegated English Holly. Have been off and on looking at holly bushes to potentially plant on the south side of our house, but just haven t followed thru on it yet. Decided this was the time to get on it and do some research and as the weather warms and the garden centers open check out what the locals have to offer. By doing a bit of homework I can at least browse the isles and understand just what the hang tags on the plants are telling me that will work well in this area of Indiana. So, go ahead and pick a plant and tell us your newest plant interest, I challenge you! =^,,^=

10 Ricky Kemery Horticulture Educator MG Program Coordinator AMG Jackie Hoopfer, Display Garden Coordinator (260) AMG Jane Ford Editor of Across the Fence (260) AMG Simone Alberding Plant Sale Co-coordinator (260) AMG Pam Snyder Workshop/Seminar Coordinator (260) AMG Anita Crusoe Speaker Coordinator (260) AMG Nina Thierer Home & Garden Show Co-coordinator AMG Denise Lloyd Response Center Coordinator (260) AMG Dave Thierer Home & Garden Show Co-coordinator AMG Peg Davis, Bill Oliver, & Kathy O At-Large Council Members (Pictures to come)

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