The Tollgate Farm News

Transcription

1 The Tollgate Farm News Volume 19 Issue 6 June 2013 MSU Tollgate Gardens Volunteer General Meeting in the Conference Center Thursday, June 20, 7:00 PM Interesting Facts and Figures about Hostas On Thursday, June 20, Ralph Heiden will offer a program on his favorite topic, Hostas. He will start with some interesting facts and figures about hostas and how to determine which of the over 8,000 cultivars you might want in your garden. Hostas were once considered a "cast iron" plant with few problems; however, in recent decades, certain disease, insect and cultural ailments have started cropping up with the number one selling genus of perennials. Ralph will talk about deer, slugs, viral diseases, foliar nematodes, spring desiccation, petiole rot and other challenges with growing hostas in the home landscape. Ralph Heiden retired in 2010 after many years as an Extension Horticulture Educator with Michigan State University in Jackson County. He has an MS in Horticulture from MSU and has taught Master Gardener classes in over 30 Michigan counties. In March, he was a "Professor" at the annual Hosta College in Piqua, Ohio. He has been involved with the American and Michigan Hosta Societies for many years. In retirement, he has been developing his websites, PlantsGalore.Com and HostaHelper.Com. Tollgate Garden Volunteer Important Dates and Events June Meetings July Activities 20 TGV General Meeting 7:00 PM 6 Demo and Hosta Gardens 9:00 AM 13 Open House Clean-up 9:00 AM June Activities 20 Tollgate Open House 10:00 AM 15 Pond 9:00 AM 27 Children s Garden and Nursery 9:00 AM 22 Xeriscape/Activity Center Dry 9:00 AM Aug Meetings 29 Heritage/Dry Shade 9:00 AM 6 TGAC Meeting 7:00 PM 13 Fall Fair Meeting 7:00 PM July Meetings 15 TGV General Meeting 7:00 PM 2 TGAC Meeting 7:00 PM Aug Activities 9 Fall Fair Meeting 7:00 PM 3 Pond and Activity Center 18 TGV General Meeting 7:00 PM 10 Entrance/Dry Shade/Farmhouse 17 Xeriscape/Office Tollgate Hosta Garden Rose, Heritage, Rock Ledge Gardens Page

2 GREETINGS from the Tollgate Farm Manager Roy Prentice Greetings All, Plant Sale: Thanks to all that helped make the plant sale a success. Due to the efforts of the many volunteers that donated plants, prepared the nursery, and helped customers on the day of the sale, we made nearly $ ! Volunteers made a big difference, especially on the day of the sale. You all really pitched in on the day of the sale and all of the pre-sale prep days, weeding, arranging and making the sale area look good for our customers. All of the money raised goes directly into the Tollgate Garden Volunteer account to help us keep the place looking great for our many visitors. A big thanks are due also to George Papadelis of Telly s Greenhouse. Beetle Traps Positioned at the Edge of the Woods Great Selection of Annuals Donated by George Papadelis of Telly s Greenhouse Photo by Renee Cottrell George very generously donated a trailer load of wonderful annuals for the plant sale. George has been a long-time friend of Tollgate and has donated lots of plants over the years. If you are deciding where to shop for plants this year, please help us say thank you by considering Telly s. Novi Historical Commission Heritage Festival: Just a reminder that the farm will NOT be hosting the Heritage Festival as it has in past years. The Heritage Festival was originally scheduled for June 15 th and appeared on some Tollgate calendars. Beetle Traps: The US Forest Service will be using Tollgate again this year as a site for beetle research. If you are walking along the edge of the woods west of the sugar shack, you will see large black beetle traps hanging from the trees. Dr. Therese Poland, of the Forest Service is working to develop effective insect monitoring systems for the Asian Longhorned beetle and other exotic species. Many visitors and garden groups came to Tollgate during May to view the gardens. As the site becomes more and more prominent in SE Michigan, I really appreciate all of the effort that goes into keeping the grounds looking their best. Those of you that have Master Gardener hour requirements that you need to fulfill, now is an ideal time for you to get them in. If you put off getting those volunteer hours until late summer or fall, there is less to be done around Tollgate. Check out the Tollgate website and make note of our upcoming volunteer days. There is much to do to keep the place looking good. See you around the farm! Roy Page 2

3 Notes from the President When gardeners garden, it is not just plants that grow, but the gardeners themselves. Ken Druse COME GROW WITH US! PLANT SALE SUCCESS!!- After all the weather worries we were shocked and amazed that we had a beautiful morning and a very successful event! Thanks to all volunteers who contributed your plants, time or sales talent to put together our most successful Plant Sale ever. The addition of pictures, references and knowledgeable help seal the deal on several sales. See my Nursery notes (page 5) for more ideas and plans where you can be a team member. These funds go to our gardening account to continue to upgrade and maintain the current garden sites and projects. The next major Tollgate event of the year, the Tollgate Open House, is on July 20 th! As announced earlier this year the event will have a new theme Art in the Gardens. There will be local artists working, displaying their talents, musicians to provide entertainment and other garden item related vendors to satisfy your shopping urges. We will continue with educational talks and the garden walking tours. We hope to educate and entertain our guests and hopefully stimulate local volunteer interest. We will have an organized clean-up day Saturday July 13 th and that whole week on an individual walk-in basis for weed control. If it is an hour, a morning, or a day that you can help we would appreciate any time you can give. A sign-up sheet for volunteer tasks, finger food donations for the event will be circulated at the next membership meeting or you can me at rmcottrell4@att.net. We will be looking for lots of volunteer support to best present our site to the public. As Always, Thank you for being a Tollgate Garden Volunteer. Above Photos by Renee Cottrell Renee Cottrell, President Tollgate Volunteers Photo by Darretta Ferasin Page 3

4 Preparing for the Plant Sale Workday Activities Planting the Enabling Garden Photos by Roy Prentice Mulching the Farmhouse Garden Photos at Left by Darretta Ferasin Page 4

5 NURSERY NOTES from PLANT SALE Thanks to volunteers, we have a good reputation and turnout for our Spring Plant Sale. A lot of time and energy is needed to keep the nursery full, presentable and a healthy growing environment. We would like to have a team of multiple volunteers that are willing to do small portions of the maintenance to contribute to the overall management of the Nursery. HERE ARE SOME OF THE IDEAS: Each volunteer takes on a row or two to manage weeding, digging in plants as needed, and keeping plant tags visible/legible. Row managers get familiar with the plant material and work with Renee to prepare informational handouts/pictures etc. of each plant to use on plant sale day. This would be a great way to enhance your plant knowledge of sun and shade perennials. Adding in rows of in-ground planted daylily and iris: This project would include pictures for identification of bloom color and replenishing the growing clumps after the plant sale dig Team members to assist with spring and fall divisions/work days, plant sale prep and mulching tasks Many hands would make this quick work. The plans are there. We just need the volunteer help. If you are more of a computer whiz and prefer just to do the plant research we can use that kind of help as well. Call me if interested. Renee or rmcottrell4@att.net. Amazing Star The 2013 Tollgate Quilt Photos Wanted for the Tollgate 2014 Calendar You can purchase your raffle tickets at the TGV General Meeting, from the Tollgate Quilting Bees, from Roy or on the day of the drawing. Raffle tickets can be purchased up until the drawing during the Summer Open House, Art in the Gardens, on July 20th. The pattern is Amazing Star. The quilt measures 77 x 78 inches. Raffle Tickets will be $2.00 each or 3 tickets for $5.00 The deadline for calendar photographs is fast approaching, June 17th. I have received only a few photos so far this year. Please send your photographs of Tollgate to me via Roy or you can bring them to a Volunteer meeting and give them directly to me. They should be in landscape format on a CD or memory stick. If you use a memory stick and want it back please put your name, phone # or address on it. Nancy Roggers Page 5

6 2013 Plant Sale Plant Sale Photo by Mike Janczarek Photos by Mike Janczarek Photos by Mike Janczarek Photo by Darretta Ferasin Photos by Darretta Ferasin Page 6

7 Plant Sale.. Photos by Darretta Ferasin BAKERS NEEDED Our Open House is coming in July so keep in mind that we will need goodies for our many guests. Every year they let us know how much your baked donations help in making this a wonderful day. Photo by Jackie Stengel Raquel Vega's Introduction to Bonsai at our May Tollgate Volunteer General Meeting proved to be very interesting and uniquely educational. Raquel s enthusiasm and love of the art of Bonsai was extremely contagious. Feel like baking or did you see some delicious bake goods in the store? Please feel free to bring some treats to our monthly Thursday evening meetings. No need to sign-up. Need ideas? Let me know. Yvonne mainwoods@gmail.com Page 7

8 Fall Fall Fair Submitted Submitted by Dennis Roggers Now that summer is finally here the Fall Fair Committee is hard at work. All the pieces are starting to come together for what we hope will be and even better Tollgate event. In the coming months I will announce the craft workdays as we get closer to the Fair, but in the meantime we still can use your paper towel and toilet paper tubes for one of our crafts. You can drop these off in the Volunteer Communication Center (VCC) on the east wall table. Our fund raising efforts are continuous all year but the can drive is still an important part of the total financial picture. Your support is always appreciated and goes a long way to making the fair a reality. You can drop off your returnable bottles and cans in the box by the fridge in the VCC and I will be glad to take them in for you. This year Betsy Wilds will be handling the volunteer sign-up duties for the Fair, I will be announcing more information on how and when to sign-up in the near future. As always our meetings are at 7:00 PM on the second Tuesday of the month and all are welcome to come and join in on the fun. We hope to see you there! by John Woodrich The PAR garden is all planted and we have straw mulch between the rows and woodchips on the main paths. The garden is really starting to take shape due to the hard work of some dedicated volunteers. This year we have planted pole beans, beets, cabbage, cantaloupe, cucumbers, eggplant, garlic, onions, parsnips, peppers, potatoes, tomatoes, turnips, watermelon, winter squash and zucchini. If anyone would like to receive the weekly announcement of our PAR garden workdays send an to John Woodrich at jfwoodrich@yahoo.com. Mike Bauer Sue Berry Don Kasanic Page 8 Fall Fair 2012 A Special Thanks! Kerry Kelly Jennifer Louwers Priscilla Mouat Len Stein Nancy Strodl Melinda Thomas Photos by John Woodrich To all of you who made a donation to help the Tollgate Gardeners make Tollgate a more beautiful place. Your donation is greatly appreciated! The support that you have provided will continue to help our program prosper and grow. Thanks again and Happy Gardening! Sharon Weber

9 around the farm...around the farm Page 9

10 Tollgate Volunteer Information Activity Days Activity day hours are 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM unless otherwise noted on the Tollgate Garden Volunteer Important Dates and Events listed on the first page of the Tollgate Farm News or by the Area Garden Leader (AGL). Lunch will be provided - veggie alternatives are available upon request. If you aren t getting The Tollgate Farm News , Check your SPAM folder This schedule does not exclude you from working independently on the site. However, on non-scheduled days, your efforts will need to be selfdirected with guidance from the garden area clipboards located in the Volunteer Communication Center. Volunteer Activity Day and Meetings Information ext. 400 Garden Tools Available for Use at Tollgate List of Suggested Gardening Implements to Bring from Home as Needed Spades Garden Rakes Brooms Wheel Barrels Weed Buckets Leaf Rakes Garden Hoe Long Handled Garden Forks Trowel Hand Pruners Loppers Garden Scissors Your Favorite Weeding Implement Hand Saw Plant Division Forks Shrub Rake Sun Screen Gloves Knee Pads Insect Repellant Tollgate Garden Advisory Council Farm Manager Roy Prentice ext prentic1@msu.edu President... Renee Cottrell Vice President... Peg Palmer Secretary... Dave Komraus Treasurer... Sue Janczarek Membership... Nancy Roggers PR... Yvonne DeMattos Fall Fair... Dennis Roggers Programs... Jackie Stengel Hospitality... Yvonne DeMattos Farm News Editor... Darretta Ferasin For membership questions or to update your current membership information send to: tollgatemembership@gmail.com MSU Tollgate Gardens Volunteers For general information and questions Contact Roy Prentice The Tollgate Gardens Advisory Council next meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 2, 2013 at 7:00 PM in the Tollgate Office Building. All Tollgate Gardens Volunteer members are welcome to attend. Listings to contact individual Council Members and Area Garden Leaders are available at all general meetings and in the Volunteer Communication Center. Tollgate Volunteer Membership is renewed annually. The 2012 Tollgate Garden Volunteers membership is from December 1, 2012 to November 30, THE TOLLGATE FARM NEWS Tollgate Gardens Volunteer Office Meadowbrook Novi, MI, Page 10