The Watering Can. Queen Anne s County Master Gardener Newsletter. The Summer Foraged Bouquet I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

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1 Queen Anne s County Master Gardener Newsletter The Watering Can V O L U M E 1 7, I S S U E 7 J U L Y, I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E : Coordinators Corner QA 4H Fair Volunteer Sign-Up Educational Opportunities Volunteer Opportunities The Summer Foraged Bouquet It is that time of year, where the roadside ditches and field edges take center stage becoming oh so tempting to stop every few miles and pick! So why not mix those wildflowers + weeds in with some foliage + flora from your own backyard for a free stunning summertime bouquet? Here are a few images from my neck of the woods to inspire you to keep enjoying your gardens blooms on the inside too! MGs Report 7 Pollinator of the Month From the Gardeners Kitchen Community Garden Open House Calendars 11 By Hannah Niebuhr For more information on Maryland's wildflowers visit:

2 P A G E 2 COORDINATOR S CORNER Its been a quiet and slow summer so far around here, but with the fair days ahead things are sure to pick back up. As usual we need lots of volunteers and lots of new ideas for this years booth so please sign up! To liven up next months newsletter, I would love to hear and see what s going on in your garden or where your summer travels have taken you? Pictures and/or words are more than welcome. Also anyone willing to write a book review or submit recipes from your edible garden would be greatly appreciated too! From my garden to yours, happy summer! -Molly MONTHLY MEETING HOST SIGN-UP THIRD WEDNESDAY OF EACH MONTH 9:30AM TO 11:30AM Tilghman Terrace, Centreville July 20th September 21st? October 19th November 16th? Laura Klingler No Meeting 4H Fair Liz Hammond December 14th Holiday Luncheon T H E W A T E R I N G C A N

3 P A G E 3 SUMMERTIME MEANS COUNTY FAIR TIME! Once again we will be featuring a particular focus of the Master Gardener Program for each day of the week. At our next monthly meeting we will go into more thought and detail as to what we might like to display for each topic. VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! Each shift should have 2-3 people to staff the booth. Please contact me with your choice of time and day, mgarret1@umd.edu. Monday 8th Tuesday 9th Wednesday 10th Thursday 11th Friday 12th Saturday 13th 4-6:30pm 4-6:30pm 4-6:30pm 4-6:30pm 4-6:30pm Noon-3pm GIEI Bee Demo Bay-Wise Bee Demo Pollinators Natives 6:30-9pm 6:30-9pm 6:30-9pm 6:30-9pm 6:30-9pm 3-6pm GIEI Bee Demo Bay-Wise Bee Demo Pollinators Natives T H E W A T E R I N G C A N

4 P A G E 4 Educational Opportunities Upper Shore Beekeeping Association Monthly Meeting and Talk Wednesday July 13th 6:30pm Location: Yellow Building next to Kent County Library in Chestertown Speaker: David Smith Harvesting your Homey and related issues Summer Grow It Eat It Meeting Thursday, July 28th 10:00am-3:30pm LOCATION UME Frederick County Office 330 Montevue Lane Frederick, MD AGENDA 10:00-11:15am Updates from GIEI programs; updates from State MG office 11:15-12:00pm Tour MG Demo garden--led by Frederick County MGs 12:00-12:45 Pot-luck lunch! Bring a dish from the garden and your recipe to share 1:00-2:00pm Tour the Frederick News-Post Community Garden--led by David Muns 2:30-3:30pm Tour Don Ludke's vegetable and fruit garden in Mt. Airy Frederick News-Post Community Garden 351 Ballenger Center Drive Frederick, MD Don Ludke's Garden 8397 Mapleville Rd. Mount Airy, MD Please RSVP to Beth Bukoski (ebukoski@umd.edu) by July 18. *If you'd like to share your recipe, please send it to Beth by July 25th. Environmental Series Lectures and Films The Chestertown Environmental Series lectures and films are free and open to the public. They are held the first Thursday of each month, 6:30 pm at Sumner Hall, 206 South Queen St. In Chestertown. The series is curated by Margo Bailey, and is sponsored by the Town of Chestertown. For more information, go to 4th: Blue Gold Wars of the future will be fought over water, not oil, as the source of life takes center stage in the global political arena for control of our dwindling fresh water supply. September 1st: Just Eat It A food waste story. Americans toss out the equivalent of $165 billion in food annually. T H E W A T E R I N G C A N

5 P A G E 5 QAC MG Volunteer Opportunities CHESTERTOWN PLANT CLINICS Saturday, July 9th and 23rd Saturday, 6th and 20th Location: Chestertown Farmer s market in Fountain Park, 8am noon Contact sharvey1@umd.edu for more information. KENT ISLAND ASK A MASTER GARDENER (PLANT CLINIC) Remember, MG volunteers, the Farmers Market is about outreach, not JUST Plant Clinic, which is only about 20% of the booth activity. We DO have a good time! Please volunteer! Please consider volunteering at YOUR MG table ONE day this year! Thursday, July 14th 3:30-6:30pm Thursday, 11th 3:30-6:30pm Location: 830 Romancoke Rd, Stevensville, MD Nick Stoer nickstoer@gmail.com Cathy Tengwall cathy1542@gmail.com SUMMER YOUTH GARDENING SERIES KENT ISLAND LIBRARY, STEVENSVILLE Art by Nature Pre-K-3rd grades Monday, July 11th, 10:30am-11:30am Art by Nature 4th-7th grades Monday, July 18th, 2:30pm-3:30pm Contact mgarret1@umd.edu if interested in helping with the kids! QUEEN ANNE S COUNTY 4H FAIR 2016 Monday, 8th to Saturday, 13th See page 3 for topics and shift times between 4pm-9pm TOMATO TASTING 2016 LOCKBRIAR FARM Saturday, 13th 11am 1pm Contact sharvey1@umd.edu if interested in helping! T H E

6 P A G E 6 Master Gardener Booth at the Maryland State Fair Location: Farm & Garden Building on Timonium Fairgrounds Dates: Friday, 26 to Monday, September 5 Shifts: 12:00-2:00pm, 2:00-4:00pm, and 4:00 7:00pm each day CONTACT PERSON: Mary Lewis maryplaysindirt@aol.com WHY PARTICIPATE? This is a great opportunity to share our knowledge with the public, as we are able to reach so many people from all over the state. The Fair is also a wonderful place to check out the bounty of Maryland Agriculture and have fun with your Master Gardener friends! We have 60 slots to fill and need your help! Signing up for this opportunity will enable you to attend the State Fair for free and with free parking. (A $13.00 value!) HOW TO SIGN UP TO HELP WITH THE MASTER GARDENER BOOTH We will be using an automated sign-up tool called SignUpGenius. Please click on the link below to be directed to the sign up form: go/60b0d4eafab2ca13-vol27 The deadline to sign up is Tuesday, 9th. Please feel free to sign up for multiple shifts! MASTER GARDENER BOOTH DETAILS The fair starts on 26th and the booth will be set up on 25th. The booth will stay up until Labor Day evening on September 5th. We will have a display board highlighting Attracting Pollinators, with accompanying handouts. Master Gardeners who help with the booth will also be supplied with Master Gardener Program brochures, Grow It Eat It (GIEI) brochures, GIEI fact sheets, HGIC/GIEI business cards, pencils, and paper. Demographic sheets (to help record and track our outreach efforts) will also be provided. WHAT SHOULD I BRING WITH ME? If you have your own 'show & tell' item (worm bin, bug box, etc.), please bring it during your shift. If you have a personal laptop, you could bring it during your shift and show the public one of the Grow It Eat It videos, or show them the list of publications available or the plant diagnostic website. You may have your own ideas of what you can share to get the public interested and show them the tools available on the HGIC website. If you have a Master Gardener badge, and/or a Master Gardener branded t-shirt or hat, please wear them. Please also consider giving a presentation on MASTER GARDENER DAY! Date: Thursday, September 1 Time: 1:00pm-7:00pm Presentation duration: minutes for each talk Location: Farm & Garden Speakers area On this day Master Gardeners are invited to give talks on their favorite gardening subjects (e.g., composting, butterfly gardening, vegetable gardening, etc.). Previous talks have included the topics of soil testing, dividing perennials, canning/pickling vegetables, making seed bombs, and helpful tools for the garden. The audience tends to be small, but those attending do appreciate the information that Master Gardeners provide! If you would like to give a talk on September 1st, please contact Mary Lewis directly via maryplaysindirt@aol.com. T H E

7 P A G E 7 MG s Report: Bay-Wise June was a busy month for the Bay-Wise committee. We conducted 4 visits resulting in 4 certifications and one consult. We have several more scheduled before the end of June and are working on scheduling visits in July now. State-wide, the Bay-Wise program has some new products. Each county recently received a Bay -Wise tablecloth which can be used for events such as the Farmer s Market, QAC Fair and our plant sale. We also have a new score sheet for tallying the inches on the yardstick. It is two part so the homeowner can keep a copy for their records. The third item is new, larger signs for public properties. They come in two sizes: 12 by 18 inches and 18 by 24 inches. We purchased three of the 12 by 18 inch signs. One will be used for the Centreville Library rain garden. The second was used for Calico Fields. We have one left for future use. On June 2, a group of five MG s visited Calico Fields in Millington for a certification. Calico Fields is an 11.5 acre property on Unicorn Lake in Millington owned by Jay and Christa Falstad. They purchased their initial property of 6 acres in 2001 and the adjacent 5.5 acre heavily wooded lot a few years later. This parcel was immediately placed in a forest conservation easement. Knowing that they wanted to farm their land, they researched what would work with their soil type and weather conditions without adding fertilizer, pesticides and irrigation. Lavender seemed the perfect choice. In 2006 they planted a small quantity of lavender plants which did very well. Continuing to increase their number and types of lavender, they have also developed a line of lavender products and a retail business which operates out of a small on-site store as well as online. They also grow aronia berries and raise bees. Everything they do is geared to conservation practices. Needless to say, they did very well when marking inches on the yardstick. They have a large fenced-in, raised bed vegetable garden which was also certified. This is the first vegetable garden that we have certified. They received both a large sign for their property and a small sign for their vegetable garden. They have also offered to promote our Bay -Wise program by having Bay-Wise brochures available in their store and posting on their Facebook page. We are getting a lot of good publicity from this certification! Check them out at calicofieldslavender.com. Our next Bay-Wise meeting will be Wednesday, July 20 th immediately following our regular monthly MG meeting. All MG s and interns are welcome to attend. Library Rain Garden Submitted by Debbie Pusey Our next work party will be Thursday, July 16 th at the Centreville Library rain garden. Submitted by Debbie Pusey T H E W A T E R I N G C A N

8 P A G E 8 Pollinator or Natural Enemy of the Month Syrphid Flies The Syrphid Fly is part of the large family of "Hover Flies" and they are one of the most important and common beneficial bugs in North America. Adult Syrphid flies can often be found hovering over flowers where they feed mostly on nectar and pollen. They hover motionless except for the beating of their wings. Like bees, they are "pollinators". Syrphid flies are regularly found where aphids are present in agricultural, landscape, and garden habitats. Adults of this stingless fly hover around flowers, have black and yellow bands on their abdomen, and are often confused with honeybees. Syrphid flies undergo complete metamorphosis with 3 larval instars. Females lay their white to gray oblong eggs, each measuring 1 mm, singly on their sides, usually near aphids or within aphid colonies. Larvae are legless and maggot-shaped and vary in color and pattern but most have a yellow longitudinal stripe on the back. They can be distinguished from caterpillar larvae by their tapered head, lack of legs and their opaque skin through which internal organs can be seen. Larvae vary in length from 1 to 13 mm depending upon their developmental stage and species. Pupae are oblong, pear-shaped, and green to dark brown in color. Pupation occurs on plants or on the soil surface. Adult syrphid flies feed on pollen and nectar and serve as very effective pollinators, while it is the larval stage that feeds on insects. Larvae of predaceous species feed on aphids and other soft-bodied insects and play an important role in suppressing populations of phytophagous (plant feeding) insects. Larvae move along plant surfaces, lifting their heads to grope for prey, seizing them and sucking them dry and discarding the skins. A single syrphid larva can consume hundreds of aphids in a month. Not all syrphid fly larvae are predaceous, some species feed on fungi. T H E W A T E R I N G C A N

9 P A G E 9 From the Gardeners Kitchen: Basil Basil Lime Cookies recipe from Big Fat Baker INGREDIENTS 1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature 3/4 cup plus 1 tbsp. sugar 1 egg 1/2 tsp vanilla Zest of 1 lime 3 tbsp very finely chopped fresh basil leaves 7 ounces (1 3/4 cup) flour 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt INSTRUCTIONS -Pre-heat the oven to 375 F and line the cookie sheets with a silicone mat or parchment paper. -In a stand mixer (or hand-held mixer) cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Mix in the egg, vanilla, zest, and basil. Mix together until fully combined. -In a separate bowl sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Then mix into the butter mixture until combined. -Roll 1 tbsp of dough to make a little sphere. Repeat with remaining dough. Place about 1 inch apart on the cookie sheets. -Bake 8 to 12 minutes, depending on the size of your cookies/oven. Allow to cool on a cooling rack for a few minutes Creamy Avocado Basil Pesto recipe from Ambitious Kitchen INGREDIENTS 1 cup packed fresh basil leaves 1/2 large ripe avocado 2 cloves garlic 2 tablespoons pine nuts 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 3 tablespoons water, plus more if necessary 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese sea salt, to taste INSTRUCTIONS -Add basil, avocado, garlic, pine nuts and lemon juice to a food processor and pulse for 20 seconds or until pesto is chopped. -Add in water and process again until completely smooth. You may need to add more water to get it to your desired consistency. -Transfer to a bowl and stir in the cheese. -Store in an airtight container or sealed mason jar and refrigerate. *Pesto is best if used within a few days, otherwise you can freeze it for several months. NOTES Toss in 1/2 cup spinach for extra nutrition You can also omit the pine nuts T H E

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11 JULY 2016 P A G E 11 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Plant Clinic, 8 to noon, Chestertown KCMS Beekeepers Meeting, 6:30pm Chestertown 14 KI Plant Clinic, 3:30-6:30pm KCMS KCMS MG Monthly Meeting, 9:30-11:30am BayWise Meeting Statewide GIEI Meeting, Riverdale Plant Clinic, 8 Demonstration to noon, Chestertown Kent County Fair AUGUST 2016 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 KCMS 7 8 KCMS KCMS KCMS Plant Clinic, 8 to noon, Chestertown Tomato Tasting, KI Plant Clinic, 11am-1pm, 3:30-6:30pm Lockbriar Farms Queen Anne s County Fair Demonstration Plant Clinic, 8 to noon, Chestertown

12 Newsletter Deadline: July 20, 2016 county/home-gardening University of Maryland Extension 505 Railroad Avenue, Suite 4 Centreville MD, Phone: (410) Fax: (410) QACMG Website: Master Gardener Coordinator, Queen Anne s County The University of Maryland Extension programs are open to any person and will not discriminate against anyone because of race, age, sex, color, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, religion, ancestry, national origin, marital status, genetic information, political affiliation, and gender identity and expression. Equal opportunity employers and equal access programs. University of Maryland Extension Queen Anne s County 505 Railroad Ave. Suite 4 Centreville, MD Vision Statement: A healthier world through environmental stewardship