Inside the Fence. September 8 For the Birds (see page 4) October 22 Next Workday

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1 September 8 For the Birds (see page 4) October 22 Next Workday Inside the Fence Important Info: Please Read (page 2) What s Happening in the Gardens (page 3) MG Continuing Ed Opportunities (page 4) Spiders (page 5) Basil (page 6) Opportunities (page 7) Extension Office: Option 3 FAX #: TDD:711/for hearing impaired Allen County Extension Web Site Report MG Hours to Rhonda Smith smit2177@purdue.edu 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 Plant Sale Coordinators Simone Alberding Marilynn Meisner Sherri Knisley Speaker Coordinator Anita Crusoe anitacrusoe@gmail.com Workshop/Seminar Coordinator Pam Snyder psnyder414@gmail.com The Master Gardener Program, the Display Gardens, and related educational programming, volunteer activities, and all funds raised for maintaining the gardens, are administered by the CED and Horticulture Educator of the Cooperative Extension Service). Purdue University is an equal opportunity/equal access/affirmative action institution Purdue MG proceeds are used in the following manner: 90% are used to support the development of the Display Gardens including plant materials, garden supplies, equipment, educational material, promotional materials, and other improvements. 10% are used for volunteer development including events, workshops, group building activities, recognition, and refreshments as needed for such events. September 2016 Volume 18 Issue 9

2 Policy for Placing Advertisements in ATF Placing an advertisement in ATF to sell household items, vehicles, any kind of personal items that could be sold at a garage sale or through personal ads in the newspaper or through an online social network site will be charged a fee. All ads submitted will need to be approved by the Editor or Ricky. If what is submitted is approved, the cost for a 2-line ad (no pictures) will be $20 for one month. Each month after that would cost an additional $20. The fee must be paid up front to Rhonda in the office before the ad can be placed in ATF. For questions and information bloominthing@gmail.com. Volunteer Hours Reminder MGs please begin adding up your hours for the 2016 year. New Interns who have just finished classes this year should be ready to turn in any hours that you have accrued. Watch for reporting hours deadline in the October issue of ATF. Deadline for articles, updates, etc. for ATF is the 15th of each month. Submit items by to: bloominthing@gmail.com Master Gardener Survey The purpose of this open-ended survey is to ask for your ideas to make the Horticulture Extension program and the Purdue Master Garden Program in Allen County serve the citizens more effectively and efficiently in years to come. You will receive 2 hours of volunteer time if you complete and send this survey to the Extension office (just list on your forms). Be creative, as succinct as possible with your answers. You can type and submit your own pages if you need the space. These surveys are anonymous, so don t put your name on this or put your return address on your envelopes (unless you don t care). Be honest and constructive realizing that funding, staffing, and liability and rule issues sometimes hamper us. Provide a list of the most critical issues (in your opinion) that face Allen County residents now and in the next five years? Etc. List your ideas for ways Horticulture Extension and Master Gardeners can address and solve these issues (if possible) within the next 5 years. Be specific.

3 By AMG Cindy Trygg, Display Garden Reporter (Photos on this page by Cindy) A TRUE Garden Party This month's article is a little different as this garden is not at the extension and it is not really about a garden, but the people in the garden. On July 30th there was a party in my own garden. It was a thank you party given by Kay Musgrave as she stepped down from her responsibilities as the food coordinator for the Master Gardener classes. She called it her "Give Back Party". Kay wanted to give back to all of the master gardeners that have made food for the classes over the last eight to ten years. Thirty attendees came and Kay provided dinner for them. Another surprise was that Ricky's band, The Kitchen Table Players, provided entertainment for the master gardeners in attendance. The Kitchen Table Players are Ricky Kemery, Gwendra Turney, and Tommy Myers. Gwendra is also a master gardener. Kay is not leaving the Master Gardener program, just giving up this one job. She is still active in the Woodland Garden, she still volunteers in the phone response room, works the plant sales, and organizes the annual banquet in January. Kay not only volunteers at the extension and also at the Botanical Conservatory downtown, where she teaches three to five year old children about gardening. Kay is also a Master Naturalist and volunteers at Matea Park where she helps with the science classes and Christmas at Matea. Fox Island is also on her list, where she helps monitor the bird houses and she will be helping with the tagging of butterflies this weekend. Kay moved to Fort Wayne in 2000 and started volunteering by pulling weeds with her daughter at the extension. Some might remember her as the "weed lady". Kay will receive her 5,000 hour gold badge at the banquet in January. She is thankful for having the job of helping in the classroom as it has made it possible to keep up on all the changes in Ricky's teaching over the years. So Kay says thank you again to all the volunteers that have made food and helped in the classroom over the years as she hands over the duties to Gwen Raupher. Gwen will be starting her new duties with the class that starts this September. September 2016 Volume 18 Issue 9

4 By Pam Snyder, Advanced MG It s time to start thinking about preserving and canning up the last of the summer produce soon and then putting our gardens to bed for the winter. Since I relocated the naughty critters that were eating all my produce, I now have tomatoes and cukes for the next few weeks. I experimented with some ghost peppers this summer. The plant is loaded and the first one is turning nice and red-orange. I ll tell you now that I won t be the one tasting them, but my grandson loves peppers the hotter the better. I ll let you know the verdict next month. The educational programs this spring and summer have provided education hours for many of our Master Gardeners. I ve also received some wonderful suggestions from several of you for programs you d like to see in the future and I am working on those for next season. Upcoming Seminars and Programs FOR THE BIRDS with Instructor Dena Purcell. Dena is from Wild Birds Unlimited and she presents a very interesting and informative program on encouraging birds to your yard and garden and how to care for them. In this presentation, she will share specifically how to prepare your bird feeding stations for winter and what winter visitors you might see. She will also be sharing how to care for your nest boxes at the end of nesting season. Winter water solutions will also be discussed. She will also show pictures of several feeder set-up displays. Thursday, September 8, 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM at the Extension office. There is a $4.00 fee for this class. Registration deadline is Friday, September 2. FALL GARDEN CLEANUP &TOOL CARE Keith and Rick will share and demonstrate the do s and don ts of putting your garden to bed for the winter and getting all those garden tools cleaned up, sharpened and ready for spring. Saturday, October 29, 1:00 PM at the Extension office. Registration fee is $4.00. Registration deadline is Monday, October 24. Fresh Holiday Greenery Arrangement with Instructor Amy Oliver, Landscape Designer We will be making beautiful holiday arrangements with fresh greenery which you will take home and enjoy throughout the holiday season. The fee for this class is $25.00 which will cover a decorative container and all greenery. Monday, November 28, 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM at the Extension office. Deadline to sign up for this class is Monday, November 21. Put this date on your calendar and watch for more details in October s ATF. Space will be limited and you will not want to miss this class. Remember to pay Rhonda when your register for classes. Also if you have questions about any of these educational opportunities or suggestions for some other class, please contact me at (260) or send me an at psnyder414@gmail.com. Please do not contact me to register for classes. Rhonda at the Extension Office is the only one who has the sign-up lists.

5 By AMG Peg Erpelding & Luna Spiders (Argiope aurantia), are not everyone s favorite critter on this planet. Is it because they have 8 legs which makes them arthrapods, not insects or that they are fairly small, show up in unwanted places and move with amazing speed to only vanish before you can get a good smack in? They have had a long history of bad press from books and movies, being near the top of the list of creepy crawlies. Hopefully we can change that creepy feeling you get the next time you encounter Aragog (sorry J.K.R.) or one of his offspring. Most arachnids (spiders) are harmless, are you ready for this?, they are beneficial predators! Several kinds of spiders do produce a venom which is mostly harmless to humans. As we head into the season of fall there seems to be an overabundance of spider webs, just everywhere, indoors and out. So this is really the prime time of year to get in a little spider watching. Spiders have a timetable for their lifecycle. They hatch in the spring, reproduce and die in the fall. Females lay their eggs toward fall time and they die at the first hard frost. The egg sacks they produce overwinter to the next spring when the cycle begins again. This is the time of year the spiders become busy spinning their webs. There are basically three kinds of spider; the web spinners, the hunters and the crab spiders, who lie in wait and ambush their prey. The hunter spiders are seen less frequently as they prowl in the nooks and crannies of places. These spiders are the ones who are the most beneficial, the wolf spider being at the top of that list. The hunter spiders prey on aphids, armyworms, leafhoppers, flies, leaf miners, spider mites, pine sawfly, caterpillars, thrips, cucumber beetles and grasshoppers. The web spiders are the ones we will especially see this time of year and are fascinating to watch. A large portion of the spiders we see are orb spiders. They are the ones that will build their webs in midair, stretching the web between just about anything that stands still. Yep, these are the ones you get close and personal with as you walk thru your doorway and walk into their web! Something of a challenge for you this fall, when you see these webs, don t reach out and destroy them, instead observe the web and its spider. The web is silk. At one time spider webs were used to pack wounds to stop the bleeding of the wounds. The silk spider webs were also used by weavers to make socks and gloves, but discontinued to do this due to the lengthy time and overall cost of making these products. Next time you are in your garden/yard look at the web at different times of day, how they sparkle in the morning dew, the aesthetic beauty of the web and just what it took for a single spider to create such a feat of engineering and all done in one night! Slow down and enjoy the beauty we walk past every day. Joyful Fall. =^,,^= Editor to the spider: I appreciate Luna s article but you still creep me out! Spider to the Editor: Well, have you looked in the mirror lately?

6 By AMG Bethany Beebe The other day I sauntered into the kitchen to make dinner. Like a cooking show that I could waste days watching, I decided I wanted to employ only those foods I had in the kitchen. No running around to three stores for ingredients. No wasting of food or time. It turned out to be no problem. Especially this time of year, with all of its beautiful products coming in from the garden, I prepared a foil pouch for the grill with leftover green beans and some garden tomatoes that were a little past their peak for fresh eating. Given the combination of foods I had, one of the first seasonings I imparted on the meal was basil. I cannot seem to serve tomatoes or green beans without it. While I was trying to finish off some dry-state herb that I had, it is an annual that we can grow in the garden here in Indiana or keep in a pot on the deck or windowsill. Purdue Publication HO-189 suggests friable soil that is well tilled and moist will best encourage the growth of seeds, which are to be planted ¼ to 1/8 inch below the surface. The relatively small seeds should germinate in eight to fourteen days. When grown commercially, cultivars are snipped at about six inches tall before heading into the field to encourage a bushier, more lateral plant. Purdue Publication HO-28-W offers that once established, this herb can perform at high temperatures. Should you opt for in-ground planting, Extension recommends waiting for a few weeks after the frost date to introduce the plant into the soil. For the home gardener, mulch is recommended for weed control in HO-28; should you wish to plant by the acre, HO-189 offers detailed directions. If I ever were to succumb to the temptation to grow a great deal of basil, I would likely grow many different varieties rather than a massive amount of just one. HO-189 offers that 50 species are available. James Simon, in his Purdue Extension New Crop Fact Sheet, listed a few options. Among sweet basils, I could select Sweet, Mammoth, or Genovese. Purple Ruffles or Dark Opal would add some color, and Sweet Dani or Lemon could add a hint of citrus scent to my garden patch. Licorice, Camphor, Spicy Bush, and even Cinnamon would make quite the compliments to my gustatory and olfactory laboratory. Once grown, if drying or harvesting for volatile or essential oil, collection should happen just prior to the emergence of the bloom. Gentle washing and removing of weeds and then cool, dry storage is best, just be sure to not allow the temperature to go below 40 degrees. Many reliable sources suggest browning will occur if the chill is too cold. HO-28 says that white wine vinegar will turn purple when purple basil is added, and can be used in pesto or other basil-requiring recipes. It also offers that a coarse salt will take on the herb s taste; simply remove the spent basil after it turns brown. No matter how you select to use it or the color you select, basil could definitely be up for a best-supportingstar-in-my-food nomination.

7 Gardener s of America Bus Trip To: 2016 Gourd Festival in Delaware Ohio When: Saturday, October 8 Where: Bus leaves from Meijer store on Lima Road at 7:00 a.m. Cost: $85 includes snacks and a full dinner. Lunch on your own. There will be demonstrations and gourds will be available for purchase. Festival is considered a must see for anyone interested in gourds. Registration sheets will be in the phone response room or contact Kay Musgrave at kgrdchr@msn.com Deadline to register is September 5, Employment Opportunities Todor Cooklev of SW Fort Wayne, is seeking the help of a Master Gardener experienced in the planning, installation, and upkeep of a perennial flower garden for his home landscape. He is quite partial to the look of our own Monet Garden here in the Display Gardens. Todor is originally from Belgium. He would like to receive instruction from this Master Gardener on how he can best garden here, in our conditions, so that he can eventually maintain his flower garden without assistance. He is willing to pay $15 20/hr. Mr. Cookley at cooklevt@ipfw.edu if you are interested in this job opportunity. Sand Point Living Interiors is taking applications for plant technicians who maintain clients' indoor tropical plants. Candidates for the part-time job will have flexible schedules, must have a valid drivers license, and the ability to lift up to 50 pounds, climb ladders, bend, kneel, and use watering tanks and buckets. Employees should be robust with good stamina and the ability to recognize and execute excellent customer service and work unsupervised. Knowledge of Fort Wayne area helpful, company shirts and equipment provided. If interested contact Mary at office@sandpointlivinginteriors.com. (This is a paid position) J. Lynne Associates are hiring part-time landscapers. If you enjoy working outside, being part of a team and can safely lift 50 lbs or more, please call and leave a message at (260) or your resume to: jlynneassociates@gmail.com. Contact Judith Nastally, Advanced Master Gardener & Owner, J. Lynne Associates. We design, install and maintain our customer s outdoor spaces. We will provide training. Volunteer Opportunity The Visiting Nurse and Hospice Home is looking for a MG volunteer who would be willing to help this nonprofit with gardens and a green roof. The location is in SW Fort Wayne off Homestead and Liberty Mills roads. If interested contact Sally Lawson at She will be happy to provide you with a tour to help you make the decision whether or not to accept this volunteer position.

8 Ricky Kemery Horticulture Educator MG Program Coordinator AMG Rhonda Smith. Office Staff Horticulture and Agriculture Secretary and Office Bookkeeper Phone: 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 Deb Kohlmeier Community Garden Coordinator Working Council At-Large Member AMG Nina Thierer Home & Garden Show Co-coordinator AMG Anita Crusoe Speaker Coordinator (260) AMG Dave Thierer Home & Garden Show Co-coordinator Working Council At-Large Member AMG Cindy Trygg Working Council At-Large Member Display Gardens Reporter AMG Randy Jackson Working Council At-Large Member MG Photography Coordinator

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