Swamp Fox Festival Activities at Lowe Park Saturday, September 30

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1 Vol. 27, No. 9 Editors: Julie Stark/Lisa Slattery September 2017 LINN COUNTY MASTER GARDENER EVENTS Steering Committee Meeting Extension Office September 5 6:30 pm Extension Council Meeting Extension Office September 11 5:30 pm Executive Council Meeting Extension Office September 18 9:30 am Lowe Park Workshops Cornhusk Wreath Workshop September 9 10:00-12:00 am Swamp Fox Festival September 30 4:00 pm Expert Ed Urban Tree Selection Extension Office September 18 6:30-8:30 pm Plant Exchange Lowe Park Greenhouse September 30 10:00 am Swamp Fox Festival Activities at Lowe Park Saturday, September 30 Plan to attend events at the Lowe Park Swamp Fox Festival on Saturday, September 30, starting at 4:00 pm. Seed Saving (4:00 pm): LCMG will lead this hands-on workshop in the methods for selecting, collecting and saving seeds. Tomato Tasting (5:00-6:00 pm): Join LCMG at the Lowe Park Greenhouse for a tomato tasting. There will be a mix of heirlooms and hybrids, from cherries to beefsteak. The number of tomatoes and varieties are subject to weather and tomato availability. What s Inside Swamp Fox Festival Page 1 Fall Training Schedule Pages 2-3 Community Outreach Gardens Update Pages 4-5 Gardening for Family, Food & Fun Page Plant Exchange Page 6 Expert Ed Events Planned Page 7 Donate Extra Produce from Your Garden Page 7 Coordinator Comments Page 8 Volunteer Spotlight Page 9 Steering Committee and Project Reports Pages September

2 Master Gardener Fall Training Schedule Below is the fall training schedule. Four Master Gardeners are needed each evening from at least 6:00-6:30. If interested, contact Shelly at the Extension Office ( or The time volunteering can be applied toward your annual volunteer hours! Workshop Number/ Date Topic Name Host Location Time #1 Sept. 12 Orientation Homework Assignment Shelly O Neal Beula Dvorak Extension Office 6-8pm #2 Lesson Sep # 2 Class Sep. 19 #3 Lesson Sep #3 Class Sep. 26 #4 Lesson Sep. 26-Oct. 3 #4 Class Oct. 3 Vegetables & Herbs and Animal Ecology (Activity: Scavenger Hunt) Landscape Trees and Shrubs (Activity: Tree Walk) Fruit Culture and Herbaceous Ornamentals (Activity: Orchard Tour) Beula Dvorak Linn County MG Catherine McCauley Garden Mike Anderson Linn County MG Noelridge Park Larry Dawson Linn County MG Mary Ann Owner Allen s Apple Orchard ISU Campus Class Oct. 7 or 21 The main Master Gardener Program State Level Master Gardener Coordinators ISU Horticulture Building 8:30am- 3:45pm #5 Lesson Oct #5 Class Oct. 10 #6 Lesson Oct #6 Class Oct. 17 Continued Page 3 Plant Pathology and Weed Science (Activity: Forcing Bulbs) Soils and Soil Fertility and Entomology (Activity: Soil Sample Procedures) Judy Stevens Linn County MG Lowe Park Greenhouse 6-7:30 Bev Whitmore Linn County MG Extension Office 2 Germinator

3 Continued from Page 2 Workshop Number/ Date Topic Name Host Location Time #7 Lesson Oct #7 Lesson Oct. 24 #8 Lesson Oct. 24-Nov.2 #8 Lesson Thursday Nov. 2 #9 Lesson Nov. 2-7 #9 Class Nov. 7 #10 Lesson Nov #10 Class Nov. 14 Botany (Activity: Botany Grocery Store) Houseplants (Activity: Propagation) Sustainable Landscape Design and Pesticides (Activity: Right Place -Right Plant) Turfgrass and Wrap-Up Devon Dietz Doug Smith Linn County MGs Extension Office Deb Walser Linn County MG Extension Office Deb Walser Linn County MG Extension Office 6-7:30 pm Shelly O Neal Extension Office Fall Celebration Potluck & Graduation Ceremony for Trainees & Interns Shelly O Neal and the Linn County Master Gardeners Lowe Park Facility 6-8pm September 3

4 Abundant Produce in the Community Outreach Gardens By Beula Dvorak We are still in need of additional MGs and interns to assist with this project as there are lots of gardens seeking assistance and few MGs involved. Questions or to volunteer contact Beula Dvorak Produce in all gardens are overflowing and there is an amazing amount of work going into these gardens. Volunteers are always welcome! Kenwood School: Kenwood has lots of lettuce, kale and herbs that are ready. The adopt-the-garden is going well and families have more than they can use. We are hoping to put some benches in and have a pollinator garden. Any help with the pollinator garden would be appreciated. Hiawatha School: The raised vegetable beds are over flowing with all kinds of veggies and sunflowers, some being over 6 feet tall. Volunteers are harvesting peas and the first of the cucumbers. The lettuce, spinach, and cilantro are overgr and will be pulled this week so that new seeds can be planted. The pollinator bed looks fabulous with lots of bee and butterfly activity, so fun to watch. There are some weeds that will be pulled and new plants have been purchased to fill in those spaces. Milkweed seedlings that were started in June will be added in also. I have been working with the school district to get the table and benches ordered and in place before the beginning of the school year. The district requires that these be mounted on a concrete slab, so that will take up a large portion of our grant money. We are meeting Wednesday morning July 19 to pull overgr plants and weeds and to do the replanting, all are welcome to help!! Please join us!! Catherine McAuley: We had a successful Garden Walk with a little over 200 people attending. We are excited that the Catherine McAuley Center was able to be present and educate people about center's activities and ways they could become involved. The produce is growing and growing and growing. We harvested one section of onions and all the carrots and have donated those to the food pantry at the Catherine McAuley Center. We will be planting some other crops in the coming weeks in these spaces: radishes, lettuces, carrots, etc. Although we planted our squash late, our enemy the vine borer beetle still got to the squash vines. We removed vines which were showing the heaviest signs of infections and performed "surgery" on others. We will be keeping an eye on these plants and possibly replanting squash for a late harvest. One of these days we will figure out how to beat this pest! On a brighter note, our pollinator garden is doing wonderful! On the day of the walk we had so many beautiful monarch butterflies enjoying the flowers. The garden in general is busy, busy, busy throughout the day with different kinds of pollinators. Prairiewoods: By June 23, cherries and mulberries were ripe and ready Continued Page 3 4 Germinator

5 to pick. By June 27, the garden was ahead of planting and mulching. A hose chain was set up for watering. Japanese Beetles were first seen on June 27 on the Hollyhocks and strawberries. UGH! Asparagus was weeded and mulched. By July 8, the weather had cooled. Watering is done every and Friday if no rain. Tomatoes are watered close to the ground and the lowest side shoots are pruned and plants tied up. Some Tiny Tim tomatoes were donated and planted. Tomatoes were tied to the fence panels. Pole beans, cucumbers, and squash were planted next to trellises. To the July 8, date, kale, broccoli, cabbage and onions have been harvested. Hiawatha Care Center: The Hiawatha Care Center Garden is doing great. We have tomatoes, peppers, kale and some herbs. Haven't harvested anything yet. Did some weeding but is very easy to care for since it is small. A resident requested basil so I will transplant some small basil plants this week. Wellington Heights: Wellington Heights garden is flourishing, thanks to the installation of two water tanks! They can be refilled as needed, so we have a reliable water source, finally!! Most things are growing well, minus a couple of squash plants. We've harvested lettuce, waiting for other things. We have kids from Jane Boyd every Friday- we have made "garden folk", done some weeding, and kids have planted their grow bags to take home. There is still a shortage of volunteers from the WH neighborhood to maintain the garden. Olivet: Jane and Beula have helped get the beds filled with green beans, tomatoes, summer squash, beets, swiss chard, flat peas, carrots and more. Some mulching will be done so that weeding will be less of an issue since Don (the head gardener last year) is not involved this year due to health issues. No students are coming to Olivet this year, but with Guri and Yolanda working in the gardens, should get some produce for food pantry clients. Kale and swiss chard have been harvested and shared. Dt Marion: To date, the production yields from the Marion Community Garden are 19 pounds of greens (lettuce and spinach), 4 pounds of radishes, 9 pounds of broccoli and 1 pound of peas. Vine crops look very good. Some of the tomatoes look very productive as well, but we are experiencing sudden wilt and death of some of the plants. We are looking into what may be causing this Ely Library Gardens: April and May were busy planting seeds and plants in the raised beds and pots located in front of the Library on Main Street. Since the city severely trimmed the nearby trees, the garden is growing much better this year. Garden Brigade happens each Thursday beginning June 8 with 8-20 students participating in a variety of learning activities related to gardening. To date radishes, turnips, lettuce, peas, beets and carrots have been harvested with many second crops planted. September 5

6 Gardening for Family, Food & Fun Planning the Fall Garden By Philip Pfister On, August 15, 2017, Lelia Gardener led the Family Gardening for Food and Fun Program at Lowe Park. The topic was Planning the Fall Garden. The program included a tour of the Lowe Park Veggie Demo Garden, and a discussion of vegetables that can be planted late summer to fall for an extended garden. Lelia also offered tips and techniques for extending the growing season using a hoop house, cold frame, raised beds and straw. The below photos show some of the plants currently growing in the hoop house, cold frame, and straw at the Lowe Park Greenhouse. Twenty-four people attended the event, which ended with cookies, peach crumb bars and ice tea Plant Exchange By Kay McWhinney Please remember the annual MG Plant Exchange on September 30, at 10:00 in the Lowe Park Greenhouse. This is a fun and educating experience. It also gives MG s who are dividing their perennials a chance to share with other MG s. Additional plant materials i.e. bulbs, house plants, seed, cuttings, and/or woody plant materials may also be brought. Bring any number of plant selections and take home a similar number of new to you items. Bring a chair please. There will be treats too! 6 Germinator

7 Expert Ed Popcorn and Pop Events Planned By Linda Hayward The following webinars will be in sh at the Extension Office this fall. There will be handouts printed and ready for each who register. Monday, September 18 - Urban Tree Selection, presented by Gabbi Edwards, urban forestry specialist with ISU Extension and Outreach. Build your skills to make recommendations about tree species selection and explore urban considerations for site selection and tree maintenance. Monday, October 2 - Gardening with Youth, presented by Chelsea Krist, FoodCorps. The FoodCorps program engages kids in school gardens to build healthy eating habits. The course will teach best practices for gardening with children. Monday, October 16 - Landscaping for Wildlife, presented by Adam Janke, assistant professor and extension wildlife specialist with ISU Extension and Outreach. Learn about simple steps to bring landscaping alive with birds, butterflies and more. It will also explore ways to beautify the yard and provide critical habitats for migratory and resident birds. The webinars will be at the Extension Office 383 Collins Road, NE, Cedar Rapids, Iowa in the large conference room from 6:30-8:30. It will be open to Master Gardeners and the public. To register, please contact Shelly at Linn County Extension ( or soneal@iastate.edu). Donate Extra Produce from Your Garden Do you have extra produce in your garden that you don't know just what to do with it? If your answer is YES, then please consider donating to HACAP to be delivered to one of their 160 Food Pantries in the area. If you donate to HACAP (1515 Hawkeye Drive, Hiawatha) please identify yourself as Master Gardener so that your donation will be credited toward our grant documentation. If you donate to another local pantry, the produce needs to be identified and weighed and this information then needs to be forwarded to Shelly O'Neal or Beula Dvorak to make sure we receive credit for it. If you have any questions, please contact Shelly O'Neal or Beula Dvorak (bdvorak4@aol.com or ) for further information/clarification. We will need all documentation of donations forwarded to either of us no later than September 15 so that the final report can be completed in a timely manner. If you prefer, you can also deliver the produce to the Extension Office and it will be delivered to HACAP. THANKS in advance for any participation in this endeavor. September 7

8 Coordinator Comments By: Shelly O'Neal Hello Master Gardeners, As I write this, it is almost the end of August. The temperature today is 76 degrees, and a cool breeze is blowing. I am sure many of you are in your gardens and either weeding or harvesting your produce. It seems that the summer has fl by, however, I am sure those of you with children are happy to have them back in school. The MG Fall Course will start September 12 this year. The interview committee has been busy interviewing over 20 candidates. I have had the opportunity to sit in on a couple of them, and the committee will have a difficult time choosing from a great group of applicants. The Fall Course will be different from past years. Dubuque piloted a new instruction curriculum, called Flipped Classroom. With the Executive and Steering Committee approval, we will offer this program this year. The classes will be held every from September 12- November 21 st. They will watch the webinars on their time every week, and then come prepared to class on to do a hands on activity related to that topic. The classes may be at the Extension Office or scheduled at a MG project site. At 6pm they will break into small groups and a Master Gardener will assist them in proofreading their homework, and answering any questions on the subject matter for that week. Then they will do their activity. I am looking forward to comparing the two types of curriculum and receiving feedback from the new interns. Please let me know if you would like to participate at these classes. Whether that be assist in proofing homework, or letting me know if you would like to lead a workshop. Please send me an , and then we can discuss. I am hoping to have 5 MGs per class, so please consider volunteering. Please note: Due to my attendance required at the evening Fall Courses, my office hours will be temporarily changed to 1:00-4:30. I will also be available by appointment. Thank you and enjoy your day! Shelly 8 Germinator

9 Volunteer Spotlight Meet Ann Tiedt By: Linda Skvor It seemed natural for Ann to join the MG program. Her mother, Joanne Berchenbriter Lamb, was a Master Gardener, and remembers how much her mother loved the comradery of this amazing group of people. As for Ann, Gardening has been a part of my life as I grew up planting, weeding, harvesting and preserving beside my mother and grandmother. Great pride was taken when our dinner table was laden with food produced from our farm in this area. It was important for Ann to remain a service to her community, so upon retiring from teaching for thirty years in Anamosa, Ann completed the MG class in Ann grew up in the Cedar Rapids area and was a Cedar Rapids Jefferson grad but now calls Anamosa home. She recently sold her farm and moved to t but is able to have a garden at her daughter s farm. Ann has three daughters, one of whom lives in Anamosa, with her four grandchildren. nn has a total of six grandkids with one more on the way (five grandsons so far, but the one on the way is a girl!). Ann has spent most of her time volunteering at the Monarch Research Station, where she has done a variety of tasks. It is an amazing place to learn how nature works. Being outdoors and observing the diversity of nature is my ultimate joy. Ann s favorite flower is the bleeding heart, with its delicate beauty of its formation, although Ann is quick to point out that all flowers amaze her. When I asked Ann about what she s learned from the MG program she suggested she s learned about trimming back more and the general care for plants around the house. When Ann is not gardening, she enjoys reading, hiking, yoga, movies, solving logic puzzles, traveling, horseback riding, teaching children and spending time with family and friends. The picture Ann submitted is of her horseback riding in the Grand Tetons during a family trip this summer. September 9

10 August 2017 Steering Committee Minutes DRAFT (Abridged for Germinator) Present: Glenn Babinett, Kathy Carew, Beula Dvorak, Sylvia Kelley, Sam Krumbholz, Jackie MacLaren, Kay McWhinney, Linda Shepard, and Jean Wilson. Absent: Steve Bartlett, Cindy Fagan, Peggy Green, Linda Hinzman and Diane Wiesenfeld. Guests: Shelly O Neal and Deb Walser. Roll call, Quorum established, and Minutes approved with the following correction: Glenn Babinett was absent for the July meeting. The June minutes were also approved as there was not a quorum in July. Financial Report: No Report. MG Coordinator Report: ISU is developing a form to be used for situations that need clarifying if something is not tax deductible or a donation to our group. MG s can request a purchase order for supplies needed and Shelly will pick up those items at the store. Volunteer Procedure Guide for Master Gardeners : Shelly O'Neal and Jean Wilson have worked on this document. Directory: The directory platform went d. We have a $470 dispute with Farmers State Bank. A new directory platform is being worked on with the help of Gary Lattimer, Barb Wing and Iris Muchmore. New MG s: As of this date, we have 29 applications and 2 from the Food Corp. ISU is providing scholarships for the Food Corp applicants. Interviews will begin August 14. The interview team will consist of Beula Dvorak, Devon Dietz, Larry Dawson, Sue Usher & Bev Whitmore. Garden Signage: The COG gardens and Noelridge will get signage to be put up next spring. The cost for each sign is $25. MG Speakers: We will speak at events within Linn County unless there is a major MG event. New Business: There will be a meeting in September for all Project and Committee chairs in September (TBD). Public Relations Committee: More discussion is needed on committee s scope and purpose. What projects should fall under this umbrella? Who should serve on committee? How do we want to reach the public? MG Flipped classroom for all new MGs was approved. This new approach will give new MGs a hands on approach to their learning. July Project/Committee Reports (Amended for Germinator) Community Outreach Gardens (Beula Dvorak): The Community Outreach Gardens Committee is in full swing for the 2017 garden season. A summary of the gardens is in this Germinator issue. Charlene Woeste Plant Sale (Karen Woeste and Phil Pfister): We are looking at sites other than the Extension Office for the Plant Sale. The objective is to find a location that doesn t require carrying plants up and 10 Germinator

11 d stairs, is readily accessible for the public, and has adequate parking. We believe we have identified such a site, and are working on the details. We are still looking for one or two MG s to job shadow the 2018 sale. If interested, please let Karen Woeste, Phil Pfister or Shelly O Neal know. Demo Gardens Lowe Park (Shelby Foley & Phil Pfister): The Lowe Park Greenhouse is pretty much idle now, but in the weeks ahead we will be washing and sterilizing pots, cell packs and flats in preparation for the growing season. We will also wash and sterilize the inside of the greenhouse to start the season with a sanitary growing environment. Master Gardener Food Security Mini-Grant - Eagle Scout Project update: Boy Scout, Noah Jordan, works on completion of his Eagle Scout badge. Four raised beds south of the greenhouse are complete and planted with tomatoes, peppers and basil. Two handicap beds are being constructed and should be ready to place by the end of the month, pending completion of a wheelchair accessible surface; preparation is weather dependent. Gardening for Family Food and Fun Miniponics Workshop: Thirty-four people participated in the Gardening for Family Food and Fun Miniponics Workshop on July 18. Allen Pattillo, fisheries and aquaculture extension specialist at ISU, led the workshop, assisted by engineering student Sophie Rotole. The workshop included a discussion of the construction of the system and how to use it as a hydroponics or aquaponics system. Thirteen participants constructed the system and remaining participants observed. Noelridge (Diane Stevens & Kathy Rhodes): The end of the month of May and during the month of June, MG volunteers were busy planting the MG Herb Garden, helping with the planting/weeding of the Winnie-the-Pooh Children's Garden, and prepping, planting/weeding of Flutterby Acres (the Monarch Research tent area and surrounding pollinator gardens). The tropical milkweed plants (supplied by MRS) contained approximately 283 caterpillars and eggs. We are seeing a lot of activity in that tent! The swallowtail gardens will not be tented this year, but we are hopeful to see some activity in those gardens as well. Volunteer hours at Noelridge in May totaled with MG recording of those hours. Hours in June totaled with MG's volunteering 54.9 of those hours. New Bo (Peggy Green): Vegetables such as radishes, peas, beans, cucumbers, summer squash and broccoli are starting to produce. We are donating to local food banks and tracking the weight. We had a "what's growing in the garden" educational session on July 15 and talked about our demo garden and answered questions about growing vegetables. We will have a table at the July 29 Newbo event highlighting local food insecurity issues, "Eat, Grow, Share." Expert Ed (Linda Hayward): Polk County Master Gardeners Demo Gardens were toured on July 11. There were 10 Linn County MG and 4 guests attended. Three gardens were toured during the day. The group visited Ted Lare Nursery near Cummings. The gardens were lovely. Guides at each garden shared history of each garden, how plans for the garden were developed and how the gardens are cared for. September 11

12 Garden Walk (Beula Dvorak, Kathy Hughes & Sarah Neff): The Garden Walk 2017 is now history. A full recap of this year s Garden Walk was in the August Germinator. Hortline (Doug Smith): Doris Hardt reported the following information from June: Phone Calls: 182; s: 12; Walk-Ins: 47; Total Clients: 241. Total Questions: 219; Garden: 19; Trees: 55; Soil Kits: 9; Weeds: 10; Pruning: 8; Lawn: 8; Mulch: 5; Weather: 2; Water: 3; Chemicals: 16; Flowers: 38; Animals: 5; Insects: 21; Compost: 4; Fungi: 8; Pubs: 10. Common Weed Seedlings of the North Central States was purchased. Plant Exchange (Kay McWhinney): September 30, 2017, at 10:00. See further details in this Germinator issue. Pollinators (Becki Lynch): Members of the Project were active at Flutterby Acres, Monarch Research Station, and participating at the Monarch Fest, Indian Creed Nature Center. Linda Hinzman and Karla McGrail attended the International MG Conference in Oregon. Becki advised two new pollinator garden plantings at Pierce Park and Jane Boyd Community Cntr. Carol Elliot's pollinator garden and butterfly tent were in the Garden Walk. On July 22, members will be attending a seminar for the Monarch Research Project introducing the "Adopt a Roadway for Pollinators" program. This is a new effort with Linn County which will support groups planting and maintaining pollinator habitat in the ditches and county land. MG will be on hand to answer horticultural questions. Project Independence (Karla McGrail): Gardens are growing well and overgr shrubbery and volunteer trees around the edge of the community garden with be tackled when weather cools. Speakers Bureau (Deb Walser): Things are quiet over the summer, but talks will be scheduled for the fall area libraries. No speakers will be scheduled outside of the Linn County area except for major MG events. Winter Garden Fair (Larry Edwards & Sam Krumbholz): The first meeting was held July 25. WGF will be at Kirkwood on Saturday, March 3, Committees are being formed and speakers and new topics looked into. Next meeting is August 17 at 5:30. Join us! Meeting was adjourned at 7:45 p.m. Next Steering Committee Meeting: September 5, 2017 at 6:30 pm Respectfully Submitted, Sam Krumbholz, Secretary Linn County Extension Master Gardeners 383 Collins Road NE, Suite 201 Cedar Rapids, IA ph (319) Hortline (319) The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Many materials can be made available in alternative formats for ADA clients. To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC or call Germinator