Plant Sale Recap By Karen Woeste & Phil Pfister, Co-Chairs

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1 Vol. 27, No. 7 Editors: Julie Stark/Lisa Slattery July 2017 LINN COUNTY MASTER GARDENER EVENTS Steering Committee Meeting Extension Office July 12 6:30 pm Extension Council Meeting Extension Office July 17 9:30 am Garden Walk Previews Meet at Catherine McAuley Cntr th Ave SE July 7 6:00 pm Garden Walk Wellington Heights Community Gardens th Ave SE Catherine McAuley Community Garden th Ave SE Carol Elliott Garden th Ave SE Diane Wiesenfeld Garden 4325 Pioneer Trail SE Larry Nelson Garden 6313 Berry Road SE July 8 10:00 am 4 pm Miniponics Workshop Lowe Park Greenhouse July 18 6:30-8:00 pm A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken. - James Dent Plant Sale Recap By Karen Woeste & Phil Pfister, Co-Chairs The Charlene Woeste Plant Sale debrief was held on Wednesday, June 14, 2017 in the large conference room at the Linn County Extension Office. It pretty much goes without saying the weather received very low marks, however weather aside, we had some very positive comments, as well as areas needing improvement. They are as follows: Positive feedback: 1) assistance by the 4-H was great, 2) hardiness and dedication by the MG s in adverse weather is outstanding, 3) loyalty of the customers to brave the weather to come to the plant sale speaks Continued Page 2 What s Inside Plant Sale Recap Pages 1-2 Garden Walk Preview Page 3 Polk County Demo Gardens Tour Page 3 Monarch Butterfly Recovered in Mexico Page 4 Planting for Pollinators Project Page 5 Hydroponics, Aquaponics, Miniponics? What s That? Page 5 Coordinator Comments Page 6 Volunteer Spotlight Page 7 Steering Committee Reports Pages 8-9 July

2 Continued from Page 1 volumes for the customer base and confidence in the plants we have for sale. I would also add a 4 th, and that was what a great selection of snack food we had to warm us and keep the energy going (great job Shelly). In the areas needing improvement, we had: 1) location and mobility, moving plants in and out of the building, 2) the tally and checkout process, and 3) setup and training. All three of these are being addressed by the plant sale committee and the Linn County Extension Council is looking at solutions to the location and mobility issues. Here are some interesting facts about the plant sale logistics that may not be something everyone is aware of: This year, the sale area measured approximately 95 feet by 63 feet (just under 6,000 square feet). We have 38 display tables and most of these tables are 6 feet long. The four benches from the greenhouse are 4 feet wide and 11 feet long. Even with all those tables, we still had to display plants on the ground. We also have two check-out tables, two tally tables and one Plant Doctor table. This year we had five tents set up over specific functions like checkout and the Plant Doctor/pubs area (photos right), but could really have used one great big one over the whole sale area. The 2017 plant sale wasn t a record breaker like 2016, but considering the weather, quite respectable. We had expenses we have not incurred in the past ($400 to the 4-H youth who helped setup, during the sale and take down), and additional food for the MG s working the sale. The net income for the 2017 Charlene Woeste Plant Sale was $6,125. A total of 87 Master Gardeners volunteered to support this event. Planning for 2018 has begun with the following additions. Job Shadows: We would like to have one or two MG s or MG interns join the co-chair team in This is an important event for the Linn County Master Gardeners and we want to make sure that the leadership for the event is well backed up. Pictures sell plants: As we come into the blooming time for many of the plants that we might consider donating to the 2018 plant sale, now is the time to take pictures of them, so we can show the plant in bloom to help describe the plant (example photo right). We know from experience that plants with pictures sell better than those without pictures. If Phil Pfister and Polly Tsamis you would like help taking the pictures, please look at photos of tomatoes contact Shelly O Neal at soneal@iastate.edu. for sale at the 2017 Plant Sale. 2 Germinator

3 Garden Walk Preview The Garden Walk Preview for all MG volunteers (and spouses) will be held on Friday, July 7 th. You are invited to park at the Catherine McAuley Center on 4 th Avenue (just off 10 th Street SE) for carpooling to the gardens. Meet at 5:45 there and we will go to Catherine McAuley and Wellington at 6:00, Carol Elliott at 6:30, Diane Wiesenfeld at 7:00, and Larry Nelson at 7:30. These times are approximate and may fluctuate a little, but will provide a basic guideline as we plan to spend minutes per garden as needed. Polk County Demonstration Gardens Tour By: Linda Hayward, Expert Ed Chair Tuesday, July 11 is the date for the Tour of the Polk County Master Gardeners Gardens. There will be a Polk County Master Gardener at each of the gardens to share information about that garden. The first garden on the tour will be the Enabling Garden in Altoona, next the Discovery Garden at the Iowa State Fair Grounds, and after lunch, the Demonstration Garden in Urbandale. We will have lunch at a local restaurant. After touring the Urbandale garden, we will be able to visit the Ted Lare Garden Center, 2710 Cumming Ave, Cumming, Iowa. We will plan to carpool from the Extension Office, leaving about 7:30 AM. Each person attending will cover his/her own expenses. Linn County Master Gardeners may bring a guest. If you would like more information about each garden, check out this link. (There is a link to each garden under Master Gardeners Projects in Polk County.) To register, please contact Linn County Extension by calling (319) or by ing soneal@iastate.edu by June 30. July 3

4 Cedar Rapids Raised Monarch Recovered in Central Mexico By Karla McGrail By press time, our Noelridge Park "Flutterby Acres," a Monarch and Pollinator Zone location, will be well into our second year- we expect to place our first butterfly eggs into our tents any day now. These eggs are procured at the Monarch Research Project s facility in Marion from healthy wild monarch butterflies. These eggs will hatch into itty-bitty caterpillars in about a week, and we volunteers will provide them a safe environment and monitor them as they undergo their complete metamorphosis into adult butterflies. Last summer s introduction into butterfly-rearing has given us all a new enthusiasm for the experience, as well as lessons learned to increase our success this year. In 2016, we released 171 healthy, adult monarchs. One of our tent-reared males was tagged and released at Noelridge Park on September 8, 2016, and was recovered on March 1 of this year in the mountainous region of central Mexico where they overwinter- a flight of about 2,000 miles! This confirms that we are raising healthy butterflies. Once again, we have 2 large (12'x12') Monarch Zones tents one with milkweed for the monarch caterpillars, the other with dill, fennel and parsley for (non-migratory) black swallowtails (photo right). This year the tents are a new, finer mesh screening to prevent the infestation of tiny predatory wasps that caused a significant die-off of our chrysalises mid-summer We have made some other tweaks in our rearing strategies and aim to have an even more successful year with even more healthy adult butterflies released. It has been a rewarding experience for not just we volunteers, but the many visitors to the beautiful Noelridge Park Gardens. (I think we might be in the background of many wedding party and family group pictures!) 4 Germinator

5 Planting for Pollinators Project By: Becki Lynch May and June were busy months for the Master Gardeners on the committee. On May 19, some of us took butterfly stickers to the staging room for the plant sale and placed them on hundreds of pollinator plants that were there. Master Gardeners grow LOTS of pollinator plants as we placed 500 stickers on pots. The week of May 23 saw the planting of the Monarch and Swallowtail Butterfly beds at Noelridge Park, as well as the large pollinator habitat bed. Friends of Noelridge and Master Gardeners put added over 1,000 native and annual plants to these beds. On June 3 the Friends of Noelridge and Master Gardeners that maintain the tents at Flutterby Acres attended a seminar from the Monarch Research Project. We learned about the tools and techniques we would be using this year to maximize the butterfly population. We also had an informational table set up for Monarch Zone owners with plant and pollinator questions. The tents will be looking forward to receiving eggs for both the Monarchs and Swallowtails in mid to late-june. Hydroponics, Aquaponics, Miniponics? What's that? By Phil Pfister Miniponics is a hobby version of hydroponics, with the option of expanding into aquaponics. It is a great way to grow leafy greens and herbs all year round, without taking up much space. Our July Family Gardening for Food and Fun event will be a workshop on Miniponics. The workshop will be led by D. Allen Pattillo, Program Specialist, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. Allen will explain what the system is, how to build and operate it, and then for those interested, lead a workshop in constructing the system. Participants can observe and learn for free, or build a system for $ Preregistration by July 10 is required so materials can be purchased. Class size ls limited to 30. The event will be held on Tuesday, July 18, 2017, in the Hickory Room at the Lowe Park Arts and Environmental Building, at Lowe Park, 4500 N. 10 th Street, Marion, Iowa. Time will be from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. or so. Please call the Linn County Extension Office at (319) to register. July 5

6 Coordinator Comments By: Shelly O'Neal Hello MGs, I wanted to let you know about some items that are going to from the Administrative side of the Extension office. June was a very busy month with the Linn County Fair, and the MGs preparing for the Garden Walk. I hope to see you at the gardens. I am really looking forward to this year s walk! I have been working on preparations to advertise the upcoming class for Master Gardeners who will graduate in We have 10 applications already submitted to our office. I will be sending an announcement by Constant Contact and to the Gazette, so more should be coming in. We will have five Master Gardeners on the interview committee. The interviews will start in August and the trainees will be chosen by September 7 th. If you know of anyone who would be interested in becoming a Master Gardener, please direct them to our website which has a link in the right hand side column to apply online. Or have them contact me for assistance. The class size will be limited to 20 trainees. Mark your calendars for Ag Night at the Ballpark on July 7 th. The Kernels will be wearing special ISU jersey s for the game. Should be a fun evening! I would also like to introduce you to Eric Christensen, State Specialist Local Governments. Eric has been in his position for a few weeks. When you stop in I ll be glad to introduce you. He is very interested in the Master Gardener program, and would love to take the course this fall, however, he and his wife had their first baby girl on June 20 th, so he may be a little busy. Happy July 4 th to you all! I hope you, your families, and friends have a wonderful and safe holiday! Shelly O Neal MG Program Coordinator 6 Germinator

7 Volunteer Spotlight Meet Selma Alzheimer By: Linda Skvor Selma joined the MG program in the fall of 2010 because she was interested in learning and giving back with regard to gardening and eating healthy. You see, Selma has been growing and eating organic for some time. Selma started a garden and has added a new veggie or herb each year. Her garden currently stands at 60 x 30. Selma shares produce with family members and neighbors and is happy to say she grows lots and lots of kale due to the increased demand. This year Selma has planted three different varieties of kale and garlic (she s a garlic lover!). Selma s garden this year also consists of Swiss chard, asparagus, broccoli, three colored carrots (purple, yellow and orange), baby red potatoes, butternut squash, cukes, kohlrabi, midget colored sweet peppers, tomatoes, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, honey berries and many different herbs. Selma will freeze some of the veggies and dry the herbs in the fall. She uses herbs and flowers as companion buddies to help with bugs. All of her seeds and plants are ordered from the seed savers organic company located in Decorah, Iowa. This year, Selma is planting a very small area of prairie grasses and received the seeds from the Neal Smith Prairie Foundation located near Des Moines. Selma s love of gardening started with her mother and now she s passing this on to her three kids and two grandchildren. All my kids have the love for their garden and enjoy fresh organic veggies. Parenting and gardening are very similar. Both require teaching and nurturing and sometimes patience. Selma has a son that lives in Homer, Alaska. Typically, I visit him every summer and go salmon and halibut fishing. I am very happy when I can stock my freezer with salmon. Selma retired from a 45 year nursing career just two years ago. She loves retirement as she now has more time to spend in her garden. Selma said she has met such wonderful gardening friends in the MG program. Selma s favorite flowers are sunflowers and canna flowers. I asked Selma if she had a favorite recipe to share, and she says she generally makes a stir fry with fresh picked veggies and herbs and also loves salads during the hot summer months. Her favorite salad is made with kale, avocados, unsalted cashews, quinoa, organic fresh, garlic and fresh Alaskan king salmon. Selma offers this tip for other master gardeners having issues with deer invading and eating items in their garden. A trick I found that does work is a double fence. I placed a 6 ft fence to protect my edibles and was not even close. They jumped the fence with ease. Place another fence 4 ft. around existing fence using a 3-4 ft. space. It really works. I use card board and mulch to keep weeds minimal. They are not able to jump 2 fences. July 7

8 June 2017 Steering Committee Minutes DRAFT (Abridged for Germinator) Present: Glenn Babinett, Steve Bartlett, Kathy Carew, Beula Dvorak, Cindy Fagan, Linda Hinzman, Syliva Kelley, Sam Krumbholz, Jackie McLaren, Kay McWhinney, Linda Shepard, and Jean Wilson; Absent: Peggy Green and Diane Wiesenfelt; Guests: Shelly O Neal and Phil Pfister. Roll call: Quorum established, and Minutes approved from May (with several corrections). Financial Report: Linda reported that the expense for the Creative Gardening Series was $887, a memorial donation from the family of Phyllis Olson, and $10,600 was received from Kirkwood from the WGF. We took in $7,491 from the Plant Sale, with expenses of $1,366. $400 was donated to the 4-H group for their help and $366 spent on the delicious food. MG Coordinator Report: Shelly provided us with a hand out of the 10 minute presentation she will give to the Extension Council on Monday, June 12 th at 5:30 p.m. We have 12 new interns and all but 2 have reported their hours. Shelly will check into the ones who have not reported in yet. We already have 7 new applications for the fall MG class. Eric Christiansen is our new ISU Specialist in Local Government. A building committee is looking into expanding to the lower level. Old Business: The MG directory will be updated to include photos of the new MG interns New Business: Phil Pfister presented future plans for the Lowe Greenhouse in Marion. He provided diagrams and estimated costs for the Hosta Pergola in memory of Doris McElmeel. In addition he showed us a map where future raised beds will be with some handicap accessible (two will be 10 in. high, and two will be 20 in. high). A Head House is the vision for the future needs of Lowe Greenhouse. An estimated cost is in the neighborhood of $20,000-$25,000. It would provide classroom space for hands on activities and storage space. The goal of the project would be a completion date by 2020, the 10 year anniversary date of the Greenhouse. We discussed the need for a fundraiser to raise money for this project. Several years ago in 2008, a MG Christmas Bazaar was held. It netted between $8,000-$10,000. The Bazaar hosted a plant sale, garden art, various garden items donated by MGs and food for sale. A motion was made and passed for Phil to meet with an architect to investigate the building of a Head House. We need more information before committing to this project and then setting aside funds if the project receives approval. Differences between the ISU Volunteer Manual and the LC MG Handbook - Jean Wilson will look into this and report back to us. 8 Germinator

9 Fall Course Offerings for new MG Program: We will put this on the back burner for now as the timeframe needs to be longer before we can revamp the program. Excess Funds Involved for Project Chairs: Most have been suggested and processed. We have a balance of $40,000 ad want a $15,000 reserve, and a carryover of $25,000. Tanager Balloon Fest: We did not assist with this project this year. Noelridge Park Pollinator Paradise Event : This project will be tabled until Project and Committee Reports June and July Project and Committee Reports will be provided in the August Germinator issue. Respectfully submitted, Sam Krumbholz, Secretary Next Steering Committee Meeting TBA; Next Executive Meeting July 17, 2017; 9:30 a.m. 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 July 9