ASCENSION S SCOOP. As the Christmas holidays rapidly approach, many of the children

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1 ASCENSION S SCOOP Ascension Parish Master Gardener Associa on JANUARY 2018 Newsle er As the Christmas holidays rapidly approach, many of the children par cipa ng in the Greauxing Gardens Program are beginning to harvest some of their produce from the seeds they sowed earlier this fall. I thought it would be a good me to look at some of these students and their school gardens and how each garden is operated in different ways. con nued on next page

2 Stacey Youngblood, at Galvez Middle School, incorporated the school garden beds into her classroom ac vi es. The original garden beds are in the construc on zone, so new beds had to be built. Every day she has two Food and Environmental Science classes that work in the garden beds. The photos here and on the front page show the two classes a er a day working in the beds. At St. Amant Primary School, Amanda Babin has a greater problem. The garden beds were destroyed during the flood last year and she is trying to rebuild them. It took a while to get the boards to make the beds and now the rain is not allowing trucks to bring in the garden soil to the beds for rebuilding. Here Amanda Babin and Lynn Alexander discuss the plans for the garden and irriga on system. con nued on next page 2

3 Over at Central Primary School, under the leadership of Kim Gordon and Laura Freeman, their school garden is maintained by the Central Primary A er School Garden Club. This group meets a couple of mes a month to work in the garden beds and do other cra y projects. At one of the first mee ngs they built scare crows to protect the garden. The December mee ng focused on pulling weeds, tas ng their le uce crop, and plan ng paper white to force them to bloom for Christmas. These photos are of the Central Primary A er School Garden Club. ~Richard Babin, Educa on Team Coordinator 3

4 MASTER GARDENER S JUDGE 4-H SUGAR COOKERY CONTEST A half dozen Master Gardeners met at Ascension Parish AgCenter Extension Office on December 19 th from 10AM un l 12:30 to judge the 4 H Sugar Cookery Contest. Assistant Extension Agent Stephanie Gravois coordinated the effort. She distributed packets of contest rules, recipes and scoring sheets, then served the sweets. The volunteers cri qued 53 entries based on ingredient guidelines, recipe clarity, dessert flavor, and overall appearance of each dish. The entries had been divided into four categories: Ascension Parish 4 H students submi ed 53 entries in this year s Sugar Cookery Contest. Assistant County Agent Stephanie Gravois in charge of 4 H Youth Development has all forms organized as she explains judging procedures to volunteers. cakes, cookies, candy, and pies. The judges favorite entries were Chocolate Éclair Cake, Gooey Bu er Cookies, Martha Washington Candy, and Mint Chocolate Chip Pie. Student par cipants will receive red, blue or white ribbons according to their scores. The highest scoring entries will advance to the 4 H regional compe on. As the agent in charge of 4 H Youth Development, Gravois enjoys organizing the egg, poultry, sugar, beef, and seafood cookeries because, as she said, "These ac vi es get them in the kitchen cooking." She explained, The cookery contests are learning opportuni es that give children a chance to learn to cook at home with caring family members. They learn that recipe selec on makes a difference, plus they learn so much cooking terminology like whisk' and 'blend'. Gravois noted that judging a cookery contest is a tasty way for Master Gardeners to accumulate volunteer service hours. Anyone with ques ons about what cookery judging involves or is unsure if this is something that he/she would be interested in is encouraged to call Gravois at the extension office, and she would be more Con nued on next page 4

5 than willing to give you an overview on how our contests work and what our volunteers roles are. The last three events of the school year will be the Bento Box (Japanese lunch box) in January, the beef cookery in February and the seafood cookery in March. ~ Pa Mouton (2014) About one third of the desserts needed refrigera on un l they could be judged. This is, indeed, a very popular cooking contest for 4th 12th grade members. 4 H Sugar Cookery Contest volunteers (clockwise from front le ) are Master Gardeners Sandy Stewart, Pa Mouton, Eddie Bowman, Dale Bowman, Terry Tripp and Bernie Duplessis. A GONZALES GARDEN CLUB INVITATION TO ASCENSION MASTER GARDENERS! The Gonzales Garden Club invites the members of the Ascension Parish Master Gardeners to their January 10, 2018 scheduled program featuring Ken Bosso, President of the East Baton Rouge Master Gardeners and Master Naturalist. Ken will present a PowerPoint presenta on on the life cycle of bu erflies and how plan ng a na ve nectar/host garden habitat helps the bu erflies. Now is an excellent me to plan your bu erfly friendly garden habitat. Plant it and they will come! First Bap st Church, 1217 South Burnside, Gonzales; Facing the church, enter the parking lot to the right of the church and proceed to the back entering the last set of doors; January 10, 2018, 12:30 pm. 5

6 OAK GROVE PRIMARY SCHOOL GARDEN NEWS Once again the school garden commi ee has been hampered by bad weather. A er receiving all the material for the garden from Lowe s we scheduled a work day. The bed loca ons had to be remarked and then we constructed one of the beds to be used as our example bed. We were to resume the construc on the next week, but the rains came followed by the snow and then some more rainy weather. With the holiday season and muddy condi ons, I don t know when we will be able to get back on construc on. These photos show some of the volunteers from the school, Ascension Parish Master Gardeners, and Shell Chemical Co. helping to construct the school garden. Richard Babin Educa on Team Coordinator 6

7 LIBRARY SERIES UPDATES GARDENING FOR HUMMINGBIRDS TUESDAY February 27th Gonzales Library, 6:30pm It is always a thrill to see a hummingbird visit our home garden. How do we, as home gardeners, accomplish this? Is adding hummingbird feeders into our garden the only way? Although hummingbird feeders provide a great source of nectar, this is only the first step. To a ract and keep the hummingbirds returning every year, you must grow the right plants in your garden. Speaker Jane Pa erson, Baton Rouge Audubon Society President and Educa on Commi ee Chairman, will teach us how to iden fy nectar rich plants and plants that provide shelter to the hummingbird. The use of these plants together with the use of hummingbird feeders will transform our home gardens into hummingbird habitats. Remember to register by calling the Gonzales Library at The remainder of the 2018 spring library series topics and speakers are in the works. Mark your calendars and keep a look out for more news soon! The dates and locations are: TUESDAY March 13th Galvez Library MONDAY March 26th Dutchtown Library TUESDAY April 17th Gonzales Library (Plant Swap) Conchita Richey Library Series Team Coordinator 7

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9 Happenings THE REFLECTIONS IN THE GARDEN SERIES (Educa on Hours) Burden Conference Center, 4560 Essen Lane, Noon 1PM, $10 nonmembers, , JAN 8: "Hilltop Mantra: Replant, Restore, and MORE!" Chris Werner, Janet Forbes, Bob Dillemuth, Paul Orr, Hilltop Volunteers FEB 12: "Beyond Boxwoods: Conformity Is for Cowards" Bill Rountree, Rountree Designs MAR 5: "All About African Violets and the 2018 Annual Show" Laura Moser, Sundowner s African Violet Society of Baton Rouge Be an arborist for a day by scaling a Louisiana live oak, meet Smokey the Bear, enjoy a scavenger hunt and more! Your family will learn about native trees, plant a tree and watch your tree grow for generations with your tree s GPS coordinate in the Burden Woods. All trees planted help to reforest our native trees lost during Hurricane Gustav. Concessions are available. The event is open to the public for free admission JAN 10 Wed, 12:30pm, BUTTERFLY PRESENTATION, First Baptist Church, 1217 South Burnside, Gonzales. Gonzales Garden Club s program featuring Ken Bosso, President of the East Baton Rouge Master Gardeners and Master Naturalist. See page 5 for more information. JAN 20 Sat, 8am-noon, WINTER GARDENING SYMPOSIUM LET IT RAIN, New Orleans Museum of Art Auditorium. Dana Brown and Dan Johnson discuss managing storm water in your home garden. A forum of local experts, including Urban Conservancy, Soil and Water Wise, will then present their options to maximize your landscape potential while using our bountiful rainfall. Plant Sale to follow at 1pm. FEB Sat-Sun, CAMELLIA SOCIETY SALE, Rural Life Museum at LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden.. The annual Camellia Sale features award winning camellias grown by the Baton Rouge Camellia Society. The event is open to the public for free admission. 9

10 2018 APMG MEETINGS BOARD MEETINGS (volunteer hours) MEMBERSHIP MEETINGS (volunteer hours) LSU AgCenter Ascension Office at Lamar-Dixon Expo Center at 9AM. Meetings are usually held on the second Tuesday of odd numbered months. The board welcomes suggestions and comments. January 9 March 13 May 14 July 10 September 11 November 13 LSU AgCenter Ascension Office at Lamar-Dixon Expo Center at 9AM. Meetings are usually held on the third Tuesday of odd numbered months. Please remember to wear your membership nametag. January 16 March 20 May 21 July 17 September 18 November 20 Happenings continued... AscensionMasterGardeners Ascension Parish Master Gardener Program 9039 St. Landry Road Bldg. C Gonzales, LA (225) FEB 24 Sat, 8:30 AM - 2 PM, HERB DAY, LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden. An educational outdoor and gardening event and sale sponsored by the American Herb Society Baton Rouge Unit. There will be an Herb Petting Zoo and other children s activities to make this event fun for all ages. Herb classes will start at 9:30 a.m. and continue every hour. The event is open to the public for free admission. MAR 24 Sat, 8am-2pm, MASTER GARDENER PLANT SALE, LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden. Shop from over 5,000 homegrown perennials and annuals specifically selected by the East Baton Rouge Master Gardeners for success in your garden! The EBR Master Gardener Annual Plant Sale raises money to support the educational activities of the Master Gardeners and the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens. The event is open to the public for free admission. -gardens/events/index.php 10