The Tollgate Farm News

Transcription

1 The Tollgate Farm News Volume 18 Issue 11 November Ginger Meyer Award Darretta Ferasin 2012 Golden Shovel Award Becky Makanoff and Pam Rusin The Ginger Meyer Award is Presented to Darretta Ferasin From left to right Jessie Harper (Ginger Meyer s great granddaughter), Barbara Livy, (Ginger Meyer s daughter), Darretta Ferasin, Kate Harper (Ginger Meyer s granddaughter), and Roy Prentice Tollgate Volunteer Recognition Dinner The Golden Shovel Award was Awarded to Becky Makanoff and Pam Rusin The two new volunteers tied for the most first year visits to Tollgate in Pictured here is Becky Makanoff and Renee Cottrell. Photos by Mike Janczarek Tollgate Garden Volunteer Important Dates and Events Nov Meetings Dec Activities 4 TGAC Meeting 7:00 PM 1 Rose Garden Mulching 9:00 AM No TGV General Meetings in November or December No December Farm News Jan Meetings TBD TGAC Meeting 7:00 PM 17 TGV General Meeting 7:00 PM Page

2 GREETINGS from the Tollgate Farm Manager Roy Prentice Greetings All, The 2012 gardening season is coming to an end. We had a huge turn-out for our fall clean-ups, so the beds are all snug for the coming winter. All of the volunteers that came to the site did a wonderful job of cutting back succulent perennials and removing annuals. October work days were also devoted to getting the nursery in shape (it looks great!) and cleaning up the Demonstration Garden. The gardens look great and are ready for the winter. Thanks to all that made 2012 such a great year at Tollgate! Recognition Dinner: This year s volunteer recognition dinner, held on November 10th, was a great success! The event was funded by the Americana Foundation and was very well attended. One hundred and thirty volunteers and their guests joined us for dinner, a presentation of the Tollgate gardening year and the awards ceremony. We had so many guests for dinner that we filled the big barn for the presentation. Art Durow again graciously provided musical entertainment while we gathered for the most visits to the farm during This year we had two recipients of the Golden Shovel award, Pam Rusin and Becky Makanoff. Pam and Becky are both first year volunteers at Tollgate and both signed in the same number of times. Pam and Becky received not only the traditional gold plated implement, this year trowels hand-decorated by Renee Cottrell, but also a golden shovel pin provided by the Americana Foundation. Their names have also been engraved on a plaque hung in the Tollgate Volunteer Center. Also awarded this year was the Ginger Meyer award. This award was presented to long-time Tollgate volunteer, Darretta Ferasin, for her many years of service to Tollgate. Darretta is instrumental in many projects on the farm including editing the Tollgate Farm News newsletter and tending the Farmhouse garden. The Ginger Meyer award was established to honor the memory of Ginger Meyer who, along with her husband Adolph, was instrumental in establishing the Americana Foundation and in donating Tollgate to MSU. The award, a silver bowl inscribed with Darretta s name, was presented by Ginger Meyer s daughter, Barbara Livy and her granddaughter, Kate Harper. Darretta s name was also inscribed on a plaque hung in the Tollgate Volunteer Center. Both the golden shovel and Ginger Meyer awards are given annually. Thank you Darretta for all of your years of service! Thank you all for a great year at Tollgate. I can t wait for winter to loosen her icy grip so that we can get going on It will be maple syruping time before you know it! Roy Photo by Renee Cottrell evening. The presentation that was put together by Darretta Ferasin and myself was a big hit as were the plentiful door prizes. The food was really great too. This year, like last year, our caterer incorporated Tollgate produce in the meal. The produce was provided by Sun, Water and Seeds Tollgate s 4H group. One of the highlights of the evening was the recognition of our first year volunteer who made the Above Photos by Mike Janczarek Page 2

3 Notes from the President Thank you all for another memorable season and a wonderful recognition dinner celebration. It is great to visit with all of you and enjoy the memories and garden stories from this past year. The Americana Foundation provided a wonderful catered dinner and Roy hosted a very nice award and year-in-review program. My personal thanks for the shared talents of the 2012 TGAC: Our elected members Sue Janczarek as Treasurer, Larry Bolam as Secretary and Joe Pyden as Vice President. Our appointed members Darretta Ferasin, Editor of the newsletter (and talent behind the power point presentation) and Jackie Stengel chairperson of our education/speaker programs also Nancy Roggers chairperson for membership. Collectively all of you as members make this a fine organization of which we can be very proud. The special projects and events educate the public and share Tollgate with the community and meet our organizational mission. My most sincere gratitude to Roy Prentice for his tireless labor of love for the site, his support and guidance of the TGAC and his friendship. There is the remaining mounding of the roses activity December 1st and we will begin our membership meetings in the New Year! Enjoy your Thanksgiving and Holiday Season and thank you for being Tollgate Garden Volunteers. Renee Cottrell, President Photos by Renee Cottrell MEMBERSHIP In this issue of the Tollgate Farm News, you will find the 2013 Membership Form. And, as you know, you have until May 1st to get that form returned to Roy's office. But wouldn't it feel wonderful to have that baby sent in early and not have to even think about it again? Just think how warm & fuzzy you'd feel when you'd see the reminders in the up coming Tollgate Farm News and think "Yep, I did that already!" Nancy Roggers Page 3

4 Submitted by John Woodrich 2012 PAR Garden Year-End Tally PAR Garden Produce Totals Beans, Bush 47.1 Beans, Pole Beets 35.4 Broccoli 49.8 Cabbage Cantaloupe 63.4 Cucumbers 70.1 Garlic 50 Onion 99.4 Peppers 72.5 Potatoes 2.2 Radish 3 Squash Tomato 515 Watermelon Grand Total lbs Thank You Roy and Cindy Prentice Barbara Livy Kate Harper and The Americana Foundation for an Excellent, Delicious 2012 Tollgate Volunteer Recognition Dinner Merry Christmas to All Page 4

5 2012 Recognition Dinner Recognition Dinner Photo by Mike Janczarek Photo by Mike Janczarek Photo by Mike Janczarek Nancy Roggers and John Woodrich receive recognition for their dedication to the Plant-a-Row garden. It will be OK, Nancy...really! Photo by Renee Cottrell Photo by Mike Janczarek Page 5

6 Notes by Nancy Phipps Conservatory Conference Report On a recent trip to Pittsburgh to visit my son I went to a conference at the Phipps Conservatory. The conference was on native plants and sustainability. At this conference they talked about a self sustainable building that heats and cools itself at the Phipps. They have been in the process of building the Center for Sustainable Landscape over the past several years. The building is run on passive solar power not connected to the electrical grid at all. It also collects all storm runoff. The web site shows many of the planning stages and how the project progressed. It was said that this is the way of future construction as we try to find ways of developing green energy and also ways to conserve water and keep storm runoff from entering the sewer systems. The building and surrounding gardens will soon be open to the public. It is a wonderful addition to the conservatory. (Only a 5 hour drive from the Detroit area! It is an equal to a drive up and over the Mackinac Bridge!!) Another interesting talk was given by Dr. Elaine Ingham who is the Chief Scientist at Rodale Institute. She spoke on building healthy soil using compost extracts or tea and the organisms that are in the compost extracts that contribute to having healthy soils. She explained that by having these organisms in your soil your battles with disease, weeds and insect pest would be very low or nonexistent. She showed us an experiment using the compost tea at a farm. Half of the fields were sprayed with Roundup and the other half was sprayed with compost tea. Both fields were planted with onions. The onions in the Roundup fields had grown to about 2 inches tall with roots of equal length. The field also had many weeds. The compost tea fields had onions 4 inches tall, twice as tall as the Roundup field, and the roots were nearly 2 feet long!! And if that wasn t amazing enough, the fields had no weeds in them at all. She also explained about having friendly fungi in the soil and how that keeps weeds from growing. A diagram that she used showed five different plant communities/soil stages. The 1st stage was bare ground. The 2nd stage was a herb field or grassland where many plants that we consider weeds grow. The 3rd stage was shrubland, 4th stage a young forest and the 5th stage was an old growth forest. As the stages progress there are more and more beneficial fungi present in the soil. What her point was with this diagram was that if you are having trouble with say growing strawberries, find out where strawberries grow in the wild and you will see that they grow under conifers which are in the old growth forest. This means that they need a great deal of beneficial fungi to grow well. The solution? Add the compost tea to get those fungi and microbes to grow. Also when the soil is not right for a plant many times they get infested with insects or disease. There was much more that Elaine shared with us but I think this was her most important message. Check out the Rodale Institute s web site, there is a lot of information here. Nancy Roggers Page 6 MSU Holiday Art & Craft Festival At the MSU Union on Abbot Road and Grand River Artists Admission is FREE December 1 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM December 2 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM

7 Tollgate Farm History in the Silo...Tollgate Farm History Sometimes it takes several years of thinking on a project for it to finally come together. After several years of exploring options, there is now a silo historical display in the Tollgate silo. The silo interior sports panels that describe all of the ownerships of the farm from the 1830 s to the present day. The display also includes dramatic lighting and colorful fabrics that brighten the interior and soften the sound. As part of the silo renovation project, a new floor was also installed. The silo interpretive area is a great introduction to the farm. Please stop by and take it in the next time that you visit. Photos by Renee Cottrell, Darretta Ferasin and Roy Prentice Page 7

8 There are a couple of updates this month on or related to the Hosta Virus X. The first, found below, is an article by Rob Mortko, Vice President, Genus Hosta of the American Hosta Society who provides an update on the research project by Dr. Ben Lockhart at the University of Minnesota. Below, you will find a link to a report by Tom Dudek of MSU Extension on Viruses on Imported Herbaceous Perennials. You will find a very informative PDF document within the article titled Gallery of Plant Virus Symptoms published by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade Consumer and Protection. Page 8 THE HOSTA VIRUS X This article was published in the American Hosta Society s October 2012 Newsletter Re-print permission received from Rob Mortko and the American Hosta Society 11/16/2012. HVX Research Update The current AHS sponsored Hosta Virus X (HVX) research project with Dr. Ben Lockhart at the University of Minnesota has made good progress during its first full growing season. 1. Soil transmission of HVX from infected residual root debris We now have good evidence that HVX can be transmitted by root contact between replacement hostas and residual bits of HVX-infected plants that have been removed. At the end of this growing season, we will be testing the plants put in during the original AHS Phase 1 research project plus those that we have put in for a repeat of the original experiment. We have a greenhouse experiment in which healthy 'Honeybells' test plants were put in pots containing a graded series of clean soil/infected root pieces. This experiment will be continued in the greenhouse throughout the winter. The plants are checked weekly for any signs of symptoms and will be virus-tested whenever virus-like symptoms are noticed. 2. Seed transmission of HVX in hostas It had been planned to collect seed from infected 'Blue Cadet' plants and test the resulting seedlings for presence of HVX. 'Blue Cadet' had been selected because this is the variety mentioned in the report from Korea on seed transmission of HVX in hosta. Unfortunately, we were unable to get any quantity of seed from HVX-infected 'Blue Cadet', and we will be using instead seed from infected H. 'Tokudama Flavocircinalis'. 3. Transmission of HVX by root inoculation We have inoculated (mechanical inoculation using an abrasive) roots of 'Honeybells' and 'Frances Williams'. In another version of this experiment, we have mixed together roots of healthy and HVX-infected 'Honeybells' plants and washed them using a power washer as would be done in commercial operations. This experiment is designed to test whether HVX infection could occur via surface wounds created by power washing. 4. Transmission of HVX on contaminated cutting tools or fingers The 'Honeybells' plants in this experiment will be all tested in late October for HVX infection. These plants will be left in the field plots over the winter and monitored once again next spring. 5. Pathogenic variation among HVX isolates We have made a collection of 13 HVX isolates from different hosta varieties. These HVX isolates were propagated in 'Honeybells'. These HVX isolates differ in the type of leaf symptoms they induce as well as the rate at which symptoms appear. So far no detectable virus genome sequence differences have been associated with these differences. We will document the differences in foliar symptoms caused by the 13 HVX isolates next spring when symptoms appear in new growth. 6. Susceptibility of other shade perennials to HVX infection The other shade perennials inoculated with HVX have been inspected regularly for any signs of possible symptoms. None have shown any signs of HVX infection so far. Two have been tested for HVX and found negative. The remainder will be tested at the end of the current growing season. The short-lived species (e.g. lilies) will be tested after their bulbs have been overwintered and germinated in early spring. Information provided by Priscilla Needle with permission to re-print acquired by Darretta Ferasin

9 Tollgate Volunteer Information Activity Days Activity day hours are 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM unless otherwise noted on the Tollgate Garden Volunteer Important Dates and Events listed on the first page of the Tollgate Farm News or by the Area Garden Leader (AGL). Lunch will be provided - veggie alternatives are available upon request. If you aren t getting The Tollgate Farm News , Check your SPAM folder This schedule does not exclude you from working independently on the site. However, on non-scheduled days, your efforts will need to be selfdirected with guidance from the garden area clipboards located in the Volunteer Communication Center. Volunteer Activity Day and Meetings Information ext. 400 Garden Tools Available for Use at Tollgate List of Suggested Gardening Implements to Bring from Home as Needed Spades Garden Rakes Brooms Wheel Barrels Weed Buckets Leaf Rakes Garden Hoe Long Handled Garden Forks Trowel Hand Pruners Loppers Garden Scissors Your Favorite Weeding Implement Hand Saw Plant Division Forks Shrub Rake Sun Screen Gloves Knee Pads Insect Repellant Tollgate Garden Advisory Council Farm Manager Roy Prentice ext prentic1@msu.edu President... Renee Cottrell Vice President...Joe Pyden (2013 Peg Palmer) Secretary...Larry Bolam (2013 Dave Komraus) Treasurer... Sue Janczarek Membership... Nancy Roggers PR... Yvonne DeMattos Fall Fair... Dennis Roggers Programs... Jackie Stengel Hospitality... Yvonne DeMattos Farm News Editor... Darretta Ferasin MSU Tollgate Gardens Volunteers For general information and questions Contact Roy Prentice The Tollgate Gardens Advisory Council next meeting will be held on Tuesday, December 4, 2012 at 7:00 PM in the Tollgate Office Building. All Tollgate Gardens Volunteer members are welcome to attend. Listings to contact individual Council Members and Area Garden Leaders are available at all general meetings and in the Volunteer Communication Center. Tollgate Volunteer Membership is renewed annually. The 2012 Tollgate Garden Volunteers membership is from December 1, 2012 to November 30, THE TOLLGATE FARM NEWS Tollgate Gardens Volunteer Office Meadowbrook Novi, MI, Page 9

10 Name: Address City:, MI. Zip: - Name you would like on badge. MSU Tollgate Garden Volunteers Membership Form Please print all entries. Thank you. Telephone number: 2013 Date Submitted: Day - Evening - Has previous year s info changed? Were you a Tollgate volunteer member last year? Yes ( ) No ( ) If yes, do you need a new Tollgate Garden Volunteer badge? Yes ( ) No ( ) Are you interested in: Serving on a committee or garden project? Yes ( ) No ( ) If yes, please note below if you have a particular area of interest, e.g., rose garden, children s garden, hospitality, public relations, computer skills, etc Are you a MSU Master Gardener? ( ) certified ( ) candidate County (It is not necessary that you be a MSU Master Gardener to volunteer with Tollgate Garden Volunteers. An interest in gardening is all that is required.) A donation to offset costs would be greatly appreciated. ($15 suggested amount) Make checks payable to Michigan State University. Thank you. Return to: In the event of an emergency please notify: Tollgate Gardens Volunteer Office Meadowbrook, Novi, MI Phone: ext. 212 Note: Membership is renewed annually membership is from Dec. 1, 2012to Nov. 30, Members receive a newsletter, the Tollgate Farm News, once a month (No News in Dec.). Would you prefer to receive the newsletter by mail or Name - Phone