The Mason Jar. Seeds For Thought. November Inside This Issue: Mason County WSU Master Gardener Newsletter

Transcription

1 1 Mason County WSU Master Gardener Newsletter Seeds For Thought R. Jeanne Rehwaldt I can hardly believe that it is nearly Thanksgiving! Where did the year go? I am really pleased to announce the return of The Mason Jar. Thanks to Traci Waring, we will be having a regular newsletter once again. Thanks so much Traci! Please be sure to send Traci anything that you want to be included in this monthly communication. We are in need of someone to step forward and schedule Office Clinics. Our plant and insect diagnostic clinics are very important and the original reason that the Master Gardener program began in the 1970 s. With so many home gardeners, the Extension Office was deluged with questions. That is the purpose for the MG program and the reason that all of you were trained in the first place. The clinic is a great place for advanced education. You learn so much each time you are here. We will be ordering a digital microscope very soon. This will enable us to take digital pictures of the plant and insect samples coming into clinic. If we still are not able to identify the problem we can easily send the picture to others in the Extension system to help with getting to the correct solution. Inside This Issue: Contacts 2 Executive Board News 3 Catalyst Corner 4 Don Tapio Article 5 Community 6 Getting Involved 7 Fundraising News 8 November Gardening 9 Holiday Plants Calendar 12 Back Page Photos 13 The Plant Sale committee has been meeting regularly. See the update on page 9. There is still plenty of time to sign up to help on one of the committees that are working to make our plant sale a huge success! We will have a fair in 2012! Theme will be Sew It, Grow It, and Show It at the Mason Area Fair.

2 2 Contacts Extension Staff Executive Board Robert Simmons Director Ext.690 R. Jeanne Rehwaldt Master Gardener Coordinator Ext. 688 Allie Bernhard AmeriCorps Ext. 687 Anna Mangan AmeriCorps Ext. 690 Master Gardener Ext 687 President Beatrix Blackerby Vice President Lou Schmidt Treasurer Margie Plebuch Directors at Large Steve Edmondson Pat Edmondson Foundation Representative Janet Mutter Office 303 N. 4th Ave Shelton, WA Ext. 680 Fax Cooperating agencies: Washington State University, US Department of Agriculture and Mason County. Extension Programs and employment are available to all without discrimination. Evidence of noncompliance may be reported through your local Extension Office.

3 Executive Board News 3 A Master Gardener General Meeting was held November 14th. During the meeting, elections were held for the 2012 Executive Board Positions and the results are as follows: President-Beatrix Blackerby President Elect Pat Carpenter Vice President Lou Schmidt Secretary-Evon Masteller Treasurer-Margie Plebuch Directors at Large-Pat Edmondson and Dave Shepard Other Highlights from the meeting: Margie Plebuch presented the proposed 2012 budget, which was accepted and passed. The Master Gardener By Laws will be reviewed and updated by several volunteers early in 2012 A proposal for beginning to charge yearly dues for membership in the Master Gardener Foundation was discussed. Various committees gave updates on the progress of the Plant Sale, Garden Journal, Catalyst Park, Pioneer Greenhouse, Country Living program, and the Tulip Bulb Sale. A digital microscope is being purchased for clinic use, which will allow for viewing samples on a computer monitor and sending photos for identification to the extension network. Jeanne is writing a weekly column for the Journal and other publications, and would like to receive suggestions on seasonal topics of interest. The guest speaker was Ethnobotanist Elizabeth Campbell, who gave an informative talk about seasonal native plants and their health benefits. The next meeting will be held Monday, December 12th at 10AM with a potluck afterwards. Message from the Editor: Hello everyone! I m so pleased to be taking on the Mason Jar Editor position, effective with this November edition. Thank you in advance for bearing with me as I learn Publisher on the fly as they say, and please stay tuned for upcoming improvements and additions in the works! I am excited to announce a new feature starting in December, called M.G. of the Month. In it, you will find an interview and photo of a different Master Gardener each month, which is designed to help us all get to know one another better. So much of the Master Gardener program centers around community, and I am looking forward to strengthening our community ties and communication with regular publishing of the Mason Jar. Thank you very much for your continuing interest and support. Please contact me with any feedback, ideas, photos, or information you would like to share! Sincerely yours, Traci Waring trarac@care2.com

4 4 A new feature starting this month, Catalyst Corner offers news and updates on Catalyst Community and Food Bank Garden. A successful garden work party was held on October 29th.Volunteers focused on clearing and liming beds, mulching, maintaining pathways, and preparing the garden for winter resting period. The Catalyst Steering Committee s latest meeting was held November 9th. During the meeting, the 2012 budget was discussed, work parties and fundraisers were planned. Catalyst Corner Catalyst Garden Work Party Volunteers October 29th, 2011 Photo by Evon Masteller A children s garden subcommittee is being formed, and will meet Wednesday, November 16th at 5pm. Community gardeners received a survey soliciting feedback for detailed improvements to the program for 2012, and the results were discussed at a recent meeting. A discussion of targeted advertising at social service agencies was held, with the goal of primarily serving low income households in the 2012 season, as was the original intention of the program. It was a challenging year for the community gardeners, with soil fertility and tilth being less than ideal, and weather that didn t always cooperate, but the steering committee has plans to expand the number and size of plots, and improve the quality of soil and amendments for next season, so there is much enthusiasm for making the 2 nd year of community gardening a great success! In the Food Bank Garden, a small number of dedicated volunteers worked tirelessly all year to ensure that planting, weeding, watering, and weekly harvests happened without missing a beat. At the last harvest, 125 pounds of produce was donated to the Saint s Pantry Food Bank, and for the year, around 2,000 pounds of produce has been donated! These much needed contributions have come at a critical time for the food bank, which has experienced a great increase in the number of families and individuals served. The good news is that YOU can make a difference! There is a need for additional volunteers of all skill levels and abilities to help with all aspects of the garden year round, as well as for donations of gardening tools and equipment in new or gently used condition. Some of the Catalyst Wish List items include: soaker hoses, clippers and loppers, hand tools of all types, and a large wheel barrow or two. Monetary donations are always welcome, and will be used to purchase items such as seeds, organic fertilizers, trellising and fencing materials, and other needed supplies and equipment. Your donation is tax deductible!

5 5 Don Tapio Article Will My Tree Blow Over? It s not unusual to find an assortment of large trees in residential landscapes throughout our coastal region. Many of these trees are native to the area and undoubtedly not much thought was given to their eventual size when they were planted. As a result, towering one-hundred-foot-plus Douglas firs, Western Red Cedars and gigantic Big Leaf maples along with other tree species often dominate the garden landscape. With meteorologists predicting a stormy winter, the question is often asked, just how safe are these huge trees? Is there a chance they could lose major branches or even blow over? Homeowners are often amazed when trees that appear to be healthy, with plenty of foliage, suffer major damage during a windstorm. More often than not, when a large limb or branch comes crashing down, inside portions of that limb or trunk are usually revealed to be rotten. The internal wood may be soft, dark in color, or completely hollowed out. These symptoms are all caused by wood rot fungus diseases that more than likely infected the tree in previous years through wounds to the trunk. The puzzling part of this is that many trees have no visible symptoms of internal decay problems. Once wind damage has occurred however, the damage becomes very visible. Keep in mind the vascular system of trees is just under the bark, so trees infected with wood rot, can appear fine because water and nutrient exchange continues between the leaves and the roots. However, as wood rot fungi invade the heartwood or center wood of the trunk, trees become structurally weakened. Depending on the tree species and the fungus disease, some trees can live for years with no visible symptoms of internal decay. Once a tree is infected with rot, it is almost impossible to control it and usually the best advice is to remove the tree. An on-going inspection of trees in your landscape will help to prevent potential storm-damage problems. Decaying trees can be prone to failure, but the presence of decay, by itself, does not indicate that the tree is hazardous. Advanced decay (wood that is soft, punky, or crumbly) or a cavity where the wood is missing can create a serious hazard. Often, trees infected with wood rot will produce fungus structures commonly referred to as conks. These are highly visible and often increase in size as the decay progresses. Other symptoms of wood rot include missing bark and discolored areas on a trunk or branch. A tree usually decays from the inside out, eventually forming a cavity, but sound wood is also added to the outside of the tree as it grows. Trees with sound outer wood shells may be relatively safe, but this depends upon the ratio of sound to decayed wood, and other defects that might be present. Evaluating the safety of a decaying tree is usually best left to trained arborists. (continued on page 6)

6 6 (continued from page 5) Don Tapio Article Some trees are prone to failure due to weak branch unions. These are places where branches are not strongly attached to the tree. A weak union occurs when two or more similarly sized, usually upright branches grow so closely together that bark grows between the branches, inside the union. This ingrown bark does not have the structural strength of wood and the union is much weaker than one that does not have included bark. The included bark may also act as a wedge and force the branch union to split apart. Trees with a tendency to form upright branches such as maple often produce weak branch unions. When the angle between the two branches is less than 30 degrees, a weak union will almost always develop. In such a case, it is best to prune out the smaller branch while still small. Ideally the crotch angle will be between 45 and 60 degrees. Weak branch unions also form after a tree or branch is topped where the main stem or a large branch is cut at a right angle to the direction of growth leaving a large stub. The stub inevitably decays, providing very poor support for new branches that usually develop along the cut branch. Now is an excellent time to inspect trees in your landscape, especially those that lose their leaves in the fall. They should also routinely be inspected after severe storms. Examine all parts of the tree, including the roots, trunk flare, main stem, branches and branch unions. Be sure to examine all sides of the tree. Use a pair of binoculars to see branches high off the ground. Trees in poor health may have many dead twigs, dead branches or small, off-color leaves. Trees in good condition will have full crowns, vigorous branches and healthy, full-sized leaves; however, green foliage in the crown does not ensure that a tree is safe. Tree trunks and branches can be quite defective and still support a lush green crown. Staying informed is easier than ever! WSU Mason County Extension Master Gardener Face Book Page Master Gardener blog at the Mason County Daily News WSU Mason County Extension Master Gardener Website Tune in to The Garden Gate with Master Gardener Steve Edmondson weekdays at 12:15 KOOL FM / AM 1030 KMAS

7 7 Community Meet Allie Bernhard, AmeriCorps Staffer! Dividing her time between the Master Gardener and Food $ense programs, Allie is one of the people you are likely to meet when visiting the Extension Office or the Catalyst Community and Food Bank Gardens. Allie stays busy with her responsibilities focusing on both planning and hands on duties for both programs. A major area of focus is the Catalyst garden, where she coordinates and participates in work parties and steering committee meetings, and will be organizing the community garden for the 2012 season. Her work also involves direct interaction with 4-H kids, providing education on nutrition and gardening in both afterschool and classroom programs. Allie grew up on Long Island, and attended the State University of New York at New Paltz, earning her B.A. in Sociology with a concentration on Human Services in During school, she held 5 internships with various social service organizations, and last year participated in the AmeriCorps Vista program, where she worked in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The program focused on food rescue, which involves reclaiming unused food from restaurants, catering companies, grocery stores, and local farms, and delivering it to homeless shelters, community meal sites, and area food banks. Sustainable, local food production is something Allie is passionate about, and she is excited to learn more about four season gardening in the Master Gardener Basic Training Class she is currently taking. Other areas of interest include rain gardens and native plant and pollinator gardens. Allie says that her favorite aspect of the Master Gardener program is definitely the people. She has found much support and encouragement, and a real sense of community in the program, and is impressed with the focus on life-long learning. In her off time, Allie enjoys spending time with her house-mate s dog Jack, and pursuing her other interests which include yoga, meditation, art, and photography. She has also recently begun learning to play the drums! You can reach Allie at the Master Gardener Extension 687 or at allie.bernhard@wsu.edu

8 8 Getting Involved Volunteer Opportunities Monday Clinics run from 12-3 PM year-round. A volunteer is needed for the November 28th Clinic, please contact Allie Bernhard at allie.bernhard@wsu.edu or call Extension 687 to sign up! Volunteers will be needed to staff our booth at the Alternative Giving Fair December 3rd from 10AM-4PM. Please contact Allie Bernhard for more information. Save the date! The big Catalyst garden work party will be Martin Luther King day, Monday January 16th. Mark your calendar for the Catalyst Garden Silent Film Fundraiser March 23rd. In addition to participation in the steering committee s event planning sessions, volunteers will be needed from approximately 5-9PM on the day of the fundraiser. See upcoming editions of the Mason Jar for more information. The Plant Sale committee is in need of volunteers to sign up for help at the sale May 11th & 12th and with various pre-event planning activities. Please contact Margie Plebuch at quilted2@aol.com to get signed up with a plant sale sub-committee today! Continuing Education Opportunities WSU Master Gardener Basic Training days count toward the annual C.E. requirement for Certified M.G. s! November 18th Shelton Pesticides 9 AM - 11:30 AM and Weeds Noon - 3:00 PM December 2nd Shelton-Water Quality, Kennedy Creek field trip A.M., Naturescaping P.M. December 16th Shelton Pesticides For Salmon Health, Class Presentations, Graduation and Potluck Please contact Jeanne Rehwaldt for more information! Note: WSU Master Gardener Trainees are required to complete 60 hours of Basic Training classes plus on line training, and certified Master Gardeners are required to complete 25 hours volunteer time and 10 hours of Continuing Education per year in order to remain Certified.

9 9 The recent Catalyst Garden Pumpkin Sale raised $428 and made the cover of the October 28th edition of the Shelton Life newspaper! Fundraising News The Alternative Giving Fair Fundraiser is scheduled for December 3rd. Our booth will be a great opportunity for the public to learn more about the Master Gardener program, as well as a chance to raise funds. Please contact Allie Bernhard for more information. Photo by Pat Carpenter The Silent Film Fundraiser for Catalyst Garden is scheduled for March 23rd. The featured film will be Charlie Chaplain s The Gold Rush. Location: Choice High School Auditorium. Plant Sale Committee Update: A meeting was held November 3rd. During the meeting, lively discussions of the various aspects of running a successful plant sale were covered in detail. The committee has decided to make it a two day sale this year, scheduled the Friday and Saturday of Mother s Day weekend, May 11th and 12th. The sale will encompass an entire city block, and will be held at the former Mel Chevrolet lot downtown Shelton at the corner of 1st and Grove streets, which provides a highly visible location and a large covered area in case of rain. The committee is excited about hosting various independent vendors this year, which will contribute to the size and fun atmosphere of the sale. Volunteers are still needed to sign up for help at the sale, dig and division teams, plant purchasing, greenhouse, and other subcommittees. This is the biggest fundraiser of the year for the Master Gardener program, and your help is needed! Margie Plebuch is serving as liaison between the various sub-committees, Wanted: Your favorite recipes utilizing local, seasonal produce. Please to the Editor at trarac@care2.com

10 10 November Gardening Garden essentials: Finish garden cleanup and weeding; leave some seeds on flowers for birds. Mulch roses but don't prune severely now. Move container plants into winter shelter Veggies year-round: Plant out onion transplants sown in July; they'll be ready next June. Spread dolomite lime over beds that haven't received lime or wood ashes for the past two years. Pile fall leaves over unplanted areas and over any root crops saved for winter eating. Lawn care: Late in the month, apply winter fertilization, which is vital to maintain turf in good health. Mow when ground condition permits. Grass grows slowly throughout the winter. Additional November gardening tips from Washington State University Cooperative Extension publication "The Gardener." Fertilize your lawn at the end of November to help retain a deep green color through the winter. Use a fertilizer with approximately a (N-P-K) ratio. For late fall use, choose a fertilizer that contains mainly a slow-release form of nitrogen. Highly soluble nitrogen can leach away rapidly, not only being lost to the grass, but possibly contributing to groundwater pollution. If moss is a problem in your lawn, you may apply an iron compound to kill it. But unless you correct the excess shade, soil compaction, or poor fertilizer practices, it will return. Contrary to popular belief, lime will not control moss, though it may benefit your grass. This is a good time to take cuttings from rhododendron, camellia, photinia, and laurel (see PNW 152, Propagating Deciduous and Evergreen Shrubs, Trees, and Vines with Cuttings). Garlic, onion sets, and peas can still be planted. Don't remove the foliage and stems from rhubarb, asparagus, and artichokes if they are still green and healthy. Wait until the really cold weather comes. Rhubarb and artichoke roots can be planted if available in nurseries. Blueberries, currants, gooseberries, grapes, kiwis, and cane berries can be planted now and through the winter so long as the soil is not frozen. Cut raspberry canes to 5 feet and tie them to a trellis. Cut off the top sections of everbearing raspberry canes that fruited this fall. The lower parts of the canes will fruit again next summer. It is best to withhold fertilizer from houseplants from mid-november to mid-march unless they are actively growing. ~George Pinyuh, WSU Extension Agent--Retired

11 11 Blooming Plants for the Holidays Poinsettia Blooming plants from all over the world grace homes and businesses during December. One of the most common is the poinsettia, a tropical exotic now widely used as a winter house plant. Guests bearing gifts often carry poinsettias, clearly cherished for their brilliant red holiday color, but now available in peach, pale pink, pink with green splashes, whites and even yellow thanks to the wonders of hybridization. They're native to central Mexico, and must be a sensational sight when growing naturally on warm hillsides. Here's a piece of trivia for a holiday gathering: Poinsettia's name derives from Joel Robert Poinsett, first United States ambassador to Mexico. Poinsett, like many people in the 19th century, was an amateur botanist. He noticed the plant, was thrilled by the color, and brought it back to his own hothouses on Greenville, South Carolina in His home-propagated plants, first given to friends, were eventually widely distributed and sold, and were given the common name "poinsettia" for him. Color in poinsettias comes from the bracts, which are modified leaves (you'll notice in looking at them that the "petals" are the nearly same shape as the leaves.) Botanically speaking, poinsettia flowers are the tiny, rather inconspicuous yellow bud-like centers. Poinsettias do not set buds and produce new bracts once they turn color. The plant's color is a product of careful nursery management and skill in growing. The display you see when buying it is the culmination of the growth period. (In other words, when you buy it, what you see is what you get.) The primary need in care of poinsettias is to keep the colored leaf bracts from dropping off. If they fall, the decorative effect of the poinsettia disappears. A chilled plant will drop its leaves. Thus, poinsettias require warmth. The temperature range that keeps them happiest about F. during the day and 65 F. at night. Many western Washington homes are kept colder than 65 F. at night, so you might want to put the poinsettia in the warmest room possible at night. When buying and transporting poinsettias, be sure to wrap them for protection, and carry them in a warmed car. Don't place a poinsettia just inside the front door where temperatures fluctuate with blasts of drafty, cold air. Movies depicting people walking down snowy sidewalks gaily carrying poinsettias give entirely the wrong impression of these plants and their needs! Water the poinsettia thoroughly when the soil is dry to the touch. Poke some holes in the fancy wrappers to allow excess water to drain. (Tip: Perforating the bottom of wrappers on all containers swathed in foil will help any gift plant, no matter what type, survive better.) Soggy wet roots from standing in water will definitely cause the poinsettia to drop leaves and bracts. Fertilizer isn't needed now. Poinsettias aren't edible, but their reputation as poisonous when taken internally isn't true. Don't let children chew on or play with them, however. The milky sap that appears when leaves or stems are broken can irritate skin. (It resembles latex: the poinsettia, botanically named Euphorbia pulcherrima, is a rubber tree relative.) If sap gets on skin, wash off immediately with warm soapy water. (Continued on page 12)

12 12 Blooming Plants for the Holidays (Continued from page 11) Amaryllis Another good tropical gift plant that needs warmth to thrive is the amaryllis, (Hippeastrum species.) Huge flowers in red, pink, peach, and white grow so quickly that their progress can almost be measured daily. (These are fun to grow with the help of children.) Amaryllis bulbs, fist-sized and larger, proliferate in garden centers and even grocery stores during December. Many of them have already been put into pots with a lightweight soil mix around them. Water these pre-planted amaryllis thoroughly when you receive them. Setting the pot in a deep bowl full of lukewarm (not cold) water will allow it to take up water. Just watering from the top sometimes results in leaving dry spots in the soil, which will keep the roots from forming well. Set the pot in a warm place. Temperatures between 60 and 70 F. will encourage growth. Fertilize once a month and water them frequently. After the tall bloom stalk fades, the amaryllis will produce long strap-shaped leaves. Remove the entire old bloom stem and encourage as many of these leaves to grow as possible. Keep the plant in good light, watered and fertilized until warm weather. Put amaryllis outdoors in summer, and allow the leaves to continue growing. Bulbs And what grows well in the chilly house, kept at 55 F. to save energy costs? If you have to walk around in a sweater and down vest, your house is the exact temperature appreciated by: pots of blooming chrysanthemums, azaleas, hydrangeas, and any forced spring bulb such as crocus, daffodils, tulips, hyacinths and paperwhite narcissus. All of these can manage temperatures down to about 38 F. without suffering damage, and they do well when set outside on cool front porches during the day. Keeping these cool helps to prolong the bloom and beauty. ~Mary Robson (Ret.) Area Extension Agent Coming Soon: Classifieds Would you like to advertise for a free, trade or wanted garden-related item? Do you have, or are you seeking special seeds or starts that you would like to swap with other Master Gardeners? Do you have a mature plant you need to re-home? Would you like to get the word out about a non-m.g. event of interest? Please send your ad to trarac@care2.com today! Note: We are unable to run for sale ads or ads that involve any type of financial transaction. Your submission may be edited for content or length, and will be run on a space available basis.

13 13 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Plant Sale Committee Mtg. 5PM 6 Daylight Savings Time Ends 2:00 7 CLINIC 12-3PM / Garden Book Planning Mtg. 4:30PM 8 9 Catalyst Steering Committee Mtg. 5PM 10 Full Beaver Moon 11 Basic Training Veteran s Day 12 Growing Grapes Workshop 12-2:30PM CLINIC Catalyst Basic PM MG General Mtg. 10AM Children s Garden Sub- C. Mtg 5PM Training Pesticides and Weeds-Public Works CLINIC PM Pat Carpenter Thanksgiving New Moon Board mtg Pioneer 10 am 11:30 CLINIC 12-3PM VOLUNTEER NEEDED! Greenhouse Planning Mtg. 5PM

14 14 For Your Information... Did you know? Scotch Broom, Cytisus scoparius, the all too familiar wide spread and prolific invasive species, was introduced to Vancouver Island in 1850 by Captain Walter Colquhoun Grant, himself a recent immigrant from Scotland, from some seeds he had picked up in the Sandwich Islands from the British Consul. Of the seeds he planted in Sooke, three germinated, and descendants of these three plants have subsequently colonized most of southern Vancouver Island, Western Washington, and Western Oregon. Broom seeds have been used as a coffee substitute, and the flowers have been used in winemaking, but extreme caution is advised as broom contains several toxic alkaloids that can depress the heart and nervous system. Children are especially vulnerable to poisoning from eating the pods or seeds, which resemble small peas. The word Broom is derived from the Anglo-Saxon brom meaning foliage. The word was applied to shrubs that were used for making besoms, which are bunches of twigs used as brooms. Source Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast, by Jim Pojar and Andy MacKinnon Did you know? The little brown bat, a resident of the Pacific Northwest and the most commonly observed species of bat in our area, can eat half of its body weight in mosquitoes and other harmful insects per night! It is the species of bat most likely to utilize human-made bat houses, and considering its small size it is extremely long lived at 10 years or more. Although bat houses can play an important role in providing roosting habitat for little brown and other bats, care should be taken to allow for natural habitat sources which are typically secluded, crevicelike places such as hollow tree cavities and woodpecker holes. Bats are the primary predators of night-flying insects, and play a vital role in controlling populations of insects such as caddisflies, mayflies, termites, moths, beetles, mosquitoes, crickets, and leaf hoppers. Pacific Northwest bats begin hibernation or migrate south as far as Mexico in the months of October and November. Migrating bats always return to the place they were born, and if left undisturbed can survive generation after generation in one location. Hibernating bats should never be disturbed, as even one disturbance can cause bats to use up fat reserves needed to survive the winter months. Hibernating bats typically utilize cave entrances, tree cavities, attics, spaces behind shingles, and sometimes bat houses for their winter homes. Aside from leaving dead and dying trees standing, you can attract bats to your garden by providing an open water source, and by planting spearmint, phlox, stock, flowering tobacco, and other plants which attract nighttime pollinators such as moths, a win-win scenario for the bats and for your garden. Source ~ Landscaping for Wildlife in the Pacific Northwest by Russell Link Editor s Note: Detailed instructions for building and proper location of bat houses can be found in the book. I highly recommend it as a fun winter read, and a valuable resource year round for those who wish to encourage native wildlife in their gardens. MJ Robbins will be conducting a program this spring on how to build a bat house after a MG general meeting.

15 BackPage 15 Photo by John Wilcox Photo by Pat Carpenter Photo by Kimberly Wheeler