The Guadalupe Gardener November 2013 Extension Service A monthly publication of the Guadalupe County Master Gardeners in cooperation with the Texas A&M AgriLIFE Extension, Guadalupe County PRESIDENT S CORNER What a busy month October has been. The County Fair is behind us. The Ag Days for Kids at the Big Red Barn is complete. Progress is taking place at Gutierrez Park in Schertz. One of our students John Lewicki has taken on this project. The Texas Master Gardener Conference was outstanding. We are now in a new temporary office space at the Mary B Erskine School in Seguin. We will be moving again in May to parts unknown. Congratulations to everyone that volunteered for these projects and others not mentioned for jobs well done. Then at the October board meeting besides working through the budget; we approved a very special item for the George Ammermann Education Fund. Because George loved gardening books and had an extensive personal library, we agreed to donate books to the Seguin, Marion and Schertz Libraries in his honor. First off will be three Children s Gardening Books recommended by the Junior Master Gardener Program. Each aforementioned library will receive all three books. November is the time to finish up your hours reports and send it in to Dale and Ann Odvody. Dues are due now. At our November 21 st meeting not only will the Elections of 2014 Officers take place but Class 25 will be graduating. Please plan to attend and welcome them. Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving. Peggy Jones, President, GCMG Garden Joke of the Month: How do you repair a broken Jack-o-Lantern? Use a pumpkin patch! November 21st - 7 PM Speaker - Paul Johnson, Texas A&M Forest Service, Proper Tree Pruning 6:30 pm refreshments, 7 pm program 8 pm meeting We will meet at the Guadalupe County Justice Center 211 W. Court St, Seguin. Don t forget your name tag - and plants for the plant exchange In This Issue Page 2 - October Meeting Program Page 3 - October Meeting Page 4 - Christmas Social, New Digs Page 5 - New MG, Volunteer Recognition Prgrm, Gutierrez Garden Page 6 - Members in Service, Nominations, Dues Page 7-8 - County Fair Page 8 - Class 25, Speakers Bureau, Cibolo Ag Awareness Day Page 9 - Texas MG Conference, Big Red Barn Ag Awareness Day, KWED Page 10 - Community Garden, Future Programs, Green Team Page 11 - Central Park NYC Page 12 - Volunteer Opportunities Page 13 - Gardening Events, Gulf Muhly Page 14-16 - Education-Classes-Seminars Page 17 - November Calendar 1
Association News October GCMG MEETING PROGRAM The audience wasn t sure what to expect from Liz Palfini s presentation title: Weeding Through Heirlooms, Historic and Just Plain Good Old Days Gardening Propaganda. How to Make Informed Consumer Gardening Choices. Liz often provides insights into niche topics and this month was no exception. She first discussed the overwhelming amount of gardening information available over the internet and pointed out that, while helpful, much of this information is provided by web sites hoping to sell you something. We are apparently buying because the home gardening industry has grown rapidly over the past 15 years. Marketers attempt to influence consumer preferences and then position their products to satisfy consumer desires. We see numerous items which claim to be Green, Organic or Sustainable. Liz questioned if RAID, the insecticide, should be considered Green because it smells good while it kills. Liz then discussed the Heirloom seed marketing strategy which is, perhaps in part, a backlash to the bioengineering industry. Liz told us that very few foods originated in North America. The corn, beans, tomatoes and other foods that were new to Spanish explorers come from Mexico, Central and South America. Seeds have been modified by gardeners for 5,000 years, so Grandma s garden represents fairly recent hybrids which were often developed in Europe and reintroduced to the colonies. She described Heirloom plants as neither drought nor disease resistant, providing poorer yields over a shorter plant life span, and often requiring more water, fertilizer, and possibly pesticides. Many Heirloom vegetables are favorites for their quality, but some are primarily grown for their outward appearance and as novelties rather than their quality as food. Saving the most controversial for last, Liz discussed Recombinant DNA Technology. She started with some statistics that only 3% of the Earth s surface is suitable for cropland and all of it is already being farmed, food production in the United States is up 300% since 1950, and malnutrition is the largest cause of death in the world. Liz then told us that corporations own agriculture due to their patents on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). By purposefully splicing known genes from one cell into another, corporate scientists enhance both the growth characteristics of plants and the desirability of their edible product. GMOs have helped increase crop production to meet the world population s growing demand for nutrition. Liz said she feels recombinant DNA technology is good science but companies like Monsanto are using it in a way that is harmful to agriculture in general, the environment, and the people who ultimately rely on the crops it produces. Organic is still the most environmentally sustainable agricultural ideal and farming that relies on herbicide applications to thrive is wrong. Knowledgeable consumers have the power to demand that industry change how they grow crops and how they apply the use of GMO technology. Someday, recombinant DNA technology may help us develop drought resistant crops with heavy yields or non-leguminous plants that fix nitrogen in the soil essentially feeding themselves. Liz said she felt knowledgeable consumers supporting responsible agriculture is the key. Article submitted by Bob Teweles. Photos by Marvin T Taylor 2
OCTOBER 2013 MEETING Photos by Marvin T Taylor Kathy Pape won $19 in the raffle. Pam Turner won a $10 gift certificate to Maldonado s REFRESHMENTS The refreshments for the October meeting were provided by: Joanne Rand, Cynthia Lyssy, Kathy Pape, Cindy Winkelman, Carol Calentine, Bob Teweles and Joyce Johnston. Thank very much for the great snacks were enjoyed by all We will include one recipe each month. See recipe on page 16. Treva Hicks, Refreshment Volunteer Coordinator Photo by Marvin T Taylor 3
Guadalupe County Master Gardener Christmas Social Sunday, December 15, 2013 The Big Red Barn, 390 Cordova Rd, Seguin 5pm-9pm 5:00 p.m. Social time: Appetizers, good fellowship and entertainment by the TLU Children s Choir A Catered Dinner will be served at 7 p.m. There will be a cost of $7.00 per person. Please join us for great food, fun, and fellowship! Christmas Social Prize Drawing & Raffle Donations are being accepted for the annual GCMG Christmas Social Prize Drawing & Raffle. If interested in making a donation, please contact Cynthia Lyssy at cmlyssy@prodigy.net or text 210-275-3970. You may bring your donation to the November meeting. Thank you for your continued support. New Digs Monday, October 28 at 9 am there was a workday at our new facility to unpack boxes and get things squared away. Betty Hughes and Esther Pinter were in charge. Our new location is at the Mary B. Erskine School in Seguin. It is at the corner of E. Krezdorn and N. River St. The school faces College St but we will have access from Krezdorn St. Signage for the Texas AgriLife Extension office is already up on this back side of the school for us. When you walk down the sidewalk, Carol Calentine s office is the first one on the right. The MG office is in a classroom on the left. Signage is up already to denote the Master Gardener office space. Easy to find. 4
NEWLY CERTIFIED MASTER GARDENER Bernie Croan was recognized as being a newly certified Master Gardener at the October meeting. She received her certificate, name badge, and membership card from Vice President Jeff McKee. Photo by Marvin T Taylor Volunteer Recognition Program Congratulations to Treva Hicks, our October Volunteer Recognition Program Drawing recipient. As our October Volunteer, Treva won a $20 gift certificate. In addition, four other names were drawn for entry into the year-end grand prize drawing for a $150 gift certificate. They were Gretchen Ricker, Clara Mae Marcotte, Ruben Roecker, and Esther Pinter. Other members who qualified for the drawing were Mary Ann Bowe, Elaine McIntyre, Hughlene Micheli, Stan Posey, Iris Seale, Clifford Smith, Mary Styblo, and Deedy Wright. Thanks to all of you for your hard work and effort. To qualify for the Monthly Volunteer Recognition Program drawing, certified GCMG Master Gardeners must report a minimum of 5 volunteer and continuing education hours earned during the month to the Hours Coordinator by the last calendar day of the month. Hours earned for attendance at the monthly GCMG Membership Meeting are not included in the minimum 5 hours, except those earned for meeting setup. GCMG had 13 members who qualified for the October drawing. Don t forget to earn and report your hours by the end of the month to be eligible for the following month Membership Meeting Drawing. Submitted by Cindy Waechter A New Chair Volunteer!!!!!! Thank you, John Lewicki for volunteering as Chair of the Gutierrez Xeriscape Garden project in Schertz! Gutierrez Xeriscape Garden I talked to Denise Leverich, the Key Club Advisor at Steele High School, and Mike Trainor, the Schertz Parks contact, and everyone is planning on 2 workdays in November. The 16th of November will be primarily for cleaning and painting the gazebo. The 30th of November will be a back up day for painting and general cleanup of the park planting areas and removal of dead limbs etc. I would love to use this day for sowing Texas WildFlowers, blue bonnets,indian Blankets/Paintbrushes,etc. I would also like to have one master gardener for every 4 students to supervise their activities. John Lewicki, Class 25, GCMG 5
M E M B E R S I N S E R V I C E Texas Master Gardener Board of Directors Two Year Term - Dave Elder - Jose Contreras Alternate One Year Term - Cindy Martin Linda Bruno Alternate Membership Outreach Committee - Virginia Biggs Speakers Bureau - Treva Hicks Guadalupe Co. Community Garden - Dale & Ann Odvody JMG Program Coordinator - Lo-Ra Dick Master Gardener Office/Library - Betty Hughes AgriLife Building Workdays - Liz Romero Hours Reporting - Dale & Ann Odvody Notification - Dale Odvody & Beth Zies Refreshment Coordinator - Treva Hicks Volunteer Chair Assistant - Don Hilbert Gutierrez Xeriscape Garden - John Lewicki Historian - Open Class 25 Coordinator - Bob Teweles Facebook Editor - Open Newsletter Editor - Elaine McIntyre Web Master - Randee Malmsten NOMINATIONS The slate of officers for 2014 is: Bob Teweles, President Open, President Elect Peggy Jones, Past President Ellen Laubhan, Vice President- Programs Cindy Waechter, Treasurer Patti Zgabay, Secretary Open, Volunteer Chairman Dave Elder, Publication Chairman Penny Wallace, Education Chair man Open, Master Gardener Training Chairman Nominations may also be made from the floor at the election meeting in November. Collecting All Dues! My sincerest thanks to the 30 Guadalupe County Master Gardeners who paid their 2014 dues at the October membership meeting. Early dues payment and hours reporting are much appreciated by your Treasurer and Hours Coordinator as this helps speed up our year-end reconciliation and reporting requirements. We will continue collecting 2014 dues at the November Membership Meeting for those Certified Master Gardeners who have met their recertification requirements, twelve (12) hours of volunteer service and six (6) hours of continuing education and who have reported those hours to the Hours Coordinator, Dale Odvody at odvodyd@swbell.net. Please remember the Treasurer cannot accept your dues until you have submitted the minimum hours required for re-certification. For Class 24 students: If you certified in December 2012, to recertify in 2014, you must complete twelve (12) hours of volunteer service and six (6) hours of continuing education and report those hours to the Hours Coordinator, Dale Odvody at odvodyd@swbell.net not later than 31 Dec 2013 and pay your $20 dues. If you certified in 2013, to recertify in 2014, you have met your volunteer and continuing hours requirement. You may pay your $20 dues at the November meeting, but must pay them not later than 31 Dec 2013.. Cindy Waechter, Treasurer Newsletter Staff Editor - Elaine McIntyre Photographer - Marvin T Taylor Distribution - Doug Biggs Proof Reader - Patti Zgabay Wandering Gardener - Marilyn Moltz 6
Guadalupe County Fair The Guadalupe County Master Gardeners, in partnership with the Guadalupe County Agri-Life Extension Office, manages the Horticulture Division of the Guadalupe County Fair each year. This is an event where the GCMG group makes a valued contribution to the community each year. The Fair ran from Wednesday October 9 to Sunday October 13. Set Up Crew Taking Entries MG Speakers talked from the stage area, without interruptions from other areas. Speakers and subjects are: Gail Johnson - Composting 101, Dave Elder - Composting with Worms, Liz Romero Cheap Tricks to Reduce Watering, Peggy Jones - Propagating Roses, Bob Teweles - Propagation with Plant Stems, Lo-Ra Dick - Square Foot Gardening. Fair Winners were as follows: Judging Overall Grand Champion-Adult - David Germann Overall Grand Champion-Youth - William Anderson Grand Champion Youth Field Crops - Grace Vogel Grand Champion Youth Garden Crops - Rowdy Grantham Grand Champion Adult Home Goods - Milton Mattke Grand Champion Adult Field Crops - Debbie Parsons Grand Champion Adult Orchard - Rodney Schroeder Grand Champion Youth Orchard - Grace Vogel The raffle items for the Guadalupe County Fair were 1 rain barrel, 2 raised beds, and 4 herb planters. Stan Posey did the rain barrel art. Raised beds were painted and built by Ruben Roucker, class 24. Proceeds from the raffle were $396.40. Raffle winners were as follows: Rain Barrel - Dela Jahns, Raised Beds - Debra Elia & Nelda Harborth, Herb Planters - Janet Mage, Lisa O'Brien, Debra Johnson, Eliza Suarez & Jose Albornoz. Horticulture Entry Tables 7 More on following page
COUNTY FAIR (continued) The Fair Planning Team included Dale and Ann Odvody, Karen Wallock, Diane Lippe, Peggy Jones and Cindy Martin. Betty Hughes was in charge of the children s craft activities on Saturday and Sunday and her tables were always packed with children and parents. The GCMG Table display (pictured) along with the free seed giveaway had lots of traffic and the volunteers were besieged with questions. All in all a very successful project for the GCMG. Many, many thanks to all the volunteers. Photos by Marvin T Taylor, Peggy Jones, Sandy Foss and Karen Wallock. GCMG Class 25 Class 25 Graduation will be during our November Monthly Membership Meeting on November 21 and we expect all 18 students to graduate! It would be nice if all Class 25 sponsors would attend to congratulate the new Interns. Several of the students should also Certify that evening. Our thanks go to GCMGs Liz Romero for teaching Rainwater Harvesting and Jim Johnson for explaining Drip Irrigation at our class on October 23. We appreciate the numerous GCMG members who have attended our classes and benefitted from some outstanding instruction. During November we will have two classes, listed below, which members are invited to attend. Classes are held at Schertz United Methodist Church from 10:00 to 2:30. A third class on November 20 will involve discussion of student landscape plans and will not qualify for continuing education credit. So sorry - 6 November Home Fruit and Nut Production with Dr. Larry Stein 13 November Introduction to Landscape Design and Lawn Care by Dennis Hale Submitted by Bob Teweles, Class 25 Training Chair Speakers Bureau On October 15, 2013 Jose Contreras gave presentation to the Santa Clara Civic Center on Fire Wise Landscaping. There were 8 people at the meeting. Thank You Jose. Submitted by Treva Hicks, Speakers Bureau Coordinator Schertz Cibolo Ag Awareness Day On October 19 th from 10 AM to 2 PM, the first Agricultural Awareness Day was held at the Toby Connor Ag Complex in Cibolo. It was the idea of the students to host the event. There were about 50 to 75 people who came by the Master Gardener booth. Master Gardeners Debbie Real and Gladys Haecker along with Class 25 member Kimberly Darrough staffed the GCMG booth. They distributed quite a few seed packets and paper materials. There were a few donations in the watering can and our MGs are always inventive - Gladys put rocks in the bottom of the can so it would not blow off the table. A really great beginning for a new project. 8
Texas Master Gardener Conference We took first place for all the hard work we did at the Big Red Barn back in July 2012 teaching the teachers how to teach gardening to kids. Yeah! Peggy Jones ONE BIG AGGIE WHOOP! I am so proud of all the work Iris is doing in the LaVernia school. I am also really happy at how well received the JMG garden club has been at St. James. You know what is so fun about JMG? It makes kids smile :). What a wonderful group of people to work with to make this happen. Thank you Peggy for your outstanding leadership! Lo-Ra Dick Ag Awareness Fair-The Big Red Barn (formerly Ag Day for Kids) We had an opportunity to explain to children that fruit and vegetables do not originate at HEB, Arlans, or Lowe s on October 28, 29, 30, and 31. The annual Ag Awareness Fair was held at the Texas Agricultural Education & Heritage Center, Big Red Barn, 390 Cordova Road, Seguin. Volunteers talked to 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders about importance of gardening and produce in 15-20 minute increments around 12 times during the day. MG volunteers were: October 28th Cynthia Lyssy, Clifford Smith, Ellen Laubhan, October 29th Cynthia Lyssy, Jeri Doyle, Sandy Foss, October 30th Karen Wallock, Pam Turner, Doug Biggs, and October 31st Mary Styblo and Welta Burris. KWED need volunteers The KWED Lawn & Garden Show is on KWED 1580AM radio every Saturday beginning at 9:05am. The radio station is located at 905 East Court Street in Seguin. Master Gardeners, Master Gardener interns & students research a garden subject to talk about and go on live radio with by-your-side support from: Bob Grafe, program emcee, or Ryla Cottingham filling in for Bob Grafe, plus their frequent assistant and behind-the-scenes MG, Gene Griffin. The speakers for October were: October 5 Cast from Little Shop of Horrors, and MG Janet Grafe Preserving the harvest October 12 MG Deedy Wright Fall planted bulbs and perennials & Elaine McIntyre from the County Fair October 19 - Ryla hosting MG Linda Bruno. October 26 Larry Taylor - November Gardening Checklist On October 12th we had a contest for an oxblood lily to be picked up at the County Fair. Winner was Janice Gangawer, pictured. Photo by Elaine McIntyre Volunteers always appreciated - Please contact Bob Grafe (alaskagrafe@yahoo.com) GCMG Outreach Virginia Biggs is GCMG s Outreach Chairman. If anyone knows of a GCMG that needs a meal, please let her know 830-560-1976 REMINDER If anyone needs a card from the organization for an illness or loss of a family member, contact Pat Schultze Secretary, 830-556-6751 or e-mail clydepat6@aol.com. 9