Master Gardener News March 2016

Master Gardener News March 2016 2015 Officers: Lila Waldman, President Carol Ziehmke, V.P. Kelly Tomko, Secretary Barb Rothwell, Treasurer Lori Nadolski, Reporter In This Newsletter MGV Meeting 3/22/16 1 MGV 2016 Activities 2 From the President 3-4 The Report 5 Let s Get Green (LGGG) 6-7 Portage Daily Register 8 2016 Program Calendar Change 9 4-H Planter Night 9 Minutes of 2/23/16 Meeting 10-11 Columbia County MGV Next Meeting Tuesday, March 22, 2016, 6:30 pm Annex Building, Portage The March 22 program will be Wildlife Damage Management: tips, tools and techniques presented by Jamie Nack. Ms. Nack is an Extension Wildlife Outreach Specialist with the DNR. Her area of expertise includes wildlife management on private lands; youth education; wildlife damage management and general backyard wildlife. At Wisconsin Garden Expo, Jamie staffs a booth and provides seminars on attracting wildlife to your backyard and dealing with nuisance wildlife. The business meeting will be at 6:30 pm, followed by the presentation by Jamie Nick at 7:00 pm. The program is open to MGVs and the general public. Page

Columbia County MGV 2016 Activities Date Event Program & Chairperson Mar 22 Meeting Jamie Nack, DNR Wildlife Mgt tips, tools, techniques (Bill & Jean Damm) Apr 2 LGGG at Rio High School (Ardyce Piehl Chair) Apr 26 Meeting WI DATCP Greenhouse inspection (Jean Damm) May 14 Plant Sale (Leah Stark) May 17 4-H Planters for fair At Link s Greenhouse (Leah Stark) June 18 Bus Tour (Becky Gutzman, Carol Ziehmke Lila Waldman, Linda Haddix) July 26 Columbia County Fair (Jean, Bill, Lila, Ardyce, Leah) Setup July 27-31 Columbia County Fair Portage Fairgrounds Aug 23 Arlington Ag Research (Jeff Breuer and Kelly Tomko) Station Sept 15-17 Midwest MGV Conference In WI Dells Sept 27 Root s Chocolates (Jane Considine) Wisconsin Dells Oct 25 Wreaths with Paul Bergum (Kelly Tomko) Nov 22 Pot Luck and Member (Becky Gutzman) Activity Dec 27 No Meeting (George) R E M E M B E R Page 2

Lila Waldman, President As some of you know, I was in Florida February 18-25, visiting a couple of my sisters and enjoying some warm weather. Thanks to Carol for chairing the MGV meeting in my absence. I hear that Tyler gave a good presentation on CSAs. While in Florida, I had the opportunity to visit ECHO, Reducing Hunger and Improving Lives Worldwide. The Ft. Myers location of this organization showcases a variety of sustainable farming techniques which can be used with limited resources by subsistence farmers in developing countries. In addition to their U.S. location, ECHO has Impact Centers in Thailand, Tanzania, and Burkina Faso. These centers offer service to and share research results with local farmers. Page 3

President s Message cont. As soon as I returned from Florida, I had orthoscopic surgery on my right shoulder. I wanted to get this taken care of so that I'd be healed in time for the gardening season. Keeping with the folklore theme I started with the groundhog last month, March has come in "like a lion." So the end of the month should be nice. Be sure to join us for the March 22 meeting when Jamie Nack will give a presentation on DNR Wildlife Management. Also, remember to register for the LGGG meeting on April 2 at Rio High School. Volunteers are still needed; volunteers do not need to pay registration. Let Barb Rothwell know which sessions you will be attending so we can keep track of numbers. Thank you. Page 4

The Report March Many of you have heard of an innovative gardening tool that has become all the rage. Those of us who made it to the Wisconsin Public Television Garden Exposition in Madison back in February had a chance to test the tool, meet the maker, and make purchases. But if you were like me and didn t take advantage of that opportunity, boy are you lucky! Yes, I am speaking of the award-winning line of CobraHead Garden Tools. Owners, Noel and Judy Valdes, are allowing the Columbia County Master Gardener Volunteers to purchase at wholesale price! The CobraHead Weeder and Cultivator short handle will cost $13.75 each, and the long handle will cost $36.00/ each. The shipping cost is TBD from Cobra, and the cost per tool decreases as our order quantity increases. For example, if we order 12 or more of the short handle, they will only cost $11.75 each. Six or more of the long handle will cost $33.00 each. The more the merrier. We need an indication of your interest, so if you intend to take advantage this opportunity, please email George at george.koepp@co.columbia.wi.us by March 21st. Please indicate the number of CobraHeads you want. Learn more about each tool at: www.cobrahead.com. -by Lori Nadolski Page 5

Let s Get Green and Growing Volunteer Opportunities Please consider volunteering to help during the LGGG Event. Below is the list of openings and opportunities. If you volunteer, you do not have to pay to attend the event. Also, your volunteer time counts towards your 24 hours of volunteer time or toward your 10 hours of continuing education needed each year. Contact George to have your name added to the official list. Friday Night Set Up 1. Ardyce Piehl 2. Jeff Breuer 3. Dick Olson 4. Barb Rothwell 5. Sue Bradley 6. Mary Jo Wentz 7. 8. 9. 10. Speaker Guide 1. Jane Considine 2. Terry Socha 3. 4. 5. 6. Registration Table 1. Suzanne Huber 2. Sandi Bonham 3. Lila Waldman 4. Jane Considine 5. Rita Socha 6. Holding Room Session 1: Melody? Session 2: Lunch: Session 3: Door Prize Table 1. Sherryl Stolte Vendor Set Up Assist with carrying items 1. Dick Olson 2. Sandi Bonham 3. Tracy Schilder 4. Linda Haddix 5. Phyllis Peterson 6. Karin O Malley Coffee Monitor Re-stock, Wipe up spills 1. Master Gardener Sales/Book Swap Table 9 AM Opening: Bill Damm After Keynote: Terry Socha Lunch: Tracy Schilder Between Session 2 and 3: Terry Socha End/Clean up: Page 6

Let s Get Green and Growing! cont. Speaker Hosts Introduce speakers, troubleshoot problems Session 1 A. Insects - B. Grapes John Waldman C. Herbs - D. Fruit Trees Barb Rothwell E. Grasses Lori Nadolski F. Vermiculture - G. Organic Carolyn Roberts H. Plant Food - I. Roses Lila Waldman Session 2 J. Arranging - K. Propagation Leah and Lila L. Microgreens Rita Socha M. Folklore - N. Vegetables Carolyn Roberts O. Trees Kelly Tomko P. Hostas Q. Back Care Jan Housley R. Water-wise - Session 3 S. Foods Jean Damm T. Arranging - U. CSA - V. Birdhouses Bill Damm, John Waldman W. Hoop Houses - X. Seed Saving Lila Waldman Y. Fermentation Carolyn Roberts Z. Pollinators - AA. Straw Bale Jeff and Jane Breuer Watch Vendor Tables Supervise table for vendors who are presenting Session 1 Bill Link Link s Greenhouse and Farm - Linda Haddix Session 3 Faith Anacker Fizzeology Foods - Jeff Breuer J and C Gardening - Christina Cooley Clean Up 1. Ardyce Piehl 2. Leah Stark 3. Dick Olson 4. Barb Rothwell 5. Sandi Bonham 6. Jan Housley 7. Lori Nadolski 8. Donna McElroy 9. Phyllis Peterson 10. Photographer (Throughout the Day) 1. Stephanie Tomko 2. Page 7

Portage Daily Register CC MGV 2016 Schedule Contact George to help complete this list. We have lots of open dates. The time it takes to research and write a 500-800 word article counts towards your 24 hours of annual volunteer time. Included is a list of possible topics. Be sure to include references to UW publications and resources whenever possible in your articles. A photo is always welcome and adds interest to your articles as well. Due Date Publish Author Topic 1-11 1-16 George Koepp Reflect on 2015 Plan for 2016 1-25 1-30 Lila Waldman CSA s 2-8 2-13 Ardyce Piehl LGGG at Rio 2-22 2-27 Carol Ziehmke Pauquette Park 3-7 3-12 Sue Bradley Portage Community Gardens 3-21 3-26 Jane Considine Jumping Worms 4-4 4-9 Jean Damm Micro Garden 4-18 4-23 Becky Gutzman Growing Strawberries 5-2 5-7 Kelly Tomko Straw bale gardening 5-16 5-21 Barb Rothwell Container Gardening 5-30 6-4 Jan Housley Herbs for our diets 6-13 6-18 6-27 7-2 Sherryl Stolte First Detector Network 7-11 7-16 7-25 7-30 8-8 8-13 8-22 8-27 9-5 9-10 9-19 9-24 10-3 10-8 10-17 10-22 10-31 11-5 11-14 11-19 11-28 12-3 12-12 12-17 12-26 12-31 Page 8 Your help is still needed to fill in the empty dates. Please consider writing an article for the paper. Contact George Koepp to volunteer.

2016 Program Calendar Change Since Epic Systems does not give garden tours on weekends, the June field trip committee has decided to plan a day-long bus trip to the Madison area on a weekday. Our usual meeting day is Tuesday, June 28. We will plan tours at two or three venues and a stop for lunch. If we don t get enough Columbia County Master Gardeners to fill a bus, we will invite MGVs from neighboring counties and, possibly, local garden clubs. Please mark your calendars and make plans to join us on this field trip! Lila, Carol, Becky, and Linda 4-H Planter Night Master Gardeners will once again have a container planting night with the 4-H clubs at Links Greenhouse on May 17th at 6:00 pm. All of the Columbia County 4-H clubs are invited to come. They are encouraged to bring their own container and Links will donate all of the soil and plants used. The clubs then enter their containers at the fair. We will do a brief presentation on how to plant their containers, which plants would be best for the containers, soil, water, and light conditions. This is a fun way to encourage our youth to get involved with plants, to earn some youth education hours, and maybe do some shopping too. Anyone interested in helping out should just come to Links Greenhouse, N9905 Link Rd, Portage (off County Road CX). Leah Stark Page 9

COLUMBIA COUNTY MASTER GARDENER VOLUNTEERS Minutes February 23, 2016 The meeting was called to order at 6:30 pm by Vice President Carol. 16 members were present. MINUTES of the previous meeting were published in the January newsletter. Being no corrections or additions the minutes are approved. TREASURER S REPORT (Barb) Copies of the report were available. The current balance is $6117.43. The report was filed for audit. OLD BUSINESS LGGG update report (Ardyce) 73 registered so far. Newspaper advertisements are in process to be run in the first 2 weeks of March. 14 vendors [currently] signed up. Rio FFA to do lunch $7. More volunteers are needed for a variety of jobs. Lori (reporter) will publish Cobra Head wholesale information in the newsletter to inquire about further interest from other members on ordering additional tools. Regional conference (Barb) - Sept 14-16 is just about all covered. Information on it will be available at LGGG, as it is open to the public. Vest embroidery is complete (Barb). Newspaper articles are turned in up to 2/22. Ardyce s LGGG article was not published 2/13 week as expected. Hopefully it will run this week! NEW BUSINESS Review next month s program Jamie Nack of DNR Wild Life damage to gardens as a topic. A request for assistance with a garden; assumed at a school; in WI Dells that is asking for assistance. Tomato Blight project results; tabled until next meeting. Page 10

Minutes of 2/23/16 Meeting cont. ADJOURNMENT 6:30 PM Tyler Rowe of Burr Oak Gardens, LLC Rio, WI spoke about their CSA operation and how he and his wife have grown their business since 2010. The talk and picture slides was very informative and interactive as members asked interesting questions. The farm looks and sounds very interesting. Perhaps we could visit it at some point. Cold is a Relative Thing to Wisconsin People 65 ABOVE ZERO Floridians turn on the heat. People in Wisconsin plant gardens. 50 ABOVE ZERO Italian & English cars won t start. People in Wisconsin drive with the windows down. 35 ABOVE ZERO New York landlords finally turn up the heat. People in Wisconsin have the last cookout before it gets cold. ZERO Californians fly away to Mexico. People in Wisconsin get out their winter coats. 20 BELOW ZERO Washington DC runs out of hot air. People in Wisconsin let the dogs sleep indoors. 40 BELOW ZERO All atomic motion stops. People in Wisconsin start saying Cold enough fer ya? 50 BELOW ZERO Hell freezes over. Wisconsin public schools will open two hours late. Page 11

Master Gardener News 120 W Conant Street, Suite 201 Portage, WI 53901 Phone: 608-742-9680 Fax: 608-742-9862 711 for Wisconsin Relay An EEO/Affirmative Action employer, University of Wisconsin-Extension provides equal opportunities in employment and programming, including Title IX and ADA requirements. Please make requests for reasonable accommodations to ensure equal access to educational programs as early as possible preceding the scheduled program, service or activity. Page 12