Seedlings~ Master Gardener Association of Blanco County December Holiday Potluck Party/Meeting Date: Tuesday, December 10, 2013 Time: 5:00 pm Location: The Residence of Peggy Welch 6810 Rocky Rd Blanco, TX 78606 (see directions below) Please plan to arrive at 5pm with a potluck dish of your choosing. There will be a brief meeting during the evening along with plenty of food, drinks and socializing among friends. Remember to bring your spouse, significant other or date! There will be a voluntary gift exchange. $10.00 gift limit, suitable for a either man or woman. Do not forget to pick-up your number once you have arrived at the event. It is also suggested to bring a flashlight into the party. It will be dark upon your departure; Peggy s property has steps and is rocky going to the parking area. Remember, if you leave your flashlight in your car, it will not help guide you to your vehicle.) From: Downtown Blanco To: 6810 Rocky Rd, Blanco, TX DRIVING DIRECTIONS from Cindy: 1. Start out going north on Main St/US-281 toward 5th St. 2. Take the 3rd left onto 7th St. - 7th St is just past 6th St - If you reach 8th St you've gone a little too far 3. 7th St becomes Rocky Rd. (go 5.53 miles) 4. 6810 ROCKY RD is on the right. ESTIMATED TIME: 14 minutes - DISTANCE: 6.21 miles from downtown Blanco (Go to next page for more directions)
A Note from Peggy with Her Directions: The December Master Garden meeting is to be at my house. I will have the plates, napkins, cups, forks, ice, etc. Folks can bring what they want. It is a BYOB affair. My house is 6810 Rocky Road. Turn west at the Lutheran church on to 7th street. 7th street becomes Rocky Road. Go out 7th/Rocky Road 6.2 miles. We are on the left. I will have Christmas lights on. My house telephone number is 833-4227. We have a gift exchange for those who care to participate ($10 limit). Nice to have it appropriate for gardeners but not necessary. From Cindy Stomberg: I will not be available to attend the holiday party this year. I am leaving next week for a trip north to visit family for the first half of December. Then finish my holidays and bring in the New Year in Florida with friends. Hope you have a wonderful holiday with family and friends. (As the program committee met, we realized what a great job Cindy has done for the last two years. She needs a big round of applause for all her hard work and innovative ideas.) Look Forward to a Great Year! The Program Committee (Vice-President Glenn Bishop, Margaret Becker, Peggy Welch, Joan Marasek, Mary Nabers, and ex officio Carol Rankin) have met and planned for 2014. Meetings will be held in both Johnson City and Blanco, at noon or at 5:30, as programs dictate. We will have at least one field trip IF the schedule works out. Look forward to hearing from a Master Gardener author from Louisiana and hearing about Night Sky Preservation with a visit to a home observatory. We will learn about both Spring vegetable gardening and preparing gardens for Winter. We will visit a Texas Wildscape yard and a butterfly garden. We will learn about butterfly feeders and landscape principles. We will find out what a Backyard Basics presentation entails with a view toward sponsoring one in the future. Programs will feature visitors and our own members who have been attending workshops. And there are still possibilities. If you have not signed up for meeting refreshments, you might want to at the Christmas party.
Good News and Bad News: The good news is that Todd Swift, our AgriLife Extension agent, has been given a great promotion; the bad news is that he will be leaving Blanco County Master Gardeners of Blanco County have been fortunate to have had Todd as our advisor for a number of years A Note from Todd : Master Gardeners, WE WILL MISS YOU, TODD It is with mixed emotions that I send this letter to the group. Some of you have heard by now that I have accepted the position of Regional Program Leader in the South Region. This is a big step for me and I look forward to the new roles and responsibilities of covering 41 counties. Wow! That s a lot of windshield time. Today s technology enables me to cover much of it using our AgriLife Lync program, my new headquarters will be in Uvalde, and I will be staying there much of the week. Leaving this position, I leave behind a great group of people that support Agrilife Extension programming through adult and youth education here in Blanco County. The Commissioners Court has provided our office with the funds, support, and a nice new office space to do our jobs effectively. If there is ever a group of volunteers who always turn out and exemplifies the Extension Education mission it is the Master Gardeners of Blanco County. I can ask this group for help and the help would arrive in masses. Our Master Gardeners have made up the biggest group of volunteers at our Extension Luncheon since it started two years ago. This is a very talented group of fine citizens that I hope will continue to work together and be supportive of my successor. They may or may not have experience in working with Master Gardeners, but I think you will find them supportive if you include them in your activities and keep them in the loop. Your good work helps to make Extension agents look good! So, that s the down side, leaving a program that I have enjoyed working with over the past six years. The opportunity came along and I decided to pursue in order to assist other Extension Agents and Agrilife Specialists improve and build programs like we have here in Blanco County. This county is one of the south region counties so I hope to see you at some future events. Until then, I wish you the grandest gardens and landscapes in the land! Todd Swift
Interest in Invasive Plants Workshop Todd sent out a flyer about an invasive plant workshop. Tricia Timmons has responded: I contacted Justin Bush at the Wildflower Center. It would be so much easier for me to do this in Blanco County if it is something anyone is interested in. It could also be a program for next year. I just was curious as I will take it in Austin if a big enough group doesn't want to do it in Johnson City or Blanco. A flurry of emails between members suggests that there would be enough interest to have the workshop in Blanco County instead of going to the Wildflower Center. Bring your ideas to the meeting. Here s the original document: What is the problem? Invasive species are non-native (or alien) species to the local ecosystem, whose introduction causes economic, environmental damages or harm to human health. Invasive species grow and reproduce rapidly and establishes over large areas, largely because they lack natural predators, competition and diseases from their home range. As invasive species spread and take over ecosystems, they decrease biodiversity and threaten the survival of native plants and animals. In fact, invasive species are a significant threat to almost half of the native U.S. Species currently listed as endangered. What can you do? The best way to stop invasive species is to quickly identify and report the populations before they are well established. By quickly detecting the species at introduction, we can minimize the negative effects of the species before it affects large areas. This early detection assists control efforts by lowing treatment costs and limiting the economic and environmental damages of a large-scale invasion. How can you get involved? Texasinvasives.org is a Texas-sized partnership of non-profit groups, universities, agencies and natural resource managers working together to identify and address invasive species in Texas. To detect invasive species throughout Texas, we need your assistance. Texasinvasives.org is offering training programs to master gardeners, master naturalists, school classes, scouts and any other group that has interest in fighting invasive species and protecting Texas from the negative effects of invasive species introductions. To learn more about invasive species in Texas or to schedule a training workshop, visit www.texasinvasives.org/invaders or contact invaders@texasinvasives.org. Minutes of the November Meeting The Master Gardeners met on November 12 at Solstice Gardens in Dripping Springs. We were welcomed by the owner, Chris Smartt, and as we huddled in the warm house that contains art of all kinds, he told us about Solstice and some of the artists who display their work there. We toured the grounds and greenhouse, had a box lunch, and then met outside for our business meeting.
President Carol Rankin called the meeting to order and the minutes of the October meeting were approved. Cindy Stomberg announced that our December meeting and holiday party will be hosted by Peggy Welch at her home. Emails will be coming to sign up for the pot luck dinner, and those who wish to can bring an gift ( $10 or less) for the gift exchange. Our interns will receive their name badges at the party. Spouses are welcome to attend. Old business included some minor revisions to our scholarship fund and Carol will send out a final email, to be voted on at the December meeting. Susan Hamm gave a report on the state convention where Tricia Timmons, Pat Robertson, and Loris Perkins were recognized for 15 years as master gardeners. New Business began with a report from Ann Cook about the Blanco State Park's children's nature scape. This space will be a pilot for all state parks and the groundbreaking is to be held on November 21 at 3 PM. Master Gardeners are encouraged to attend & to volunteer. Susan Hamm made a motion that we contribute $500 to the project, and the motion was seconded and approved by the membership. Pat Owens requested that there be a liaison between the master gardeners and the park, and Ann suggested Joanne Fischer, who is a member of the Friends of Blanco State Park. Glenn Bishop has met with the program committee ( Joan Marasek, Margaret Becker, Peggy Welch, and Mary Nabors) and they have lined up a year of programs for 2014. We will have presentations on Spring vegetable gardens, landscaping, preparing for winter in the garden, the night sky, as well as tours of the Bulverde Library gardens and the certified wild scape of Cheryl Smith Rogers. After discussions about our roles in projects and education, Carol suggested that we make 2014 our Year of Outreach. Karen See you at Peggy s on the 10th at 5:30, with your favorite Pot Luck dish, the beverage you d like to drink, a gift exchange item (if you want), and lots of Good Cheer! Merry Christmas!