Monthly MG Meeting - July 23, 2013

I wasn't able to attend the monthly meeting on Tuesday, but heard good things about it.  Thanks, Peg, for opening your home and providing the hospitality, and thanks, Autumn, for providing the educational component.  Enjoy the pictures, folks, provided by Peg.

The venue, Peg's lovely home.

Her Gardens

The arrangements (an awesome art eluding any analytical abilities, he alludes alliteratively and admiringly)
 

Socializing
 

Food and Beverage

Shade (-e not -y) Ladies

And most important of all, Education.  Autumn Phillips, former Horticulture summer assistant in Franklin County, and daughter of MG Niles Phillips, shares her Masters Degree research on seed disperals by small mammals in Central America

And a serendipitous demonstration thereof (local species)

2012 Year in Review

As we start 2013, let’s look back on some of the highlights of the 2012 Master Gardener Season.

Background

The Franklin County Master Gardener Program is part of a nation-wide volunteer effort to help Land Grant Universities fulfill their mission to bring research based knowledge of consumer horticulture to the general public. In exchange for extensive training, Master Gardeners are asked to provide throughout the first program year, 50 hours of volunteer time, selected among the following activities: covering the phone hot-line during the growing season (April 15-October 15), teaching workshops, manning information booths, assisting in research, establishing and maintaining demonstration gardens, fulfilling speaker requests, and helping with funding-raising and publicity efforts, like our Plant Sale, Tomato Taste Day, and Fall Garden Tour that help keep the program sustainable. In subsequent years, 20 hours of volunteer time, and 8 hours of continuing education are required to maintain Master Gardener status.

Statistics

During the 2012 year, 80 Master Gardeners dedicated 5,904 volunteer hours to the gardening community of Franklin County. This included teaching 56 workshops and classes on topics ranging from seed starting to Japanese landscaping, and growing vegetables and fruit in the home landscapes.

9 new Master Gardeners completed their 3 months of training and are now working on their 50 hours of volunteer time during 2013 to obtain their Master Gardener certification badge.

From April through mid-October, Master Gardeners maintained the Garden Hotline and answered 959 questions on insect and weed identification, disease prevention in the home landscape, interpreting soil sample results, and general “how to” advice on growing vegetable and ornamental plants.

35 presentations were given by Master Gardeners to local groups and organizations and 15 displays were setup for county events.
Franklin County Master Gardeners again supported Penn State Extension at various regional events during the year - at the Farm Show in January, helping Penn State Extension’s Pesticide Education Team run their booth, at the Mid Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Growers Conference in Hershey in February, the Pennsylvania Nurseryman’s Garden Expo in March, and the Summer Garden Experience in Landisville in July.

The Franklin County Master Gardener Blog recorded 44,271 page views for the year, for an average of 3,689 per month. In addition, our Facebook Page recorded 63 likes and 18,056 visits for the year.

Highlights of 2012

• Harvest 4-Health – in 2012, we expanded our efforts with the Penn State 4-H Harvest 4-Health program and Kids Learning After School (KLAS), adding Ben Chambers Elementary School to the Thaddeus Stevens Elementary School effort. Additional Harvest 4-Health partners we helped with plants and growing advice, included the St. Thomas Elementary School, New Franklin Elementary School, and the Coldbrook YMCA. Harvest 4-Health is a Penn State Extension initiative to bring together multiple disciplines within Extension on a focused effort at the local level to teach the newest generation about growing their own, fresh, nutritious food by planning, planting, maintaining, and harvesting produce from their own vegetable gardens. KLAS is a year-round after school program for grades 1-6 (ages 6-12) consisting of 60 students usually broken into 3 groups of 20.

• Patrick Gass Garden – Phase I of the Patrick Gass Garden was installed during the 2012 season. The Patrick Gass Garden will establish an educational and historical demonstration garden on the Franklin Farm Campus memorializing the leading role of Patrick Gass, a Chambersburg native son, in the Lewis and Clarke Expedition of 1804-1806. The project will present a horticultural and historical experience that demonstrates the importance of flora and agriculture in the young and expanding Republic. It will offer an educational experience for youth groups, school groups, historic groups, tourists, and public visitors. Watch this year as permanent signage goes up, and plans for Area 2 get underway.

• Victory Garden 2012 - We documented a whole season's worth of pictures (thanks to MG Georgia Townsend) and educational material for our blog.

• Establishment of a Drought Tolerant Demonstration Garden – Master Gardener Donna Berard and her team used their extensive knowledge of Xeriscaping to create a drought tolerant garden alongside the fence surrounding the Victory Garden.

• Refurbishment of the Herb Demonstration Garden – the oldest demonstration garden on the grounds was given a total facelift this past year, installing new raised beds, and preparing for new plantings in 2013.

• Spring Plant Sale – In 2012, our combined greenhouse vegetable and annual plant sale generated $10,296.85 in gross revenues.

• An Autumn Stroll – Our annual fall garden tour took place in the Penn National/Fayetteville areas this past year, generating another $1,780.00 in gross receipts.

• June Extension Open House – Penn State Extension of Franklin County sponsored its second Open House for the public with an afternoon event on June 20th and Master Gardeners were there to help as volunteers showing off our Demonstration Gardens - Gass Garden, Herb Garden, Perennial Garden, Drought Tolerant Garden, Pollinator Garden, and the Woodland, Meadow, and Native Habitat Garden (Wildlife Area). In 2013, we expect to finish the refurbishment of the Herb Garden, add a Bog Garden to the Wildlife Area, possibly add a Shade Garden there also, and continue the efforts on the Gass Garden.

• Tomato Day – The 12th annual Tomato Taste Day wherein we invite the public to judge two dozen or more different varieties of tomatoes and rate them for flavor and looks, took place on August 22nd. 145 people participated in 2012, giving a red cherry variety Sakura, from Sataka Seeds top honors. Because we had a late start growing our tomato patch here on the Franklin County campus, most of the varieties for the August 22nd event came from the Southeast Agricultural Research and Extension Centerr in Landisville. When the local crop came in, we sponsored a Mini Tomato Day on September 11, 2012, where Blush, a recent introduction developed by Baia Nicchia Farm was the runaway winner.

Many thanks to all the Master Gardeners who gave of their time and talents to make for a successful year.

Applause, Applause!

Why I Became a Master Gardener - Part 5

After years of enjoying planting trees, shrubs, flowers, and bulbs wherever we lived (IBM stands for "I've Been Moved,") we retired to our deceased mother's house, and it was such a pleasure to have the shade and beauty of the mature trees we had planted in her yard to commemorate when our children were born thirtysome years earlier. The Celebration Maple we had planted for our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary was now thirty feet tall! Finally we had a small property where we could put down roots and plan and plant for posterity. We wanted to establish a wildlife habitat that would be natural and welcoming to animals as well as people, and especially our grandchildren.

However, we needed specific knowledge about local soils and native species before we proceeded. I applied to become a Master Gardener in order to learn about the ecology of rain gardens so we could do our part to help save the Chesapeake Bay, and understand the complex, interdependent microbiology of various plants. The college professors at Penn State who taught the courses were very informative and down-to-earth (pardon the pun) instead of ivory tower esoterics. Their presentations were not just fact-filled, but also fun; and getting to keep their lectures and my notes in binders to refer to whenever necessary was like having a how-to library at my fingertips. Being able to ask them questions and receive real-time answers tailored to my individual concerns via video-conferencing was more intimate than being in a large lecture hall with hundreds of students on campus. Each day I came home with knowledge I could immediately apply both in our yard and at church where we are establishing a Green Sanctuary. In addition there was an experimental rain garden in the Master Gardeners' Wildlife Area where I could volunteer to help maintain it and learn real-life lessons while enjoying the camaraderie of like-minded fellow Master Gardeners. What a great group of kindred spirits who don't mind rolling up their sleeves and digging in the dirt!

A completely unexpected bonus was being encouraged to learn enough about Japanese gardening and handicapped-accessible tools and techniques to be able to facilitate workshops for the general public on those subjects and share with others in the community the diversity of information available through the Franklin County Penn State Cooperative Extension. The continuing advanced training offered every year ensures that I am learning state-of-the-art agricultural science and best practices researched at Penn State and other land grant universitiies to be extended to my church, friends, neighbors, and relatives to preserve and protect our precious environment.

Read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 and Part 4 of this series.

That's the last of the emails I received.  I'll post more if folks send in more.  Next Thursday, July 12th, we'll be interviewing the folks who want to become part of the next class of Franklin County Master Gardeners.

Why I Became a Master Gardener - Part 4

I've always had a love for the outdoors. I was feeling trapped inside due to medical reasons. I tried a garden club and found it too social - not enough garden. I decided to check out the Master Gardeners and found the perfect fit. I'm always learning something new. What a joy having so many dirt buddies that "get" me; they know why there's never polish on my nails and why I can't stand outside a restaurant and not pull a few weeds from the planters. Then there's the hands-on in the garden too.


Now with all this new knowledge to pass on to others, I hope it's helping make a better world. It makes me feel like I'm making a difference - maybe only a little bit, but its more then I was doing before. What a great organization.  - a true weedaholic.
 
I was a master gardener in St. Mary's County, Maryland, and when I moved to PA, I wanted to continue my knowledge of growing plants/trees/shrubs, understanding insects and diseases, and found the Penn State Master Gardener program a superior learning experience. There are so many projects to be involved in that the possibilities are endless. I've enjoyed working the annual Plant Sale, and am now working with elementary school children in the Harvest 4-Health program. It has been a very gratifying experience to share my knowledge with these young children and to help them appreciate how vegetables are grown.

Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 of this series.

Why I Became a Master Gardener - Part 3

"My friend said she was interested in becoming a Master Gardener, and I thought it was a joke using the words master and gardener together. Having been raised on a farm, gardening was second-nature to me. However, when I discovered that Master Gardeners actually have a Penn State Extension course of study through which much more information can be learned, I, too, was interested. Through that course of study, old wives' tales were dispelled, proper methods were discovered, and new techniques were learned. Additionally, I have made friends with others who share an interest in all types of gardening, and the hours spent volunteering are rewarding."

"I have been playing in the dirt for most of my life - with moderate success in raising flowers, vegetables, shrubs, trees, weeds, etc. I wanted to learn more about all things plant related, so decided to take the Master Gardener program. I am now on a lifelong learning process and realize how little I knew in the past. The classes were interesting and informative, and getting my hands in the dirt with fellow Master Gardeners, going to extended training classes, and the fellowship of new friends has added enhancement, excitement and enrichment to my life. I haven't learned all the paths of great gardening yet, but know where to look to find them."

 "I grew flowers for years before becoming a Master Gardener. My approach was to just wing it, use some common sense and learn what I could from others whose gardens I admired. After discovering there was such a program, I decided to take the classes and go for my Master Gardener certification so I could become a better gardener at home. Several years prior to this decision, I began taking photos of my flower beds in an effort to become a more organized gardener. I found I was easily distracted by the beautiful up close details of the plants and the creatures that lived there. My fondness for photography grew from this. I ended up doing my Master Gardener presentation on photography in the garden, all the while expressing my love of bees. Consequently I ended up taking on the task of getting the pollinator demonstration garden and program going for Franklin County Master Gardeners. I am now passionate about pollinators and creating a healthy habitat for them at the Extension Office Demonstration Gardens as well as at home.

As far as becoming a better gardener…..I still like to wing it, use much more common sense and learn what I can from other Master Gardeners whom I admire."

Part 1 from this series.
Part 2 from this series.

Why I Became a Master Gardener - Part 2

"I joined the Master Gardener Program for the exercise. I also enjoy learning about plants. Volunteering in the community helps me get to know people and feel more connected to the community."

"I became a Master Gardener because I wanted to grow...horticulturally and intellectually. ;)"

"I became a Master Gardener to fulfill a long time dream. I am especially interested in perennials and herbs. While my gardens are prolific and much admired among my circle of friends, I wanted to expand my knowledge into other areas. l also wanted to make certain that what I told others was correct. I was so pleased to learn more about all aspects of gardening and to find a "community" of like minded individuals. Thank goodness for the Penn State Master Gardeners program."

Part 1 of this series here.

Why I Became A Master Gardener - Part 1

Thanks so much for the responses to my request to document why you became a Penn State Extension Master Gardener.  I've received about a dozen or so answers, and will put them up periodically here on the blog, to let others know the rewards, and perhaps inspire new folks to join our ranks.  The idea for this series came from the National eXtension Master Gardener Blog, accessible from the links to the right, and a regular read for me. I'm going to post these anonymously and in no particular order although you may be able to tell who the author is, based on the context. 

"I became a Master Gardener because it was a way to volunteer with educational projects in the community, while learning a lot about gardening, in the company of a great group of people!"

"To volunteer my time and efforts as I share my love of gardening with others. To meet so so many really gifted Master Gardeners who share this love."

"I became a master gardener so I can share with others my experiences in gardening which might help them to become better gardeners"

Keep sending me your thoughts and I'll continue to post them here.

2011 Year in Review

As we enter a new year, it's a good idea to reflect back on the achievements of the previous year.  Here is the Franklin County Master Gardener input to the Extension Board's Annual Report.

Consumer Horticulture – Master Gardener Program

Background

The Franklin County Master Gardener Program is part of nation-wide volunteer effort to help Land Grant Universities fulfill their mission to bring research based knowledge of consumer horticulture to the general public. In exchange for extensive training, Master Gardeners are asked to provide throughout the first program year, 50 hours of volunteer time, selected among the following activities: covering the phone hot-line during the growing season (April 15-October 15), teaching workshops, manning information booths, assisting in research, establishing and maintaining demonstration gardens, fulfilling speaker requests, and helping with funding-raising and publicity efforts, like our Plant Sale, Tomato Taste Day, and Fall Garden Tour that help keep the program sustainable. In subsequent years, 20 hours of volunteer time, and 8 hours of continuing education are required to maintain Master Gardener status.

Statistics

In 2011, the Franklin County program grew from 82 to 106 members, collectively providing greater than 5000 volunteer hours in support of Penn State Extension. Master Gardeners responded to 794 queries from the public at the hotline desk, conducted 26 separate workshops, educating more than 600 attendees, plus 22 more at the 16 week, season-long Victory Garden (vegetable growing) series, and 24 at the 6 week Landscape Design series. The Franklin County Master Gardener blog had over 24,000 page views for the year. We also staffed monthly information booths at the Farmer’s Markets in Chambersburg and Penn National, and participated in Renfrew’s Earth Day and the Apple Festival at Tayamenasachta. We also helped Extension Educators at the Farm Show Pesticide Education Booth, the Mid Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Growers convention, the Pennsylvania Garden Expo, and the Summer Garden Experience at the Extension Research farm in Lancaster county.

New Initiatives in 2011

• Harvest 4-Health - Partnering with the 4-H program and Kids Learning After School (KLAS), Master Gardeners established a vegetable garden at Thaddeus Stevens Elementary School in Chambersburg as part of the state-wide Harvest 4-Health program. Harvest 4-Health is a Penn State Extension initiative to bring together multiple disciplines within Extension on a focused effort at the local level to teach the newest generation about growing their own, fresh, nutritious food by planning, planting, maintaining, and harvesting produce from their own vegetable gardens. KLAS is a year-round after school program for grades 1-6 (ages 6-12) consisting of 60 students usually broken into 3 groups of 20. School year runs mid September through mid May, with a summer term from mid June to the end of July. The cycle starts over again in mid September.  These 60 students have been the recipients of hands-on learning about what it takes to create a garden bed and grow your own vegetables, as well as a weekly curriculum in basic botany, soil science, pest and disease management, and healthy cooking and eating. In 2012, we hope to expand the success of this project to the Colbrook YMCA in Chambersburg.
• Patrick Gass Garden - Through the generous support of the Alexander Stewart M.D. Foundation, Franklin County Master Gardeners broke ground on plans to establish an educational and historical demonstration garden on the Franklin Farm Campus memorializing the leading role of Patrick Gass, a Chambersburg native son, in the Lewis and Clarke Expedition of 1804-1806. The project will present a horticultural and historical experience that demonstrates the importance of flora and agriculture in the young and expanding Republic. It will offer an educational experience for youth groups, school groups, historic groups, tourists, and public visitors. Site prep took place this past summer and fall, and initial planting and signage for Phase I of the multi-year project will take place in the spring of 2012. 
• MG Videos - in 2011, we began a collaborated effort with the Chambersburg Public Opinion to offer video "how to's" on gardening topics:  Fall Gardening, Putting Gardens to Bed, and Holiday Decorating. 

Fundraising Events

• Spring Plant Sale – In 2011, we added a greenhouse vegetable and annual plant component to the annual May event, boosting revenues over $8,000, setting a record for our major fund raiser.  
• An Autumn Stroll – Our annual fall garden tour took place in the Blue Ridge Summit and Waynesboro areas this past year, generating another $1,100. This year, the Garden Tour committee dedicated its funds to the Patrick Gass Garden effort. 

Public Relations Events

• June Extension Open House – Penn State Extension of Franklin County sponsored its first Open House for the public with an all-day event on June 22, and Master Gardeners were there to help as volunteers in escorting groups of people around the Franklin Farm campus and show off our Demonstration Gardens. The campus Demonstration Gardens, designed and maintained by Franklin County Master Gardeners include: The Perennial Garden, The Herb Garden, the Pollinator Friendly Garden, and the Woodland, Meadow, and Native Habitat Demonstration Gardens. In 2012, we hope to refurbish the Herb garden, and newly establish both a drought tolerant garden and a bog garden. 
• Tomato Day – The 11th annual Tomato Taste Day wherein we invite the public to judge two dozen different varieties of tomatoes and rate them for flavor and looks, took place on August 24th. 164 people participated in 2011, giving a pink grape variety, Sakura Honey, a hybrid from Johnny’s Selected Seeds, overall first place honors.

Many thanks to all the Master Gardeners who gave of their time and talents to make for a successful year.

Take a bow, folks!

Becoming a Master Gardener

Penn State Cooperative Extension is starting its recruitment drive for a new class of Master Gardeners early this year. This year’s set of classes will be taught via a remote video connection with Extension horticulture educators from throughout the state and the University. Franklin County Cooperative Extension is looking for 15 motivated people willing to become a part of our volunteer force to help in its land grant mission to bring research-based knowledge about consumer horticulture to the general public. In exchange for extensive training, Master Gardeners are asked to provide throughout the first program year, 50 hours of volunteer time, selected among the following activities: covering the phone hot-line during the growing season (April 15-October 15), teaching workshops, manning information booths, assisting in research, establishing and maintaining demonstration gardens, fulfilling speaker requests, and helping with funding-raising and publicity efforts, like our Plant Sale, Tomato Taste Day, and Fall Garden Tour that help keep the program sustainable. In subsequent years, 20 hours of volunteer time, and 8 hours of continuing education are required to maintain your Master Gardener status.

This year’s classes will be on Tuesdays here at the Extension Office from 1:00-4:00 p.m., starting on March 1, 2011 and continuing weekly for 13 weeks.   The fee is $100.00.

If you are interested in becoming a Penn State Cooperative Extension Master Gardener, we invite you to attend one of two information sessions that have been scheduled, either Tuesday, January 11th, or Tuesday, January 18th, both at 1:00 p.m.  Follow the links above for more information about us.   Penn State Cooperative Extension of Franklin County can be reached at 263-9226.

Bill D. in the News

Our own Bill D. was recently interviewed for a story about peppers for the Hagerstown paper, The Morning Herald:

Gardener Bill Dorman doesn't need to eat a hot pepper to make his face light up.

Simply talking about peppers makes his face red, happy and cheery.

"These go good with pizza," said Dorman, 81, holding up a jar of pickled jalapenos that came from his garden in a prior season. "They're not as hot when they're pickled."

Dorman is a Master Gardener who lives just outside of Greencastle, Pa., and spends at least seven hours a week in his garden. He has roughly 20 pepper plants in his backyard garden and has several jars and pepper shakers full of his homemade spices.

Click through for pictures and video! There's also a section on Peppers: Fact or Myth. Be sure to catch Bill's garden at the Fall Garden Tour.

MG Happenings

Tomato Day. Linda W. is gathering names to help out with Tomato Day. Denise L. is looking for help with feeding the hordes (that’s we MG’s). Contact them with your offers to help, or Linda H. or Linda S. at the office.

In the meantime, a bunch of us elite, snobby, tomato connoisseurs are meeting weekly to preliminarily sample some of the varieties to help Steve B. whittle down the selection for Tomato Day. Including the container trial varieties, there are 64 different varieties available. We think 30 is the maximum that the public can handle, so that’s our goal.

Steve also wants written comments about each one that we taste – a subjective evaluation that he will review when he writes up his report at the end of the season, so we’ll continue meeting until the trials are over. We need a better vocabulary, though. I’m not sure Steve will get much out my comment “not very tomatoey”. Sweet? Fruity? Tangy? Salty? How about texture? Heavy? Watery? Squishy? Too firm? Not firm enough? Thick walled? Thick skinned? Mild? Strong? Full-bodied? Robust? I know what I like in tomato flavor, but I’m having a hard time describing it. Help us out. Add your suggestions to the comment box.

Also, Jane K. gives a shout out "Thanks" to all who helped get the water feature up and running in the wildlife area. The hard part is done. Still some landscaping to do. I’ll post some pictures when it’s closer to completion.

What is Extension?

It’s a little weird to a part of an organization that’s been around for so long (since 1862), and with such a distinguished history, but also seems to have so little a collective understanding in the mind of the average citizen.

Whenever I tell a new acquaintance that I work for Penn State Cooperative Extension, the invariable response is, “What’s that?”

I can’t really blame them. When I attended my first introduction to Master Gardeners by Chris M. and Bob K. in the summer of 2001, it was the first question I had. I had heard of 4H, of course, but had not in any way connected it to Cooperative Extension. The only cultural reference that existed was the bumbling “Mr. Kimble” character from the 1960’s sitcom Green Acres, not exactly something to use to foster greater recognition in the public eye.

In many ways, it’s our own fault. Extension often appears content to be “the best kept secret” around. The problem with that, especially in times when public dollars are tight, is that secrets are by definition known only to the few, so no matter how good, or important the programs are, they’re the first to go when budgets get cut.

So, in an effort to get some information out to Extension’s first line of defense, our volunteers, and to do my bit to overcome the "secret" part, here’s a statement I came across from the excellent publication Pennsylvania Produce - A guide to quality produce grown in PA .

About Extension: All universities engage in research and teaching, but the nation’s more than 100 landgrant colleges and universities have a third critical mission -extension. “Extension” means “reaching out,” and, along with teaching and research, land-grant institutions such as Penn State “extend” their resources, solving public needs with college or university resources through non-formal, non-credit programs. These programs are administered through county and regional extension offices, which bring land-grant expertise to the most local of levels. Penn State Cooperative Extension’s mission is to enhance quality of life by providing informal outreach educational opportunities to individuals, families, businesses, and communities throughout the Commonwealth. We teach people how to solve problems, do something better, live healthier, manage resources wisely, and create a sustainable future. We are dedicated to giving you the means to grow, to achieve, to compete, to go farther, and to do more. Contact us and see what Extension can do for you!

That's the best definition I've seen. So, the next time someone asks you what Extension is, refer them here. Master Gardeners are a major part of bringing that vision to fruition, and we can be proud of our role in it.