CMGA General Info

Species tulips planted in fall. These appear in early spring. Olivia White Hospice Garden.
Photo by Loni Shapiro.

Welcome to the Coconino County Master Gardeners Association blog. The mission of the Master Gardener Program is to create a corps of well-informed volunteers, and to deliver quality horticultural education programs adapted to our regional high elevation environment. The purpose of the association is to provide support for those volunteers and Master Gardener graduates, continuing education, and opportunities to participate in community programs that increase the visibility and participation in the Master Gardener Program.
The Coconino Master Gardener Association (2009) began in 2009. This blog contains information on:
-How to become a member
-Volunteer and Education hours reporting
-Calendar of Events
-General gardening information articles
-Master Gardener Association Documents and forms
-References and Resources
-Interesting Websites and Blogs
-Old Gardening Etcetera columns
-Recipes
-Book Reviews
-How to contact Board or Committee Members
Meetings are held monthly on the 2nd Thursday from 600pm - 8;30pm. We meet at the Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church at 1601 N. San Francisco. This includes continuing education and a business meeting.

Reporting Master Gardener Hours

All master gardener trainees and certified master gardeners need to report their hours.
Beginning in 2010 certified master gardeners need to have 6 Education hours and 12 Volunteer hours in order to maintain certification.The on line reporting system allows you to report Education or Volunteer hours. You can sign in to record hours in the right hand column under Recording Volunteer and Education Hours. Just click on the U. of A.
If you have any questions or concerns about the new reporting system, please contact Brenda Smith (A - M) or Sue Madden (N - Z). Their contacts are listed at the bottom of the blog under
Contacts.



Ideas for hours------
--Attend monthly meetings
--Work on an association committee
--Work at an informational booth for the Master Gardeners
--Be a speaker about gardening topics at a variety of venues

--Host a garden tour
--Work at a fundraising event (Plant Sale - Garden Tour).
--Work at a MG site (Olivia White Hospice, the Arboretum, Riordan Mansion, or school gardens (many others)). Check out the Assoc. Doc. & Forms under Volunteer Sites.
--Work in the Extension office
--Write an article for the newspaper column -Gardening Etcetera
-Volunteer with the Seed Library
Be creative! There are many ways to fulfill your hours. Just remember for volunteering it needs to be a non-profit endeavor or an approved for profit site.

Change in Contact Information

Have you moved or changed your e-mail address, but would still like to be contacted about high elevation gardening information from the Extension? The Coconino County Extension Master Gardener Program has a site that will let you change your information on-line.

Click here to change your contact information!

Event Calendar

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Master Gardener Association Meeting Minutes


Master Gardener Meeting Minutes 3/14/2013
Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church
1601 N. San Francisco


Loni Shapiro – Volunteering at Hospice
                 
Loni talked about volunteering at the Olivia White Hospice gardens:

We have already begun planning for our 2013 garden season. We will start work in the garden sometime in April. Watch our blog (owhospicegardenvolunteers.blogspot.com) for current information. Orientation for new seasonal and drop in volunteers will be available twice this season - April 25 and May 4 at 10am at the garden. It will last about 2 hours and is for those who want to work in the garden this year, not as a tour. If you want to help but are unable to attend one of those sessions please contact me by e-mail or phone (522-8635). Our workdays this season will be Mon. & Thurs. from 8am-12pm and one Saturday a month from 9am-12pm.

We have some new requirements this year due to Medicare regulations.
1. Fill out a 1-page application for Northland Hospice
2. TB clearance which can be done in 1 of 3 ways:
     a. TB skin test done by Northland Hospice (contact me for details on how to do this)
     b. Recent chest x-ray
     c. Letter from Dr. or DO stating you are free of TB symptoms
3. Confidentiality training HIPAA
Written handout, brief lecture, and quiz
4. Optional for those who want to water in the home or work with residents in the garden.
Background check

We have our usual weeding, planting, vegetable gardening, composting, and irrigation work this year, but in addition will be doing 2 new landscaping projects and a couple of pathways.

Last of all, this is my last season at Olivia White (10 years this year), and I am looking for a MG to take over coordination beginning next year. This can be 1 person or it could be a shared responsibility. If you are interested please contact me. Participation this season would be helpful for seeing what is required.


Dorothy Lamm announced two Native Plant/Invasive Weed Workshops.  Susan Holiday and Hattie Braun will be two of the presenters. The first takes place on Saturday-Monday, June 8, 9 and 10.  The second workshop is Saturday through Monday, July 27,28, 29.  For more information, contact Dorothy Lamm at lammke@MSN.com or 928-779-7296.

Continuing Education: Connie Cowan, Herbarium Project – Museum of Northern Arizona

Connie Cowan is re-invigorating the Walter B. McDougall Herbarium at the Museum of Northern Arizona. An herbarium is a collection of preserved plants that is stored, catalogued and arranged systematically for the use in research.  The McDougall Herbarium contains over 34,000 plant specimens  with the focus on the Colorado Plateau. Master gardeners volunteer at the herbarium regularly and have mounted over 1,000 specimens.  The Museum is a partner in the Plant Atlas of Arizona Project and Budding Botanists.  The atlas is a project to document Arizona’s plant diversity; the Budding Botanists are volunteers who learn plant identification, how to collect and document Arizona plants. For more information, go to http://www.gcvolunteers.org/trainings_botanists.html.

On the third Friday of the month tours are available of the herbarium. New volunteers at the Museum are welcome. If you are interested, contact Connie at ccowan@mna.mus.az.us.

Thanks to Charlotte Dodgson for bringing the refreshments.

Business Meeting – Debi Stalvey                 

CMGA logo - Debi shared the choice for the official logo of the Master Gardener Association.  The logo will be used immediately on letterhead for correspondence but it will not appear on 2013 membership cards.

Arboretum – The Arboretum will have their annual plant sale on July 12 for members and Saturday, July 13 for the general public.  On the 13th, Master Gardeners will have a table at the event from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.  Volunteers will be needed.  Debbie James will assist with the event.

Master Gardener Plant Sale – The Association will have a plant/used used garden tool/garden-related items sale at the Allstate Office on Cedar Avenue on Sunday, June 2 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Items for the sale will be collected starting in May.  Sherline will coordinate volunteers for the sale.  Arts and Crafts vendors will be able to have a table at the sale for $10.  Loni said she would ask someone she knows about sharpening tools.  Another member said that she had been to the Prescott Master Gardener Plant Sale and they had a children’s play area and recommended we do the same.

MG Approved Projects clarification - Some re-writing of the master gardener project approval process is needed to clarify some issues.  Approval for projects is required for projects needing multiple volunteers and ongoing assistance.   We need to add information on approved projects being covered by the University of Arizona liability.

T-shirts, etc. fundraiser – Sherry Markel has created some embroidered t-shirts and other items and wishes to use them as a fundraiser for the Association. She brought samples to the Association meeting and took orders. She will do so at future meetings as well.

Calendar - Bev McAllister and David Brimwall are interested in working on the calendar committee.  Crys is willing to work on the design as a backup. Debi Stalvey and Charlotte Dodgson will coordinate. The theme for the calendar this year is Flagstaff Flora and Fauna. Photographs need to be 4x6 inches and submitted by May 15. 

Earth Day – The Association has been asked to provide a workshop at the Earth Day event at City Hall.  Susan Thompson agreed to do a presentation on amending the soil.

Knapweed Pull – Morning Dew Landscaping is coordinating a weed pull by members of the congregation at the site of the new Catholic Church on McMillan Mesa. Master Gardeners are requested to act as team leaders and guides for less experienced weed pullers.

Benefits of membership – Do not forget that you get discounts at Warner’s, Viola’s and Native Plant and Seed with your $10 membership.  You may also pay for your membership using Pay Pal. Just click on the Pay Pal link on the blog.

Financial report – Linda Guarino/Crys Wells

The Association bank balance is $2282.75.
                                                     
MG Program Happenings (class/home show) – Hattie Braun

The class is going fine. The Home Show is coming together.  The master gardener talk schedule is set. Master Gardeners will have their own presentation area next to the booth. Posters from the Sonoran Desert Master Gardener Conference will be used in the Home Show booth.  Sherline is taking the Home Show badges to the extension office.  Volunteers can pick up their badges on Thursday. Sherry Markel is improving the extension website.
                                                                       
Committee Reports:

Continuing Education – Jim Mast

Susan Nyoka will talk about insects in April; Julie McDonald in May – Farm Your Front Yard

MG Projects – Alison Coates/Loni Shapiro

Grants for MG Projects – This year the Association will fund $1,250 in grants to master gardener projects with the potential of funding more.  The grants will generally be for $250. Applications will need to be submitted by May 31. The list of approved projects is currently being updated and should be posted on the blog by the next meeting.

Announcements

The Flagstaff Chapter of the Arizona Native Plant Society will hold their monthly meeting on March 19 at the Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church at 7 p.m. Elizabeth Johnson will speak about "Love Blossoms at 11,000 Feet: A Story of Hybridization in the San Francisco Peaks Groundsel".  

Gardening Questions?

My beans sprouted but couldn’t get out of the ground.

The soil could be too heavy.  Try planting shallower in a loose mulch.

My cherry tree trunk was sunburned.

This happens frequently in Arizona on fruit trees.  You can try wrapping the trunk.

Does anyone know if the area by Butler and South San Francisco Street is known to be colder?

No.

No comments:

Post a Comment