CMGA General Info

The San Francisco Peaks as seen from Timberline 5 miles northeast of Flagstaff.
Photo by Cindy Murray.

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

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Upcoming From the Monthly MNA Newsletter/ 4FRI Lecture

Future of the Colorado Plateau:
4FRI* and the Future of our Forests

*Four Forests Restoration Initiative

Wednesday, April 30, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m., Free to the public
Branigar-Chase Auditorium - - Registration for this event is full! See below for more information.
 
The *Four Forests Restoration Initiative is bringing together historically embattled interests in a cooperative effort to restore forest health and protect communities from catastrophic wildfire. This forum is an opportunity for those concerned with the future of our forests to share their ideas and perspectives with the 4FRI stakeholder community.

forum's host and moderator. Joining Friederici to help tell the 4FRI story and facilitate the evening's discussion will be Ethan Aumack from Grand Canyon Trust, Dick Fleishman with the Coconino National Forest, Erik Nielson from Northern Arizona University, Steve Horner representing Campbell Global LLC, Rob Davis of Forest Energy Systems Inc., and Amy Waltz with the Ecological Restoration Institute.

4FRI and the Future of our Forests is the third in a series of community forums exploring the future of the Colorado Plateau. These events enable citizens to contribute their ideas and perspectives on important issues, including forest health, water resources, wildlife conservation, energy production, and economic sustainability.

We have received a high response rate for this forum event and are considering hosting a second forum of the same topic at a later date. We ask that you contact us via email to express your interest in this topic to mnafutureforum@gmail.com.

Friday, April 25, 2014

Native Plant Society PAPAZ Collecting Trip


Greetings, All, 
The Plant Atlas Project of Arizona (PAPAZ) is a partnership with the Arizona Native Plant Society, Grand Canyon Trust, Desert Botanical Garden, Forest Service, Northern Arizona University, and Museum of Northern Arizona to document the plant diversity of Arizona by training volunteer botanists to assist on research and collecting excursions. Currently, volunteers are collecting specimens at 27 locations in Arizona. 

Recently another collection site was added right here in Flagstaff at Elden Pueblo/Picture Canyon.  The coordinator of this project is Susan Holiday. 

Here is a message from Susan:
 
I am planning a PAPAZ trip to Picture Canyon on May 10th.  We will meet at the Canyon parking area by the Wildcat Treatment Plant at 8:30 and spend the morning collecting.  This parking spot is off Route 66 East behind the Mall. 
Susan Holiday
If you have would like more information or if you have any questions, please email Susan at naris123@cs.com 

Posted by
D. Lamm 

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Foodlink Volunteer Opportunities

Hello All!

Our volunteer team this year is great and we are always interested in
adding more members to help out.

If you have an interested and some hours to share of your day, please
take a look at our doodle scheduling options and sign up!

http://doodle.com/wz6k9t9ifh9kz5v6

Many thanks!

Garden Starts CSA (community supported agriculture)
Flagstaff Foodlink (501c3)  *Growing food, growing community*
flaggardenstarts@gmail.com
http://flagstafffoodlink.com/

*Flagstaff Foodlink cultivates and celebrates local, healthy, equitable,
and resilient food systems in our community.*

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Willow Bend Talk at Ponderosa High School

BRAD LANCASTER

Author of “Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond”
presenting:
 
Integrated Local Harvests 
"Simple and Effective Ways to Enhance the Natural Abundance of Your Home, Community, and the Larger World"
 
Saturday, May 17, 7:00-9:00 pm
Ponderosa High School, Flagstaff, Arizona
  • Proceeds from this fundraising event will support Willow Bend’s K-12 environmental education programs in Coconino County.
  • ‘Early bird’ ticket price is $15 each and will increase to $20 May 1st.
  • Tickets for Members of Willow Bend are $15 each.
  • Purchase tickets online, or by mail at:

Willow Bend Environmental Education Center
703 East Sawmill Road, Flagstaff, AZ 86001
(928) 779-1745   |   www.willowbendcenter.org
Willow Bend is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
 
Thank you to our Green Level Sponsors:

 

Volunteering to Begin for Riordan Mansion

Hello all gardeners,

Well, the weather is holding up well so this coming Friday - April 11 - is
still scheduled as the first work day at Riordan Mansion.

We will start at 9:30 in the vegetable garden area outside of the back of
the visitors center. Please meet us there. We will be adding another layer
to the garden beds and getting them ready for planting next month.

If that gets done quickly we will move onto another project. All are
welcome to join us on this early spring morning in Flagstaff. Come for all
or part of the work time. We plan to end the day around 1pm.

The Riordan does not open the gates until 10:30 so when you drive up to
the Riordan the gates will appear locked but they will be unlocked. Please
open the gate, drive through, close the gate and park in the parking lot.
Join us in the vegetable garden.

Volunteering Begins at Olivia White Hospice

2014 Calendar
April 21, 4-5:30 orientation for new volunteers at hospice and stab testing for all
April 24, 9:15-10 TH tests read and 10:00 garden orientation
May 1, Opening Day/Thursday 9:00 am
May 5, Opening Day/Monday 8:30
No Saturdays currently scheduled.

If you are interested in volunteering, please email CrysWells@gmail.com.

Please note: TB testing is required annually for all garden volunteers. An orientation including completion of required paperwork, HIPAA information, and the start of TB testing will be done at the hospice office on Monday, April 21 from 4:00-5:30. Please try to arrive by 4 pm. TB Tests will be read from 9:15 – 10:00 on Thursday April 24th. This will be followed by garden tours for new volunteers and an informal work day for returning volunteers.

If you have current TB results that were done by a physician or at a hospital, these may be submitted to Sierra instead of retaking the test.

If the above times do not work for you, contact Sierra, the volunteer coordinator at hospice, to schedule a time. She can be contacted at sgadberry@northlandhospice.org.

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Native Plant Society Monthy Meeting


Philip Pattersonour presenter on Tuesday, May 20, and walk leader on Saturday, May 31, came to the NAU Research Greenhouse Complex as Plant Production Manager in 2002, and then became Greenhouse Manager in 2012.

He has managed plant production for numerous projects including the production of restoration seedlings for the Rodeo-Chediski, Aspen, and Shultz Wildfires along with growing research seedlings for the Palo Verde Ecological Reserve and Cibola Wildlife Refuge.  During that time over 700,000 plants have been propagated, grown, and shipped from the Research Greenhouse.

Currently he is developing propagation methods for the historic George Washington Elm on North Campus, which is part of the NAU Arboretum that was established with a grant obtained in 2004. He is also the principle investigator on a grant that established a Ponderosa Pine Seed Bank. However, his main pursuit is finding time to explore the canyons (by foot and raft) of the Colorado Plateau and climb Colorado 14ers with his wife and two children.  He is a NAU alum with a BS in Forestry, 1979. 

Thursday, April 10, 2014

April 2014 Monthly Meeting Minutes


Master Gardener Meeting Minutes 4/10/2014, Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church, 1601 N. San Francisco
Continuing Education
                Mick Henry - Trimming fruit trees and pruning
                Refreshments provided by Galen and Andrea Guernette
                Fundraising:
Calendars: all 2014 calendars have been sold.  Debi Stalvey will organize this project for 2015 calendars.
Meeting raffle: raffle item will be either a plant from the Home Show displays donated by Loni Shapiro or a load of compost delivered by Hunter Kemmet.
                                                Financial report – Linda Guarino/Crys Wells
Checking: 3536.07, PayPal: 12.98, Total: 3648.99   
Home and Garden Show
The effort was successful.  All the volunteers did a great job setting up the booth.  Special thanks to Jackie Clark for all her efforts.  Attendance was good for some lectures and poor for others.  We need to try to get a booth next year on the opposite end of the dome, away from the wind for the large doors.  One speaker complained about the advertising as only five people showed up.                       
                Committee Reports:
MG Projects/Blog - Loni Shapiro
A discussion on Grant Applications for 2014 occurred but final decisions on numbers were not decided because so few of the board were present. Loni will draft a general form and forward to the board for approval.  Deadline for applying will be May 31. Crys asked that the draft that the wording be changed to 'MG Projects will be given priority' rather than that they 'must be MG Projects'. She also stated that last year the decision was done by a committee rather than the board.  It needs to be done by June 12th for the meeting. The board needs to decide how they want to proceed.
                Continuing Education – Ed Skiba                    
May – Future of the Ponderosa Pine Forests in Northern Arizona - Dr. Tom Kolb
June – Firewise - Hattie to advise the speaker
July - History of the Extension in Arizona - Hattie Braun
August – Mushrooms - Rachael Edelstein
September – Annual barbeque
October – Probuild/Juli Littou  Building an Inexpensive Greenhouse
November - Bees   Dr. Kristen Porter, NAU
December – Holiday Party
Volunteer Support – Crys Wells
Through March:  Volunteer 221.25 hrs,  Education 63 hrs
For the year:  Volunteer 452 hrs,  Education 96.5 hrs.
Next meeting:                May 8, 2013
Tom Kolb, NAU School of Forestry - future of ponderosa pine forests in N AZ

Monday, April 7, 2014

April Meeting Agenda CMGA 4/10/14

Master Gardener Meeting Agenda 4/10/2014
Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church
1601 N. San Francisco

 6:30pm-6:35pm Welcome – Agenda – Hunter Kemmet
                            Brief review of agenda for the evening
 6:35pm-6:40pm Raffle – $1 each or 6 for $5
                            Must be present to win
                            Drawing will be held after refreshments and before the business meeting
                            Surprise!!!
 6:40pm-6:45pm Introduction of speaker – Ed Skiba
 6:45pm-7:30pm Continuing Education
                            Mick Henry
                            Growing and Pruning of Fruit Trees
 7:30pm-7:55pm Refreshment provided by Galen and Andrea Guerrette
 7:55pm-8:00pm Raffle Drawing
 8:00pm-8:25pm Business Meeting – Hunter Kemmet          
                            Car Stickers, Name tags, Speakers Bureau, MG Project,
                            Fundraising (Committee/Meeting)
 
                            Financial report – Linda Guarino/Crys Wells
                            Hattie Braun – Earth Day - April 19, 10am-4pm
Committee Reports:
                            Community Markets - Andrea Guerrette
                            MG Projects/Blog - Loni Shapiro
                            Volunteer Support - Crys Wells
 8:25pm-8:30pm Gardening Questions?

 Next meeting: May 8, 2013
                            Dr. Thomas Kolb, NAU School of Forestry
                               Future of the Ponderosa Pine Forests in N AZ

Native Plant Society Monthly Meeting

Greetings, All,
Here is information on our next AZNPS chapter meeting and talk: 
 
Tuesday, April 15, 2014: Amy Prince, Northern Arizona University, “Flora of the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument”
 
Amy Prince has been lover of plants since she purportedly ate grass and picked every last prize tulip from her neighbor's yard as a 2 year old in Texas. She has supported her plant habit  by working as a nurse for 23 years. During that time she has volunteered and been occasionally paid for her work on the side as a field botanist, herbarium assistant's assistant, research flunky, and plant press mule. Most recently, she quit her full time nursing job to become a graduate student in botany at Northern Arizona University. With the help of a grant obtained by the Grand Canyon Trust, she is working on a flora of the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument. When not peering at cacti through a hand lens, she can be found traveling for medical mission work, mushroom hunting, eating sushi, or rehabilitating her ragtag collection of plants procured from dumpsters, clearance sales, and last year's garden gone wrong.
 
Dorothy Lamm

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Alta Vista Garden Club Tours

AVGC 2014 Garden Tour Press Release
Alta Vista Garden Club, Prescott,Arizona,  presents its biennial garden tour on Saturday, June 14th from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM.   Guests will experience creative blends of perennials, annuals, native plants and vegetables located in private gardens in Prescott’s varied landscapes.  The self-guided tour features:
 Hilltop garden filled with brilliant season-long colors attracting bees, butterflies and birds. Also features colorful containers full of vegetables and herbs.
 More than an acre of native plants, trees and grasses in the Bradshaw Mountain foothills.  Set among the plantings are unique metal sculptures and yard art.
 Cityscape garden overlooking a panoramic vista of some of Prescott's peaks.  Discover the imaginative uses of metal work for plantings and birds.
 Meditative garden in the ponderosa pines provides creative repurposing of numerous items, such as antique chandeliers and bird cages.

Prospective Farmers Workshop Maricopa County

Here’s an upcoming workshop in Phoenix – May 20-21.  Hattie

Our annual 2-day workshop for new and prospective farmers will be held Tuesday, May 20 and Wednesday, May 21. The workshop includes a tour of three local farms, the opportunity to talk with growers and two full days packed with crucial information to help you decide if farming is for you and what it will take to be successful.


We hope to see you there!

Kelly Murray Young
Assistant Agent, Agroecology
University of Arizona Cooperative Extension
Maricopa County

4341 E. Broadway Rd.
Phoenix, AZ 85040

602-827-8219 office
602-827-8292 fax
602-390-0651 cell/text

kyoung@arizona.edu