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

Thursday, October 20, 2016

KSB Silent Auction

KSB Annual Fundraiser
Star Gazers & Raisers
Building KSB's Endowment
 
Silent Auction Items
 
L_Auberge
Have you seen all the fabulous restaurant gift certificates in our silent auction?     

  • L'Auberge
  • Rene Restaurant
  • Lisa Dahl restaurants
  • Tii Gavo (Enchantment)
  • Elote
  • Grill at Shadow Rock (Hilton)
  • Heartline CafĂ©
  • El Rincon
  • Sound Bites
  • The Turquoise Room (La Posada)
  • Picazzo'sRene Restaurant at Tlaquepaque
  • The Hudson
  • Harry's Hideaway
  • Golden Goose

Online bidding starts on November 3 
for over 100 silent auction items.

To see all our Dining, Food and Wine items, click Here 
 

 
The Turquoise Room Register to Bid

In order to participate in the online silent auction, you first need to register as a bidder by calling KSB at 928-282-4938. 

Credit Card Information

You will be asked for your name, email address, phone number, and 
credit card information.
This information will be entered into our online bidding web site, securely administered by the online auction software company Greater Giving.  

Your credit card information will be encrypted and secured, but is required prior to bidding.
You will then be given a bidder number.
 
To read more about online bidding, 

Attending the Silent Auction
 
All items that have not yet been sold "Buy it Now" will be open for additional bidding at our KSB Auction to be held at 3:00 pm on Sunday November 13 at the Hilton Sedona Resort at Bell Rock.

You will want to attend this exciting silent auction, 
so please reserve Here

Saturday, October 15, 2016

MNA - Living Room Lecture Series

LIVING ROOM LECTURE SERIES - MEMBER EXCLUSIVE 
 
Wednesday, October 19 | 6-8 pm 
Secrets in the Soil: Volcanic Landscapes of Northern Arizona

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE $10 per person


Join the Museum's geoarchaeologist Dr. Kirk Anderson for a fascinating discussion of northern Arizona's volcanic landscapes. How have they changed? How did pre-contact people adapt their activities to differently aged volcanoes? How old is SP Crater? What are the secrets in the soil that connect all of these disparate questions together? 

RSVP required. 
Call 928.774.5211, ext. 219, or email

Monday, October 10, 2016

CMGA Monthly Meeting Agenda


Coconino Master Gardener Meeting Agenda
Thursday, October 13– 6:30pm
Flagstaff Aquaplex
1702 N Fourth St.   NOTE CHANGE

6:30pm – 6:40pm    Welcome – Jim Mast
  *     Christmas Party (December 15)
6:40pm – 6:45pm     Introduction of Speaker – Loni Shapiro
6:55pm – 7:55pm    Education:  Inviting Beneficial Critters to the Garden and Landscape – Jackee Alston
7:55pm– 8:10pm    15 minute break:  we get to have refreshments!!
8:10pm - 8:25pm    Business Meeting – Jim Mast
  *   Nominations – Crys Wells
  *   Financial report – Sue Madden
  *   Committee Reports:
         *   Volunteer Support – Crys Wells
         *   Fundraising – Sherline Alexander
              *   CalendarFor sale now, need help with distribution
              *   Fall Garden Clean up update
       *   Continuing Education – Loni Shapiro
              *   Suggestions for meeting topics
       *   MG Projects – Jackee Alston
       *   Historian – Tammy Valdovino
       *   Community Markets – Andrea Guerrette
8:25pm – 8:30pm    Gardening Questions?          
Next meeting:  November 10:  Creating a Rain Garden – Amy Caldwell

Educational and Volunteer Opportunities from the blog (coconinomgassociation.blogspot.com)

Saturday, October 8, 2016

Great American Seed Up

 

 
 

The Great American Seed Up
October 29, 2016

Download the Oct ’16 Seed List -> october-2016-seed-up-list

2 Sessions 8:30 to 11:30 or 1:30 to 4:30Held at Uptown Farmers Market &North Phoenix Baptist Church 5757 N Central, 85012

Purchase Your Tickets Now. First 400 attendees will receive a copy of Bill McDorman’s Basic Seed Saving (Picked up day of the event, while supplies last.

 
Local seed saving festival will center on seed diversity and education
After the phenomenal success of our first two Great American Seed Up events – farmers and gardeners across the Southwest will have another unique opportunity to collect, preserve and learn about local seeds once again. On October 29, 2016 the Great American Seed-Up will take place in Phoenix, Arizona at Uptown Farmer’s Market which is held at North Phoenix Baptist Church. Here is how it works.
  1. Purchase a ticket ($7.50, first 400 includes a hard copy of Basic Seed Saving, picked up the day of the event)
  2. Attend the event, take classes
  3. Scoop your seeds!!!
Imagine walking into a room filled with over 60 varieties of seeds ready to literally be scooped up and taken home for planting or saving. This is exactly what the Great American Seed-Up is all about. “The idea is to give valley residents and opportunity to learn about seed saving, and then to harvest as many pounds or ounces of seed to take home,” says Greg Peterson, Urban Farm Founder and local seed saver. We are partnering with the Uptown Phoenix Farmers Market and holding the event at North Phoenix Baptist Church at 5757 N Central Ave, Phx 85012. The event features a seed bazaar with bulk quantities of popular vegetable seed varieties available for purchase at bulk discounts. Attendees are encouraged to buy and share the seeds with their neighborhood and community groups to spur local gardening and seed saving efforts. “We’re trying to get seeds in the hands of the people,” says Seed-Up co-organizer Bill McDorman of Seedsave.org. “The more seed diversity we have growing in our neighborhood gardens and backyard plots, the more resilient we’ll be as a community.  These seeds are the best varieties we can find in bulk to help you start your seed saving adventure.” Also featured at the Seed-Up will be presentations and workshops with seed experts to spread knowledge about traditional and modern seed saving practices. Discussion topics will include: how to save and store seeds, planting and starting seeds, how to start a seed library, how to properly store your new seeds and how to grow a garden using your new seeds.  Full details and a line-up of speakers will be available as the event approaches. The Great American Seed-Up is presented by Seedsave.org, The Urban Farm, the Micro Farm Project, and Grow PHX.

Seed - The Untold Story

Seed and Gardening Friends,

I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the Sedona showing of SEED: THE UNTOLD STORY last night. What a stunning masterpiece! I couldn't think of a way John and Taggart could make the film better. It was informative, entertaining, and gorgeous. And what a timely topic! If ever you've been wanting to know more about the loss of genetic diversity on the planet, the impacts of seed extinction, how rare seeds are discovered all over the world, or what GMO really means, this is the movie for you. It's told with truth all while maintaining an optimistic outlook for the future.

We have a chance to view it here in Flagstaff at Harkins if we can get about 40 more people to order advanced tickets. There are only four days left to do so! You can order them here: 

View the movie trailer here for a teaser:  http://www.seedthemovie.com/trailer

I'll be at the event, should we get enough people, with information about our own seed library and a list of seeds available at our location. I can also answer any questions you might have after the showing. 

Lastly and not unrelated, please, Please, PLEASE bring the seeds from your end-of-season harvest back to the seed library. So far I've only had one person return a few seeds. It's important that we do this both to keep the library going but also for the preservation of our local diversity.

Happy Friday,
Jackee Alston

Saturday, October 1, 2016

Viola's Flower Garden


Viola's Flower Garden re-opened for business today (Oct. 1) in their new location on 89A (former site for Jackson's Grill). They are selling pumpkins and gourds now while getting settled in. They will have Christmas trees in late Nov. - early Dec.. The nursery will be stocked in the spring. The building on the property will be used for events/weddings and as a back-up for nursery events if it rains/snows. Stop by to support one of our local nurseries, see the new site, and visit with Robin and Art.

Loni Shapiro