CMGA General Info

Christmas Amaryllis with Orchid to the right. Below Ruth Benson's holiday bears.
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

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Master Gardener Association 7/11/2013 Meeting Minutes


Master Gardener Meeting Minutes 7/11/2013
Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church
1601 N. San Francisco

                                                     
Volunteers needed for the Flagstaff Community Market on Wednesday, July 24 and volunteers for Master Gardener Association refreshments for August and November.  Several people did volunteer so the Community Market is staffed for July 24 and the August meeting.

Thanks to Deb Banta and Sue Madden for the refreshments.

Hattie awarded badges and certificates to three new Master Gardeners – Sue Madden, Deb Banta and Sherry Markel.

Debi reminded everyone that we will have a table at the Arboretum Plant Sale on Saturday.

Entering Your Vegetables and Flowers in the County Fair                 
Ron Hiebert, Carol Burris and Nick Lipinski

It is easy to enter your vegetables, flowers, canned goods, crafts and more into the Coconino County Fair. To enter, get the Fair Book at the Extension Office and other locations or go online to http://coconino.az.gov/countyfair. Fill out the appropriate entry form and send it in.  Entries are due by August 9.  Enter what you think might be ripe by August 28 but don’t worry if what is ready is different from what you originally entered. Changes can be easily made as long as you have an exhibitor number. When filling out the entry form, pay attention to the stated rules.  If the description asks for a particular number of something – provide only that number. For example: 043100 Potatoes, Russet, 5 potatoes. If the item is to have a stem, it must have a stem.  Example: 05180 Tomato, Red, ripe, 5 tomatoes. Items are judged on Market standard size, uniformity and presentation. Choose not necessarily the biggest potatoes but the best, cleanest, without blemish potatoes of the same size.

Enter flowers in the same manner.  The difference for flowers is  that the receiving date is August 29. Pay attention to the rules.  Example: Yarrow 03680 3 stems, 1 color.  The stems below the water in the vase must be visible – no leaves obscuring the stems.  There are some good tips on how to choose and prepare your flowers for presentation in the Fair Book.


Business Meeting – Debi Stalvey

Debi attended the City Council meeting that included discussion of the use of de-icers on the roads.  The use has caused the deaths of many ponderosa pine trees along the road.  The council decided to stop the use of de-icers and return to using cinders on the roads.  We should remain informed about de-icers as the City Council may re-visit this issue in the future.

Financial report – Linda Guarino/Crys Wells

There are currently 83 members. The total income for June was $1035.48. Expenses: $950 from dispersing grant funds.  Checking balance: 2788.92

MG Program Happenings (class) – Hattie Braun

Hattie is still working on getting a room for the Fall Master Gardener class.  The class will be on Wednesday evenings either at Northern Arizona University or the East Flagstaff Branch of the Flagstaff Public Library. She also shared a list of Community Garden Talks.  For more information go to http://www.flagstaff.az.gov/index.aspx?NID=1930 .

Mark your calendar! The Master Gardener Recognition Picnic will take place on Sunday, September 8 at the Navajo Ramada in Ft. Tuthill Park.

Committee Reports:

Continuing Education – Jim Mast

In August, Todd Cislo will talk about season extenders, September will be the recognition Picnic and in October, Loni Shapiro will talk about bulbs.
                                   
Volunteer Support – Crys Wells

Volunteer hours recorded June 1-30: 742.5 and 78.5 education hours.  To date for 2013: 2099 volunteer hours and 494.75 education hours.

There has been an issue with the program for recording volunteer and education hours.  Google has changed how the forms work. People wanting to record hours have been asked to log in using a Google account. If you didn’t have a Google account, you couldn’t get in.  Crys is in the process of re-doing the forms so that a login is not required.  The new form should be live by August 1.  In the meantime, if you have a Google account, you can enter your hours using the form.  Otherwise you can wait, or send Crys an email with your hours.
                                                     
8:25pm – 8:30pm                  Gardening Questions?
Q. A spruce tree was planted last fall.  It was not watered regularly and now there are a lot of needles falling off. It is planted close to the house.

A.  Regular watering may help if it isn’t too far gone, but it may also not be in the right place.  Spruce trees get to be quite large and shouldn’t be too close to a house.

Q. Does anyone know if using bone meal for fertilizing corn is a good idea?

A. Usually people have used blood meal for the nitrogen but a more balanced fertilizer would be better.

Hattie shared a photo that showed the real reason blueberries don’t grow in Flagstaff.  Ask Hattie to see it.

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