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

Thursday, May 8, 2014


Master Gardener Meeting Minutes 5/8/2014 Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church 1601 N. San Francisco
Continuing Education Dr. Tom Kolb - Future of the Ponderosa Pine Forests in Northern Arizona
Refreshments - Susan Thompson and Sherline Alexander
Raffle – Seasoned horse manure – winner Carol Hudenko
Business Meeting – Hunter Kemmet - need volunteers for fund raising committee and monthly meeting refreshments
2015 CMGA Calendar – Debi Stalvey – need pictures by the end of July.  4x6 examples
Financial report – Linda Guarino/Crys Wells
5 new memberships
$10 donations
$49 last meetings raffle
$108.50 total for the month
Bank balance ~$3750.00
MG Coordinator - Hattie Braun
Designated Campus Colleague  - get a UofA email, covers liability insurance, there are more perks
State Conference – There’s more information to come.  It is on 10-26-14 at the Casino in Prescott
Centennial Celebration – There are two celebrations 7-24-14 and 10-4-14.  Tom DeGomez will rent two vans to go to ranch on 7-24-14. 10-4-14 is at the Phoenix Zoo
Continuing Education – Ed Skiba
June – Straw Bale Gardening – Sue Madden
July - History of the Extension in Arizona - Hattie Braun or talk on butterflies
August – Mushrooms - Rachael Edelstein
September – Annual barbeque
October – Probuild/Juli Littou  Building an Inexpensive Greenhouse
November - Bees   Dr. Kristen Porter, NAU
December – Holiday Party
Community Markets – Andrea Guerrette
Volunteers needed – sign-up sheet on table
Volunteer Support – Crys Wells
Reminder: please wear name tag or membership card.  Can provide sleeves for membership cards.
In April, 40 people reported a total of 190.25 volunteer hours and 51.5 education hours.  YTD totals are 682 volunteer hours and 168.5 education hours.
MG Projects/Blog - Loni Shapiro
Presentation: coconinomgassociation.blogspot.com navigation
Report hours, change personal information, pay membership online
Pages: documents and forms.  There is also a search button.
Grants for MG Projects – Deadline May 31, application on website.
Ann Eagan’s memorial is 5-18-14 at 1:00pm
We need help for Garden Tours – vegetables, low water, flowers in July.  Want MG at each site.  Will send out mor information from Caleen Tucker.
Next meeting: June 12, 2013  Sue Madden, Master Gardener – Straw Bale Gardening

 

Sunday, May 4, 2014

CMGA Meeting Agenda 5/8


Master Gardener Meeting Agenda 5/8/2014
Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church
1601 N. San Francisco
6:30pm-6:40pm               Welcome – Agenda – Hunter Kemmet
                                                Brief review of agenda for the evening               
6:30pm-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
Prize:  A truck load of seasoned horse manure delivered by Hunter Kemmet.
               
6:40pm – 6:45pm            Introduction of speaker – Ed Skiba
6:45pm-7:30pm               Continuing Education
                                                Dr. Tom Kolb
                                                Future of the Ponderosa Pine Forests in Northern Arizona
7:30pm-7:55pm               Refreshments - Susan Thompson and Sherline Alexander
7:55pm-8:00pm               Raffle Drawing

Saturday, May 3, 2014

Arboretum Tome Annual

Open House & Garden Party
Michael Melendrez
May 31, 930am-430pm

Location:  9 Gilcrease Road, Los Lunas, New Mexico

Lectures begin at 10am
Rudy Garcia, State Agronomist for New Mexico
How better soil health relates to increased water conservation and a healthier garden or landscape.

Kim Costian of Ashokala Gardens Arizona
A growers experience: building a healthy soil to increase garden health and productivity.

Free!!


Thursday, May 1, 2014

Viola's Flower Garden

Tomato Fest 2014

 



The vegetable season has arrived! For our grand kick-off to the season, Viola’s will once again be celebrating our remarkable Tomato Fest on Saturday, May 3rd and Sunday, May 4th. Both days will be loaded with free gardening seminars for all high country gardeners. We will also have over 75 different tomato varieties In-stock, from husky cherries to short-season producers, this means that everyone can pick out a new tomato type to try.

Both days we will be giving away a FREE Topsy Turvy upside down tomato planter to the first 75 customers with purchases. Join us in celebrating another great vegetable planting season at Tomato Fest. For the full schedule and description of each class visit our website here.

The Schedule for both Saturday and Sunday are as follows: