Herb Festival

On Sunday, July 29, at 10am, the Arboretum at Flagstaff will hold a Herb Festival. Contact them to register (www.thearb.org). Attached is a link to a flyer.

Speaker for July 10, CMGA Meeting

Speaker for July CMGA Meeting

Gail Morris is a Maricopa Master Gardener,  project coordinator for Southwest Monarch Study www.swmonarchs.org/ and Conservation Specialist for Monarch Watchwww.monarchwatch.org/.  The title of her talk is ‘Creating Monarch Waystations and Butterfly Gardens’.   Monarch waystations are refuges that provide resources necessary for monarch butterflies and their offspring when they make their annual migration. She will also talk about attracting and providing habitat for other butterflies. 

Hattie Braun

University of Arizona

Master Gardener Program Coordinator

Coconino County Cooperative Extension

2304 N. 3rd St.

Flagstaff, AZ  86004

Phone:  928-774-1868  x 170

Native Plant Society

Greetings Arizona Native Plant Society member,

The latest beautiful edition of The Plant Press has arrived!  Please click on the link below, or copy and paste it into your address bar and enjoy!  If you save it to your own computer, it's also easier to read at your leisure.   We hope everyone is enjoying summer, and staying cool!

http://www.aznps.com/documents/2014.6.PP.pdf

As always, feel free to contact me with questions about your membership anytime.

Best,

 

Claire McLane
Administrative Assistant
Arizona Native Plant Society
aznpsinfo@yahoo.com

Volunteer Needed - Sunshine Rescue Mission Garden

One Master Gardener wanted for help at the Sunshine Rescue Mission.  We have 2 raised vegetable gardens at the Dorsey Manor location that need attention during the growing season.  We work on the gardens on Fridays, from 3 pm until 5 pm.  Dorsey Manor is located at 3 Cottage avenue on the corner of Cottage and Leroux.  Contact Jeff Best at (928) 853-6765

Straw Bale Gardening

On Thursday evening at our monthly meeting, Sue Madden presented "Straw Bale Gardening". Several people were interested in the formula for"conditioning" and others in the PowerPoint presentation. Below is the formula and a link to the PowerPoint.

If you are interested in learning more about Straw Bale Gardening there is a book titled "Straw Bale Gardening" by Joel Karsten,  Cool Springs Press, Minneapolis, MN, 2013. Cost is about $20 - less on Amazon. It has suggested crops and further detail.

nCONDITIONING

nDAYS 1 – 3: WATER THE BALES AND KEEP DAMP

nDAYS 4 – 6: SPRINKLE ½ CUP AMMONIUM SULFATE OR NITRATE (ORGANIC – BLOOD MEAL, FISH EMULSION) PER DAY AND WATER IT WELL INTO THE BALES

nDAYS 7 – 9: CUT BACK TO ¼ CUP OF FERTILIZER PER BALES PER DAY AND CONTINUE TO WATER IT IN WELL

nDAY 10: NO MORE FERTILIZER BUT WATER THE BALE

nDAY 11: STICK YOUR HAND INTO THE BALE – IF COOLED DOWN TO LESS THEN BODY HEAT, YOU MAY SAFELY BEGIN PLANTING.  IF STILL HOT, WATER AND CHECK DAILY

 Link to PowerPoint

Loni shapiro
cnslds@q.com

Master Gardener Meeting Minutes 6/12/2014

Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church

1601 N. San Francisco

Welcome – Agenda – Hunter Kemmet gave a brief review of agenda for the evening              

Raffle Drawing Prize was Eatable landscape book won by Sue Madden

MG Project Grant Presentations – Loni Shapiro presented checks to some of the organizations present. Mountain School $300, Pioneer Museum $250, Pinon Community Garden $250, Killip Elementary School $103.50 and Lowell Observatory $529.

Introduction of speaker – Ed Skiba

Continuing Education Sue Madden, Master Gardener was our guest speaker, presenting - Straw Bale Gardening.  She was born and raised in the “I’ve got black garden soil and I can grow anything” state of Montana, Susan now lives in the Flagstaff “suburb” of Munds Park, where she was a part-tine resident for 18 years and now has been a full-time resident for 9 years.  Prior to retirement, Susan lived in the Tempe area and worked at Arizona State University for 25 years. She is a master gardener and was a member of the 2012 winter class.  Susan volunteers at the Pinewood Fire Department where she maintains flower gardens designed and built as a trainee project along with Debbie Banta and Joy Salazar.  She also is a board member of the Pinewood Fire wise Team, and a certified member of the Coconino County CERTS group.

Refreshments by – Leslie Penick and Charlotte Dodgson

Raffle Drawing – Our last month’s winner was Lina Wallen

[Attachment(s) from Dorothy Lamm included below]

The Arboretum has sent this information about an interesting summer opportunity.  

Summer field workers, lab assistants, and volunteers are needed for a butterfly study.  This involves a stipend!!  Please read the attachment for details.

 

Dale Halbritter, a PhD student in Entomology from the University of Florida is investigating the ecology and biogeography of two unique mountain butterflies in Arizona. He will be traveling to the Flagstaff area on July 12th and is in need of some help with his field work though mid August. He will be staying most nights at the Merriam-Powell Research Station near The Arboretum and will have some lab space set up there.    He would like to recruit at least two volunteers: 1 to accompany him in the field and help collect butterflies, and 1 to take care of the captive butterflies in the lab while he is away in the field. He has some small cash stipends for volunteers.    Attached is the flyer! If you are interested, please email Dale at dhalb001@gmail.com     Thank you!   - Kim Helfinstine Volunteer Coordinator The Arboretum at Flagstaff (928) 774-1442 ext. 127

Weed Out Party

Hi everyone,

You're invited to a Weed Out Party at the SFDA Church -
Saturday 14th. June from 7[Hattie Braun] :00 till 9:30AM. 

We'll be starting a little early in the morning before it becomes too hot.  This week we are targeting Dalmatian toadflax, Diffuse knapweed, Cheatgrass and Yellow clover. As always, our experts, Dorothy Lam and Dan Deveer will be available to help identify the weeds.

Thank you weed warriors, who came, for your hard work last month.  We pulled 11 huge bags full.  If you've driven past the area that we weeded last month you will notice the pretty wild flowers emerging along the north-east and east parking lots.

If you're coming please remember to wear sun-block, bring your hat, gloves, a drink bottle and a hand tool for digging.

We will have water and a snack available on site.

Looking forward to seeing you all there.
... many hands make light work,

You are Loved,

-   Valerie

Master Gardener Meeting Agenda 6/12/2014

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               

                                             Raffle – $1 each or 6 for $5 - Must be present to win

                                                Drawing will be held after refreshments and before the business meeting

Prize:  Eatable landscape book

6:30pm-6:40p                 MG Project Grant Presentations – Loni Shapiro

o   Mountain School $300

o   Pioneer Museum $250

o   Pinon Community Garden $250

o   Killip Elementary School $103.50

o   Lowell Observatory $529

6:40pm – 6:45pm             Introduction of speaker – Ed Skiba

6:45pm-7:30pm Continuing Education

Sue Madden, Master Gardener

Straw Bale Gardening

7:30pm-7:55pm Refreshments – Leslie Penick and Charlotte Dodgson

7:55pm-8:00pm Raffle Drawing – last month’s winner was Lina Wallen

Weedout!

Greetings, All,  
 
Ever since 2010 the Master Gardeners and AZ Native Plant Society members have been fighting a battle with Diffuse knapweed at the Pioneer Museum.  All I can say is WE ARE WINNING THAT BATTLE.  Thank you, weed warriors, so much.  
 
A few days ago I checked the grounds, and there is still work to do, but nothing like the 20 huge, heavy bags a day and that we were removing during at least 5 weed outs a year.  
 
Let's get 'em while they're young!!  Two weed outs are planned - Saturday, May 31 and Friday, June 6; both days from 9 until noon.  Come when you can, and leave when you must.  (MGers, this project will count toward your volunteer hours!!)  We will talk about weed identification and proper weeding techniques to reduce disturbance to the soil. 

Please bring your favorite weeding tool, in this case a small shovel works very well, sunscreen, hat, gloves, a long sleeve shirt to protect from the sun, maybe a snack, and WATER.  I will provide bags, so the grounds look nice for visitors and festival-goers.  
 
I hope to see many of you at the Pioneer Museum, 2340 North Fort Valley Road, right next to Sechrist Elementary School.  
 
Dorothy Lamm 

Native Plant Society Monthly Meeting & Walk

Tuesday, June 17, 2014: Kirstin Olmon and Susan Lamb, “Nature’s Notebook”

Kirstin and Susan will introduce Nature’s Notebook, a national program in which amateur and professional naturalists track local phenology: the emergence and blooming of plants and the behavior of birds and other animals, including insects. The program engages individuals, educators, and community groups in learning about local plants and animals and contributing to science. These long-term observations of plants and animals generate data for scientific discovery and decision-making.

Kirstin Olmon is a botany research assistant at the Museum of Northern Arizona. She is the manager of the McDougall Herbarium and curator of the living roof atop the Easton Collect Center.  She is a recent graduate of the botany master’s program at Northern Arizona University and has worked as a field botanist for the Diablo Trust’s Integrated Monitoring for Sustainability Program and the Grand Canyon Trust. 

Susan Lamb is the local author of over two dozen books on natural history. She originally came to northern Arizona to serve as Desert View District naturalist at Grand Canyon National Park, where she acquired a lasting curiosity and affection for regional plant communities. Susan keeps a yearly almanac of over two hundred native plant species in the Flagstaff area.