Coconino Master Gardener Association: October 2015

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.

Friday, October 30, 2015

Sunshine Rescue Mission MG Project

Dorsey Manor Garden lettuce 2015

The garden at Dorsey Manor was very productive this past year. We harvested 139 pounds of vegetables. This was a record harvest! The harvest went to the S.R.M. kitchen for meals for the community. I am planning on facilitating the garden next year. Thanks to all who helped this year; Tim, Morrinda, Ernie, Cameron, Gary, James and others. And thanks to the cooks who tolerated me interrupting their meal preparations on Friday evenings when I hauled in bags of vegetables. We received major funding this year with a $175 grant from the Coconino Master Gardener Association. Thanks to the officers of the Association for awarding the grant. I also still have some funds left over on a gift card from Warner's Nursery. I used this once early in the year.

Here is the harvest break down:
Radish - 2 lbs.
Lettuce - 29 lbs.
Onion - 15 lbs.
Collared Greens - 3 lbs.
Beans - 12 lbs.
Carrots - 6 lbs.
Squash - 12 lbs.
Tomato - 58 lbs. (From 8 plants)
Cucumbers - 2 lbs.

Total - 139 pounds
The good man upstairs was kind to the garden this year.

I entered the Sunshine Rescue Mission garden into the Coconino County Fair this year for horticulture. The mission received the following ribbons:
Bush Beans - Blue Ribbon
Squash - Red Ribbon
Green Tomatoes - Blue Ribbon
I presented the ribbons to Tim Miller.

I have pulled all vegetables from the 2 gardens. I turned the soil in the large garden and covered it with straw. We will start again in March.

I shot a video of the growing season at the Sunshine Rescue Mission. It is available on YouTube. Here is the link.

https://youtu.be/rz7K1k-5vP4

Jeff Best

Master Gardener

Coconino Master Gardener Association

Monday, October 26, 2015

2015 Annual Master Gardener Recognition Picnic

On Sunday, October 11, our Annual MG Recognition Picnic was held at the Arboretum at Flagstaff.
It began at 11 am with a walk on the nature path lead by Jan Busco. Jan gave a brief history of her time at the Arboretum and talked about Frances McCallister the founder's mission. On the walk she identified many of the fall grasses and plants that are found with them in the fields that used to be part of the working ranch.

A delicious potluck lunch was follow by presentations of this years new master gardener badges and certificates by Hattie Braun.

Friday, October 23, 2015

Great American Seed-up

The Great American Seed Up!

An incredible Hands On Seed Saving Experience

Saturday, October 31, 20159:00 AM – Noon

Held at Uptown Farmers Market &North Phoenix Baptist Church 5757 N Central, 85012$5 admission (children under 14 are free) to reserve your spot – the education is free!

Get Your Tickets For:9am – Noon SOLD OUT1pm – 3pm Click HERE

Fall Garden Clean-up Winners!

From Debi Stalvey,

Thank you all for buying and selling raffle tickets. The winners are Margaret Barlow and Jennifer Shafer. Ms Barlow has elected to give her "clean up" to a family she knows can use it. I will be in touch with the members of the clean up committee shortly.

We sold approximately 361 tickets and made approximately $1630 before expenses. This is down a bit from last year of $2090, but will still benefit our philanthropic gardening endeavors.

I appreciate everyone's help.

Debi Stalvey 699-3504

Debi is in need of a couple of people to help with clean-up day. This will give you volunteer master gardener hours. the dates are Oct. 17 (or 24th if weather delay). Contact Debi if you can help.

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