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

Sunday, April 17, 2016

CMGA April Lecture and Tour

Jim Mast's greenhouse in Clarkdale
Photo by Loni Shapiro
This month our April lecture "Greenhouse Gardening" was followed by a Saturday tour of Jim Mast's greenhouse and orchard in Clarkdale. The lecture included temperature, light, watering, fertilizing and pests. This was a new hi-tech greenhouse for Jim and he talked about some of the problems: watering by hand, too much moisture, too many plants and insects. We all left green with envy and  knowing more about problem solving in a greenhouse.

After that lecture we headed out to Clarkdale on Saturday morning. We had a beautiful day (about 70) after the snowstorm in Flagstaff (3-4 inches). The greenhouse was full of cool season vegetable planted last fall (broccoli, kale, brussel sprouts, cabbage, etc.),recently planted lettuce bowls, some exotic hanging plants, herbs, and a working experiment Jim is doing for Great Big Plants.
 
      
Greenhouse                                                   Mizuna and Purple cabbage
Photos by Jim Mast
Jim also showed us his outside raised bed with onions, garlic, spinach, lettuce, tomatoes, and some herbs. He recently interplanted some corn between onion rows.

If that wasn't enough, we also got to tour his tree orchard across the street which include fruits and nuts; cherry, peach, pear, apples, almonds, and hazelnuts. Jim had tagged all the trees for us and many already had fruit. Once through the orchard we walked on to a tributary of the Verde River with many willows.


  
Almond Tree and Verde River tributary below orchard
Photos by Loni Shapiro
After our tour through both we had a delightful potluck lunch under the mesquite trees in his back yard. I spent my time watching and listening to the many birds. I even spotted a red cardinal. We decided that we had such a good time that this may become an annual event. Jim and Sheryl are beginning to landscape the rest of their property and it would be fun to see the progress next year. If you missed this lecture and trip just contact Jim and schedule a private tour.
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