Coconino Master Gardener Association: March 2020

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.

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Education Hours Ideas from Hattie

Many of you may be trying to figure out how to volunteer during the challenging times. We'll be really flexible this year. I'm guessing everyone will have lots of education hours to report.

People are - once again - really interested in gardening so here are some ideas.

1) Send in pictures of your home garden. You or I can post it on Facebook or we can add it to our county website. I'll confirm with you before posting anything. Include a short statement or caption.

2) Record yourself gardening and provide a gardening how-to or tip. Short videos under 10 minutes would be great!

3) Make short recordings or take pictures of what's going on in your neighborhood when you're on you 'stay-at-home' walk. What's budding out? Maybe make a video of those javelina? What bulbs are blooming?

4) Write short articles. (Send some to me for the blog - Loni)

3) Create canned presentations for our Speaker’s Bureau with script/notes. Let me know the topic so we don't have multiple versions on the same topic.

4) Help create plants lists. If anyone wants to scan pages of the 'Beyond the Ponderosa' book, let me know. I would like to get that up on our website.

5) Sign up to answer gardening questions via email and phone. I'll route these to you.

6) Let me know if you have another idea.

We do plan to hold a Zoom meeting for our April 9 CMGA meeting. Topic and details will follow.

Monday, March 9, 2020

CMGA March Meeting Agenda

Coconino Master Gardener Meeting Agenda

Thursday, March 12, 2020 at 6:30pm

Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church—Benson Hall

1601 N. San Francisco, Flagstaff, AZ 86001

6:30-6:35pm Welcome-Sue Madden, President

6:35-6:40pm Introduction of Speakers—Sue Madden

6:40-7:45pm Education: Brainstorming Session: Sue Madden to facilitate educational programing for this year. Gayle Gratop and Hattie Braun will discuss the new on-line Master Gardener Program.

(15 minute break with refreshments)

7:45-8:00pm Raffle Prize Drawing – $1 each or 6 for $5 - Must be present to win

8:00-8:25pm Business Meeting:

MG Coordinator Happenings—Hattie Braun

· April 17-19 Home and Garden Show

· April 25 Earth Day event

· Beginning Gardener spring/summer classes

· Designated Campus Colleague Status (DCC)

· Kinsey Elementary School Project

Summer Plant Sale/Garden Festival June 13 – Kari Usher/Liz George

Art-Full Summer Garden Tour July 25- Loni Shapiro/Sherline Alexander

Colleen Tucker (928) 853-0315 or Jennifer Quarterman (720) 560-7575

Financial Report—Jeff Best, Treasurer

Committee Progress Reports:

Continuing Education – We still need a volunteer (s) to introduce and coordinate with our speakers.

· April 9, 2020 – Climate Change/Recycling (Consumption) – Dylan Lenzen

Volunteer Support—Tim Ellsworth-Bowers /Crys Wells

Social Chair – Liz George

2020 Garden Grants – Jackee Alston

Seed Library – Jackie Alston/Cindy Murray

Blog/Communication – Loni Shapiro

Historian—Tammy Valdovino

Fundraising Chair—Sherline Alexander.

8:25-8:30 Gardening Questions?

Next meeting: April 9, 2020

Sunday, March 8, 2020

Willow Bend Environmental Education Center

Help Support Our New Interactive Children's Garden!

By AZ Gives Day (April 2nd) we hope to raise enough money to complete a new and exciting garden at Willow Bend. The Outdoor Interactive Children's Garden will provide hands on experiences for children of all ages to learn about habitats and local wildlife. The garden will include natural tactile material baskets, shelter building, a mouse house corner, and more!

With support from the AZ Game and Fish Heritage Grant, and a generous match from Coconino County Parks and Rec, we are only $1,000 away from making this garden not only a reality, but also ADA accessible!

Every little bit helps! Donate on FB today, or visit our website.

Coconino Master Gardener Association