Coconino Master Gardener Association: October 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.

Thursday, October 29, 2020

Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance

GLOBAL SEED SUMMIT NEXT MONTH

GlobalSeedSummit.com - Share

The Global Seed Summit is a 4-day event where seeds will be celebrated. RMSA’s Bill McDorman will be teaching about seed saving each day and this is an incredible opportunity to get into the roots of saving seeds with a seed elder. In addition to seed saving education, five notable seed visionaries will be joining the discussion on seeds, seed sovereignty, healthy food systems, seed diversity, and more in this upcoming Summit.

Thursday, October 8, 2020

Flagstaff Sustainability Events

Attached are 3 flyers from the Flagstaff Sustainability Department, that may be of interest for those gardeners who are also recyclers. The first is the annual Fix-it Clinic which will happen on Saturday October 10th, from 10am-2pm. Second is the Drop Off Day and Shred-A-Thon on Saturday October 24th. In addition to drugs you can bring any hazardous waste items such as batteries or paint. Last of all on October 15 at 1015am they are having an online contest for Flagstaff's 15 Minute Makeovers.

Events this year are with the covid virus in mind - outside, socially distanced, masks required. Check out the links for details.

Fix-it Clinic

Drop Off Day/Shred-A-Thon

Flagstaff's 15 Minute Makeovers

Friday, October 2, 2020

Native Plant Society Meeting

Tuesday, October 20, 7pm via Zoom Michelle Cloud-Hughes: ‘The horror of man and beast’: a relatively painless introduction to the Cylindropuntia (chollas) of Arizona Arizona has the highest diversity of Cylindropuntia (cholla) species in the U.S., however their prickly nature, generally similar appearance can make proper identification a challenge. In this presentation, I will provide a general overview of the cactus genus Cylindropuntia (chollas) and in-depth descriptions for the cholla species of Arizona. I will also discuss the most common naturally-occurring hybrids, along with recent genetic research and taxonomic changes. Michelle Cloud-Hughes is a botanist and restoration ecologist specializing in desert flora and ecosystems. She worked for the Soil Ecology and Restoration Group at San Diego State University from 1997 to 2013 and spent most of those years doing restoration work in the central Mojave Desert at Fort Irwin National Training Center. In 2010 she started her company, Desert Solitaire Botany and Ecological Restoration, and since then has been involved in many rare plant surveys and other botanical and restoration projects throughout the southwestern U.S and Mexico. She has been doing morphometric and genetic research on Cylindropuntia with Dr. Marc Baker of Arizona State University for over 10 years and loves sharing the results of that research at every opportunity. This presentation will be pre-recorded, and I will be available for questions both during and after in the chat rooms.

Coconino Master Gardener Association