Volunteering at Bonito St. Garden

 

CMGA April Meeting Agenda

Coconino Master Gardener Zoom Meeting Agenda

Thursday, April 8, 2021 at 6:30pm

6:30-6:35pm       Welcome-Frank Branham, President     

6:35-6:40pm       Introduction of Speaker—Geoff Wood

6:40-7:45pm       Education:  April 8, 2021- Patty Wiley:  Mountain Time Farms/Vegetables and Food Sourcing

7:45-8:25pm       Business Meeting:

MG Coordinator Happenings—Hattie Braun

·         Phased Reopening

·         Volunteer Hours Reporting issues

 

President Happenings -Frank Branham

·         Direct requests for funds/gift cards/etc. from CMGA members

·         Other—Committee Chair for the Plant Sale

 

Financial Report – Andrea Guerrette

Education Committee – Geoff Wood

·         May 13, 2021-Patti Poulin, Dirty Boot Flowers; Cut Flowers

·         June 10, 2021-Carol Chicci

·         July 8, 2021-State Forester, Bark Beetles and Ponderosa Pine Forests, tentative

 

Seed Saving Library - Cindy Murray, Hattie Braun

 

Master Gardener Grants, Calendar, Blog- Loni Shapiro

                                ·         Master Gardener 2021 Garden Grants

  Fund Raising - Frank Branham

·         Spring Plant/Garden Sale

·         Vegetable Garden Tour

·         A new Fund-Raising committee person is needed.

·         No raffle—consider donating what you would normally donate for the raffle.

 

Volunteer Support - Crys Wells, Lois Walter

·         2021 member dues and cards

·         Volunteer hour reporting

 

Social - Liz George

 

Historian - Tammy Valdovino

 

                                New Business/Garden or Plant Questions/Next Meeting:  May 13, 2021

April is Native Plant Month

 

One of our most common native plants in Arizona

U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) introduced a bipartisan resolution designating April 2021 as “National Native Plant Month” and recognizing the importance of native plants to environmental conservation and restoration, as well as in supporting a diversity of wildlife. 

“I am proud to introduce this bipartisan resolution designating April 2021 as National Native Plant Month,” said Portman. “From stabilizing soil and filtering air and water to providing shelter and food for wildlife, native plants play an indispensable role in supporting resilient ecosystems as well as in our everyday lives. This bipartisan resolution highlights the importance of native plants and celebrates our rich ecological heritage here in Ohio and across the nation.”

“In Hawaii, we know about the importance of protecting native plants, as our state is home to 44 percent of our country’s threatened and endangered plant species. This bipartisan resolution celebrates the essential role that native plant species play in communities and ecosystems all across America, and encourages that we all pay special attention to native plants during April,” said Senator Hirono. 

How to Water Your Garden Webinar

More on How to Water Your Garden Webinar

Event Date: April 08, 2021 11:00am to 12:00pm

Online event link: https://arizona.zoom.us/j/86171898681

 

Payson Community Garden Spring Gardening Class #9

University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Gila County presents: Garden and Country Extension Webinar Series. From February 11 to April 15, 2021, I am proud to be hosting the spring gardening classes for the Payson Community Garden in northern Gila County. You are invited to join us and learn along with Payson’s community gardeners. Classes include soil building and its great benefits, ways to have healthy plants throughout the garden season, how to keep bugs and disease away, and harvesting at the right time. Presenters will be available for Q&A to discuss applying practices to your situation.

Featured Topic: More on How to Water Your Garden Webinar

Featured Speaker: Bill Pitterle, Payson Community Gardener: Bill has been with the garden since 2013. He has successfully grown his own garden with great tomatoes, butternut squash, pumpkins and really hot peppers - like the Ghost Pepper. Bill is team leader for automatic watering of the garden and repairs as necessary of the water system. He has successfully grown the popular pie pumpkins for our fall Pumpkin Patch for the last several years and as an added attraction he grew Indian Corn that was over 11 foot high with beautifully colored kernels.

Native Plant Society Monthly Meeting

 

Flagstaff Chapter - Arizona Native Plant Society

Tuesday, April 20th 7pm-8pm via Zoom

Featured Topic: Yellow Bluestem: An Encroaching Invasive Grass

Speaker Biography: Ashley Hall received her B.Sc. in Rangeland Ecology and Management with a minor in Geographic Information Systems from the University of Arizona (UA) in 2009 and a M.Sc. 2011. Her thesis focused on researching nurse plant-protégé interactions between two species of Bursage and Creosote, as well as creating a vegetation map of the Mohawk Mountains and San Cristobal Valley on the Barry M. Goldwater Range. After finishing her M.S., Ashley began working for UA Cooperative Extension as a team member of the Cooperative Rangeland Monitoring Program assisting the Bureau of Land Management in establishing a vegetation monitoring protocol.  Ashley worked for US Fish and Wildlife Service as the Invasive Species Coordinator for Arizona Refuges. She currently works for Gila County Cooperative Extension, focusing on Rangeland Management and Animal Science.

Presentation Description: Non-native species, like Yellow Bluestem (Bothriochloa ischaemum) negatively affect the habitats they invade in many ways including economically, environmentally, and/or ecologically. Yellow Bluestem is a perennial grass introduced to the United States from Europe and Asia in the early 1900s as a way to control erosion and as a forage species. In the past several years, this species has become an emerging invasive in Arizona. Yellow Bluestem has been shown to alter soil function and biota, suppressing the growth of native vegetation. It out-competes native species because it can grow much taller than most native grasses, and creates a sod thick formation by reproducing through underground stems.  While this species was introduced in some parts of the U.S. to provide additional forage for grazing species, Yellow Bluestem is less palatable than natives and is not preferred by cattle, equine, or wildlife. Eradication of this species may require intense management efforts if a new population is not eliminated quickly.

Zoom info:

Seed Library Summit

 

10TH ANNUAL SEED LIBRARY SUMMIT

SeedLibraries.Weebly.com - Read  and register!

Come and join the 10th Annual Seed Library Summit! Our very own Bill McDorman and Jackee Alston will be teaching along with a wonderful and wide range of presenters and panelists. Topics include:

• Seed Swaps in a Time of Pandemic
• Starting a Seed Library in a School
• Seed Patents & Seed Libraries
• Seed Stories
• Seed Saving Basics
• And more!