Resource Management Plan for the Coconino National Forest

Help Plan the Future of Coconino National Forest- attend a public meeting 

The Forest Service just released the Coconino National Forest Draft Land and Resource Management Plan for public comment. EVERYTHING the Forest Service does on the Coconino for the next 15-20 years must comply with this Plan. The Plan includes direction on wildlife protection, logging, fire, recreation, wilderness, water sources, energy development, and more. 

Please attend one of these meetings to learn more about the Plan and offer your suggestions! 

If you'd like to get more involved, see the bottom of this message for information about how to help Sierra Club prepare our official comments on the Draft Forest Plan. 

Spring Catalogs

Poncho Pass Red Sulfur Buckwheat (exclusive from HCG)

This is from High Country Garden's spring catalog (yes they are back). 

Christmas is over and the New Year arrives in just 3 days. I have already received several seed catalogs. If you are as anxious as I am to get started with a new garden year the Seed/Plants & Garden Tools Catalogs list has been revised for 2014. You can download it from this LINK. As usual there a few changes - mergers, bankruptcies, and phone number changes. It is still about 5 pages and includes local as well as national sites, for seeds, plants, roses, bulbs and tools. If you find any error or want to add a source you use that isn't listed please e-mail me (cnslds@q.com).

Loni Shapiro

CMGA Meeting Minutes 1/9/14

Master Gardener Meeting Minutes 1/9/14

Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church

1601 N. San Francisco

Our outgoing officers President Debi Stalvey and Secretary Ann Eagan were recognized and presented with a house plant from Warner’s nursery for their many contributions to the Master Gardener Association.

President Debi Stalvey introduced the new and continuing officers and committee chairs for 2014.

President Hunter Kemmet, Vice President Charlotte Dodgson, Secretary Sherline Alexander, Co-Treasurer Crys Wells, Co-Treasurer Linda Guarino, Blog/MG Projects Loni Shapiro, Community Markets Ann Eagan, Education Ed Skiba, Historian Tammy Valdovino

Debi also reminded everyone that 2014 membership dues are $10. Linda Guarino began accepting dues immediately. CMGA membership forms are located on the table by the front door.  Fill out the form to join.  There are three levels certified – graduates of the master gardener class who have completed volunteer hours, associate – previous master gardeners who are not current in the required certification and trainee - currently taking class or working on volunteer hours. 

This information is in the CMGA bylaws located on the blog under Master Gardener Association Documents and Forms (under Pages).

Hattie Braun presented Tammy Valdovino with her master gardener certificate and name badge.

Continuing Education 

David Brimhall on “Floral Arranging”

David has been a resident of Flagstaff for 30 years. He is a master gardener, having gone through the class three years ago.  He is an artist and professional florist working at Sutcliff Floral and Floral Arts, Ltd before that. He, Charlotte, and Debi do the MG project at Riordan Mansion.  Attached is the hand out from the lecture - LINK. Dave outlined the basics of “Floral Arranging” while demonstrating several examples (see blog photo). 

Refreshments

Thanks to Loni Shapiro and Julie Holmes for the refreshments.

CMGA January 9, Meeting Agenda

Master Gardener Meeting Agenda 1/9/2014

Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church

1601 N. San Francisco

6:30pm-6:40pm                       Welcome – Agenda - Debi Stalvey

                                                      Annual Report

                                                      Introduce 2014 Officers

                                                      Brief review of agenda for the evening

6:40pm-6:45pm                       Introduction of speaker – Jim Mast

6:45pm-7:45pm                       Continuing Education

                                                      "Floral Arranging" by Dave Brimhall

7:45pm-8:00pm                       Refreshments - Julie Holmes

8:00pm-8:25pm                       Business Meeting - Hunter Kemmet

                                                      Financial report-Linda Guarino/Crys Wells

                                                     

                                                      MG Programs Happenings (class)-Hattie Braun

                                                      Home and Garden Show, March 28-30, 2014- Hattie Braun

                                                      Volunteers to plan and work the show

                                                      Committee Reports:

                                                      Continuing Education – Jim Mast

                                                      Community Markets-Sherline Alexander

                                                      MG Projects/Blog-Loni Shapiro

                                                      Volunteer Support-Crys Wells

8:25pm-8:30pm                       Gardening  Questions ?

Next meeting:                         February 13, 2014 - Charlotte Dodgson on House Plants

Educational and Volunteer Opportunities from the Blog

coconinomgassociation.blogspot.com

Holiday Garden Ideas

For those of you who are already beginning to miss being in the garden there is a place to get your winter garden fix. The Desert Botanical Garden is in bloom and has two wonderful exhibits for December. Chihuly has opened another glass exhibit which will be in the garden until May. You can visit in the daytime or at night when it is lit up. In addition, the garden has their usual holiday fun with Los Noches de las Luminarias. This is an evening exhibit with luminarias lighting up the garden, food and drink, and a variety of music throughout the garden. If you haven't had a chance to see it, it is a must holiday event to get you in the spirit. Reservations are required. The web site is:
http://www.dbg.org/events-exhibitions

Update:
My husband I just returned from Phoenix and both of these events are a must see. Chihuly was spectacular at night. I am adding one of my photos. I have so many great photos that it was difficult to choose one.  There were probably more than 20 different pieces throughout the garden. Enjoy!

Glass boat on the water in one of the marshes.

Loni Shapiro

Master Gardener Meeting Minutes 11/14/2013

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Master Gardener Meeting Minutes 11/14/2013

Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church

1601 N. San Francisco

Calendars are now available for sale at the Coconino County Extension office, Warner’s, Native Plant & Seed, Riordan Mansion, and the Allstate office on Cedar. Suggestions on other locations for selling the calendars were the Flagstaff Visitor’s Center and Chamber of Commerce. Sherline Alexander said she would check with some people who are exhibiting at local arts and crafts fairs to see if the calendars could be sold there.

Deb Noel – Historic Gardens and Gardeners

Deb Noel gave an overview of botany and botanists in the United States.  She talked about the importance John and William Bartram, their garden and seed and plant business. In addition, she spoke about how many of the founding fathers of the country were gardeners.  For more information on Bartram’s Garden and early gardeners in the United States, check out the following website and books.  The public library has copies of both of the books.

Bartram’s Garden

http://www.bartramsgarden.org/

Founding Gardeners: The Revolutionary Generation, Nature, and the Shaping of the American Nation, Andrea Wulf, 2011.

The Brother Gardeners: A Generation of Gentlemen Naturalists and the Birth of an Obsession, Andrea Wulf, 2010

Thanks to Susan Thompson and Sherline Alexander for the wonderful refreshments.

Decline of Pollinators

A friend sent this link to an article in the New York Times to me yesterday.  It will be of interest to all you native plant enthusiasts.  It is about the dramatic decline of insect populations and how this decline will impact native plant populations and even our food supply.  

> http://nyti.ms/17OmCdS

From

D. Lamm

AZ Food and Farm Finance Forum

Arizona Food and Farm Finance Forum, Jan 13-15: What’s in it for YOU?

If you are a social impact investor or venture capitalist: Come and hear Slow Money founder Woody Tasch tell how $30 million of local investing in 220 food and farm businesses since 2010 is creating viable options to placing all your money and trust in Wall Street.

If you are a beginning (or ramping-up) farmer: Come and hear Alex Young of Cornman Farm and the Zingerman’s Community of Businesses talk about double their production and planting area each year, and how he finances it. Zingerman’s has grown seventeen for-profits and non-profits in Ann Arbor to create 650 new jobs and 50 million dollars of annual sales of products and services in its community.

If you want to jumpstart a local food restaurant, or cooperative local food distribution network to restaurants: Come and hear Derrick Widmark, co-founder of Diablo Burger in Flagstaff and Tucson tell how he brokered financial backing and local beef and vegetable sourcing to jumpstart these independently-owned businesses.

If you are a food bank staffer hoping to create new jobs for the poor: Come and hear Lisa Pino, Executive Director of United Food Bank in Chandler explain what USDA Strikeforce Programs and philanthropic initiatives can do to help you create live-able wage jobs in the food growing, processing and distribution sectors.

If you are a community development planner or credit union investment officer: Come and hear Michael Dimock of Roots of Change in the Bay area explain how rural and urban communities are coming together to plan the future of their food-based economies.

If you are an eater, a food justice activist, or student: Come and hear Kimber Lanning of Local First Arizona offer a vision of living local economies that will help Arizona communities recover their health and well-being.

If you are a potential donor, angel investor, stakeholder or loan-giver to such initiatives: Learn from Elizabeth U, author of Raising Dough, how to avoid legal pitfalls and financial risks to match your financial resources to match your investing capacity with your values to do the greatest possible good for your family and community.

If you want to start a food microenterprise from a community kitchen using local ingredients for value-added products: Listen to Ernie Rivera, Kitchen Manager of Mixing Bowl, the Kitchen for Entrepreneurs in Albuquerque talking about helping sixty active food microenterprises each year and guiding another hundred prospective food businesses in product development and business planning.

Follow this link for details on the forum

Laurel Bellante

PhD Student
School of Geography and Development

bellante@email.arizona.edu 

Arizona Strawberry Day

Arizona Strawberry Day

      Learn how to grow strawberry hydroponically in Arizona greenhouse

Saturday December 7^th (10AM to 2PM)

      For more information visit the strawberry information website

http://cals.arizona.edu/strawberry/Hydroponic_Strawberry_Information_Website/Event_files/Event%20ASD.pdf

Go directly to the registration site

Lecture in Camp Verde

"Pre-Columbian Agaves in Southwestern United States: A New Way of Looking at Species and Their Cultural Landscapes"
Tues., November 19, 7pm
Camp Verde Community Center Rooms 206/207 (behind the Historical Society) by Wendy Hodgson, Research Botanist, Herbarium Curator, and Botanical Illustrator, Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix

Wendy has been with the Desert Botanical Garden for nearly 40 years and has lived in the desert for 44 years.  Her areas of interest include southwest United States and northern Mexico floristics, rare and endemic plants, and taxonomy and systematics of Agave and Yucca, including the study of pre-Columbian agave cultivars. Other current projects include the study and documentation of the flora of the Grand Canyon region, including the evolution and distribution of certain plant groups as affected by the unique factors characteristic of this area. Ms. Hodgson is studying and documenting southwest United States cacti and is a co-coordinator for the Cactus Family of Arizona project by Desert Botanical Garden research staff and research associates. She was also the coordinator for the Cactus family treatment for the Intermountain Flora project, the preeminent botanical initiative documenting plant diversity between the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains, published in 2012 by the New York Botanical Garden Press. She is the author of numerous scientific papers and the illustrated book, Food Plants of the Sonoran Desert, published by the University of Arizona Press and winner of the 2002 Klinger Book Award by the Society for Economic Botany. She is an avid plant collector, particularly those pesky, difficult to press plants of the Agave and Cactus families.

From Linda Guarino