What: Christmas Potluck and White Elephant Garden Gift Exchange
The Association is providing the main dish (ham)
Guests (last name a-g) need to bring side dish), (h-q) appetizer, (r-z) dessert
Bring a white elephant garden gift to exchange (gently used or purchased less than $10)
\
When: Thursday, December 8, 2011, 6-8pm
Where: Julie Holmes Home (e-mail cnslds@q.com) for details
Questions or RSVP (by December 1) to Loni Shapiro at above e-mail.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Coconino Master Gardener Assoc. Meeting Minutes 11/10/11
Master Gardener Meeting Minutes 11/10/11
Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church
1601 N. San Francisco
6:30pm-6:40pm Welcome – Agenda Jim Mast
Brief review of agenda for the evening
Introduction of speaker
6:40pm-7:30pm Continuing Education
Speaker: Steve Yoder
Topic: The Arboretum at Year 30 and plans for 2012
Mr. Yoder showed the history of the Arboretum through photographs and stories. From a largely research institution, it has grown into a popular destination for the public with many fun and educational activities. Some of the fun includes the rejuvenated Pollinator Garden (in the shape of a butterfly), activities like the popular Pumpkin Walk, Wildflowers and Wine and the Ponderosa Hustle Footrace. In addition to pure fun, there are many opportunities to assist the Arboretum staff in creating and maintaining the gardens and in furthering their research programs. Volunteers are needed to help plant and maintain gardens and in the greenhouse, assist with public events, work in the visitor’s center, assist with research by participating in seed collection field trips and data gathering. For more information on the Arboretum at Flagstaff, go to http://thearb.org/index.php . In particular, take a look under Research for details on their current and past projects. Most recently, there was an article in the Arizona Daily Sun, Experiment in Warming, that describes a project involving the Arboretum that Steve Yoder mentioned during his talk. They received a large grant from the federal government for this project.
7:30pm-7:45pm Refreshments
Thank you to Ann Eagan
7:45pm - 8:30pm Business Meeting – Jim Mast
7:45pm – 8:00pm Overview of recent Executive Meeting – Jim Mast
Election of officers – officers election for 2012
Slate – Debi Stalvey/President
Bea Cooley/Vice President
Ed Skiba/Treasurer
Loni Shapiro/Ann Eagan/co-secretaries
Home show (need coordinator and volunteers to work with Hattie),
Hattie to contact home show sponsors and plan the first meeting. She will check with Faith to see if she is interested in helping.
Highland Garden Conference 2011 & 2012. Loni reported on 2011 conference events.
Hattie has scheduled a meeting for next week to begin planning for the 2012 conference in Flagstaff. E-mails are in your box about time and date.
Officer reports will be at the January 2012 meeting.
Financial – Ed Skiba
Ed reported current income and expenditures. The balance following deposits from the calendar, Nolo bait, and a refund from the grant to Sunshine Rescue Mission – expenses for the church - is 1019.15.
Secretary – Loni Shapiro
We still have about 100 calendars. 4 sold this evening. Continuing sales at Warners, CSA, NP & Seed, Extension, and the St. Pius Holiday Bazar. Leftovers will be sold in 2012 at ½ price and give to speakers and give-aways at the Home Show. Profits will be reported in 2012.
Blog – Articles posted about the 2011 Highlands Garden Conference and the weekly garden article from the Daily Sun. Books brought from the conference for all to check out. They are also posted on the blog.
Snack volunteer sign-up was posted and will be brought to the Christmas Party.
8:00pm – 8:20pm Committee Reports:
Continuing Education – See schedule below for current list of talks for 2012. Loni requested ideas for 2012 (Houseplants/Invasive Species/Bulbs) The results will be sent in an e-mail along with previous suggestions for a survey of preferences on the listserv.
Community Programs – Molly Larsen/Julie Holmes
Flagstaff Community Markets
Report sent to Jim Mast for 2011 by Molly Larsen. Will be included in overall report for 2011.
Home Show – see above
Coordination of MG Projects – Linda Guarino – 2011 report forthcoming
Volunteer Support/Social – Hattie Braun & Crys Wells
Crys – membership/volunteer and education hours for October 455 volunteer and 86.25 education hours. Please get your 2011 hours in by the end of the year.
Christmas Party – Dec. 8, 6-8pm, at Julie Holmes, potluck, she will provide ham, appetizers/sides/desserts will be assigned, bring a white elephant gift. Invites will be in e-mail this week.
8:20pm – 8:30pm Garden questions?
Bulb question – What should I do if I don’t get my bulbs in the ground this week? Plant in a pot outside or put in the refrigerator. They need forcing (cold)to produce in 2012.
Loni brought up a tree/shrub idea from the Highlands conference – planting all trees/shrubs bare root. See Loni for idea. Hattie to check on Arizona research on this new way of planting trees.
Next meeting: Christmas Party, December 8, 6-8pm Julie Holmes Home
Future meetings:
January 14 – History of Farming in Flagstaff – Meredith Hartwell
February 12- Topic TBA
March 12 – Tom Bean/Topic TBA
April 12 – Riordan and Pioneer Museum - Joe Meehan/Charlotte Dodgson
Educational and Volunteer Opportunities from the Blog (coconinomgassociation.blogspot
Submitted 11/17/2011
Loni Shapiro & Ann Eagan
Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church
1601 N. San Francisco
6:30pm-6:40pm Welcome – Agenda Jim Mast
Brief review of agenda for the evening
Introduction of speaker
6:40pm-7:30pm Continuing Education
Speaker: Steve Yoder
Topic: The Arboretum at Year 30 and plans for 2012
Mr. Yoder showed the history of the Arboretum through photographs and stories. From a largely research institution, it has grown into a popular destination for the public with many fun and educational activities. Some of the fun includes the rejuvenated Pollinator Garden (in the shape of a butterfly), activities like the popular Pumpkin Walk, Wildflowers and Wine and the Ponderosa Hustle Footrace. In addition to pure fun, there are many opportunities to assist the Arboretum staff in creating and maintaining the gardens and in furthering their research programs. Volunteers are needed to help plant and maintain gardens and in the greenhouse, assist with public events, work in the visitor’s center, assist with research by participating in seed collection field trips and data gathering. For more information on the Arboretum at Flagstaff, go to http://thearb.org/index.php . In particular, take a look under Research for details on their current and past projects. Most recently, there was an article in the Arizona Daily Sun, Experiment in Warming, that describes a project involving the Arboretum that Steve Yoder mentioned during his talk. They received a large grant from the federal government for this project.
7:30pm-7:45pm Refreshments
Thank you to Ann Eagan
7:45pm - 8:30pm Business Meeting – Jim Mast
7:45pm – 8:00pm Overview of recent Executive Meeting – Jim Mast
Election of officers – officers election for 2012
Slate – Debi Stalvey/President
Bea Cooley/Vice President
Ed Skiba/Treasurer
Loni Shapiro/Ann Eagan/co-secretaries
Home show (need coordinator and volunteers to work with Hattie),
Hattie to contact home show sponsors and plan the first meeting. She will check with Faith to see if she is interested in helping.
Highland Garden Conference 2011 & 2012. Loni reported on 2011 conference events.
Hattie has scheduled a meeting for next week to begin planning for the 2012 conference in Flagstaff. E-mails are in your box about time and date.
Officer reports will be at the January 2012 meeting.
Financial – Ed Skiba
Ed reported current income and expenditures. The balance following deposits from the calendar, Nolo bait, and a refund from the grant to Sunshine Rescue Mission – expenses for the church - is 1019.15.
Secretary – Loni Shapiro
We still have about 100 calendars. 4 sold this evening. Continuing sales at Warners, CSA, NP & Seed, Extension, and the St. Pius Holiday Bazar. Leftovers will be sold in 2012 at ½ price and give to speakers and give-aways at the Home Show. Profits will be reported in 2012.
Blog – Articles posted about the 2011 Highlands Garden Conference and the weekly garden article from the Daily Sun. Books brought from the conference for all to check out. They are also posted on the blog.
Snack volunteer sign-up was posted and will be brought to the Christmas Party.
8:00pm – 8:20pm Committee Reports:
Continuing Education – See schedule below for current list of talks for 2012. Loni requested ideas for 2012 (Houseplants/Invasive Species/Bulbs) The results will be sent in an e-mail along with previous suggestions for a survey of preferences on the listserv.
Community Programs – Molly Larsen/Julie Holmes
Flagstaff Community Markets
Report sent to Jim Mast for 2011 by Molly Larsen. Will be included in overall report for 2011.
Home Show – see above
Coordination of MG Projects – Linda Guarino – 2011 report forthcoming
Volunteer Support/Social – Hattie Braun & Crys Wells
Crys – membership/volunteer and education hours for October 455 volunteer and 86.25 education hours. Please get your 2011 hours in by the end of the year.
Christmas Party – Dec. 8, 6-8pm, at Julie Holmes, potluck, she will provide ham, appetizers/sides/desserts will be assigned, bring a white elephant gift. Invites will be in e-mail this week.
8:20pm – 8:30pm Garden questions?
Bulb question – What should I do if I don’t get my bulbs in the ground this week? Plant in a pot outside or put in the refrigerator. They need forcing (cold)to produce in 2012.
Loni brought up a tree/shrub idea from the Highlands conference – planting all trees/shrubs bare root. See Loni for idea. Hattie to check on Arizona research on this new way of planting trees.
Next meeting: Christmas Party, December 8, 6-8pm Julie Holmes Home
Future meetings:
January 14 – History of Farming in Flagstaff – Meredith Hartwell
February 12- Topic TBA
March 12 – Tom Bean/Topic TBA
April 12 – Riordan and Pioneer Museum - Joe Meehan/Charlotte Dodgson
Educational and Volunteer Opportunities from the Blog (coconinomgassociation.blogspot
Submitted 11/17/2011
Loni Shapiro & Ann Eagan
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Photovoice Project
Are you interested in FOOD?
Are you interested in helping shape Flagstaff’s FOOD SYSTEM?
If YES, be a part of
Flagstaff’s Food System Photovoice Project!
What is Photovoice?
Photovoice uses cameras and dialogue to bring together community members around an issue and create community leadership. This Photovoice project is interested in identifying opportunities and challenges associated with a local food system in Flagstaff.
What will I do?
This will be a fun and engaging project! If you participate, you must be willing and able to spend some time and energy with the group. There will be two four-hour sessions to 1) become familiar with the Photovoice process, and 2) talk about what you experienced and describe your photographs. In between that time, you will spend a week taking photographs. Also, you must adhere to Photovoice ethics concerning photography and group discussion. All of this will be explained in the initial meeting.
What will I gain from the experience?
Hopefully you will have a fun time, meet new people, and develop new ideas about what a local food system in Flagstaff might look like!
Requirements:
· Must be at least 18 years old and a resident of Northern Arizona.
· Willing and able to commit to one week of photography in October, and attend two four-hour sessions to 1) become familiar with the Photovoice process and 2) talk about what you experienced.
· This project is free to participants and participants will not be compensated monetarily for this project.
Contact Liz Krug to sign up and be a part of this unique project.
lizkrug23@gmail.com • (602) 369-0756
Are you interested in helping shape Flagstaff’s FOOD SYSTEM?
If YES, be a part of
Flagstaff’s Food System Photovoice Project!
What is Photovoice?
Photovoice uses cameras and dialogue to bring together community members around an issue and create community leadership. This Photovoice project is interested in identifying opportunities and challenges associated with a local food system in Flagstaff.
What will I do?
This will be a fun and engaging project! If you participate, you must be willing and able to spend some time and energy with the group. There will be two four-hour sessions to 1) become familiar with the Photovoice process, and 2) talk about what you experienced and describe your photographs. In between that time, you will spend a week taking photographs. Also, you must adhere to Photovoice ethics concerning photography and group discussion. All of this will be explained in the initial meeting.
What will I gain from the experience?
Hopefully you will have a fun time, meet new people, and develop new ideas about what a local food system in Flagstaff might look like!
Requirements:
· Must be at least 18 years old and a resident of Northern Arizona.
· Willing and able to commit to one week of photography in October, and attend two four-hour sessions to 1) become familiar with the Photovoice process and 2) talk about what you experienced.
· This project is free to participants and participants will not be compensated monetarily for this project.
Contact Liz Krug to sign up and be a part of this unique project.
lizkrug23@gmail.com • (602) 369-0756
Monday, November 14, 2011
1st Planning Meeting for 2012 Highlands Garden Conference
Hello Master Gardeners,
My name is Jo-Anne, and you may or may not know who I am. I'm an AmeriCorps VISTA helping Hattie with the Master Gardener program.
Next year, Coconino County will be hosting the AZ Highlands Garden Conference for 2012. Hattie and I will be needing your assistance to make next year's conference a success. If you are interested in joining our planning committee, please come to the Coconino County Cooperative Extension office located on 2304 N. 3rd St on November 16th from 12-1pm.
Our general agenda will be:
--Appointing a chairperson
--Forming a speaker committee
--Forming a site committee
We hope to see you there. If you have any questions, please feel free to call or email me.
--
Jo-Anne Barcellano
AmeriCorps VISTA Member
Coconino County Cooperative Extension
The University of Arizona
jbarcellano@email.arizona.edu
928-774-1868 ext 100
My name is Jo-Anne, and you may or may not know who I am. I'm an AmeriCorps VISTA helping Hattie with the Master Gardener program.
Next year, Coconino County will be hosting the AZ Highlands Garden Conference for 2012. Hattie and I will be needing your assistance to make next year's conference a success. If you are interested in joining our planning committee, please come to the Coconino County Cooperative Extension office located on 2304 N. 3rd St on November 16th from 12-1pm.
Our general agenda will be:
--Appointing a chairperson
--Forming a speaker committee
--Forming a site committee
We hope to see you there. If you have any questions, please feel free to call or email me.
--
Jo-Anne Barcellano
AmeriCorps VISTA Member
Coconino County Cooperative Extension
The University of Arizona
jbarcellano@email.arizona.edu
928-774-1868 ext 100
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Gardening Excetera Column 11/5/11
A DIAGNOSIS WITHOUT A DIFFERENCE
Dana Prom Smith
“Dysfunctional family” is an epithet often thrown around nowadays, masquerading as a diagnosis. The problem: it’s meaningless because all families are dysfunctional in one way or another. A diagnosis without a difference, it’s like accusing someone of breathing.
We perceive our experiences through the prism of our personal metaphors. Some think that human relationships are like a machine in which everything works efficiently without intimacy, the parts being interchangeable. Others think of them as if they were cupboards or a parts department, pigeon-holing members as though they were objects unrelated to one another. Both metaphors in terms of family relationships lead to alienation because there are no intimate connections.
More functional metaphors for a family are an organism or a fabric in which the members are involved with one another or closely woven. As John Dunne wrote in Meditation XVII, “No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.”
Dysfunctional families pretty much parallel our gardens. When we first moved to Flagstaff 8 years ago, one of the first things I did was to plant a rhododendron and several forsythias largely because I was still enthralled with the beauty of Princeton in the spring, a halcyon experience now 65 years old. A hymn reads, “New occasions teach new duties, time makes ancient good uncouth.” I’d forgotten that.
I enjoyed Latin in school, but not my sons. A year of frustrations and anger was misspent enforcing Latin. I thought they would like what I liked and become what I had in mind. A folly it is to impose our expectations on others contrary to their interests, abilities, and inclinations. Happily, they’ve forgiven me. When they were in their early twenties, I took them out to dinner with my daughter and asked for their forgiveness for all the ill-tempered and stupid things I had done. I would recommend such an event for every parent.
So it is with gardens. Many wonderful plants don’t do well in Flagstaff, but many do. I kept that rhododendron alive for four years as it withered year after year. The forsythia, Shasta daises, blanket flowers, penstemon, and Arizona fescue have prospered beyond my expectations. One sure sign of dysfunction, nay, insanity, is to keep repeating a failure expecting a success. In short, what works are native and adaptive plants.
Our sense of beauty needs to change when we move from one place to another. I was raised in California with orange trees, Meyer lemons, camellias, bougainvillea, avocados, and azaleas. I miss them, but that should not blind me to the beauty of the ponderosa pines, Gambel oaks, sheep fescue, and quaking aspen.
When I moved to Tucson years ago after 8 years in the East and Middle West, I first thought the desert was a waste. After a year, I began to see its beauty, and when I left, I missed its beauty. I still smell creosote bush when it rains. So it is with the High Country. No azaleas, but, ah, the wildflowers.
Also, that maple I planted at the same time as the rhododendron and the forsythias now shades a once beautiful flower bed. The flowers are now pitiful, pathetic, and dysfunctional. I have to transplant them and put in what the arborists call “understory” plants. Gardens evolve just as do families. Those reluctant Latinists are now worthwhile middle-aged men planning their retirements. My daughter now does the Thanksgiving dinner.
Since we’re all dysfunctional, it’s important to look at the whole of the garden and family. Sometimes plants don’t prosper no matter how much care they’re given. No point in blaming the plant or Flagstaff. The big dysfunction is in not accepting one’s dysfunction.
Families bond much like a soldier’s “band of brothers” where forgiveness, tolerance, and trust are the sine qua non of survival and prevalence. So, too, is a garden. Not every member is the same. Not only that, they change with time. Gardens, like our families, are organisms constantly evolving into new shapes and forms. So “faith, hope, love abide, these three.” Gardening and families are acts of all three.
Copyright © Dana Prom Smith 2011
Dana Prom Smith (http://highcountrygardner.blogspot.com), edits GARDENING ETCETERA. His email address is stpauls@npgcable.com.
Dana Prom Smith
“Dysfunctional family” is an epithet often thrown around nowadays, masquerading as a diagnosis. The problem: it’s meaningless because all families are dysfunctional in one way or another. A diagnosis without a difference, it’s like accusing someone of breathing.
We perceive our experiences through the prism of our personal metaphors. Some think that human relationships are like a machine in which everything works efficiently without intimacy, the parts being interchangeable. Others think of them as if they were cupboards or a parts department, pigeon-holing members as though they were objects unrelated to one another. Both metaphors in terms of family relationships lead to alienation because there are no intimate connections.
More functional metaphors for a family are an organism or a fabric in which the members are involved with one another or closely woven. As John Dunne wrote in Meditation XVII, “No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.”
Dysfunctional families pretty much parallel our gardens. When we first moved to Flagstaff 8 years ago, one of the first things I did was to plant a rhododendron and several forsythias largely because I was still enthralled with the beauty of Princeton in the spring, a halcyon experience now 65 years old. A hymn reads, “New occasions teach new duties, time makes ancient good uncouth.” I’d forgotten that.
I enjoyed Latin in school, but not my sons. A year of frustrations and anger was misspent enforcing Latin. I thought they would like what I liked and become what I had in mind. A folly it is to impose our expectations on others contrary to their interests, abilities, and inclinations. Happily, they’ve forgiven me. When they were in their early twenties, I took them out to dinner with my daughter and asked for their forgiveness for all the ill-tempered and stupid things I had done. I would recommend such an event for every parent.
So it is with gardens. Many wonderful plants don’t do well in Flagstaff, but many do. I kept that rhododendron alive for four years as it withered year after year. The forsythia, Shasta daises, blanket flowers, penstemon, and Arizona fescue have prospered beyond my expectations. One sure sign of dysfunction, nay, insanity, is to keep repeating a failure expecting a success. In short, what works are native and adaptive plants.
Our sense of beauty needs to change when we move from one place to another. I was raised in California with orange trees, Meyer lemons, camellias, bougainvillea, avocados, and azaleas. I miss them, but that should not blind me to the beauty of the ponderosa pines, Gambel oaks, sheep fescue, and quaking aspen.
When I moved to Tucson years ago after 8 years in the East and Middle West, I first thought the desert was a waste. After a year, I began to see its beauty, and when I left, I missed its beauty. I still smell creosote bush when it rains. So it is with the High Country. No azaleas, but, ah, the wildflowers.
Also, that maple I planted at the same time as the rhododendron and the forsythias now shades a once beautiful flower bed. The flowers are now pitiful, pathetic, and dysfunctional. I have to transplant them and put in what the arborists call “understory” plants. Gardens evolve just as do families. Those reluctant Latinists are now worthwhile middle-aged men planning their retirements. My daughter now does the Thanksgiving dinner.
Since we’re all dysfunctional, it’s important to look at the whole of the garden and family. Sometimes plants don’t prosper no matter how much care they’re given. No point in blaming the plant or Flagstaff. The big dysfunction is in not accepting one’s dysfunction.
Families bond much like a soldier’s “band of brothers” where forgiveness, tolerance, and trust are the sine qua non of survival and prevalence. So, too, is a garden. Not every member is the same. Not only that, they change with time. Gardens, like our families, are organisms constantly evolving into new shapes and forms. So “faith, hope, love abide, these three.” Gardening and families are acts of all three.
Copyright © Dana Prom Smith 2011
Dana Prom Smith (http://highcountrygardner.blogspot.com), edits GARDENING ETCETERA. His email address is stpauls@npgcable.com.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Desert Botanical Garden Happenings
Are you beginning to have gardening withdrawal with the change in weather in Flagstaff. The Desert Botanical Garden is just beginning to come alive with the cooler weather.
David Rogers' Big Bugs have invaded the garden!
Now through January 1, 2012
These 11 enormous, whimsical bugs are created from fallen or found wood, cut saplings, twigs, raw branches, twine, bark and other natural materials. Fun for all ages.
Mariposa Monarca
Monarch Butterfly Exhibit
Now through Nov. 13, Nov. 18-20 & 25-27
9:30 am- 5:00 pm
Free for members and children under three, $3.50 for general public with paid Garden admission.
Monet's Giverny and Other Edens
Photographs by Richard Nilsen
Now through Nov. 13, 10:am - 5:pm daily
Free for members or paid Garden admission
I just came back from the DBG and all three of the first listed events were wonderful.If you have children or grandchildren this would be a great time to visit with bugs and butterflies.
Avant-Garden
Thursdays, now through Nov. 17 6-8:30pm
Presenting sights, sounds and flavors of Phoenix.
Full event line-up and ticketks at dbg.org.
Advanced tickets suggested.
Must be 21 or older to attend.
Music in the Garden
Fall 2011 Concert series
Fridays, now through Nov. 18, 7-9pm
Full concert line-up and ticketks at dbg.org.
Advanced tickets suggested.
Must be 21 or older to attend.
Chiles & Chocolate
Friday - Sunday Nov. 11-13, 10am-5pm
Delight your taste buds with indulgent gourmet chocolates, zesty salsas, and other unique treats. Included with paid Garden admission. Members are free.
Visit dbg.org for tickets and complete fall scheduling.
David Rogers' Big Bugs have invaded the garden!
Now through January 1, 2012
These 11 enormous, whimsical bugs are created from fallen or found wood, cut saplings, twigs, raw branches, twine, bark and other natural materials. Fun for all ages.
Mariposa Monarca
Monarch Butterfly Exhibit
Now through Nov. 13, Nov. 18-20 & 25-27
9:30 am- 5:00 pm
Free for members and children under three, $3.50 for general public with paid Garden admission.
Monet's Giverny and Other Edens
Photographs by Richard Nilsen
Now through Nov. 13, 10:am - 5:pm daily
Free for members or paid Garden admission
I just came back from the DBG and all three of the first listed events were wonderful.If you have children or grandchildren this would be a great time to visit with bugs and butterflies.
Avant-Garden
Thursdays, now through Nov. 17 6-8:30pm
Presenting sights, sounds and flavors of Phoenix.
Full event line-up and ticketks at dbg.org.
Advanced tickets suggested.
Must be 21 or older to attend.
Music in the Garden
Fall 2011 Concert series
Fridays, now through Nov. 18, 7-9pm
Full concert line-up and ticketks at dbg.org.
Advanced tickets suggested.
Must be 21 or older to attend.
Chiles & Chocolate
Friday - Sunday Nov. 11-13, 10am-5pm
Delight your taste buds with indulgent gourmet chocolates, zesty salsas, and other unique treats. Included with paid Garden admission. Members are free.
Visit dbg.org for tickets and complete fall scheduling.
Gardening Excetera Column 10/29/11
THE LEAF
Tam Nguyen
Every season has a various beauty. The color of leaves changes so fantastically. Fall season has many leaves which fall off. It looks like a rain of leaves! Once in a while there is a tiny sound of the leaf that does not fall to the ground, the leaf that hangs on when others fall. So quite, so silent, so still. Because the leaf is so light, it seems to have no weight.
In a garden with many plants in spring, everything looks so green, smell so fresh. The new bulb is going up. Then the time comes for the leaf to change color, light green, dark green, gold, brown, and then falls off the branch. The leaves fall and sound crisps under my feet. I though about my Dad, and I think about life cycle. Why it is short?
Day by day, the leaves take the light from the sun, make energy for tree, and make free oxygen for the earth. The silent work is every moment. Then when the leaf fall off, we call it going home. After it finishes its job, it begins the new traveling to begin the new story.
It’s almost the shock of the spirit because the leaf makes my mind look at life from another angle. The human being, the earth, and the tree become a one thing. The spirit is in everything, everywhere. The beauty of life becomes a thing named by love. The fluttering leaf becomes the music with the melting melody. Nothing can stop it. It survives all over time. The leaf touched the ground, played with wind. It is flying, and the flying never stops.
Deep inside the person, there is the empty space to fill with the beauty of life, for love, for trust, and hope life will be better. These are our horizons, the sky bordering the mountain and the leaf changing its color. It is so deep in color, so close for anybody to touch, yet far enough for some people try not to understand about spirit. The leaf still is there. It is attending everywhere even in a quite village or a busy city. The leaf helps the spirit fly higher, further and faster, than the human can imagine about the time and space.
When the leaf falls, it begins a new travel tour. The wind will flow it up, and it will fly on the air. It is a time for leaf to find out the real world after it heard from the sun, clouds, and wind. The leaf will tour wherever the wind pushes it, the forest, village or city, expand all over. The leaf brought the song with the artist to make the life better. Just as the artist feels the melody and sings the song, so the blowing wind sings a melody.
Often the only person who is the artist can feel the melody of song and sing out loud. Gold color reminds him that the late evening for life, ready for everything, knowledge, experience and passion for life somewhere. Nothing can survive forever, one moment will be forever. The end of tour, the leaf will drop on the earth and go back to root. It will change to organic nutrition of the earth. The earth will be porous for the plants. All the story of leaf’s tour, nobody knows exactly, but it makes the mystery for life. Often people do not understand the experience of nature. They think the leaf is without meaning for human life, without caring or paying attention to the leaf.
Many forests disappear or turn into the desert when the leaves are gone. The green leaf brings hope for everybody. I wonder how many people ask for the gold leaf. Is it for dying or beginning new things, to do something or begin come back? The leaf is the reason we breathe every day. Even the good day or bad day, people need the small leaf to clean the air without touching or smelling it.
My tutor told me of Albert Camus’ words: “Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.”
Tam Nguyen is a Master Gardener and a student at NAU and The Learning Center where Dana Prom Smith, the editor of GARDENING ETCETERA, is her tutor. His email address is stpauls@npgcable.com, and he blogs at http://highcountrygardener.blogspot.com.
Tam Nguyen
Every season has a various beauty. The color of leaves changes so fantastically. Fall season has many leaves which fall off. It looks like a rain of leaves! Once in a while there is a tiny sound of the leaf that does not fall to the ground, the leaf that hangs on when others fall. So quite, so silent, so still. Because the leaf is so light, it seems to have no weight.
In a garden with many plants in spring, everything looks so green, smell so fresh. The new bulb is going up. Then the time comes for the leaf to change color, light green, dark green, gold, brown, and then falls off the branch. The leaves fall and sound crisps under my feet. I though about my Dad, and I think about life cycle. Why it is short?
Day by day, the leaves take the light from the sun, make energy for tree, and make free oxygen for the earth. The silent work is every moment. Then when the leaf fall off, we call it going home. After it finishes its job, it begins the new traveling to begin the new story.
It’s almost the shock of the spirit because the leaf makes my mind look at life from another angle. The human being, the earth, and the tree become a one thing. The spirit is in everything, everywhere. The beauty of life becomes a thing named by love. The fluttering leaf becomes the music with the melting melody. Nothing can stop it. It survives all over time. The leaf touched the ground, played with wind. It is flying, and the flying never stops.
Deep inside the person, there is the empty space to fill with the beauty of life, for love, for trust, and hope life will be better. These are our horizons, the sky bordering the mountain and the leaf changing its color. It is so deep in color, so close for anybody to touch, yet far enough for some people try not to understand about spirit. The leaf still is there. It is attending everywhere even in a quite village or a busy city. The leaf helps the spirit fly higher, further and faster, than the human can imagine about the time and space.
When the leaf falls, it begins a new travel tour. The wind will flow it up, and it will fly on the air. It is a time for leaf to find out the real world after it heard from the sun, clouds, and wind. The leaf will tour wherever the wind pushes it, the forest, village or city, expand all over. The leaf brought the song with the artist to make the life better. Just as the artist feels the melody and sings the song, so the blowing wind sings a melody.
Often the only person who is the artist can feel the melody of song and sing out loud. Gold color reminds him that the late evening for life, ready for everything, knowledge, experience and passion for life somewhere. Nothing can survive forever, one moment will be forever. The end of tour, the leaf will drop on the earth and go back to root. It will change to organic nutrition of the earth. The earth will be porous for the plants. All the story of leaf’s tour, nobody knows exactly, but it makes the mystery for life. Often people do not understand the experience of nature. They think the leaf is without meaning for human life, without caring or paying attention to the leaf.
Many forests disappear or turn into the desert when the leaves are gone. The green leaf brings hope for everybody. I wonder how many people ask for the gold leaf. Is it for dying or beginning new things, to do something or begin come back? The leaf is the reason we breathe every day. Even the good day or bad day, people need the small leaf to clean the air without touching or smelling it.
My tutor told me of Albert Camus’ words: “Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.”
Tam Nguyen is a Master Gardener and a student at NAU and The Learning Center where Dana Prom Smith, the editor of GARDENING ETCETERA, is her tutor. His email address is stpauls@npgcable.com, and he blogs at http://highcountrygardener.blogspot.com.
Highlands Garden Conference 2011 - Prescott, AZ - entry 2
This is my second entry for information from the recent regional MG Conference. I recently received an email with a link to the Yavapai web site. It has all the talks and outlines from the conference, so I won't bore you with mine.
Both keynotes are well worth your time - one on bugs and one on gardening myths. Another that I found useful was one on Cactus, Agave, and Yucca for High Elevation gardens. I realized that there are many more that will work from zones 4-6 than I realized. Check out his outline for a list of those that will.
The recipes from the farm tour I attended the day before are also on the link. They include a to die for vegetable soup. Options were for a tour of 2 farms or the headwaters of the Verde. I did the farm tours and they were great - the Chino Valley Farm (one of our Sunday Market participants) and a smaller farm used mostly for home sustainability. They also sell at the Prescott Market - mostly corn.
At our next association meeting (Nov. 10)I will bring some books from the keynote speakers if you want to take a look. I have also added them on the blog book list.
Loni Shapiro
Secretary
Coconino Master Gardener Association
Both keynotes are well worth your time - one on bugs and one on gardening myths. Another that I found useful was one on Cactus, Agave, and Yucca for High Elevation gardens. I realized that there are many more that will work from zones 4-6 than I realized. Check out his outline for a list of those that will.
The recipes from the farm tour I attended the day before are also on the link. They include a to die for vegetable soup. Options were for a tour of 2 farms or the headwaters of the Verde. I did the farm tours and they were great - the Chino Valley Farm (one of our Sunday Market participants) and a smaller farm used mostly for home sustainability. They also sell at the Prescott Market - mostly corn.
At our next association meeting (Nov. 10)I will bring some books from the keynote speakers if you want to take a look. I have also added them on the blog book list.
Loni Shapiro
Secretary
Coconino Master Gardener Association
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Highlands Garden Conference 2011 - Prescott, AZ
This was the first talk of the 2011 Highlands Garden Conference. It was a good conference and I learned many new things. I will continue to add articles about some of the talks, and have encouraged others who attended to do the same. In the meantime here is a link to the talks if you want to listen or see their outlines.
Dr. Ed Martin
Serves as one of two Associate Directors of Extension programs in Arizona, providing leadership and support for statewide Extension programming. He has developed an Extension education and applied research program in Irrigation Engineering with an emphasis on Irrigation Management to meet the needs of agricultural producers and similar clientele in Arizona.
Dr. Martin did the intro to the conference and it was about Extension in Arizona. It was titled “Danger of a Single Story” to illustrate the many facets of Extension, and why we shouldn’t think of it as just the Master Gardener program. The title comes from a Nigerian writer by the name of Chimanda Adichie. She spoke at a TED conference on the importance of not having a single story about a person or culture. If you have 20 spare minutes I highly suggest you listen to her lecture on the web. It is a lecture that all Americans should listen to. Link to video.
Getting back to Dr. Martin’s intro, he spent the remainder of the time outlining all the programs that are part of the extension, funding and how it is spent, and the value of Master Gardener volunteers in dollars in Arizona. It was a short talk but a great intro for the conference.
Surprisingly last year was a good year for money for the Extension even though we always hear about budget cuts. They had more than $23,000,000. This comes from a variety of sources – some from donations and about half from grants written by faculty. Half was spent on the SNAP programs (this has become a larger piece of the budget), 5.5 million went to the counties, and 5.5 million was spent at the U. of A. campus. Some of the programs included:
Integrated Pest Management
This saved growers $212 million by the use of fewer pesticides. They went from 4.15 lbs per acre to .48 lbs.
SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program)
The "Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP-Ed)" is an ACE Healthy Lifestyles education program for children and families eligible for SNAP (food stamps). The mission of SNAP-Ed is to shape food consumption in a positive way, to promote health and reduce disease.
SWAP (School Water Audit Program) Swapping water waste for water efficiency
This is a program to have children learn about water conservation by doing research projects within their own schools on water use. It has resulted in large reductions of water use within schools.
4-H Program – 142,000 enrolled. NO KID LEFT INSIDE
These are only a small portion of the Extension activities. If you want to see a report of all they do this is the web address for the 2010 report. http://extension.arizona.edu/sites/extension.arizona.edu/files/resourcefile/resource/scrofts/2010%20Annual%20Report.pdf
Figures from 2010 for volunteers in the Arizona Extension:
10,395 volunteers, 159.998 hours, $21.36 value per hour = $3.2 million
Half of that $3.2 million was by volunteer Master Gardeners
And that is only Arizona - imagine how much master gardeners contribute in the US.
Loni Shapiro
Dr. Ed Martin
Serves as one of two Associate Directors of Extension programs in Arizona, providing leadership and support for statewide Extension programming. He has developed an Extension education and applied research program in Irrigation Engineering with an emphasis on Irrigation Management to meet the needs of agricultural producers and similar clientele in Arizona.
Dr. Martin did the intro to the conference and it was about Extension in Arizona. It was titled “Danger of a Single Story” to illustrate the many facets of Extension, and why we shouldn’t think of it as just the Master Gardener program. The title comes from a Nigerian writer by the name of Chimanda Adichie. She spoke at a TED conference on the importance of not having a single story about a person or culture. If you have 20 spare minutes I highly suggest you listen to her lecture on the web. It is a lecture that all Americans should listen to. Link to video.
Getting back to Dr. Martin’s intro, he spent the remainder of the time outlining all the programs that are part of the extension, funding and how it is spent, and the value of Master Gardener volunteers in dollars in Arizona. It was a short talk but a great intro for the conference.
Surprisingly last year was a good year for money for the Extension even though we always hear about budget cuts. They had more than $23,000,000. This comes from a variety of sources – some from donations and about half from grants written by faculty. Half was spent on the SNAP programs (this has become a larger piece of the budget), 5.5 million went to the counties, and 5.5 million was spent at the U. of A. campus. Some of the programs included:
Integrated Pest Management
This saved growers $212 million by the use of fewer pesticides. They went from 4.15 lbs per acre to .48 lbs.
SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program)
The "Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP-Ed)" is an ACE Healthy Lifestyles education program for children and families eligible for SNAP (food stamps). The mission of SNAP-Ed is to shape food consumption in a positive way, to promote health and reduce disease.
SWAP (School Water Audit Program) Swapping water waste for water efficiency
This is a program to have children learn about water conservation by doing research projects within their own schools on water use. It has resulted in large reductions of water use within schools.
4-H Program – 142,000 enrolled. NO KID LEFT INSIDE
These are only a small portion of the Extension activities. If you want to see a report of all they do this is the web address for the 2010 report. http://extension.arizona.edu/sites/extension.arizona.edu/files/resourcefile/resource/scrofts/2010%20Annual%20Report.pdf
Figures from 2010 for volunteers in the Arizona Extension:
10,395 volunteers, 159.998 hours, $21.36 value per hour = $3.2 million
Half of that $3.2 million was by volunteer Master Gardeners
And that is only Arizona - imagine how much master gardeners contribute in the US.
Loni Shapiro
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Gardening Excetera Column 10/22/11
THE GARDENS AT CASA ESCONDIDA
Dana Prom Smith
A narrow, well-worn graveled lane leads to Casa Escondida, the “hidden house.” Finding the lane means meandering through three county roads, several ambivalent junctions, and some missteps. Several miles from the village of Chimayó in northern New Mexico, it is off the beaten path. While no one can completely get away from it all, Casa Escondida comes close: no telephones, no television, no radios, peace and quiet in what is a “rustic elegance.” Sadly, there was a wireless internet to check the stock market, a disquieting experience.
The quiet is the quiet of nature. A couple of crickets near the patio carried on an undecipherable dialogue. Following soon, a whole chorus of several hundred chirping voices joined in the conversation. While sipping a glass of cooled chardonnay to smooth out the kinks from sitting on a long drive, my ears begin to hear the silences of nature: the winds rustling the leaves of the cottonwoods and whistling through the junipers. The birds were still singing as the sun began its descent.
Although dusk had settled around the patio, the sun was still shining on the tops of a couple of giant cottonwoods (Populus fremontii) in the distance. Alight with seemingly small red and golden Christmas tree lights, they glittered against the backdrop of the deepening blue of a New Mexico sky. It is the kind of scene which evokes a tension-releasing sigh.
A dinner at Rancho de Chimayó was an authentic taste of northern New Mexico. Nestled in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range, the people of the villages are largely descendants of the Conquistadores, some identifying their lineage to the seventh and eighth generation. Flavored by the people of the region, the cuisine is often more Spanish than Mexican.
After dinner, the chirping of the crickets slowed while the yipping of the coyotes took over in that bloodthirsty ferocity of the wild euphemistically called the balance of nature. I was grateful for not being born a field mouse.
While asleep later that I night, we were awakened by the piercing screams and coughing barks of a bobcat, similarly engaged in the balance of nature. It was not more than ten yards from our patio in a thicket of trees and bushes. Sometimes, the wilderness comes too close.
At dawn, I heard a rooster. I realized I hadn’t been awakened by the crow of a cock since I was a boy. My job was to feed the chickens and gather the eggs, sometimes fleeing an irate hen. It was a very pleasant homecoming. I lay abed relishing the moment and memories.
While sitting on the patio enjoying a pot of hot tea, fresh fruit, sausage, and a green chili omelet, I caught a flash of fire out of the corner of my left eye. Steeled by the drought that had plagued northern New Mexico, I turned to check to see whether or not a disaster was in the offing, but, no, it was the rays of the rising sun striking the tops of the cottonwoods in the distance. They glowed for one glorious moment and then no more.
Looking straight out from the patio lay a small cultivated garden fit for a dry climate, then a lawn of mown weeds and grasses, and finally a wild thicket of Siberian elm saplings, an exotic invader, junipers, piñon pines, a maple emblazoned in red, and finally in the background those giant cottonwoods. It was a panoply of colors, sizes, and shapes. A truth dawned on me. A southwest garden is as much about the wild as it is about order and pattern. What does it profit to look out onto a world we have tidied?
In the small strip of a cultivated garden were honeycomb butterfly bushes, two small yuccas, and a couple of stonecrop bushes with their burgundy flowers in full bloom.
Over to the right of the patio stood the center piece of the garden, an ancient juniper with its age-roughened bark, hacked, sawed, and pruned, with a few tuffs of new life emerging here and there. I had found a compadre.
Copyright 2011 © Dana Prom Smith
Dana Prom Smith, editor of GARDENING ETCETERA, emails at stpauls@npgcable.com and blogs at http://highcountrygardener@blogspot.com.
Dana Prom Smith
A narrow, well-worn graveled lane leads to Casa Escondida, the “hidden house.” Finding the lane means meandering through three county roads, several ambivalent junctions, and some missteps. Several miles from the village of Chimayó in northern New Mexico, it is off the beaten path. While no one can completely get away from it all, Casa Escondida comes close: no telephones, no television, no radios, peace and quiet in what is a “rustic elegance.” Sadly, there was a wireless internet to check the stock market, a disquieting experience.
The quiet is the quiet of nature. A couple of crickets near the patio carried on an undecipherable dialogue. Following soon, a whole chorus of several hundred chirping voices joined in the conversation. While sipping a glass of cooled chardonnay to smooth out the kinks from sitting on a long drive, my ears begin to hear the silences of nature: the winds rustling the leaves of the cottonwoods and whistling through the junipers. The birds were still singing as the sun began its descent.
Although dusk had settled around the patio, the sun was still shining on the tops of a couple of giant cottonwoods (Populus fremontii) in the distance. Alight with seemingly small red and golden Christmas tree lights, they glittered against the backdrop of the deepening blue of a New Mexico sky. It is the kind of scene which evokes a tension-releasing sigh.
A dinner at Rancho de Chimayó was an authentic taste of northern New Mexico. Nestled in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range, the people of the villages are largely descendants of the Conquistadores, some identifying their lineage to the seventh and eighth generation. Flavored by the people of the region, the cuisine is often more Spanish than Mexican.
After dinner, the chirping of the crickets slowed while the yipping of the coyotes took over in that bloodthirsty ferocity of the wild euphemistically called the balance of nature. I was grateful for not being born a field mouse.
While asleep later that I night, we were awakened by the piercing screams and coughing barks of a bobcat, similarly engaged in the balance of nature. It was not more than ten yards from our patio in a thicket of trees and bushes. Sometimes, the wilderness comes too close.
At dawn, I heard a rooster. I realized I hadn’t been awakened by the crow of a cock since I was a boy. My job was to feed the chickens and gather the eggs, sometimes fleeing an irate hen. It was a very pleasant homecoming. I lay abed relishing the moment and memories.
While sitting on the patio enjoying a pot of hot tea, fresh fruit, sausage, and a green chili omelet, I caught a flash of fire out of the corner of my left eye. Steeled by the drought that had plagued northern New Mexico, I turned to check to see whether or not a disaster was in the offing, but, no, it was the rays of the rising sun striking the tops of the cottonwoods in the distance. They glowed for one glorious moment and then no more.
Looking straight out from the patio lay a small cultivated garden fit for a dry climate, then a lawn of mown weeds and grasses, and finally a wild thicket of Siberian elm saplings, an exotic invader, junipers, piñon pines, a maple emblazoned in red, and finally in the background those giant cottonwoods. It was a panoply of colors, sizes, and shapes. A truth dawned on me. A southwest garden is as much about the wild as it is about order and pattern. What does it profit to look out onto a world we have tidied?
In the small strip of a cultivated garden were honeycomb butterfly bushes, two small yuccas, and a couple of stonecrop bushes with their burgundy flowers in full bloom.
Over to the right of the patio stood the center piece of the garden, an ancient juniper with its age-roughened bark, hacked, sawed, and pruned, with a few tuffs of new life emerging here and there. I had found a compadre.
Copyright 2011 © Dana Prom Smith
Dana Prom Smith, editor of GARDENING ETCETERA, emails at stpauls@npgcable.com and blogs at http://highcountrygardener@blogspot.com.
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