Queen Anne’s County Master Gardener Newsletter
The Watering Can
V O L U M E
INSIDE THIS
ISSUE:
Coordinators
2
Corner
MG of the Month
2
QA MG News
3
Demo Gardens
4
Bay-Wise
4
Grow It Eat It
5
MG Monthly
Meetings
6
Hypertufa
Workshop
6
Educational
Opportunities
7
Volunteer
Opportunities
8
Miscellaneous
9
Calendar
1 4 ,
I S S U E
8 / 9
A U G U S T / S E P T E M B E R
2 0 1 2
“The Magic and Mystery of Honeybees”
Speaker: Dick Crane
Wednesday, September 19th, 9:30am
Dick Crane first started
keeping honey bees in the
early 1970s. At that point, “it
was a hobby”, says Dick.
The hobby came to an
end in 1975, but in 2010
Dick started keeping bees
again. Now, thanks to all
kinds of diseases, it is no
longer a hobby, but a science.
At our Monthly MG
Meeting, Dick will give us an
idea what it means to keep
honey bees. The presentation
will include lots of show and
tell, including an entire hive
(minus the bees), tools and
outfit.
Wednesday, Sept. 19
at Tilghman Terrace
(Directions on page 9)
10-11
Presentations by MG Coordinator Candidates
Friday, September 7, 8:45 am SHARP!
QAC Commissioners’ Office, 2nd floor
107 North Liberty St.
Park behind building or behind Fire House
Coordinator’s Corner
PAGE 2
Master Gardener
Coordinator - who will
wear the hat next?
On Friday, September 7th, up to 5 MG Coordinator candidates will
make presentations as part of their interview process. Please arrive at
8:45. Presentations will start at 9 am. If there are more than three
presentations, a lunch break will be scheduled.
The presentations are open and all Master Gardeners are encouraged
to attend. The candidates will be presenting on the topic of “The Master Gardener Program and Its Impact on the Health of the Chesapeake
Bay Watershed.” The audience will be invited to submit comment
cards after the presentations.
Please plan on attending these presentations at the QAC Commissioners’ Office, 2nd floor meeting room, 107 North Liberty Street,
Centreville.
Thanks to Debbie Pusey for spearheading the garden at the 4H Park, and all the volunteers who helped; all the volunteers during the Fair: Fred Kurst, Kit Hughes, Judy
Geggis, Joe and Carol Jelich, Nancy Carter, Pete Gerdom, Dick
Crane, Judy Cahall-Conley, Sue D’Camera, Pat Gannon, Carol Romano, Susan McRae, Naomi Buckelew, Jim Persels, Jane ChamThanks To:
bers, Betty McAtee, Vida Morley. Plant clinics: Susan McRae, Connie Metcalf, Jim Persels, Vida Morley, Sandy Simonson, Karen
Wimsatt, Pete Gerdom and Nick Stoer.
As always, thanks is due to all of you, but if we missed a deserved thank you or if you wish to express your appreciation to someone, please let Sabine Harvey or Carol Jelich know and it shall be
acknowledged in the next newsletter.
MG of the Month: Debbie Pusey
UPDATE YOUR
CONTACT INFO!
Please send any changes
to Pat Bowell at
bowell74@verizon.net,
505 Railroad Ave,
Suite 4,
Centreville, MD 21617
or fax: (410) 758-3687
THE
Although it took a little army of people, we do think Debbie Pusey deserves extra
praise as the leader of the
new MG Garden at the 4-H
Fair grounds. Debbie
made sure the beds were
cleaned out, organized
volunteers, gathered new
plant material and most
importantly, managed to
keep everything alive with
DAILY watering trips. The
result is a beautiful, BayWise certified garden!
WATERING
CAN
VOLUME 14, ISSUE 8/9
PAGE 3
QAC MG News:
The following Master Gardeners have accepted responsibilities to keep the program going until a new coordinator is
hired. Please contact them if you have questions/info about these areas and
keep dialog flowing!
MG Meetings: At present, no one has agreed to lead. Meeting times are set in
Centreville at Tilghman Terrace (no August due to fair) July 18, Sept 19, Oct 17,
Nov 14 from 9:30-11:30. The Extension office has audiovisual equipment available if requested ahead of time. Since no one has come forward, the Steering
Committee decided that hostesses for the monthly meetings would be responsible for picking up audiovisual equipment and the hostess box.
Holiday Luncheon: Linda Doub and Karen Wimsatt. Wednesday, December
12th. Place TBD. To help with planning contact Linda at lindadoub@gmail.com
Newsletter compilation: Sabine Harvey greenbien@hotmail.com and Carol
Jelich carol.jelich@gmail.com
Newsletter distribution: the Extension office—Sheila Shorter Dorsey sshorter@umd.edu or Sue Wolff swolff@umd.edu. 410 758-0166.
Publicity: The steering committee decided that each program chair would be
responsible for their own publicity.
Bay-Wise: Kate Greer, Jane Chambers, and Vida Morley.
Grow It Eat It: Linda Doub
MG Interns: Karen Wimsatt and Linda Doub
A Garden Affair: Judy Geggis and Genie Fitzgerald
Volunteer Hours Entry: Pat Bowell. Volunteer hour forms can be sent to the
Extension Office or directly to Pat at bowell74@verizon.net
Liaison to State Office: Sabine Harvey has volunteered to attend MG State Coordinators meeting and state strategic meetings if possible. Anyone may contact
State Coordinator Jon Traunfeld, jont@umd.edu or Assistant SC, Robin Hessey,
rmhessey@umd.edu at 410-531-5556.
Steering Committee
Members:
John Ittu
johnittu@gmail.com
Linda & Jack Doub
lindadoub@gmail.com or
jkdoub@gmail.com
Sabine Harvey
greenbien@hotmail.com
Carol Jelich
carol.jelich@gmail.com
Debbie Pusey
debbiepusey@verizon.net
Jane Chambers
Earljane@atlanticbb.net
Kate Greer
Kway2bay@aol.com
Vida Morley
vidamorley@verizon.net
Jim Persels
jpersels@yahoo.com
Karen Wimsatt
Jimandkaren.wimsatt@gmail.com
Pat Bowell
Bowell74@verizon.net
Susan Seth
Seths46@verizon.ent
Extension Advisory Council (lets Extension office know what MG program needs are)
Linda Doub, Jim Persels, and Jack Doub
2012 New MG Training Classes: will be at WREC on Fridays from September 7th-November 2nd from 9-3. Linda
Doub is the contact: lindadoub@gmail.com, 410 827-8613
3rd Thursday Centreville Demonstration Garden Cleanups will continue. Debbie Pusey will advise as to time and
location. debbiepusey@verizon.net, 410 758-8623
Plant Clinics
Alternate Saturdays At Chestertown Farmers Market: Sabine Harvey, greenbien@hotmail.com, 410- 810-3890. See volunteer page for details. Kent Island Farmers Market: Karen Wimsatt, jimandkaren.wimsatt@gmail.com , Thursdays
from 3 to 6:30 pm on June 14th, July 12th, August 16th and September 13th.
ANYONE MAY SEND MESSAGES TO THE WHOLE GROUP BY SENDING TO QACMG@googlegroups.com . Please
direct questions or email address changes to Marty Appel, list serve manager. kitraveler@yahoo.com, 410643-4351.
PAGE 4
Demonstration Garden Clean-up
Submitted by Debbie Pusey
Thank you to all those who helped make
the new garden a success: Margaret
Carter, Judy Conley, Kit Foster, Judy Geggis, Jackie Kelly, Joe Jelich, Charlotte
Kurst, Fred Kurst, Jim Persels, Susan Seth
and Cass Smith. It truly was a team effort.
Demo Garden Schedule:
Thursday, September 13th: Centreville Library Rain garden at 9 am
Thursday, October 13th: Centreville, Library Rain garden at 9 am
The team that
certified the
new garden at
the Fair
Grounds.
Left to right,
Susan Seth,
Jane Chambers,
Fred Kurst,
Debbie Pusey,
Carol Jelich,
Judy CahallConley,
Betty McAtee,
Judith Geggis.
Bay-Wise
Submitted by Kate Greer and Carol Jelich
Carol Jelich and Kate Greer represented the Master Gardeners at a workshop sponsored by the Upper Chester River Showcase Watershed in Crumpton on
August 15. This program is managed by
Soil Conservation Districts in Kent and
Queen Anne’s Counties.
Under a grant program similar to
the Corisca River Watershed program, residents had signed up for free soil tests. At
the evening workshop, the homeowners
received their soil tests results and lisTHE
WATERING
CAN
tened to a Bay-Wise presentation by Carol, with help from Jenny Rhodes and
Francis Breeding of Queen Anne’s Extension. Following the presentation, which
focused on lawn care and encouraged
attendees to sign up for Bay-Wise consultations, Kate helped answer individual questions about the Bay-Wise program and horticulture issues.
Several people seemed interested
in having Master Gardeners come out for
consultations, and they were encouraged
to contact the office and sign up. The
evening was a lively example of how effective team work can be between Master Gardeners, UMD Extension, and Soil
Conservation Districts in neighboring
counties.
VOLUME 14, ISSUE 8/9
Grow It Eat It
PAGE 5
State Wide GIEI Pot Luck and Meeting
Wednesday, September 12, 10-2
Baltimore County Extension Office
1114 Shawan Road, Cockeysville MD 21030
For the past 4 years, many MGs from all
over the state, have met 3 to 4 times a year to
keep the GIEI Program moving in the right direction. We decided it was time to share the
bounties from our gardens!
If you are interested in the GIEI program, in meeting MGs from other counties
or if you simply want to have a great lunch,
please come to the meeting on Wednesday,
September 12 at the Baltimore County Extension Office.
August
Plant a late crop of basil, cilantro, and dill.
Plant a last crop of snap beans the first week of
August.
Plant cool season crops, including spinach, lettuce, carrots, beets, broccoli, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage, turnips, kale and mustard. Keep
seedlings moist and mulched.
Order garlic, walking onions, and shallots for
fall planting.
Harvest leaves of herbs before they flower. Pick
individually, and dry indoors, or hang the stems
a dry, semi-shady room. Store dry leaves in airtight jars. Fresh basil leaves freeze well in plastic bags that can be sealed.
Keep weeding and watering.
September
Plant cover crops of oats, winter rye and crimson clover through the middle of October, in any
empty beds, to improve soil.
Take a soil test, if you did not earlier in the
year.
Plant garlic from Sept. 15 through November 1.
If winter squashes and pumpkins are fullsized and the rinds are hardened, cut them from
the vine and store in a cool location (e.g. basement or porch). Rub rind thoroughly with a
weak, bleach solution- 10%. This will help prevent fruit rots.
Dig potatoes after foliage dies back. Let
them lie on the ground a few hours, then store,
unwashed, in a cool (35 to 40º F.), dark location.
Harvest green tomatoes, and put in a paper
bag with an apple or banana, to encourage ripening. Or hang the plant upside down, in a cool,
dry room, out of the sun, and fruits will ripen.
VOLUME
14,
ISSUE
8/9
PAGE
Date
Topic
Time
Place
Wednesday, September 19,
2012
Beekeeping
Speaker: MG Dick Crane
9:30am to 11:30 am
Tilghman
Terrace
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Farm to Food Program
Amy Cawley. MD Food Bank
9:30am to 11:30 am
Tilghman
Terrace
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
* Week early due to Holiday*
Planning for 2013
9:30am to 11:30 am
Tilghman
Terrace
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
* Week early due to Holiday*
Holiday Luncheon
Hypertufa Workshop
Tuesday, Sept. 25th, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Rachel Melvin and Carol Jelich will lead a
hypertufa workshop on Tuesday, September 25th
from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Carol’s place. Participants
will take home at least one trough or other shallow
container to be cured and later planted. All
materials will be provided. A small fee of $10 per
person will cover the cost of materials.
Please register for this workshop as space is
limited to 8 people. Further instructions will be
provided to registrants. To register, call Carol at
410 827-7759, or email carol.jelich@gmail.com
6
Place???
MASTER GARDENER BASIC
TRAINING BEGINS SEPT. 7
As of this writing,
fifteen people are signed
up for Master Gardener
Basic Training, which is
scheduled to begin at
WREC in Queenstown on
Friday, September
7. Trainees are coming from
Dorchester County, Kent County, Talbot
County, and Queen Anne's County.
If the class remains small, current
MGs are invited to attend for refresher
training. If you plan to attend, it would be
helpful if you would bring a food item for
the class, and let Linda Doub know.
Please reserve Friday, November 2,
from 12 to 2, for a celebratory luncheon at
the Ag Center in Talbot County, to meet and
welcome the new Master Gardener interns
into our program. Details to follow in the
October newsletter.
PAGE 7
Educational Opportunities
Plant Disease
PLANT DISEASES
Location: Montgomery County Extension, Derwood,
MD
Date and Time: Wed. Sept 5, 9:30-3:30
Registration Fee: $35; Registration Deadline: Aug. 29;
Instructor: Dave Clement, Ph.D., Extension Specialist, Plant Pathology;
Plant diseases often seem like exotic mysteries left up to the experts to solve. Well, guess what
- we MG’s can now begin to unravel some of these mysteries ourselves. In this course you’ll
learn all about the bacteria, fungi and viruses that cause plant problems. You’ll also learn
about their symptoms, cycles and controls.
Plant Identification and Taxonomy
PLANT ID/TAXONOMY
Location: Wye Research and Edu. Ctr.. Queen Anne’s County
124 Wye Narrows Dr., Queenstown, MD 21658 410-827-6202
Dates & Times: Thursdays Sept. 6, Sept. 13, Sept. 27, 2012; 9:30am12:30pm
Registration Fee: $35 plus text Registration Deadline: Aug. 29.
Instructor: Wanda MacLachlan, Area Extension Educator
The Plant ID/Taxonomy and Keying course is a very important basic tool for Master Gardeners in that it teaches all of the basics needed to identify woody plants in the landscape. Being
able to identify plants is the first step in knowing how to diagnose problems or give growing
advice.
We hope this short course will suit everyone's needs- whether you want to learn 200 plants,
20 plants, or just want to learn techniques to identify plants in the field. The course will be
made up of approximately 9 hours of class work with lots of hands-on practice and a field
walk. You will also receive a booklet of course materials.
Material to be covered will include the following:
Morphology- the study of the structure of external plant organs (e.g. leaf shapes).
Nomenclature- the systematic naming and classification of plants
Taxonomy- the general principles of classification
Keying- Using a dichotomous key to identify plants by specific characteristics
REGISTRATION FORMS can be found at: http://mastergardener.umd.edu/
AdvancedTraining/RegSpr2012.pdf, or pick one up at the a monthly meeting. Questions?
Contact Robin Hessey at rmhessey@umd.edu
THE
WATERING
CAN
VOLUME 14, ISSUE 8/9
Get Rid of Ants!
This is a recipe for getting rid of
those pesky ants that come every
spring and summer. Mix up the solution, pack cotton balls in a jar cover,
put the solution on and they will be
gone.
Ingredients:
1cup sugar
3 tablespoons boric acid
3 cups warm water
Directions:
1. Mix the sugar and boric acid well.
2. Add the warm water slowly, mixing
all the while so it won't be too lumpy.
3. Store in a jar until ready to use.
4. When ready to use, put cotton into
the top of a jar lid to fill it and then saturate the cotton to the top.
5. Place it in the location where it is
needed.
6. Note: This solution will keep for a
long while. A good technique is to drip
a drop or two over the edge of the lid to
rest on the counter so the ants will find
the solution sooner. It sometimes takes
a little while for them to find it, but find
it they will. When they do, do not disturb them as they drink. They will hang
over the edge of the lid and drink for a
while and then take it back to the nest
killing the colony. Almost overnight
they will be gone!
PAGE 8
Clarification of Faculty and Staff Roles
At our last Steering
Committee meeting, Aly Valentine spent some time discussing various educators’
roles and projects in both the
Kent and Queen Anne’s Extension offices.
Beth Hill, the 4-H educator in the Kent office, is
working on a project at Worton Park as part of an Engaging Youth in Serving Communities Grant. There may be
opportunities for MGs to become involved.
Sabine Harvey’s
work involves community
and school gardens.
Xaviera Davis is the
new FSNE educator. Her salary is federally funded and her
programs are restricted to
meet the needs of those at
lower income levels – specifically schools/children that
receive free and reduced
meals (FARMS) and families at
165% of the poverty level. This
means that much of Xaviera’ s
work in QA county is limited as
Sudlersville is the only FARMS
school in the county.
Uma Borkar joined the
QA/Kent staffs on Monday, July
16th. Her position is also in nutrition, but she does not have
income limitations in terms of
programming.
Heather Buritsch discussed her new state-wide role
and the “Growing Healthy Habits” program
Master Gardeners may
feel free to contact any of these
individuals if they wish to help
with specific projects. MGs
may work on projects that
combine gardening/growing of
fruits and vegetable with nutrition/cooking education with
either Xaviera or Uma.
DIRT (as in SOIL) does make us Happy!!
In some fascinating gardening research, new studies from Sage College of
New York confirm a 2007 study from Bristol University and University College
London that dirt is indeed a great anti-depressant. Many of us have known this for
years, but we just didn’t know why...guess that’s why I don’t make the big bucks.
As it turns out, a soil-borne bacteria, Mycobacterium vaccae, acts as an antidepressant by causing brain cells to produce high levels of the happy hormone,
serotonin. Serotonin occurs naturally in the body from the gut to the brain, and
plays a particularly important role in mood. Low serotonin levels have been linked to anxiety, depression, aggression, OCD, bipolar disorder, fibromyalgia, and irritable bowel syndrome...who knew? Mycobacterium vaccae has already been used medically in cancer patients to increase their quality of life.
Source: http://www.plantdelights.com/August/products/917/
VOLUME 14, ISSUE 8/9
GARDEN
AFFAIR CHAIR
NEEDED!!
At the Steering Committee meeting on
September 5th, we may need to decide
about doing the Garden Affair in 2013.
This decision is based on whether we
have a chair for the committee. Could
you volunteer to chair or co-chair this
important event on the MG calendar?
Please contact Susan Seth if you are
interested. Remember:
Volunteer Opportunities
volunteer to help staff the display.
Contact Karen Wimsatt,
410-643-7404. or
jimandkaren.wimsatt@gmail.com
Hostesses for Monthly Meetings: We are still looking for a
hosts/hostesses for the MG
Monthly meetings. Contact Jim
Persells or Susan Seth if you want
to volunteer.
NO CHAIR = NO AFFAIR
PLANT CLINIC
Volunteers for the Kent Island Farmer's
Market are all lined up for September,
the last scheduled month for MGs to
have a plant clinic
there. Karen Wimsatt
is looking into continuing into the fall, and
is open for suggestions and volunteers
to help. If you need
some hours, you could
help develop a topical display on
houseplants, fall fertilizing, lawn care,
or other topic of interest to you, or
MARYLAND
DAY OF SERVICE
SEPTEMBER 29, 2012
The Chesapeake Bay Trust has
partnered with Governor Martin
O'Malley and other organizations
around Maryland to help support
the first ever Day to Serve on
PAGE 9
September 29, 2012. During this
weekend, residents of Maryland,
Virginia, West Virginia and the
District of Columbia, will come
together to serve their communities by fighting hunger and helping to restore the environment by
participating in events like food
drives and tree plantings.
If you have an idea for a project
that the MGs could sponsor or
help with in the spirit of this
day, please let Jim Persels or
Carol Jelich know today.
Governor O'Malley has asked nonprofit organizations to register their event on the Day to
Serve website where volunteers
can go to look up opportunities in
their area.
The Trust is offering a special
grant opportunity for organizations who would like to have an
event that weekend. The grant
will cover tree plantings, native
species plantings and trash removal and must be under $500.
For more information, visit the
web site at
http://www.daytoserve.org/
maryland.html
HOURS PLEASE
WHAT’S IN YOUR GARDEN?
Karen Wimsatt reports that she has seen a few
different insects this
summer...a large buff
colored june beetle, a
cow killer wasp, and a
saddleback
stinging
caterpillar (as shown in
photo at right, don’t
touch if you see one!) There are some good
websites that helped her ID these critters.
Check with Karen to learn her favorites. And
share what you are seeing around your garden!
2012 is going by quickly, and Master Gardeners
have been busy this year. Take some time this
week to write up your time sheets and bring
them to the MG meeting, drop them off at Extension, or email them to Pat Bowell at bowell74@verizon.net. Also contact Pat if you have a
question about filling out the timesheets. Let
someone on the steering committee know if you
need help finding projects to work on.
Funding for our program depends on our ability
to show the impact we are making in our community, and we do this by reporting our great
projects and the many volunteer hours that
make them successful.
PAGE 10
Sun
August 2012
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
1
2
3
4
10 QA Fair
11 QA Fair
Chestertown
Plant Clinic
5
6 QA Fair
7 QA Fair
8 QA Fair
9 QA Fair
12
13
14
15 NO
Monthly
Meeting
16Demo
17
Garden, C’ville
Raingarden
KI Farmers
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Chestertown
Plant Clinic
26
27
28
29
30
31
Tilghman Terrace
104 Tilghman Ave
Centreville, Md. 21617
From South of Centreville
Follow 213 N. into town. Turn right at first light
onto Water street and * *
pass the PNC bank on your right. Tilghman Ave
will be the next street on your right. Turn right
onto Tilghman Ave. Street parking is available
as well as in the back.
From North of Centreville
Follow 213 S. into town. Turn Left on E. Water
St. ** Follow directions above.
Parking on street and in the rear of building.
THE WATERING CAN
Directions to the
monthly meeting!
PAGE 11
VOLUME 14, ISSUE 8/9
Sun
2
25 Hypertufa
workshop,
4:30pm
18
11
4
Tue
Thu
6 Plant ID and
Taxonomy
Fri
Sat
1
8 Chestertown Plant
Clinic
14 MG intern
15
Training, 9-3.
Wye REC, Queenstown
7 Presentations
MG Coordinator
Candidates
13
21 MG intern
22 ChesterTraining, 9-3.
town Plant
Wye REC, Queens- Clinic
town
5 Steering Cie
Meeting, 9:30
Centreville
20 Steve
Allgeier, Fall
Lawn Renovation, 4-5 Unity
Nursery
New MG intern
Training, 9-3.
Wye REC
19 Monthly
Meeting, Beekeeping, 9:30
27
12
26
28 MG intern
29
Training, 9-3.
Wye REC, Queens-
Start Plant Disease Class
Wed
September 2012
Mon
3
24
17
9 Mary Massey, 10
Herb talk, 3-4
pm Unity
Nursery
16
23
30
October Newsletter
Deadline:
Thursday, Sepptember 20
University of Maryland Extension
505 Railroad Avenue, Suite 4
Centreville MD, 21617
Phone: (410) 758-0166
Fax: (410) 758-3687
http://queenannes.umd.edu/
QACMG Website:
http://queenannes.umd.edu/QACMG/
index.cfm
Area Extension Director
University of Maryland Extension
Cecil, Kent and Queen Anne's Counties
It is the policy of the University of Maryland and University of Maryland Extension, that no person shall be subjected to
discrimination on the grounds of race, color, gender, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital or parental
status, or disability. Equal opportunity employers and equal access programs.
University of Maryland Extension
Queen Anne’s County
505 Railroad Ave.
Suite 4
Centreville, MD 21617
Vision Statement: A healthier world through environmental stewardship