The February Issue

Cover photo by Emily Schiller, MG 2008

for more fantastic flora photos, see Emily's blog:

Gardening Through A Lens

From the Coordinator's Desk

Beth Chisholm

The Annual Master Gardener Training kicks off this week. The 12-week course will meet weekly on Thursdays; it will be a full class with 22 students. If you are interested in sitting in on a class, please contact Amberose. The schedule is listed in the January issue. Thanks to the Master Gardener Foundation for assisting with course scholarships this year. Special thanks to those that will help make this training a success assisting with instruction, classroom support, and potluck lunch on the first day. Suneeta Eisenberg has volunteered to be my classroom assistant.  Here she is sharing her composting worms during the 2014 MG training:

More Master Gardener Class Memories

Here's to another year!

MCR Scoop

Amberose Kelley, MCR Coordinator

Well, it seems that spring is just around the corner. I'm kicking off the season with a composting workshop for our Whatcom Co. gardening fellows all the way over in Point Roberts. It will be nice to become better acquainted with that community. 

The deadline for 2016's Master Composter Recycler application has been extended until February 11. I cannot wait to get started with this course - we have some wonderful speakers, field trips, and projects lined up. As the program is still developing, I really encourage 2015 MCRs to shadow upcoming classes. Pick up on some new material, refresh the old. Pat Watkins will be my assistant this year and we have a promising slew of interns; I predict a raucous adventure in decomposition. Plus, check out this awesome preview of course material:

Sign Up Here

Course Schedule

SECTION	DATE	TIME	SUBJECT	INSTRUCTOR	LOCATION
Week One: Big Pictures	Thursday Feb 18	5 - 7 PM	Welcome to WSUE, Science of Decomposition	Andy Bary, WSU	Extension Office
	Saturday Feb 20	10 AM - 11 AM	Textile Waste	Duane Jager	Ragfinery
		11 AM - 1 PM	Home Waste Audit I, overview of assignments	Amber Kelley	Extension Office
HOME STUDY	Home waste audit I, readings
Week Two: Waste in Our Community	Thursday Feb 25	5 - 7 PM	Waste in Whatcom County	Mark Peterson, Sustainable Connections Rodd Pemble, SSC.	Extension Office
	Saturday Feb 27	10 AM - 12 PM	Community Garden Tour	Beth Chisholm, WSU	Various
		Noon- 2 PM	Waste Audit Results, Waste Prevention Techniques	Amber Kelley	Extension Office
HOME STUDY	Begin home compost system selection, readings
Week Three: Home Management Techniques	Thursday March 10	5 - 7 PM	Home Composting	Amber Kelley	Extension Office
	Saturday March 12	10 AM - Noon	Green Earth Technology	Stephanie Harvey	GET Facility
		Noon - 2 PM	Compost Workshop I	Amber Kelley	Extension Office
	Saturday March 19	10 AM - Noon	Curbside & Special Recycling	Marty Kuljis, Jr.	Northwest Recycling
HOME STUDY	Select and assemble home compost system, readings
Composting for the Environment: Soils & Toxics	Thursday March 24	5 PM - 7 PM	Soil Science	Chris Benedict, WSU	Extension Office
	Saturday March 26	10 AM - Noon	Green Burial	Brian Flowers	Greenacres Memorial Park
		Noon - 2 PM	Compost Workshop II	Amber Kelley	Extension Office
	Saturday April 2	8 AM - Noon	DOT Facility, Rain Garden Tour	Lee First, Sustainable Connections	DOT Facility, Downtown Bellingham
HOME STUDY	Home waste audit II, readings

I intended to design this year's course at a slow and easygoing pace, but somehow managed to jam pack the schedule instead. In fact, there are more places I'd like to visit; the Bellingham Food Bank, Sanitary Services Co., MCR Rebekah Snodgrass's incredible sustainable living setup- to name a few. If you have any ideas, please pipe up in the comments, and I will schedule auxiliary field trips for later in the spring. 

Best,

Amber

MG Foundation President's Message

Linda Burshia Battle

February starts out with Groundhog Day, and I'm always relieved if he doesn't see his shadow.  An early spring is always welcomed by gardeners. Wish books (seed/plant  catalogs) are turning up in my mailbox. I'm checking my yard, almost daily, for spring greenery,  buds,  bulbs and  new growth. The shot weeds are trying to be prolific, but they are part of the process. 

Whatcom County Master Gardeners are "springing" forth, also. This is the planning and motivational period before all the physical work begins in the gardens. Planning meetings, scheduling events, reserving venues, plugging in the much needed speakers, that are desperately needed, into the growing local demand from clubs, organizations and libraries. 

We receive such amazing training in the Master Gardener Program. An integral part of becoming a Master Gardener involves the commitment to give back, to volunteer, to share the valuable knowledge. We don't have any statistics to back up the general feeling among the MG Foundation Board, but it seems like fewer and fewer graduates are actually volunteering after their first year. We have a strong core of experienced volunteers that have worked tirelessly for years. Unfortunately, we are not getting as many  newer, younger volunteers to work and train along alongside the seasoned crew.

There are so many places that volunteer help is needed and fewer are volunteering. It's a problem that doesn't seem to be changing.  We cannot have a strong MG Program with the volunteer component. 

  

Those of you who do volunteer, who do step up and help when needed or asked, I commend you. You are the heart of our program. If you are not part of the solution you are part of the problem.  I encourage all Master Gardeners to be part of the solution. 

Linda Burshia Battle

Master Gardener Plant Sale

Lyn Morgan-Hill, MG 2010

Hello fellow plant lovers,

As I am writing this, the witch hazel on Mt Baker Hwy near Deming is blooming; shoots of tulips are coming up in my garden so spring must be just around the corner. That means it’s time to think about digging plants for the Master Gardener Plant Sale.

This year the plant sale will be held Saturday, May 7 at Hovander Park.

As you know, the plant sale is the major fund raising activity for the Master Gardener Foundation and we rely for the most part on plants donated by our members. Now is the time for you to take a look at your garden and see what plants could use a little dividing or plants you would just like to get rid of.  We need as many good plants as possible.

Here are some suggestions for potting up the best plants and making the plant sale a big success:

• Start early. The plant starts need an optimal six weeks to put down roots and to look presentable.

• Use good soil. Potting soil is available at the Old Greenhouse at Hovander Park. A potting bench, pots, labels, and tools are there for you to use or you can fill pots with soil to take home.

• Beginning in March, volunteers will be at the Old Greenhouse on Wednesdays from 9 a.m.to noon if you need help.

     

• Identify your plants. The internet and Sunset Garden Book are great sources of information or you can bring a sample into the Master Gardener office for identification.

• If you have a lot of plants and need help dividing or digging them up, please contact Karen Gilliam (jkgilliam@gmail.com) or Linda Bergquist (lbergquist41@gmail.com) and they can arrange a work party to come to your house to help dig up and pot the plants.

The plant sale set up will be Friday, May 6 from 8:30 to noon,

so please plan on bringing all your potted and labeled plants to Hovander Park that morning and volunteers will be available to help unload your vehicle.

Besides plants, we also need people for the plant sale set up and during the actual plant sale. There are many activities you can be involved in before, during and after the sale such as publicity, vendors, cashier positions, table managers, parking, loading, set up, take down, etc. We will be posting a volunteer sign up page on the Master Gardener webpage next month so you will be able to see the various positions and times available.

Please join us for this fun and rewarding event.

Lyn Morgan-Hill

Plant Sale Coordinator

From the Clinic Desk

JEFF DODSON, MG 2014

Hello Everyone from the Clinic Desk,

We are coming out of our winter hours at the clinic and have begun staffing the clinic more regularly.  We had to, the clients are beginning to pay more attention to their plants and the questions that populate their gardens.  Are you one or do you know of like-minded gardeners?  Please feel free to send people to whom you cannot provide an answer to their gardening question our way.  You know the mantra, “We may not know the answer but we will find out and get back to you.” 

New faces have been added to the clinic desk as regulars and will be designated as “Veterans” on the calendar so that the new crop of students (a.k.a. “Interns”) arriving this week. 2016 interns will later be able to sign up for their training/orientation hours knowing that they have a clinic vet or two to help them through these first few times.  Many thanks to Margaret Kassner and Sue Tuxill for stepping up to help fill in the gaps.  They bring a wealth of information and experience that will be much utilized at the clinic.  Yes, there are still gaps in the calendar and so there is room for you other Master Gardeners to come in and see what’s up. Forget how to sign up on the clinic calendar? Go to our Whatcom MG Resources page (http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ch/mglinks.html) and click on "View Clinic Calendar."

 

In looking back over the winter months’ records nothing stands out as any more curious or peculiar than any other year.  That does NOT, however, mean that the clinic was the plant pathology doldrums.  Far from it.  The questions were about what one would expect from people with winter-bound plants. “What?” you ask?  Well, take a moment and search your databanks of knowledge for possible things you might predict would be problematic on plants in the cold, dark days of November/December/January.  Okay, now match it to these to see how close to Nostradamus you were.  We saw questions that dealt largely with the physiology of plants (due to the less than stellar growing conditions) such as low light-induced chlorosis, premature drying of indoor plants due to excessively dry/warmed air,  one Ficus benjamina even dropped all its leaves in response to the inclement indoors.  Clients were also proactive with questions regarding pruning their ornamental and fruit trees that are currently dormant.  The last of the popular subjects that stood out was what can be done about codling moth, both now and in Spring.  So, you see, as alluded to in the last Weeder’s Digest, Mother Nature never REALLY rests, she just slows down a bit this time of year.

If you are like me, you are poised, on the balls of your feet, champing at the bit and peeking around the corner in anticipation for Nature’s spring arrival.  My guess is that we differ on one or two points, however.  Excitement is there regarding the sense of newness, that indefinable shade of new-growth green, the smells of flowers/tilled earth/and the promise of plants never before experienced.  But for this plant pathologist there is also the curiosity of what new strange maladies, insects and general plant health problems will come into view.  I know, I know that makes me more than a little weird but I am not sure how I would change myself this late in the game.

Best regards, always,
Jeff

The Case of the Purloined Parsnips

Digger Spade, MG Plant Detective

January is generally a quiet time for the clinic crew.  But some folks do garden through the winter and this client was one of those.  He grows leeks and parsnips and harvests them through the winter. The parsnips, he said, benefit greatly from the cold weather and become sweeter. The leeks can usually stand the cold losing only a few of the outside leaves.

His problem was that when he went to dig up some parsnips, all that was left of a few of them was the top showing a little new growth, and most of the outer layer of the root. The rest he said was gone, obviously consumed, but, he asked, by whom?  And what can be done to save his parsnips?

The usual thieves in the garden are rabbits, birds, slugs, etc.  But most of the underground damage to plants is caused by voles.  These are pretty common in meadows and lawns with long grass, and they can be a problem for grain producers.  So how did they end up in the vegetable garden?  Where is this garden?  In a rural setting and pretty close to a field.  

Well, that’s why he has voles in his garden, but doesn’t answer his question about how to eliminate them.

First he needs to know his enemy. Voles behave like a cross between a mole and a mouse. Like moles they make tunnels and like a mouse they can come to the surface to feed.  But mostly they eat roots and nice sweet carrots, and parsnips must be like vole ice cream.  If there are any parsnips left, the best solution, short-term, is to harvest them and store in a cool spot in damp sand or a similar storage place. 

Long-term, getting rid of the voles probably involves close mowing of the area around the garden to reduce vole territory, keeping a close eye on the garden for small holes that indicate vole activity, and probing for tunnels. Then the most effective way to reduce the vole population is to set up bait stations using warfarin baits. Voles will generally find cover such as an inverted plant tray, piece of plastic or board.  So placing these around the garden will help in finding if voles are present.  And keeping baits dry is important. Baits placed in a 2” T-tube can be set either in a tunnel or at ground level under a good layer of mulch.  Placing the bait at the site of the purloined parsnips (having removed all that remain) would be a good place to start.

We asked him if he had any apple trees in his garden and suggested he take a close look at them because voles love all things apple, particularly the roots.

We gave the client print-outs of two links, which give directions for bait stations and describe the kind of damage that voles do.   

Digger and Associates

Voles in the Garden

http://gardening.wsu.edu/voles-in-the-garden/

Voles
http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ipm/manual/rasp/voles.html

Calendar of Events

Free and Open to the Public

Plant ID Study Group

Thursday, 25, 9 am - 11 am • Community Food Co-op, 315 Westerly Rd, Bellingham

Point Roberts Compost Workshop

Saturday, February 6 ● Point Roberts Community Center

Come to learn or to lend a hand! The Master Composter Recyclers are hosting a composting workshop for the community of Point Roberts. Sign up if interested and we can carpool.

Foundation Event: The Soil Food Web

Thursday, February 11 ● General Meeting at 7 pm, Presentation at 7:30 pm ● WSU Extension 

Presenter: Paige Lanham

Paige Lanham, founder of Wild Worms, is a worm farmer with a B.S. in Biology from Western Washington University. She is an amateur naturalist with a passion for the soil food web and anything to do with earthworms and good soil. When she isn't playing with worms, she enjoys hiking, gardening, and writing.  

Save the Date: NorthWest Flower and Garden Show

February 17th is the day that the Foundation has booked the bus to the NorthWest Flower and Garden Show. More info will follow. 

Master Composter Recycler Training

Thursdays 5-7 pm & Saturdays 10 am-2 pm, February 18 - April 2 ● WSU Extension

Don't miss the 2016 training, field trips & fun! Email Amberose Kelley (a.kelley@wsu.edu) for details. Apply here.

Foundation Events

Contact Barb Schickler (barbaraschickler2@gmail.com) or Kathleen Bander (kbwm@camano.net) with ideas about future presenters, subjects for presentations, or possible field trips.

January 14, 2016

The Magic of Bonsai

Presenter: Jeff Dodson

February 11, 2016

Soil Food Web

Presenter: Paige Lanham

February 17, 2016

Flower and Garden Show

Seattle

March 10, 2016

The Amazing Mason Bees

Presenter: Missy Anderson

April 8, 2016

Field Trip: Cascadia Mushroom, local commercial grower

April 14, 2016

What's Up In Research

Presenter: Carol Miles

May 7, 2016

PLANT SALE

May 13, 2016

Tour of Local Gardens

June 9, 2016

FIELD TRIP

Extension Research Station

June 17, 2016 

Tour of Local Gardens

July 14, 2016

Field Trip: Canada - to be announced

August 11, 2016

Hovander Picnic

September, 2016

Putting Your Garden To Bed

Presenter: Marcie, Garden Spot Nursery

Lynden Library Garden Workshops

WSU Extension Master Gardeners Volunteer educators are excited to partner with

the Lynden Library to bring free public garden workshops. Our spring topics 

include:

March 5th             

Soils:  Dos & Don’ts for the home gardener: Learn about soils tests, 

the importance of tilth, texture, and temperature.

April 9th               

Composting: Discover the art of home composting! This class covers

the scientific principles of decomposition, outlines backyard and indoor composting

techniques (e.g., composting with worms), and sets you on your own unique path

toward composting and resource recovery.

May 21                 

Tomatoes: Learn the best tips of growing tomatoes in the Pacific Northwest.

June 11                 

Berries and more: food crops that you can savor