Published By:

Hendricks County Master Gardeners, Inc.

Hendricks County Extension Office 1900 E. Main Street P.O. Box 7

Danville, IN 46122-0007

317.745.9260 www.HendricksGardeners.com

Jim Trocha, President jtrocha@live.com

Jackie Rosales, Vice President rosealice@aol.com

Linda Rogers, Treasurer Treasurer@HendricksGardeners.com

Dan & Cathy Dunn, Secretary dunn.cw@gmail.com

Deborah Ashby, Editor editor@HendricksGardeners.com

Ed Freeman, Webmaster webmaster@HendricksGardeners.com

Jon Cain, AG and Natural Resources Educator

jcain@purdue.edu

Becky Troutman

HENDRICKS GARDENER THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER

OF THE HENDRICKS COUNTY MASTER GARDENERS

WWW.HENDRICKSGARDENERS.COM

Mission statement: The mission of the Master Gardener Program is to provide current, research-based, home horticulture information and

education to the citizens of Indiana through Purdue University Extension programs and projects.

MARCH 2013

Our March speaker is Kelly Allen who will share on the subject of

Food Preservation It’s Time to get into the mindset of food preservation as market prices increase and incomes are shrinking.

Also at this meeting, we welcome

William Roche, (Superintendent of Hendricks County Parks and Recreation) who will talk about the development of the W.S.

Gibbs Memorial Park

JOIN US AT 6:30 TO MINGLE AND MUNCH! MEETING BEGINS AT 7 PM AT THE HEN-

DRICKS COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS

TIRED OF ENDLESS DAYS OF GRAY,

WITH HOPE THAT SPRING WILL HAVE

ITS WAY. ALL AROUND US

LEAVES OF BROWN, REST QUIETLY UPON

THE GROUND. SURELY SPRINGS

BEGINNINGS STRAIN, WITH AMPLE SHOWERS

OF WELCOMED RAIN. SPROUTS THE BLOSSOMS

DRESSED IN WHITE, SNOW TRILLIUM FACES BRING SUCH DELIGHT.

-DEBORAH ASHBY

Snow Trillium

JIM TROCHA President;

Hendricks County Master Gardeners

Association

Please contact the president at

least 5 days prior to the meetings about business or committee

reports so that information can

be put on the agenda for the

meeting Thank You

A Letter From Our President…

The days are getting longer and migrating birds are making it to my feeder; always a good sign.

Gardening for all Ages is off to a good start. The vendor list is growing. We’ll have a meeting in the next week to solidify committees. Make sure you let friends and family know when GFAA is happening, April 20th, 2013 9:00 a.m. till 4:00 p.m. EST. Start going through your gardening supplies and things, such as books you no longer use, and consider donating them to “The Garden-ers Closet,” a fundraising booth of gently used or new items for resale. If you know of any quality vendors specializing in garden ware, please get in touch with me and I’ll contact them about reserving a space for them.

Thanks to all of those who made it to the February meeting. We had a good turnout. Thanks to Eloisa for her Bee presentation and demonstration, you’re a honey….

Also thanks to Suzy Freeman and the group that was put together to get the scholarship up and running. Great Job.

We’ll have a lot of new things coming in the pipeline; watch this site and our meetings.

Have a great month! Enjoy the vernal equinox March 21st.

Jim

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IT'S THE DOOR!! Ever walk into a room with some purpose in mind, only to completely forget what that purpose was?

Turns out, doors themselves are to blame for these strange memory lapses. Psychologists at the University of Notre Dame have discovered that passing through a doorway triggers what's known as an event boundary in the mind, separating one set of thoughts and memories from the next. Your brain files

away the thoughts you had in the previous room and prepares a blank slate for the new locale. It's not aging, it's the stupid door!

Thank goodness for studies like this, I was really getting scared !

DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME CHANGES ON MARCH 10TH

SPRING FORWARD

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HOW SWEET IT IS! The February Meeting was all a BUZZ with Eloisa Garza sharing a wonderful presentation full of fascinating facts and at times funny fables. In her introduction to the group, she asked how many folks were actually ‘Bee Keepers’. While some hands were raised, Eloisa responds, then the rest of you are really... ‘WanaBees”, which is probably not too far from the truth. In essence, Eloisa has become a kind of beekeeping ambassador. It is her passion to promote the bees for many reasons, not the least of which is to promote the pollination of our life source...food! Bees have been around for a long, long time. Biblical writings speak of ‘Honey” at least 62 times. So in His infinite wisdom, God created a very unique and beautiful indi-vidual that provides a wonderful nectar for us to enjoy and who provides food for our tables through the pol-lination process. The honey bee is the only species that has improved our environment and does not prey on any other species. How great is that? Honeybees are truly a wonder. They have perfected the art and construction of hexagonal honey-comb cells that require a minimum amount of wax while providing the maximum amount of space to store honey. Honeybees are over achievers and make way more honey than they need and we are blessed to be the beneficiaries of that sweetness as well as the honeycombs use for other products that we can use. We have learned a lot about the benefits of honeycombs from the bees. Even racecars have utilized the honeycomb design for construction to build racecars, airplanes, rockets, boats and even office furniture. That same con-struction was used on the Land Rover that went to Mars. Eloisa’s company worked with NASA for 3 years developing the “Curiosity” Land Rover’s fenders, fairings and shrouds for technical equipment, which were all made with a honeycomb of light by highly durable carbon fiber. Bees are very discriminating when choosing the best pollen from the millions of pollen grains that are present in a flower. As the bees collect pollen grains from one flower to the next, they use special enzymes to convert these grains into packets known as ’Bee Pollen’ which are a rich source of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, fats, proteins, and enzymes that contribute to their healing wonders. This product contains as many as 5000 trace elements. So the honeybees visit flowers multiple times ensuring better chances of pollination while other insects will often only visit a flower one time. This is why they are called the workhorse of the pollinators. The honeybees work together...it’s teamwork! So, what does it take to raise honeybees? Is that something you might be interested in doing? What are some of the benefits? You would be able to enjoy the wholesomeness of locally made honey. The honey-bees would benefit your local community through pollination and you would be aiding in the restoration of Honeybee populations which are in decline. Beside providing an enjoyable hobby you also can experience the joy of learning and benefit from a healthy and vibrant garden. There is also the issue of an additional income potential with the sale of honey. All it takes is desire and a little investment to set up a beehive. There are many products on the market for beekeeping, but it is wise to invest in the best equipment that you can afford. Do some research on what is available to use and get busy. It is almost time for the buzz to begin. In late winter or early spring, the Queen bee starts to lay eggs and the hives grow quickly. Of course, if your hive gets too large, Eloisa would be delighted to take them home with her!

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Hendricks County Master Gardeners Association Meeting Tuesday, February 19, 2013

The February meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by President, Jim Trocha. New Business:

Gardening for All Ages – April 20, 2013

GFAA tee shirts are being ordered and are available for $15.00. Please contact Linda Rogers before March 5th to order. 22 vendors booths have been sold. Two of our new vendors this year are Old Bob’s, and an out-of-state vendor who fashions jewelry from heirloom seeds. Requests: 1) Please bring clean containers with lids to be used for a “worm” giveaway and 2) Start collecting Items for the “Gardeners Closet”. Business cards and flyers are available for distribution to advertise our event.

HCMG Cookbook – forms for submission of your recipes were distributed and will be included in the news-letter. Please include your phone number in case of questions. Appetizer recipes are requested for our March meeting, but submissions throughout the year will be accepted.

HCMG Scholarship – Suzie Freeman said a Scholarship Committee has been formed to evaluate applica-tions. The committee includes Tom May, April Blevins, and Betty Leverett. Our 2013 scholarship will have one recipient for $1,000 which will be payable in 2 installments directly to the institution of the students choice. The student must be enrolled full time in an AG program and maintain a C average in order to secure the full benefits or the scholarship. Interested parties can apply or find information through a link on our website, twitter, local guidance counselors, and Facebook. Applications must be postmarked no later than April 12th. The committee will convene to combine their assessments and vote for this year’s recipient on April 26th..

New Projects: Rosie Lenihan presented a new project, ‘4-H Wild Flowers for Kids’ Program. The workshop for the kids would require 2 hours, to teach about seeds and learn how to plant them, and possibly go on a hike to ID the wildflowers. Opportunities for volunteers would be to learn more about wildflowers and possibly training to learn how to judge the wild flower books created by the 4-H Kids.

New County Park: W.S Gibbs Park (100 Acres on CR 200 S) Jackie Rosales is scheduled to visit the new park site on February 22nd. A public meeting will be held February 26th at 6pm at the government center, for public input of the park usage. We look forward to our guest, Bill Roche, at our March monthly meeting.

Good Reading Recommendations: “Shrubs and Woody Vines of Indiana and the Midwest”, and “Native Trees of the Midwest: Identification, Wildlife Value, and Landscaping Use” by Harmon and Sally Weeks. Both books are great references, shared by Nancy Rice.

Garden Pest of the month: “The cute little deer” Deer do love tender plants and our yards and gardens entice them to come in and dine. Suggestions were made for deer deterrents .

Avon Outdoor Learning Center: Carol Ford asked MG’s to consider requesting a power audit to benefit Avon Outdoor Learning Center. $25 will be given to the Center for each audit requested under the Avon Outdoor Learning Center name.

Plainfield Correctional Facility Project: Update from Eloisa Garza: The greenhouse foundation is complete and the budding gardeners there are splitting houseplants while waiting in anticipation for starting seed for this years garden. Consider giving seeds as well as spread the word for donations of seed. Produce from this project is donated to local food banks.

Presentation Speaker: Eloisa Garza on Discovering the Benefits of Beekeeping Eloisa explained the parts of the hive and how the bees use it, general bee behavior, and the importance of the environment and proper nutrition to maintain a healthy bee colony and how it affects the quality of our own food supply. Medicinal advances were briefly discussed. Bees are amazing creatures.

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EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES AND UPCOMING EVENTS

Mar 2nd “ Spring Tonic” at Paoli, IN “Best Annuals” presented by Colletta Kosiba at Orange Co. Community Center 1075 Sandy Hook Road, Paoli, IN.

Mar 6th “Spring Wildflowers” for Eagle Creek Naturalists 8:30 am at Eagle Creek Park Free

Mar 9th Wabash Valley Master Gardeners “Gardener's Gathering” “Native Plants in the Home Garden” presentation by Colletta Kosiba On the main campus of Ivy Tech in Terre Haute (812) 877-1936

Apr 3rd “Using Native Plants in the Home Garden” Presentation by Colletta Kosiba Free 7 pm at the Brownsburg Library Call to Register 852-3167

Apr 20th “Gardening For ALL Ages“ Set up will be April 19th with lots to do. This is a great show and lots of fun to participate in! Be sure to sign up and Pass the word. PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU ARE GIVING A PRESENTATION, OR KNOW OF ONE THAT WOULD BE OF IN-

TEREST TO THE MASTER GARDENERS, SO THAT IT CAN BE POSTED IN THE NEWSLETTER.

Advanced Master Gardener Training is not only educational, but also is lots of fun. Saturday February 23rd, Colletta Kosiba was one of the speakers at the Putnam Co. Master Gardener Seminar. Several of our members spent the day and enjoyed Colletta’s presentation as well as several others. If you are able to attend the many County programs available, the days will be enjoya-ble and education hours will be added to your advanced training hours.

Just add noise....

Hands on Project

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I am asking for great, proven recipes of all kinds, including Gluten Free. Keeping to one category of recipe at a time, my request for February-March is Appetizers. I am sure that all of you have some great recipes to share! Please

be a part of this project. Please use the following form to submit recipes to me. Following the guideline, emailed recipes are also welcomed.

Please include nutritional information if available.

THE HENDRICKS COUNTY MASTER GARDENERS COOKBOOK

It is the policy of the Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service that all persons have equal opportunity and access to its educational programs, services, activities, and facilities without regard to race, religion, color, sex, age, National origin or ancestry, marital status, parental status, sexual orientation, disability or status as a veteran. Pur-due University is an Affirmative Action institution. This material may be available in alternative formats.

Please Print Clearly

Recipe Name: ________________________________________________________________________

Submitted by: ____________________________________________Phone # _____________________

# of Servings: _____________ Oven Temp: ________ Category:_______________________

Ingredients ___________________________________________________________________________

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Directions: __________________________________________________________________________

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If you have a comment or story to tell about this recipe, please write about that below.

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Please include Nutritional information if available; ____________________________________________________________________________________

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