the garden spade · 2011-12-23 · horticultural therapy 9 happenings 9 winter barrel decorating 9...

The Garden Spade

Spring 2011

Volume 5, Issue 1

Inside this issue:

Letter From the Editor 2

Exec Committee Report 3

NJ State MG Report 3

The Bookshelf 4

Around the Web 4

The Garden Frog 4

MG Reunion 5

Garden Passion 6

Banish the Winter Blues 7

What’s the Forum? 7

Undesirables 8

Horticultural Therapy 9

Happenings 9

Winter Barrel Decorating 9

Sightings 10

Calendar of Events 11

Holiday Tree Competition By Pat Evans

The holiday trees were beautiful and some very creative according to every-one who passed by in the park, and there were some kind comments writ-ten on the ballots as well. When the usual park patrons walked by the trees, they smiled and wished anyone in the vicinity a happy holiday and were anxious to say which tree they thought should win. However, this was a project fraught with difficulties, ballot stuffing, dog attacks, frigid weather, high winds, danger and more… Since the day we put up the trees, the weather turned frigid, so the number of people in the park was lower than usual, affecting the voting. Wimps! And if anyone else wanted to vote, that would be too bad because some time during the incessantly windy week, the “vote here” sign blew away, so how would they know to

vote? (I didn’t notice that until the last day.) One lady walking her dog today told me the peanut butter bird seed orna-ments were a big hit; not necessarily with the birds though. She said she could hardly control her dog, so all of those types of ornaments were miss-ing from the lower portion of the tree. (She was laughing, so it’s ok.) I guess the dogs had a holiday gift too. The ornaments held up and held on for all their might, performing amaz-ingly well. The tree losing the most ornaments was the one with the balls held on with, go figure, paper clips. Hmmm. Cont’d on page 2

The Garden Spade Volume 5 , Issue 1

Letter from the Editor

Spring is here, or so they say! Do I see crocus and daffodils starting to emerge? I was just visiting Washington, DC for an AHTA (American Horticultural Therapy Association) meeting and saw the plants popping out of the ground. It was also a feeling of spring at the US Botanic Garden, which is located right across from the Con-gress. If you have never been to this treasure of a garden and conser-vatory, plan a trip! This is the oldest Botanic garden in North Amer-ica! Here is the website for details: http://www.usbg.gov/ Many of you might have visited the NJ Flower and Garden Show or volunteered there to answer the onslaught of gardening questions the public had! Congrats to several of our Middlesex County Master Gardeners who won ribbons in some of the Garden Club contest exhibits. I hope they can put together an article about their accom-plishments for our next newsletter. While I was at the NJ show, I asked the USDA representative what was the most popular “pest” question… you might have guessed it--- the Stink Bug! I know I have been flushing them away for about 2 months- maybe only one a week, but still- Yuk! Here is the web site and fact sheet information for you to check out! http://njaes.rutgers.edu/stinkbug/about.asp For more information please see the Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (NJAES) Cooperative Extension fact sheet FS002 (PDF file). … Remember to check the Happenings column to see what our MG’s are up to and look for the information in this newsletter about the new MG Forum! “What’s the forum?” article, written by Dorothy Martin, explains all about this new communication tool. Again, I reiterate what Dorothy has said: Many thanks to Jay Scott, Angelo Gagliano and Pat Evans for their work in creating the new Master Gardener Forum which was intro-duced at the January 25th meeting. See you in the gardens soon, MaryAnne McMillan, HTR Editor of the Garden Spade

Holiday Tree Competition Cont’d from page 1 The class of 2011 had a very beautiful tree…of course I did not realize ahead of time that they are here each week to vote, and they did vote. Guess who they voted for? RCE Staff is here to vote too, so guess who they voted for? One small problem; the handwriting was identical on half the ballots. Of course it could have been one person writ-ing out the ballots for the other team members because they were the only one of the team whose hands weren’t fro-zen. Do you think it was cold when we decorated the trees? It was 10 degrees colder and windy the next day when they did it. Got to give them credit! The butterfly team had a lovely tree. The butterflies stayed on and fluttered their little wings off in the gale force winds.

CLASS OF 2011 13 RCE STAFF 7 BLING 7 BUTTERFLY TEAM 5 MG BOARD ** 0

**Never had a chance since it is frozen in the ground at a 45 degree angle like the leaning tower of Pisa. I tugged on it with all my might to try to straighten it out, and was rewarded with a branch in the eye and a $200 doctor bill. The tree did not budge. Bah-Humbug.


Executive Committee Report By Kathy Dopart, Ex. Chairperson

NJ State Master Gardener Report By Kathy Dopart

As the newly elected Executive Chairperson, I just want to intro-duce myself. You may have seen me at the Class Reunion or the MG Picnic last September. I was the red head with the loud voice. I’ve been a member of the Executive Committee even before we named ourselves Executive Committee. I graduated in ’04 after being a middle school English teacher for 33 years. After that experience, nothing daunts me. I hope to see the Master Gar-dener Association of Middlesex County fill the park at Davidson’s Mill Pond with fabulous projects and beautiful flower gardens. It is exciting to watch how the vegetable garden starts and grows each year thanks to the dedicated interns of each year’s class. There are so many exciting projects that have started since RCE moved from New Brunswick to Davidson’s Mill Pond Park. Just six years ago the first project was laying the blocks for the herb garden. Now there are marked trails, a wildflower area, the But-terfly House, the Apiary, the vegetable garden, the children’s gar-den, the bird houses and the rain garden. The future will have an Evergreen garden and a Children’s Roof Garden inside the Chil-dren’s Garden... Now we even have a Forum for discussion on the web. There is no end to what can be accomplished by a dedi-cated group of individuals. So, if you are a new member and looking for a niche for yourself or you have an idea to bring to fruition, this is the place to be. Anyone with an idea for the Master Gardeners can come to a meeting of the Executive Committee and bring his or her idea. We will be glad to help you achieve your goal if it is possible to do so. We have a calendar on the website and meet on a Tuesday night. Come talk with us.

Each month representatives from each county in New Jersey meet to discuss the progress and successes of their respective counties. The State Master Gardener Association is the group representing the interests of each county and Nick Polanin is our liaison to Rut-gers. One important function of the state meeting is to organize the NJ State Master Gardener Conference held the first Saturday in October. Here is an opportunity to learn and discuss various issues related to gardening. Each year the conference has grown larger and larger. Last October’s Conference had over 375 Master Gar-deners from throughout the state attend a busy day at Douglass College. Like each county in the state, Middlesex has a job to do for the conference. Last year, and again this year, our job is to fill the 375 folders for each attending member. We are responsible for obtain-ing the folders and then filling them with schedules, print outs and paper for members to use during the conference. Volunteers are always welcome to help do this job. Donations of folders are also appreciated this year. Our other job is to have a representative and an alternate to attend the monthly meetings. Meetings are held the first Tuesday of every month except January. Meetings start at 10 am and end at 1 pm. Three volunteer hours are given to the member who chooses to represent Middlesex County. The representative is also expected to report to the state what projects Middlesex County has going on. If anyone is interested in becoming a representative or an alternate, please contact me at [email protected] and let me know when you are available. More than one representative or alternate is fine. This year’s conference date is set for Oct. 1, 2011 at Trayes Hall Douglass College. The speakers and theme for the conference haven’t been decided yet. The next meeting is March 7. 2011 at 10 am.

Volunteer and Educational Hour Submissions

A reminder to all Master Gardeners that everyone needs to keep track of their volunteer and educational hours. They should be submitted to the RCE office, attention Donna Pemberton, on a monthly or quarterly basis. Anyone in charge of an activity, project or program should include contact data along with a short description of what was done or accomplished. It is very important we receive this information in a timely manner and we strongly urge you to keep a copy of the hours for your records. Let us know if you need volunteer log sheets or contact data forms.


The Bookshelf by Kathy Krug

The Healing Herbs: the Ultimate Guide to the Curative Power of Nature’s Medicines, by Michael Castleman; Sheldon Saul Hendler, MD, PHD, Medical Reviewer.

This book surprises. You expect that, published in 1991 (by Ro-dale Press), it’s not current. Yet it surveys the ancient and modern history of the medicinal uses of two hundred plants, including larger ones like gingko, in full measure and remarkably in confor-mity with the latest thinking. With every herb, research findings on the possible healing and safety aspects (scientific data on use and overuse) are treated in a balanced manner. A prominent note by the author which must be respected, however, is that the book should never be used in place of medical consultation. You suspect that the book focuses only on possible nutritional and medicinal benefits. It does that, but also on the specifics of plant identification, cultivation and harvesting of each particular herb. In a general information chapter, drying methods even in-clude the mention of the dehydrator and a viable source for pur-chase. Sketches of plant parts are well drawn, only not in color. Gardeners especially will appreciate the concreteness of advice, such as to plant dill in “rich, moist, slightly acidic soil under full sun, or in the South in partial shade.” You think the text might be cumbersome and technical, but in fact it’s very well organized and readable, presenting no trouble in locating desired information. In the back there’s even a very clear chart with common medical conditions and the herbs that may be helpful in preventing or reducing them.

And as the book has been around for a while, you anticipate it doesn’t hold up so well. The binding is very durable, however, and the pages are still crisp and white in a home library copy con-sulted by this reviewer through the years.

Easy, ongoing reading of this book could turn a novice into an expert on the medicinal history of herbs found in the garden, in natural surroundings far and wide, and on store shelves. And after perusing its pages, you just might find yourself using more herbs in meal preparation. Don’t forget dandelion greens for the salad!

The Garden Frog By Kathy Krug

Garden Frog spent time this past fall admiring the late flowering of the new Turtlehead plant. Gardens, s/he’s noticed, are full of really amazing surprises.

Around the Web by Kathy Krug

Children’s gardens, everyone? www.katieskrops.com Katie is a twelve-year-old on a mission to help feed economically distressed families by starting food pantry gardens throughout the country. She has this delightful website filled with photos of kids working in highly productive gardens, along with gardening tips for young and old, recipes, and more. Katie was featured on The Nate Berkus Show in early December. On national TV her gardening skills and nutrition awareness really came across as she proudly showed, identified and talked about less common vegetables grown in her very own garden.


Master Gardener Reunion: A Winter Success By Kathy Dopart

The worst part of winter is the long wait ahead until spring. Seed and plant catalogs are okay, but nothing can replace real live gar-deners who talk plants and plans for spring. Well, January 18, 2011 was the original date for the Class Reunion, a time when all MG’s of all years can come together once a year and share their spring anticipation issues. However, this record breaking snowy winter made January 25 the meeting date this year. More than 50 MG’s showed up with a dish of food to share and a desire to es-cape the snowy landscape outside. The main purpose of the meeting is to keep all MG’s informed about the opportunities available to graduates, aspiring interns and alumni. Kathy Dopart, Executive Chairperson called the meeting to order and introduced the news committee chairs and their pro-jects. The number of projects for MG’s to work on is as varied as the MG’s themselves. Linda Larson is chairing the Evergreen Garden Project. This project needs volunteers to create a Fairy Garden and a Gnome Garden as an entrance to the Evergreen Garden. Over time this will evolve into an evergreen arboretum in the future. Trees will be planted to observe life events like births, deaths and graduations. Any life event can be observed by planting a tree and with the development of a meditation garden; this project will be a stunning addition to the park. Linda called for needed volunteers. Anyone who didn’t make this meeting is invited to get in touch with Linda via the Forum and let her know you are interested in helping. The Children’s Roof Garden Project, chaired by Pat Scarano will be a one year project that hopes to be up and running by summer. The Roof Garden Project will be in the Children’s Garden and will have a living roof that will serve as an educational site for chil-dren and adults. Pat called for volunteers and has an announced date for the first meeting: Feb. 2, 2011. She can be contacted through the MG Forum. The Butterfly House, which went up last year and proved to be so popular, is now adding an extension to double the size. The Butterfly House was built to educate the public about growing the plants that attract butterflies, and teach the public about the life cycles of butterflies which are exhibited in the house. Children get to collect butterflies with nets and are encouraged by MG volun-teers to ask questions about butterflies. The Events Committee, who run the Tricky Tray and 50/50, had terrific garden inspired prizes for the lucky winners. The funds raised are used to help the MG Association run these events which include the Garden Gala in the summer and the MG Picnic in September. Pat Scarano, Camille Randello, and Ann Carosili are the Events Committee and are always looking for help. Claire Butkus is the Hospitality Chair and gladly takes donations and all the help anyone can offer. These are the people who put together the events we all enjoy.

The chance to earn an educational credit was made possible by the Event Committee. Dr. Hubert Ling of the Native Plant Soci-ety of NJ (www.npsnj.org) gave a lecture on the necessity of growing native plants. Dr. Ling explained that native plants sup-port native insects and native birds. No plants, no insects, no native birds! He also explained that native plants grow more slowly than other plants and often cost more because of their rarity. A list of native plants can be found on the MG website for those interested in growing native plants. Jay Scott and Angelo Gagliano gave a demonstration of the new MG Forum. This new forum will make it easier to discern which messages are important to individual MG’s who feel inundated by messages. This is a way to improve MGs communication with one another. The online forum, also known as a messaging board or discussion board, is an internet discussion site where members can post and reply to questions in a central location. MG’s can keep in touch with one another and keep track of in-formation without overloading their email systems. Go to http://forums.mastergardenersofmiddlesexnj.org. This site will be a great help to all of us and can increase the flow of informa-tion which benefits every MG. While some packed up their prizes, which included donations by Max Nimeck of his oil paintings, a print donated by Carol Ham-lin, huckleberry jelly donated by Claire Butkus, and jewelry do-nated by Diana Krewinkel, others packed up the leftovers, and others put tables and chairs in order for the next day, everyone could be heard marveling on the great time and great company that evolved out of a snowy, dark winter’s night. Think Spring!


Garden Passion By Phyllis Pappas

This article is to celebrate our Master Gardeners’ passion for gar-dening by featuring their home gardens. We had several people volunteer for this, and we will be picking a name from a hat for each newsletter. Kathy Dopart was the name picked for this newsletter. She has been a Master Gardener since 2003. Everyone knows Kathy. Aside from her being the Executive Chair for the Middlesex County MG Board, she has a great personality and is a born leader. Kathy has served on the MG Board since she became a Master Gardener and is one of the original MG’s that set up this board. Kathy was a seventh and eighth grade English teacher for 33 years and retired in 2003. She still loves teaching and does some tutor-ing in her spare time. Two years before she retired she saw an ad about Master Gardeners and taped it to her refrigerator and the rest is history. She loves being a Master Gardener and also serves as our Representative and Secretary for the State Master Gardener Board Association. She started gardening when she was nine years old. She planted a row of radishes and closely watched their progress each day. One day she returned home and noticed that all her radishes were drooping and looked dead. She pulled one out and saw that it had been eaten away. What pest had done that to her radishes? That was a big pest; it was her sister. She ate them and then stuck them back in the holes. This did not deter her. When she was 12 she planted morning glory seeds. They grew up the house like a jack- in- the beanstalk, curling underneath and into the crevices of the clapboard on her home. She remembers them as magnificent! Her father had a very difficult time extracting them from his wood shingles. These memories heightened her love of gardening. I have visited Kathy’s lovely garden and entered the side garden into her inviting back garden. It contains a gorgeous Copper

Beech Tree which was the reason she purchased her home. She loves that tree. Beneath the shade we sat and had ice tea at her comfortable table and chairs. It is very private and was filled with many containers of beautiful and colorful coleus. It is primarily a shade garden and contains hostas, heuchera, anemone and ferns. Her side garden which gets plenty of sun contains roses, clematis and many perennials (sunflowers, lilies, hydrangea, purple beauty berry, cone flowers, and lobelia). She fills in with annuals (marigolds, impatiens, and asters). Her pride and joy is her bright pink crape myrtle tree. In the spring, Kathy invites the children in her neighborhood to help her plant. It is a great way to encourage a new generation of plant lovers. Kathy is past President of the Sisters in Crime Organization. She is an avid reader and author. Her short stories have been published in various issues of Crime Scene New Jersey, Mysteries by Garden State Authors. Kathy also served on her town’s Shade Tree Com-mission. Her enthusiasm is infectious which makes her a perfect leader for our Master Gardeners.


Banish the Winter Blues By Joe Mironov

Fall clean up always made me sad until I read The Winter Har-vest Book by Eliot Coleman. He is a market gardener in Maine who sells fresh produce all year long from unheated green-houses. I was inspired to try his techniques in my own garden this win-ter. I started seeds of cold hardy greens like oak leaf lettuce, ro-maine, arugula and claytonia in late August and September. They went in the ground mid September and early October under plastic. They require protective row covers and a hoop house. In essence they need a double protective layer to survive the coldest winter. I did not finish the hoop house—but plastic covers have kept them going. We had a green salad on both Christmas Day and New Years Day. Next year I intend to have a large hoop house and several beds of greens. The winter blues have been banished with a few fresh greens.

What’s the Forum ? By Dorothy Martin

Many thanks to Jay Scott, Angelo Gagliano and Pat Evans for their work in creating the new Master Gardener Forum which was introduced at the January 25th meeting. It is a site where MG’s can keep up on important announcements and topics and talk to each other. The address of the forum is http://forums.mastergardenersofmiddlesexnj.org You may want to make that address one of your “favorites” so you don’t need to keep typing in the address each time. The packet of directions about using the Forum is on the MG web site. Go to “Documents and Forms” and it is there. The address of the MG web site is http://www.mastergardenersofmiddlesexnj.org Once you are on the web site, you can just click on "Forum" to get to the Forum. We'll send out an email every few days to let you know what no-tices have been posted on the Forum. We’ll remind you of the Forum’s address. If you didn’t receive an email about the Forum, we may not have your email address. If you want to keep being informed, please send us your email so we can add you to the Forum and keep you up to date. After the end of February, we sent a summary of items on the Forum instead of all these individual notices. Any questions, contact Jay Scott at [email protected]

Visitors to Davidson’s Mill Pond Park, who enjoy the new daffodil bed can thank the following Master Gardeners for their hard work, (L-R) Margie Vogel, Martha Mancek, Steven Carter, Judy Wagner, Mary Shipmann and Jim Yeager (not pictured).


Undesirables by Pat Scarano

A stroll through the quad, a fairy-tale picture of beautiful ivy growing over decades old university buildings: isn’t the ivy beauti-ful? Bacchus, the roman god of intoxication is depicted wearing a wreath of ivy on his head. Ivy symbolized immortality. The pa-gan religion, Druidism (before Christianity), used ivy as a symbol of eternal life. English ivy (Hedera helix aka: Bindwood or Lovestone) came to America by an English setter named Thomas Wilcox. Wilcox brought his ivy to Pennsylvania. America’s first botanist and plant explorer, John Bartram, planted ivy in his Philadelphia garden. (The Gardener’s Guide to Growing Ivies by Peter Q. Rose) There are 12 ivy species and up to 500 cultivars. English ivy can grow up to 90 feet in length. Ivy propagates easily by cuttings or by seeds. It is evergreen. “Ivy grows wonderfully. Some say too wonderfully.”(Suzanne Pierot, Pierot System of Classification). Therein lies the ivy problem. English ivy climbs by tendrils of clinging root like structures. The ivy vine can live a decade before reproduction. Once ivy is verti-cal it becomes adult. At that point the leaves of ivy change from palmate to ovate and with the increased sunlight flowering and berry production happen. Both the leaves and berries are toxic. The toxic property being triterpenoid saponins. The leaves also contain falcarinol which causes contact dermatitis. But, surpris-ingly ivy has been shown to kill breast cancer cells. In the past the leaves and berries were taken orally as an expecto-rant. British herbalist, John Gerard, 1597, used water infused with ivy leaves for sore eyes. These are not suggestions only history. Ivy is toxic. As beautiful as ivy can be, it can be a nightmare. Ivy rootlets cause damage to stonework, brickwork, stucco buildings and trees. Ivy is allelopathic. It releases compounds in the soil that are haz-ardous to other plants. Even weeds do not grow through ivy. Ivy is invasive. It escapes into natural areas and can create a car-pet on the forest floor where nothing else will grow. Ivy can spread by seed. Each ivy berry has up to five seeds and spreads through bird droppings. It also can spread by garden cutting waste not properly disposed of. Ivy is a noxious weed in Washington and Oregon states and the countries of Australia and New Zealand. It is invasive in 29 US states including the District of Columbia where it has almost to-tally been removed from the Nation Arboretum.

So, why do so many buildings in Massachusetts, including the ivy-covered brick wall at Wrigley Field, have ivy? The reason is be-cause Boston ivy is actually not ivy, Hedera, but a Japanese creeper, Parthenocissus tricuspidata. It is all over Boston hence the common name, Boston ivy. Boston ivy is in the grape family, a deciduous woody vine whose tendrils are tipped with sticky disks. The plant secretes calcium carbonate which serves as an adhesive that attaches to a wall. The disks do not penetrate the surface of a wall, although damage can happen if pulled from the wall. It is best to let the plant die where the adhesive will lessen and then pull. Boston ivy cools buildings in the summer. The leaves are pal-mate with 3 lobes. It also flowers and fruits like English ivy. Boston ivy is deciduous and the leaves turn red in fall while Eng-lish ivy is evergreen. English ivy climbs by tendrils and Boston ivy climbs by circular disks. The best way to tell the difference is to watch for the bright red fall color. Some slow-growing cultivars of English ivy are H. ’Duck Fool’ and H.’ Lady Frances’ but be very careful the plant does not re-vert to the parent plant. I have English ivy at the shore where it was originally planted to hide an unsightly foundation. Within 20 years it has taken over a small front yard, smothered all of those plantings, is creeping under the siding, onto the sidewalk and has taken over our fence 25 feet from the original planting. I’d say ivy is truly invasive. Help and beware!


HAPPENINGS By Kathy Dopart and Phyllis Pappas

General Membership Meeting: On Nov. 30th Larry Siegel, employed as an outreach specialist for the EPA, spoke on “Pesticides and Toxic Substances.” The meeting was well at-tended and everyone enjoyed the food and interaction with each other. MG Picnic Sept. 26th: The MG picnic was great fun. There was a plant swap, a water balloon toss and a fun version of Plant Jeopardy. About 30 people attended and brought interest-ing foods to share. Butterfly House Award Application Meeting: On January 19th members of the butterfly house committee met to complete an application for The International Master Gardener 2011 Search for Excellence Award. We wish them luck. Children’s Green Roof Playhouse Project: Pat Scarano is heading up this project and is planning meetings. Look for emails on the meeting times.

Winter Barrel Decorating By Jerri Barclay

On November 30, 2010 a committee of Master Gardeners met to transform the barrels outside the Earth Center, along the driveway and in front of the ranch house for winter. The barrels were filled with Douglas fir, Blue Spruce, White Pine, Norway Spruce and Fraser Fir boughs supplied by Barclay’s Tree Farm. Holly, pine cones, white flocked branches and red velvet bows completed the arrangements. Those responsible for bringing a festive touch to the Earth Center are Dale Duchai, Judy Wagner, Donna McEvoy and Jerri Barclay.

Horticultural Therapy By MaryAnne McMillan, HTR

VA resident Ruth with her dried flower arrangement- flowers are from the Earth Center garden

Master Gardener’s Martha Moncek and Susan Roberts continue holding monthly sessions with the members of the “Garden Club” at the VA Home in Menlo Park, NJ. Since the beginning of winter, with the help of the Master Gardeners, the residents have been busy making beautiful floral arrangements. In December, they made evergreen arrangements adding fresh flowers and in January, they made incredible containers of everlasting flowers. These flow-ers were grown and dried at the EARTH Center garden! This therapeutic gardening program will continue the 2nd Tuesday throughout 2011 at 10:00 am and all Master Gardeners are wel-come! I also wanted to report on the American Horticultural Therapy Association’s (AHTA) exhibit at the 2011 Philadelphia Flower Show. AHTA was delighted to sponsor the Horticultural Therapy exhibit for the second consecutive year. The goal of AHTA is to educate the public about Horticultural Therapy: what it is and how through goal–directed programs it can be a therapeutic tool to achieve wellness. The exhibit, in keeping with this year’s theme “Springtime in Paris", was titled “Liberte, Egalitie, Accessi-bilite” (“Freedom, Equality Accessibility”) and featured a Parisian Potager. The Potager showcased ideas for recycling, sustainability, selecting plants and ways to garden in small spaces. The collective goals of the exhibit were directed towards educating the audience about how HT can enhance well-being, teach new skills, distract from pain, reduce stress and isolation, and to provide fun and meaningful work in a way that is life-affirming. A talented group of members of AHTA and the local networking group, MAHTN in the Greater Philadelphia area, generously do-nated their time and energies to create, set up, staff, and maintain the exhibit. To learn more about the American Horticultural Therapy Associa-tion, check their website at www.ahta.org.


Sightings—MG’s at Work & Play

Photo montage courtesy of April Lippet-Faczak

Are You on the MG Email List? This ensures that you get timely updates regarding Master Gardener activities, information on volunteer opportu-nities, as well as various state-wide updates. If you are currently a Middlesex County Master Gardener and would like to be included, just email the Communi-cations Committee at: [email protected] with your email address and request to be put on the list. It’s as easy as that!


Calendar of Events MARCH

26 BACKYARD COMPOSTING What: Discover how you can compost in your backyard. When: 10:00 am – 12:00 pm Where: EARTH Center Conference Room Who: Questions? Contact Carol Richiusa. 29 FUND RAISING MEETING What: Preparation for non-profit status application. When: 6:30 pm Where: EARTH Center Conference Room Who: Questions? Contact Jan. 30 VERMICOMPOSTING What: Learn how to compost using worms. When: 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm Where: EARTH Center Conference Room Who: Questions? Contact Carol Richiusa.

APRIL 13 ALL ABOUT GROWING HEIRLOOMS What: More flavorful, unique shapes & colors. When: 6:30-8:30 pm Who: Questions? Contact Carol Richiusa. 16 TREE & SHRUB PRUNING What: Pruning to Correct Winter Damage When: 10am-Noon Who: Questions? Contact Carol Richiusa. MAY 7 START YOUR GAREN DAY & PLANT SALE What: MG Q & A Table When: 10 am - 5 pm (Rain or Shine) Who: Questions? Contact Carol Richiusa.

NAME CONTACT INFO Claire Butkus 732-828-0413 or

[email protected] Pat Evans 732-829-8933 or

[email protected] Jan Carrato [email protected] Debbie Henry 732-545-8032 or dmhen-

[email protected] Kathy Dopart [email protected] Ida Howell 732-718-1587

[email protected] MaryAnne McMillan

908-447-8360 or [email protected]

Phyllis Pappas [email protected]

Carol Richiusa 732-398-5262 or [email protected]

Camille Randello 732-679-3589 or [email protected]

Dave Smela 732-398-5268 or [email protected]

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

COOL Volunteer Opportunity at Exciting Green Eco Event Certified Master Gardeners are needed to answer gardening questions and promote the EARTH Center at GreenFest. We will team up with Union County Master Gardeners at Kean University in Union. Car pooling is available. GreenFest is where families go to learn about green opportunities. Bill Nye the Science Guy will be there on Sunday. Learn more at www.gardenstategreenfest.com. Sat., March 19th & Sun., March 20th from 10:00-4:00 Full Day or 10-1, 1-4 Shifts One Master Gardener needed per day Please reply to April at [email protected]

1st Annual Master Gardener's Day at Giamarese Farm 155 Fresh Ponds Road Saturday, May 14th, 2011 10:00 am-4:00 pm Answering questions about plants and vegetables, promote the EARTH Center with the display boards and fact sheets and also the rain barrel and display. There will be two tables for the displays and chairs under the Farm Market's overhang, out of the sun or rain. The farm is located 5 minutes from the EARTH Center at 155 Fresh Ponds Road in East Brunswick. Giamarese Farm supports the EARTH Center by contributing cover crops and plants. This year, Jim & Sue are celebrating 70 years of Giamarese Farming. Check out the website at www.giamaresefarm.com This volunteer time can be split into shifts (10-1, 1-4 or 10-4). Three Certified Master Gardeners and One Trained Rain Barrel Presenter. Please contact April at [email protected]

RCE of Middlesex County 42 Riva Avenue Davidson’s Mill Pond Park North Brunswick, NJ 08902

We’re on the Web! http://www.rce.rutgers.edu/mastergardeners or http://co.middlesex.nj.us/extensionservices

Phone: 732-398-2586 E-mail: [email protected]

The Garden Spade Middlesex County Master Gardener Newsletter published quarterly MG Staff: Executive Editor.... MaryAnne McMillan Layout/Format Editor.... Caren White Copy Editor.... Dorothy Martin, Contributing Reporters..... Kathy Dopart, Phyllis Pappas Columnists…. Kathy Krug, Pat Scarano RCE Staff Bill Hlublik Rich Weidman Donna Pemberton David T. Smela Spring Edition columnists Jerri Barclay, Pat Evans, Joe Mironov

The Middlesex County Extension office is supported by the Board of Chosen Freeholders: Christopher D. Rafano—Freeholder Director

Ronald G. Rios– Deputy Director

Carol Barrett Bellante, Liaison

Stephen J. “Pete” Dalina

H. James Polos

Charles E. Tomaro Blanquita B. Valenti