During National Volunteer Week, April 21 -27, we salute University of Minnesota Extension Master Gardener volunteers! In the most recent year, Extension Master Gardeners contributed over 129,220 hours of volunteer service preparing for, teaching about, and assisting Minnesota citizens find information about best practices in horticulture and environmental stewardship. ]]>
By Terry Salmela, Extension Educator - Pine CountyThe U of M Extension Master Gardeners, Simply Good Eating and Community Nutrition staff in Pine County promoted healthy eating at the local fair and community garden. "Grow Yourself a Healthy Handful" was inspired by an educational program through the MN Landscape Arboretum.
Trina Barno, Simply Good Eating Director, and Kelly Appeldorn, Pine County Community Nutrition Educator put together two impressive display boards that Master Gardeners used in fair booths in both Kanabec and Pine counties. They also put together helpful handouts on U of M Extension recommended canning and freezing processes and recipes.
Extension Master Gardeners planted five gallon pails as well as five plastic flower pots full of the five most nutritious vegetables in May. They watered, fertilized and weeded them throughout the summer. The live potted examples were on display at the Pine County community garden and at the fair.
Master Gardener fair booth co-chairs Roger and Linda Fischer designed the display, utilizing materials from the MN Landscape Arboretum as well as two tipping container stands and planted herbs in them. They were a favorite of fairgoers! The booth was located between two walkways, so it was visible from two sides. Nineteen Extension Master Gardeners answered visitors' questions on powdery mildew on vine crops, herbs, stringy snap beans, brown spots on hostas, flowers, vegetables and many other gardening topics. They even had a door prize sign-up for a four-hour tiller rental at a local dealer.
For more information:
Extension Master Gardener Program: mgweb@umn.edu
Extension Master Gardeners - Pine County: Terry Salmela, Terry.Salmela@co.pine.mn.us
MN Landscape Arboretum: http://www.arboretum.umn.edu
that week's unique theme in the Garden's Outdoor Classroom. During last week's Plant Parts class, students first discussed the structural components of familiar garden vegetables and flowers, and then applied what they had learned through the dissection of locally-grown Asiatic and day lilies.
The most anticipated part of the day is the time spent in the ever-evolving Children's Garden--a kid-friendly, botanical oasis chock full of fragrant mint and basil; neon-stemmed Swiss chard; towering trellises of morning glories; and beds of eye-catching annuals. After taking inventory of the plants, discussing their various uses, and pulling out the errant weed (or two), the students were let loose in the garden to observe, discover, and (of course) harvest a few goodies to take home and share with their families.
U of MN Extension Master Gardeners recently taught a Children's Gardening Class in the Aurora-St Anthony Neighborhood. Eight children attended including one mom (who helped weed)!
Master Gardener volunteers on the scene were Diane, Sarah R, Ge, Z, Melvin, and Sean.
The class started out with the gardeners drawing a picture of their ideal garden or coloring a plant part picture. Attached the works of the 2 older girls. One gardener designed a pea teepee in her ideal garden!. The students acted out 'radishes and weeds' in an effort to understand why weeding is important. Then, Gardeners to the Rescue! The class weeded the west border where we will be planting lettuce this week and did a great job!
Next up was a demonstration of what plant parts people eat. The class examined carrots (roots), celery (stem), cauliflower (flower), lettuce (leaves), cherry tomatoes (fruit), and sunflower seeds (seeds). Then they ate these plant parts in 'plant part roll-ups' -chopped carrots, celery, cauliflower, tomatoes, and sunflower seeds rolled up in a lettuce leaf, dipped in Ranch or Western dressing. SUCCESS!!!!!!! The kids ate them, liked them....even asked for seconds.
One Master Gardener volunteered to be a radish! That is truly being present to the cause!
Looking forward to our next class--BUGS!
Submitted by M. P., U of MN Extension Master Gardener - Ramsey County
]]>Date: Tuesday, July 31
Time: 5 - 8 p.m.
Location: Dakota County Master Gardener Research and Display Gardens in UMore Park,1605 West 160th St. in Rosemount (1 mile east of the intersection of Highways 46 and 3).
The event is free and open to the public.
The evening provides garden-centered presentations on projects currently underway at the RROC along with tent talks on special topics of gardening interest. Garden talks are organized around six themes: Growing Healthy Food, Sustainable Landscapes, Minnesota Introductions & Bird Gardening, Preservation of Pollinators, Minnesota Reasearch, and Gardening for Kids. There will be four special tent presentations on Weed, The Well-Tended Garden, Plant Photography, and Honey Bees.
The Extension Simply Good Eating program will share information about the importance of eating healthy and nutritious food, especially those fresh foods from your own garden.
Tickets for refreshments will be available for purchase on site.
Visit the Dakota County Master Gardener blog at http://blog.lib.umn.edu/mgweb/dakota for more information and continual updates on the event and other Master Gardener projects at UMore.
Did you know that you can email your gardening questions to U of M Extension Master Gardeners - and get an answer by the next day?
Ask A Master Gardener, part of the national Extension Ask An Expert online Q&A tool, is staffed by Extension Master Gardeners ready and willing to provide solutions to your gardening problems within 24 hours. Minnesota recently completed online volunteer training and currently 71 Master Gardeners are volunteering for Ask A Master Gardener.
How does it work? Simple. Click on the link to Ask A Master Gardener, type in your question, attach a photo if you like, and click Submit. Your question is filtered at the national level and sent to a Master Gardener who's criteria (location, topic, etc.) matches your question and location. The Master Gardener volunteer receives your question via email, researches and responds to your email.
Archives of answered gardening questions can also be searched on the national eXtension website. And don't forget to visit the U of M Extension Garden website for publications, classes, events, and other great resources!
The next time a gardening problem perplexes you, Ask A Master Gardener!
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For 35 years University of Minnesota Extension Master Gardener volunteers have been sowing seeds of success across Minnesota.
Examples of that success are described in the spring 2012 edition of Extension's Source magazine. A feature story tells how Master Gardeners in Isanti County have given back to their community in Cambridge, MN. Interest in the community garden they initiated in 2009 has grown significantly and benefits the community on several fronts. Other side articles in Source describe how Master Gardeners contribute to University research and how Master Gardener educational classes lead to citizens adopting greener gardening practices.
To view or download the complete Source magazine that highlights Extension programs and impact in Minnesota, click here.
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July 19-21, 2012
Every two years, the Upper Midwest Regional Master Gardener Conference is hosted by WI, IL, IA, or MN. In 2012, it's our turn here in Minnesota, and we are excited and proud to be hosting the conference for Extension Master Gardener volunteers at the world-renowned Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.
This conference is for Extension Master Gardeners and their guests only.
The conference will also feature a vendor fair, a silent auction with proceeds going toward the Jr. Master Gardener program in Minnesota, book signings, Minnesota Wine Opening Reception and a Minnesota Buffet Banquet featuring speaker Dr. Ed Schneider, Arboretum director.
The class sessions are diverse and exciting and focused around research in the Midwest! Some are classroom-based, some hands-on, some a little of both. Registration is now open. We hope all Upper Midwest Extension Master Gardeners will join us!
Registration is online! Click here.
Master Gardeners don't just experiment with plant varieties on their own, they assist University of Minnesota faculty with research. Beginning in 2009, Master Gardeners in Dakota County aided Extension horticulturist Dr. Vince Fritz on a Brassica research project. The project set out to evaluate variety performance and to characterize each variety's relative health benefit based on the variety's phytonutrient concentration. Vegetables with high phytonutrient concentrations are thought to have preventative benefits against some forms of cancer. The research is directly connected to a collaborative study Dr. Fritz is conducting with the U's Masonic Cancer Center.
Master Gardeners helped to plant and maintain the trial plots at the University of Minnesota's Rosemount Research and Outreach Center (RROC). They also assisted with data collection and as co-educators about the research during annual open house events at the RROC. Later this year a variety trial report will be published. The report will include relative phytonutrient concentrations in each of the varieties trialed.
Dr. Fritz says of the Master Gardener volunteers, "I have thoroughly enjoyed working with the Master Gardeners in Dakota County over the years. Their enthusiasm, desire to learn, and desire to 'pass it on' is contagious."
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Crow Wing County Master Gardeners were instrumental in selling more than 500 home compost bins in 2011. That will keep a lot of solid waste out of the county landfill. Distributing compost bins is just one aspect of the "Crow Wing County Backyard Composting Program," an effort funded by a 2-year MPCA waste reduction grant. Master Gardeners conduct the program in collaboration with University of Minnesota Extension - Crow Wing County, Northland Arboretum, and Crow Wing Soil and Water Conservation District. Again in 2012, education on home composting will be delivered through a series of workshops and information booths.]]>
With names like "Let's Get Growing," "Burst into Spring," and "Spring Wake-Up," horticulture days have become a popular way for University of Minnesota Master Gardeners to pack a lot of garden and environmental education for the public into one event. A keynote speaker, a series of educational workshops conducted by Extension educators and other plant experts, garden-related vendor booths and silent auctions are typical in the format of these one-day events. Last spring nearly 3000 people attended one of the many horticulture days hosted by local Master Gardener programs.
Click on 'public classes and events' in the left menu bar on this website or go directly to this web page to find classes near you or contact your local Master Gardener.
]]>Funded by the USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture, nationwide research will focus on harvesting perennial grasses--mostly native species such as bluestem and switchgrass--and using the biomass as a feedstock for a biofuel process known as pyrolysis. Interdisciplinary research teams from eight states will explore the best ways to grow, harvest, transport and distribute the biomass and biofuel.
In Minnesota, research efforts will center on the use of biochar, a nutrient-rich solid and co-product of the pyrolysis process, as a soil amendment. To help determine biochar's viability as a commercial product for home gardeners, Master Gardeners will test its ability to increase productivity in vegetable and flower gardens. They will design, plant, maintain and collect data from research plots at three Minnesota sites: the St. Paul Campus Display Garden, the Rosemount Research and Outreach Center, and the Landscape Arboretum. In addition, Master Gardeners will share preliminary findings and results at horticulture days, open houses, field days and other public events statewide.
"The unique part is that Master Gardeners get to work on cutting-edge bioenergy research and bring those results out to the people of Minnesota," said Julie Weisenhorn, Master Gardener program state director.
U of M scientists from Extension and the departments of bioproducts and biosystems engineering; horticultural science; soil, water and climate; and applied economics will take part.
"What is so exciting about this project is that it has the potential to improve soil fertility of large agricultural fields as well as small gardens," said Jason Hill, assistant professor in the U's bioproducts and biosystems engineering department and one of the project's lead investigators.
The feasibility of biochar as a new commercial product for home gardeners may bode well for the future of clean energy options like bio-oil. Pyrolysis decomposes biomass to produce both biochar and bio-oil, which with additional refining can be turned into automobile fuels and petrochemicals. So-called "green gasoline" derived from bio-oil is considered a "drop-in fuel" that can be added directly to the U.S. gasoline infrastructure and delivery system.
In addition to the University of Minnesota, the five-year study involves researchers from Iowa State University, Purdue University, the University of Wisconsin, the University of Vermont, USDA research offices in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Nebraska, and the Department of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory.
University of Minnesota Extension is a 100-year-old partnership between the university and federal, state and county governments to provide scientific knowledge and expertise to the public. Through Extension, the University of Minnesota "extends" its resources to address critical public issues in priority areas, including food and agriculture, communities, environment, youth and families. For more information, visit www.extension.umn.edu.
From Julie Christensen
Public Relations and News Media Manager
University of Minnesota Extension
From top left: Nancy Hall (Master Gardener), Paul Richtman (Master Gardener), Craig Winters (Master Gardener), David Moen (State Program Manager), Jerry Tilden (Master Gardener), Tom Voigt (Master Gardener), Peggy Zimmerman-Belbeck (Master Gardener), Gwen Stadstad (Master Gardener). From bottom left: Bridget Barton (State Program Assistant), Sandi Paulson (Master Gardener), Julie Weisenhorn (State Program Director), Paul Wood (Master Gardener), Mary Zeug (Master Gardener, Vice-Chair), Diana Rankin (Master Gardener, State Advisory Board Chair).
Not pictured: Sarah Jaycocks (Ramsey County Coordinator), Nathan Crane (Regional Director, UMN Extension), Dori Vickla (Master Gardener).
Photo taken at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Snyder Building, by Terry Straub.