Make Paper Pots (Hands on Activity) Strip of newspaper and glass bottle (Reduce, Re-use, Recycle) Transplant plant in pot; it prevents root shock Best alternative is peat pots; but they (a) are expensive and (b) this removes peat from where it is most needed - i.e. where it is! Can upgrade to larger paper pots or yogurt pots (perforate bottom) as plants grow   Make Potting Soil Mix (Hands on Activity) Compost and garden soil - equal parts up to 2 parts compost /1 part garden soil Plus a smidgen of soft rock phosphate (a rock powder) for added phosphorus Why not perlite, vermiculite, peat moss, fertilizer, or soil less mixtures? Consider Nature: seed falls onto leaf litter, then onto layer of pure compost, puts roots down into rich compost/soil mixture. (The wisdom of 250 million years of plant/soil co-evolution is superior to anything sold by gardening centers.) Compost prevents “damping off” - it certainly doesn't cause it. Fungi in well-made compost suppress the fungus that causes damping off. And a cheap fan helps.   Watering (Equipment Demonstration) Problem: soil in potting mix tends to pack down when watered. Solution: water from the bottom Reused “carry-out” trays, paper pots in tray all touching, keep bottom moist Alternative: Gardeners Supply “A.P.S.” unit ($9.95), takes 22 tomatoes in starter paper pots Use rainwater. Consider - city water contains chlorine in order to kill bacteria, which are an essential component of soil   Light Sunlight, even a clear south window, is usually inadequate. Use plain household florescent tubes, 1 “cool”, 1 “warm”, or 2 of each. Just as good as costly “gardening” tubes. Replace every year (any kind of tube) Maximum light intensity needed; place tube ½ inch above tip of plant. Achieve this by suspending light unit from basement beam by chains   Hardening Off, Fertilizer, and Heat Lengthy hardening off outside before transplanting is essential; aim is sturdy, stocky plants First 2 days, protect plants from direct sun and wind. Bring in at night unless minimum temperature will exceed lowest growth temperature for that plant Feed, when needed, with fish or seaweed emulsion - half strength Seed-starting heating pads are available for hot-weather plants like eggplant and peppers. Very expensive, good Christmas present.       FEBRUARY/MARCH 2005 TIPS FOR STARTING SEEDS ORGANICALLY INDOORS By Peter Bray Program Highlights 2 Global Releaf 2 Poetry 3 & 8 Organic Gardening 4 Education 5 Master Gardener Banquet 5 Inside this issue: Roots & Shoots ROOTS & SHOOTS, PAGE # ROOTS & SHOOTS, PAGE # North Office Building, #26 East 1200 North Telegraph Road Pontiac, MI 48341-0416 248/858-0880 Fax: 248/858-1477 This story can fit 175-225 words. If your newsletter is folded and mailed, this story will appear on the back. So, it's a good idea to make it easy to read at a glance. A question and answer session is a good way to quickly capture the attention of readers. You can either compile questions that you've received since the last edition or you can summarize some generic questions that are frequently asked about your organization. A listing of names and titles of managers in your organization is a good way to give your newsletter a personal touch. If your organization is small, you may want to list the names of all employees. If you have any prices of standard products or services, you can include a listing of those here. You may want to refer your readers to any other forms of communication that you've created for your organization. You can also use this space to remind readers to mark their calendars for a regular event, such as a breakfast meeting for vendors every third Tuesday of the month, or a biannual charity auction. If space is available, this is a good place to insert a clip art image or some other graphic. AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2003 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2003 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2005 ROOTS & SHOOTS, PAGE # FEBRUARY/MARCH 2005 ROOTS & SHOOTS, PAGE # Program Highlights - February By John Humphrey At our next general meeting on February 2nd, Mr. William Horman will share his knowledge and expertise of lilacs. Born in 1944, Mr. Horman is a life-long resident of Detroit. He spent more than 30 years working in the Forestry and Landscape Division (Floriculture Unit) for the City of Detroit Recreation Department, maintaining the greenhouses and Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory on Belle Isle. He attained the title of Senior Floriculturist. In 1962, Mr. Horman began collecting temperate zone plants as he established and developed Sunny Fields on 40 acres in St. Clair County. Sunny Fields is a not-for-profit corporation created to educate the public about horticulture, biology, and conservation. This area is also intended to be a unique green space dedicated to local wildlife preservation and tranquil recreation. As a staunch advocate for saving the Whitcomb Conservatory, Mr. Horman co-founded the Belle Isle Botanical Society in 1988. He is also an active member of the International Lilac Society, the Ornamental Flowering Crabapple Society, the Conifer Society, and the Friends of Belle Isle. Program Highlights - March By John Humphrey You won't want to miss Bill Pioch's presentation on herbs (rescheduled from 2004) on March 2nd. Mr. Pioch is an Advanced Master Gardener who has been growing herbs for more than 40 years. Bill has a special interest in heirloom plants and sustainable agriculture. He spends much of the summer at his main garden in Bellaire. Combining his knowledge of herbs with his love of cooking, Bill prepares a number of culinary dishes, such as garlic soup, lemon herb chicken, and pumpkin soup that he is known for far and wide. Bill is very involved in the Plant-A-Row gardens in Oakland County, providing his labor and expertise as well as many transplants from seeds he has sown. And, that's not all. Bill also sits on the MSUE-Oakland County Leadership Council. GLOBAL RELEAF OF MICHIGAN Spring is around the corner and once again Global ReLeaf of Michigan is offering for sale to the public bare root trees specially selected for their hardiness and ability to prosper in both urban and rural areas. All trees are bare-root, single or multi-stemmed, three to six feet tall, depending on the species. You can choose among Sugar Maple, Red Maple, Swamp White Oak, Greenspire Linden, White Spire Birch, Serviceberry, Japanese Tree Lilac, Red Bud, Aristocrat Pear, Pagoda Dogwood, White & Red flowering, and Crabapple. Two fruit trees, Honeycrisp Apple and Stella Cherry, and two shrubs, “Endless Summer” Hydrangea and “Blue Muffin” Arrowwood Viburnum are also available. Quantities are limited so orders must be prepaid by April 9, 2005. Trees are $28.00 each or $23 each if you buy six or more. Shrubs are $18.00 each or $15.00 each if you buy five or more. You can pay by check, money order, or credit card. Pick-up date is Saturday April 23, 2005 from 9am to 2:00 pm. Please call 1-800-642-7353 or email GlobalReLeafMi@aol.com to request an order form. Or print an order form from the Global ReLeaf website at www.globalreleaf.org. Maps of pick-up locations will be sent with the order confirmation letter. Funds raised through the annual tree sale support community tree plantings throughout Michigan. Global ReLeaf of Michigan, Inc. is a 501 c3 not-for-profit organization. Our mission is to educate the public on the value of trees and the need to properly select, plant and maintain them. This is accomplished by working with community groups with local tree planting projects and by providing informational material and presentations. We are looking for a Master Gardener or Master Composter to speak at our "Festival of Kindness" on Friday, February 25th at the Harvey Swanson Elementary School in Ortonville, Michigan. We would like someone to talk about the benefits of composting as well as demonstrate how to compost for our section on “Being Kind to the Environment.” There will be six workshop sessions, each 45 minutes long, presented to 15 students. Workshops begin at 8:30 am, the last one ending at 3:45 pm. A light breakfast and a special luncheon will be provided. If you are interested, contact Mrs. Blitchok at TheMicrobusMan@aol.com for further details. FEBRUARY/MARCH 2005 ROOTS & SHOOTS, PAGE # Leaves: A Free Fertility and Disease Protection Resource Gardeners spend good money on fertilizer and fungicides; but they might find a better source of fertility and protection from plant diseases under their feet - that is leaves! Leaves and Soil in Nature. Here's an apparently absurd question: does someone go into the woods every year to spread handfuls of 10-10-10? Of course not, Nature has a thoroughly efficient way of recycling plant nutrients. As soon as a fallen leaf lands on the soil, the agents of decomposition get to work disassembling its complex organic structure into simple mineral and nitrogen molecules ready for reuse. The result is a thin layer of black compost directly under the leaf litter. Minerals and nitrogen accumulate in the topsoil, are dissolved by rainwater, and leached into the subsoil. Tree roots take dissolved minerals and nitrogen from the subsoil and every leaf gets its share. In temperate deciduous forests and prairies, organic matter decomposes into humus, which accumulates in the soil providing a great reservoir of fertility. (It's different in tropical rainforests; recycled nutrients are immediately taken up again by trees. So, although tropical rainforests are biologically extremely productive regions, they have very poor soil because plant nutrients are stored in the trees, not in the soil.) Trees contain lignin, a material that gives them their rigidity. Lignin is an essential component of humus because it resists rapid decomposition, which is what gives humus its long life. Grasses and forbs contain lots of cellulose, which is softer and decomposes rapidly. Fungi are adapted to decompose hard woody material. This is evident from rings of toadstools, which indicate where roots of long-gone trees are still being decomposed. Bacteria are adapted to decompose softer grasses and forbs. Consequently, forest soils are fungal-dominated whereas prairie soils are bacterial-dominated. Where forests are cleared for agriculture, the soil tends to lose most of its fungal species and become bacterial-dominated. There are up to 25,000 species of microbes in a gram (teaspoon size) of soil -- well in excess of the number of plant and animal species in the same environment. Microbes include bacteria, fungi, and protists (a weird category, including things like algae and amoebae). The subterranean food web is very complex; every species makes its living in a slightly different way. Some specialize in decomposing different kinds of plant and animal material; others make a living by wearing away rock material; and predator species live off oth! er microbes and even small invertebrates. Leaves and Horticultural Fertility. Incorporating leaves into garden soil (we shall look at how later) replaces minerals and nitrogen that have been lost by tilling and by harvesting crops. Incorporating leaves not only replaces the 'NPK' (nitrogen, phosphate, and potash) that one would get from a bag of 10-10-10, but also calcium, magnesium, sulfur, iron, manganese, copper, zinc, boron, and other trace minerals that are in the leaves waiting to be reused. In addition, incorporating leaves replaces lost soil carbon. Loss of soil carbon is an unfortunate side-effect of modern agriculture and horticulture. Rebuilding soil carbon leads, in time, to rebuilding lost humus and lost natural fertility. More carbon in the soil also leads to better absorption and retention of rainwater and so provides drought-proofing for crops. But there's more. Most plant diseases are caused by soil-borne fungi. Some common garden examples are: verticillium wilt, fusarium wilt, late blight, and powdery mildew. The garden-center solution for fungal disease is fungicides. A fungicide might kill off the culprit pathogen, but it will also kill off beneficial fungi that could suppress the bad guys in subsequent growing seasons. Nature's way of suppressing fungal pathogens is beneficial fungi. In this respect, fungi are like insects: beneficial ones take care of the bad ones. (The majority of insects and microbes are neither good nor bad; but they all have their part to play in complex ecosystems such as your garden.) When there are lots of fungi in the soil, it's more likely that beneficial species will be present that will protect plants from the bad guys. The best way to promote fungal populations in the soil is to incorporate lots of woody material; leaves (and sawdust) are the easiest for soil to digest. Incorporating Leaves into Garden Soil The simplest way to incorporate leaves into garden soil is to cover it with a mulch of shredded leaves. This is similar to Nature's way; it's the garden equivalent of leaf litter. Shredding speeds decomposition by providing more surface area for decomposers to work on. Apply two inches of shredded leaves in the fall and, a year later, two-thirds of the leaves will have become soil. Earthworms will be more plentiful; they assist in incorporating leaves by pulling them down into the soil. By the way, earthworms are only evident in spring and fall. In summer and winter they avoid the heat and cold by going deep down into the soil. Another way to incorporate leaves is to spread them sparingly, then dig them into the top six inches of the soil with a garden fork. This is called 'sheet composting', although some people use 'sheet compost' to mean natural mulches. I stress sparingly because when there are too many leaves they won't decompose readily. Leaves will decompose in the soil in ninety days - non-freezing days. The majority of the decomposers live in the top six inches of the soil; leaves buried lower won't decompose so readily. Stiff clay soil can be loosened by incorporating shredded leaves or compost. It takes several annual applications to produce a friable soil. But it's worth the effort because garden soil rich in clay and organic matter is among the best. The third way to incorporate leaves into garden soil is to apply compost. The standard compost recipe calls for 'one part green stuff, two parts brown stuff, a pinch of soil, and mix'. Shredded leaves are the best most easily obtained brown stuff. The convenient time to use leaves for mulching and sheet composting is fall of course, when they are plentiful. But, to state the obvious, leaves for composting need to be stored because green stuff won't become available until summer. Shredding will reduce the space needed for storing leaves by two-thirds. I like gas shredders because the electric varieties aren't robust. Avoid wet leaves, which can clog a shredder. Most yards don't generate enough leaves for all the garden uses. So some gardeners go 'leaf-napping', which is to say picking up the leaves that their neighbors bag and put out on the curb. FEBRUARY/MARCH 2005 ROOTS & SHOOTS, PAGE # Organic Gardening By Peter Bray Published bimonthly for Oakland County Master Gardeners and Master Gardener Society members FEBRUARY/MARCH 2005 ROOTS & SHOOTS, PAGE # FEBRUARY/MARCH 2005 ROOTS & SHOOTS, PAGE # Society Officers President: John P. Humphrey.....……............248-542-8213 Vice President: John Grant..… ………….......248-852-3758 Secretary: Ruth Vrbensky...… ………............248-969-6904 Treasurer: Julie Bird...……… …...................248-358-3277 Team Administrator: Sherry D. Jones……….248-442-9866 MSU Extension Liaison Carol Lenchek....…..……………….................248-858-0900 e-mail...………….………….......lenchekc@co.oakland.mi.us Team Leaders Bowers Farm: John Grant…………..………..248-852-3758 Deeann Bauer...........…………..........248-828-7385 John Humphrey..........…………. ......248-542-8213 Martha Humphrey e-mail……………….…...babylon6@ameritech.net Education /Volunteer Committee: position open Hospitality: Sylvia Schult...........…….........586-992-0944 Membership:Tom Hershberger....……........586-573-3954 MGSOOC Newsletter: Marilyn Citron.......…........……........248-645-5515 e-mail...…..………............mcwrites@sbcglobal.net Nomination Committee: Tom Hershberger.......…...…..............586-573-3954 Programs: John Humphrey.……......…........248-542-8213 Trips & Tours: Sandie Parrott.....……........248-394-1532 Website Administrator: Sheri Trout..…..248-328-0557 e-mail................................sheri@oaklandweb.com Volunteer Opportunity Contacts Oakland County Farmer's Market Info Booth Royal Oak Farmer's Market Info Booth Rochester Farmer's Market Info Booth Farmington Farmer's Market Info Booth (April 1st through September 30th) Ruth Parulis…….....………...............248-682-2909 e-mail…….…………...ruthpreston2909@msm.com Bowers Farm Manager: Mark Seeley.......248-341-6475 e-mail.......………….........mseeley@bloomfield.org Ask a Master Gardener...Helping People Grow: Denise Jones..….....586-944-8543 Continuing Education Committee for Oakland County: Jody Roeder.........………................248-642-7375 Tollgate Gardens: Rene Cottrell................248-398-2562 e-mail..........................................tyrenee@aol.com Calendar General meetings are held on the first Wednesday of the month at 6:30 p.m. at Bowers Farm, 1219 East Square Lake Road, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304 from April through October. From November through March, General Meetings held at MSU Extension Office, lower conference room, 1200 North Telegraph Road Pontiac, MI 48341 February 1, 2005: Calendar submissions for Mar/Apr/May due to Secretary February 2, 2005: General Meeting - 6:30 PM at Extension Office, lower level classroom. William Horman will speak about “Lilacs”. February 15, 2005: Directories to be mailed to members March 1, 2005: Deadline for Roots & Shoots, including calendar from Secretary and program schedule from Programs team leader for Apr/May/Jun. Calendar published for newsletter and website. March 2, 2005: General Meeting - 6:30 PM at Extension Office, lower level classroom. Bill Pioch will speak about “Herbs”. March 21, 2005 (Monday): Board Meeting - 7:00 pm at Extension Office, lower level classroom MASTER GARDENER SOCIETY MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY EXTENSION - OAKLAND COUNTY Bringing Knowledge To Life ROOTS & SHOOTS, PAGE # FEBRUARY/MARCH 2005 North Office Building, #26 East 1200 North Telegraph Road Pontiac, MI 48341-0416 248/858-0880 Fax: 248/858-1477 Office Hours: Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon and 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. Dr. Emma Brooks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248/858-0885 County Extension Director E-mail: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . brookse@co.oakland.mi.us Carol Lenchek... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .248/858-0900 Extension Program Coordinator E-mail: ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...lenchekc@co.oakland.mi.us Cathy Morris . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248/858-1639 Clerk & Contact for Certification Volunteer & Education hours E-mail . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . morrisc@co.oakland.mi.us Yard and Garden Hotline…………….…….248/858-0902 Charlene Molnar, Horticulture Advisor Hours of operation vary with seasonal needs. Michigan State University Extension programs and materials are available to all without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, marital status, or family status. MSUE-Oakland County Office Contacts Food Safety Hotline Sylvia Treitman 248/858-0904 4-H Youth Programs Tom Schneider 248/858-0889 Michigan State University Master Gardener Program Mary McLellan, State Coordinator 517/355-5191, ext 408 E-mail: mg@msu.edu Building Strong Families Dawn Koger 248/858-0897 Youth and Community Development Christy Hicks-Bowman 248/858-0889 Michigan Groundwater Stewardship Program Matt Dykstra 248/858-5198 Roots & Shoots is a joint publication of M.S.U. Extension - Oakland County and MGSOC. Deadlines for submitting information or articles to Roots & Shoots are: Submission Deadline Issue Dates January 1 February/March Issue March 1 April/May Issue May 1 June/July Issue July 1 August/September Issue September 1 October/November Issue November 1 December/January Issue The Oakland Gardener only accepts submissions via e-mail. E-mail needs to include a description of request, contact person's name, phone number and e-mail address. This info will be “cut and pasted” into this online newsletter. Map to Bowers Farm Leaves (Continued on page #) Leaves (Continued from page #) Writers Wanted We are looking for Master Gardeners who not only enjoy putting hoe to ground, but fingers to keyboards. If you would like to write a column, poetry, or an occasional article for Roots & Shoots, please contact the editor with your ideas at mcwrites@sbcglobal.net or 248-645-5515. Time put into researching and writing counts as MG required volunteer hours. Looking forward to hearing from you... Marilyn Citron, Editor Poetry by Catherine Connelly, Master Gardener Corrections The goal of Roots & Shoots is to present the most accurate information about gardening possible. Sometimes, though, during the editing process, I misinterpret the author's words and phrases as I edit an article. This occurred with Diane Opria's very informative article, “Garlic: Herb of the Year 2004”, in the December 2004/January 2005 issue of Roots & Shoots. The corrections follow: Bulb was omitted from paragraph 4, sentence 10, leaving the sentence incomplete. The Garlic Goddess, Patricia Reppert, mentioned in paragraph 6 is from Saugerties NY, not Gilroy CA. Because of space, I omitted this quote: Garlic is the best example of the philosophy “Let food be your medicine.” I apologize to Diane and Roots & Shoots readers for these errors. Volunteer Opportunity Education Finnish Center Garden Club - February 15th, 7 pm Ann Kline, Master Gardener and specialist in Iris gardening, will speak and show slides about cultivating irises as well as demonstrate how to separate iris rhizomes. Ann is past president of the Iris Club of Southeast Michigan, a certified judge of the American Iris Society, and owner of Royal Rainbow Gardens in Royal Oak, Michigan. The Finnish Center is located at 35200 W. Eight Mile Road in Farmington Hills. For further information please contact David Sharpe at 248-477-5709 or at dcs37mgsc@earthlink.net. Hardy Plant Society - February 7th, 7pm Rain gardens...what are they, why are they needed, how are they maintained...will be the topic of the Hardy Plant Society's monthly meeting. A rain garden is a depression in the landscape designed and planted to trap storm water run-off. Its plants and soil filter storm water naturally, removing pollutants. Rain gardens help communities with flooding and drainage problems enhance the beauty of yards as well as provide a habitat for birds and butterflies. The Hardy Plant Society meets at the Congregational Church of Birmingham, on Woodward Ave next to Cranbrook. For more information, call 248-589-2286. Master Gardener Banquet Save the date. The Master Gardener Volunteer Recognition banquet has been scheduled for Thursday, April 21st. It will be held at the Waterford Oaks Activity Center on Watkins Lake Road in Waterford. The Banquet Committee is busy working on the details. The plant exchange and vendor areas were so well received at the last Banquet that we will be doing both again. Look for further details in future Oakland Gardener newsletters. Any Master Gardener Volunteer who would like to donate door prizes or set up a vendor table to sell garden related items can call Carol Lenchek at 248-858-0900 or email lenchekc@co.oakland.mi.us