Roots & Shoots Master Gardener Society of Oakland County February/March 2006 Welcome to your Society newsletter! I hope you are well rested, educated about the latest gardening techniques, which I’m sure you will put to good use in 2006! MGSOOC Contacts President: John P Humphrey (248)542-8213 Vice Pres: Tom Hershberger (586)573-3954 Secretary: Ruth Vrbensky (248)969-6904 Treasurer: Jean Gramlich (810)714-2343 Team Adm: Sherry Jones (248)442-9866 MSU Extension Oakland County Coordinator Advisor: Carol Lenchek (248)858-0900 lenchekc@co.oakland.mi.us Team Coordinators Bowers Farm: Martha Humphrey babylon6@ameritech.net Communications: John P Humphrey (248)542-8213 Hospitality: Pat Banaszek (586)677-2048 Membership: Tom Hershberger (586)573-3954 Project Support: Clay Ottoni (248)454-9800 Trips & Tours: Sandie Parrott (248)394-1532 Web Site: Sheri Trout (248)328-0557 sheri@oaklandweb.com Web Site address: www.mgsoc.org Mission Statement It is the Master Gardener Society of Oakland County’s Mission to assist, enable, and encourage its members to use their horticultural knowledge and experience to help the people of their communities, enrich their lives through gardening and good gardening practices. April 5th, 2006 @ 6:30 pm MGSOOC Society Meeting & Location Charles Bower Farm, 1219 E. Square Lake Rd., Bloomfield Hills, MI Alternative School Building Education: “Gardens for Everyone” Speaker: Marsha La Marca, Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA), St. John’s North Shores Hospital. Marsha will highlight populations with special needs. Occupational therapy helps populations function to the best of their ability at what occupies their time. It includes what is involved for an individual to live, work and enjoy leisure activities utilizing physical and psychological domains. May 3rd, 2006 @ 6:30 pm MGSOOC Society Meeting & Location Charles Bower Farm, 1219 E. Square Lake Rd., Bloomfield Hills, MI Alternative School Building Education:  "Things I've Learned from My Garden" Speaker:  Cindy La Ferle, Writer - http://www.laferle.com An award-winning author, Cindy La Ferle has worked in publishing and journalism for 26 years. Her resume includes editing a country inn travel magazine as well as writing lifestyle columns for magazines and newspapers. Her essays have appeared in The Christian Science Monitor, Country Gardens, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, The Detroit Free Press, and Mary Engelbreit’s Home Companion, as well as in several literary anthologies. Her new essay collection, Writing Home, recently won a nonfiction honor in Writer’s Digest’s International Book Publishing competition. Winterizing Your Tools by: Diane Opria The November meeting presented Nancy Szerlag and Jeff Ball, with some tips on how to care for your tools before putting them away for the winter. There seems to be a variety of products to de-gunk, de-grease, and de-rust your favorites. Nancy started by saying the best way to begin is with good old-fashion soap and warm water. That will take care of the first layer. Krud Kutter, a concentrated cleaner, which is water-based, non toxic, biodegradable, degreaser and stain remover, seemed to be her favorite. It safely and easily removes crud from many, different surfaces. When rust is a serious problem, the acid based Naval Jelly will do the job. After allowing it to work, according to directions, a thorough wiping and lubrication is necessary. Nancy mentioned losing a tool for two years somewhere in her gardens and then using this product restored it to usable. Corrosion X is the next step offering anti rust protection and lubrication. WD40 was mentioned, but was claimed to turn gummy with time. Weed trimmers need attention. The string contains moisture; allowing this to over winter will weaken the string and result in frequent breaking when being used in the spring. Trimmers can also transfer disease. They should be thoroughly cleaned. Worn wooden handles can be restored with a light sanding and one or two coats of linseed oil or tung oil. Thompson’s Water sealer will give a protective coating to garden and lawn ornaments. Liquid Nails will take care of cracked or broken ornaments. Many tools were passed around with brand names like Bahco, Corona, Fiskar, Yardshark, and Wolfgarten. One point that was made is that pruners and loppers require frequent sharpening. When Nancy asked how many had sharpening stones, a surprising number raised their hands. She said some professionals will sharpen their tools more then three times a day. Garden gloves were also discussed. Atlas 370 seemed to be a durable yet close feeling glove. Atlas also makes a yellow rubber, over the elbow glove called Nitrile 772, which we were all amazed at. It seems this is really a farmer’s glove for calf birthing. Nancy thought it may be good for something. Oh well, we had fun with that one. There was an extra cool glove for summer wear called Sungrip. Bionic was leather and much like a golf glove, very sturdy but flexible. To wash leather gloves, put them on, suds them up, and rinse. After they dry, spray with mink oil. A good website is www.womensworkgloves.com. The last item was shown by Jeff Ball, called GroCor. This large tool is used for injecting solutions into the ground. It could be used to fertilize, or add mychorrize right to the roots, where it is needed. Since it could be used against Emerald Ash Borer by injecting systemic insecticides, Jeff thought it could be the tool Michigan needs most. Due to “Technical difficulties”, this article did not appear in our January issue. We extend our sincere apologies . Plants That Heal By Jean Gramlich Sarah Smith, nutrition team leader for Whole Foods, West Bloomfield store, spoke on plants that heal at our January meeting. Sarah is a Certified Herbal Information Specialist. Jewelweed is a common plant found in the damp woods that blooms from July to September. It is effective against poison ivy (and often grows near it). Put the mucilage from the stems on the affected area several times daily. It can also be used on rashes, burns and insect bites. Plantain (my common name for it is pigweed) grows in disturbed soil (lawns!) and can be used on cuts, stings and insect bites. The leaves can be rubbed or chewed and used as a poultice. It can draw out stinging nettles. On wounds, you can bandage right over the plantain poultice. Horsetail, also common in Michigan, grows from creeping rhizomes and is an ancient plant. It can be used for wounds, sprains, fractures and bruises. It is used as a tea or a tincture. Arnica grows in central Europe, and the blossoms are used to make a cream for bumps, bruises, muscle pain and arthritis. It eases inflammation from muscle overuse. It can also be taken internally for the same purposes. I have used Arnica after accidents, and the results have been amazing. I have felt acute pain just melt away within a minute or so of taking Arnica. Kava comes from Polynesia and is used for relaxation. Ashwaganda is an aryuvedic remedy that is taken orally to relieve arthritis pain. Calendula is used as a burn salve and to relieve rashes. *As always, please consult your physician when considering alternative healing methods. Bob the Peace Lily by Kelly Chaiser Winter is here, although we are at the time of year where thoughts are turning to spring! I’m itching to try the rototiller which I received for Christmas, and I’m soon going to be sharpening my tools, as I have a yard already in a desperate state. It seems like I just put up my gardening tools for the winter! We gardeners can find more than enough gardening chores to do, but somehow never enough time to do them! In the meantime, I scratch my gardening itch by caring for my houseplants, like many of us I’m sure. They each have a story, and I’d like to share one with you now. First, let me introduce Bob. Bob is a peace lily I have had on and off for two years. By rights he should be enormous but unfortunately he has had a very tough life. His original owner was my sister in law, who admits to a very brown thumb. She claims to have killed every plant in her possession, with this lily being the only exception. Bob-she names her plants, and I’ve noticed they all have boy names-stubbornly clung to life no matter what she did, or did not, do. One day she decided to bring Bob to me, to see if I could revive him. He was much wilted; almost all his leaves were crisped. Yet there was one tiny new shoot…I accepted and set to work. Six weeks later Bob was looking good. New leaves and shoots everywhere, Bob was happy. I found he wasn’t even pot bound. I just top dressed him a bit, watered whenever my finger check told me he was beginning to dry out and fed him very lightly every other watering. My sister in law was thrilled, and took Bob home. She had him back a month later, looking even worse than before. I reminded her that she was supposed to place Bob in an eastern facing window. But she wailed that she forgot to water, forgot Bob didn’t like baking in southern exposure, forgot he was even in the house, until she cleaned off the table and found Bob shriveling up behind a stack of law books. After two more episodes, I got to adopt Bob. We almost had a happy ending, until my mother arrived. It was great to see her, and I ran to the store to buy things for dinner and some of her favorite stuff. When I returned she was red eyed, a little puffy, with a red, runny nose. “Oh, mom, were you crying?” I asked. “No,” my mother answered, “I was dying.” Seeing my confusion, she explained. “I am deathly allergic to peace lilies,” she said. “Mom, I’m so sorry,” I said. “I’ll take it outside.” “Oh, don’t worry, I already took care of it,” my mom replied. We then spent the next couple of hours trying to get rid of any pollen (Bob was blooming) and other plant dander Bob had shed. Her sneezing stopped and Mom seemed comfortable later that night. We had dinner. After, I took out the trash-and discovered what happened to Bob. There he was, broken in half inside a garbage can. Horrified, I pulled him out. I hid him on the North side of my house, quickly clipped off all his broken parts, and promised to fix him up in the morning. Mom left the next day, and I began to once again nurse Bob back. This time I kept him out side. He loved it! Other than the occasional grasshopper chewing on a leaf, Bob came back like gangbusters. Right now Bob is sending up another bloom, despite being in the house. I have him by a bright window with a couple of other plants (African violets) and he is doing great. My sister in law comes over and says hi, and my Mom? She’s in Florida now. Let’s hope Bob continues to grow and thrive now that he has finally found peace. Notes from Nutcase Nursery One of the many marvelous attractions at the annual Master Gardeners Conference is the room full of books on all-things-gardening. Some years you might even be able to pick up a featured speaker’s latest edition, including a personal autograph. Since the Conference offers classes on a wide range of gardening topics, the bookstore is stocked with hundreds of titles to match them, and more. Although there are no lounge chairs or coffee makers, the bookstore at the Conference is a handy way to reach your credit limit in a relatively short time. (If you don’t max out in the bookstore, you have another chance to do it at the mini green market mall down the hallway.) One of my favorite souvenirs from the Conference is a small handbook whose title barely fits on its cover. It’s a Brooklyn Botanic Garden publication called Natural Insect Control – The Ecological Gardener’s Guide to Foiling Pests. It’s a compilation of the wisdom of twelve authors, many of whom are easily recognized from their work with National Gardening, Rodale’s, Horticulture and Organic Gardening. The handbook is very easy to use because the index is set up so that you look under what the bug is bugging first, and then you’re directed where to look in the Encyclopedia of Pests for strategies. As another gardening season approaches, it might be a good time to share some tips suggested by the authors of this handbook and a few other sources that all have Integrated Pest Management (IPM) at their core. If you get your volunteer hours working with the public you know it’s always good to have a stash of non-pesticide suggestions handy. Cultural and physical controls are sound and safer operating practices and more and more research is being conducted to support them. Check their ID Most of my clients have no idea what’s eating their plants. And regardless of what it is, they usually want it dead. But Master Gardeners don’t shoot first and ask questions later. Our reaction is exactly the opposite. Our first task in diagnostics is identification. The second is determining how much damage is too much. Finally you develop a plan to deal with the situation. Since “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” cultural and physical controls are a good place to start before problems arise. To put controls into perspective, consider that natural pest control has been practiced since the first person stepped on a bug. Vigilance is Key An old saying that ”the best fertilizer of all is the footsteps of the gardener” underlines the patrol aspect of natural pest control. It’s not so much about actually fertilizing but more about the fact that a healthy plant can survive an attack far better than one that is struggling. You won’t be able to determine what’s bugging you until you stare it in the face. Be aware of what visits your gardens at various times of the day. Try sitting quietly in the garden for 5 to 10 minutes and observe. Aim a squirt from a spray bottle of plain water and see “what’s shakin’.” Go on night maneuvers with a flashlight to see who’s working the late shift. Take your honey. What could be more romantic than a moonlit bug hunt? Practice Makes Perfect Janet Macunovich says that you never really know a plant until you kill it, maybe even more than once. Unfortunately plant homicide due to poor cultural practices is as sad as death by insect. In fact, one easily leads to the other in many cases. That metal nametag not removed from a rose eventually wounds the plant enough that insects find a nice place to live long before the whole branch succumbs. Putting the right plant in the right place is the first step in cultural control. Plants that are happy with their site can fend off pests much better than a plant that’s “uncomfortable” where it is. Research resistant varieties. For instance, paper birch and black birch are less susceptible to bronze birch borer than other varieties. Many perennial gardeners were disappointed when Coreopsis ‘Limerock Ruby’ didn’t prove as vigorous as its parent and its zone hardiness was changed from Zone 5 to Zone 6. Mix It Up Don’t ignore crop rotation, especially in the vegetable garden. If space is a luxury, figuring out suitable crop rotation can be tougher that a five star Sudoku puzzle, but you still need to try. Remember that the cole family consists of cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale and Brussels sprouts and the vine family of melon, cuke and squash. Spinach and beets are close cousins; carrots. parsley and dill are relatives too. Plants in the same families tend to be harassed by the same insects. If you can’t rotate well, mix the crops up. Interplant lettuce and broccoli for example. This can prevent insects from devastating a single crop planted in rows. It can also prevent diseases from running rampant. In small spaces, tuck a few cabbages in with the green beans. A mélange of scents and sights serves to disturb the insect’s ability to tune into the cues it normally hunts with. The bugs can’t eat what they can’t find. Beans like to hang out with potatoes and bean beetles and potato beetles don’t. Try mixing your radish and carrot seeds in a shaker jar (like the kind some grated cheese comes in) and broadcast a two to three foot-wide patch instead of planting seeds in a row. The mixture seems to benefit both vegetables and the bonus is very little thinning, if any, is needed. The radishes mature long before the carrots even think of growing and when they’re harvested the carrots fill in as if they were the only children all along. A row of carrots looks like a runway at the airport complete with a welcoming committee to a carrot rust fly on a mission. Watchfulness It‘s also important to plant at the right time. By timing your plantings, you can avoid serious pest infestations. Potatoes can be planted early and they enjoy cool weather. They have more of a chance to fend off beetles having grown strong enough before an attack. Be clean. Get rid of all traces of plants from the season that are done doing their duty. Dispose of apples and their leaves, rose foliage, cabbage stalks, anything that might be appetizing to noxious critters. Especially anything that had a hard time last season. Litter can harbor spores, eggs and other evils just waiting for the right conditions to sprout up. Heat it Up If all else fails and you are in a position where you are seriously considering giving up the battle, try solarizing the soil. This practice can annihilate diseases, insects and weed seeds. Unfortunately you will likely sacrifice the plot for the season, although you might be able to sow a late season crop if all goes well. Plan on having the plot out of commission for at least a month, usually longer. If you go through all the trouble of doing this, longer is better because your chances for success increase with the amount of time the plot is solarized. The steps are simple. First till the soil thoroughly. The surface of the soil should be comprised of very fine particles, the smoother the better. Next, water the area deeply so that the soil is very dark. Finally, cover it with clear plastic and make sure the plastic makes complete contact with the soil. Bury the edges in trenches along the perimeter and stick a soil thermometer through the plastic for good measure. The soil must be in the 150 degrees plus range to cure what ails it. Seedlings, whether wanted or weed, will be cooked. This method is often used to sterilize soil to eradicate fusarium and other wilts that plague tomato plants. After the solarization process is complete, plant shallowly, disturbing the soil as little as possible. Weed seeds are still viable at depths between 3 and 5 inches so don’t negate all the effort you put into the process by digging too deeply when planting. We will cover Physical Controls in the next issue. What’s up at State by Mary McLellan, MSUE State Coordinator The MSU Master Gardener Volunteer Program is a very important and large part of Extension’s client base all over the state. For that reason, the Consumer Horticulture group chose to ask the Master Gardener Volunteers to, “Please let us know what additional information/education MSUE could provide to meet the needs of our citizens, in the area of home gardening?  This is your chance to let MSUE know what they can do for you and other homeowners in the area of home gardening.” The responses have been coming to me and I’ve found out that some of the support and programs already available to Master Gardener Volunteers have not come to their attention. Numerous people have asked why we don’t offer online courses for continuing education. Well, we do! The availability of online courses that allow Master Gardener Volunteers to earn continuing education credit any time of the day, any day of the week has been available for almost 3 years. The Horticulture Gardening Institute at www.gardeninginstitute.com currently offers 4 classes that earn Master Gardener Volunteers between 5 and 10 education credits per course! And, you, Michigan MGVs, need only 5 hours of education per year to maintain your active Master Gardener Volunteer status! The classes are: * The Art and Science of Container Gardening * The Art and Science of the Smart Garden™ * Herbaceous Perennial for the Shade: Identification, Culture and Garden Attributes * Herbaceous Perennial for the Sun: Identification, Culture and Garden Attributes "Earn 1 hour of education credit by going online to experience the next Horticulture Gardening Institute's free web cast.  Thursday evening, March 9, 8:00-9:00 pm (EST) Allan Armitage will be giving a live presentation on perennials.  You will be able to 'ask' Allan questions by typing them in.  Go to www.gardeninginstitue.com to register for this free, live web cast." The Detroit Zoo Gardens Get TLC from High School Students By Ruth Frushour On Friday, February 3rd, 2006 a group of Troy Athens High School students worked in the gardens at the Detroit Zoo. The group was part of a program called H.A.W.K. These freshmen are involved in an orientation as they become adjusted to their high school experience and they chose the Zoo as a community service field trip. It was a warm and rainy day for February, but the sixteen students dressed in rain coats, rain hats and garden gloves. They worked around the monkey exhibit raking leaves and cleaning the flower beds. As the morning wore on, the rain got worse, but the students continued their service outside. They completed the exhibit and went to other locations to offer some assistance. There was even some extra time to view the animals and ask questions. All the students had fun and felt rewarded as they offered their help. Dan said, “I felt good helping out. Plus we got to see some of the animals in their winter environment. We’re looking forward to spring and doing this again when there’s lot of planting to do”. Great thanks go to the Athens High School volunteers! Notes From Carol Banquet Committee members are busy working on plans for our Volunteer Recognition Banquet scheduled for Thursday April 20. This year we will be bringing back the popular Garden Market with more vendors than ever selling garden items, including plants, to get you set for Spring. We will also have a Non Plant Swap, so start cleaning out the garden shed and putting aside those gently used items like decorative pots, watering cans, or those perfectly good hand tools you don’t use anymore because you’ve finally bought that one you’ve been lusting after for years. All you need to do is clean them off! If you find you can’t part with any of your garden stuff we will accept new, so start shopping those sale racks! You get to take home as many items as you bring in. We only ask that to please bring items that you would be happy to bring home yourself. Another new activity in the works is a treasure hunt with a great grand prize! You’ll learn more about this when you get to the Banquet. We will send out the email invitation in an upcoming Oakland Gardener and will snail mail invitations to those of you who don’t have email. Look for the lists of people we will be awarding Basic, Advanced and the Hours Pins in an upcoming Oakland Gardener. Of course, the other awards, like Master Gardener of the Year, will not be divulged until April 20! ATTENTION SOCIETY MEMBERS! We really need someone to volunteer to put this newsletter together. Please email info@mgsoc.org if you are interested. Michigan State University Extension- Oakland County “Bringing Knowledge to Life” North Office Building, #26 East Office Hours: 1200 N. Telegraph Road Monday through Friday Pontiac, MI 48341 8:30 a.m to 12:00 noon and 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. Beverly Terry…248-858-0885 Carol Lenchek…248-858-0900 County Extension Director Master Gardener Program Coordinator E-Mail: terryb@co.oakland.mi.us E-Mail: lenchekc@co.oakland.mi.us Yard & Garden Hotline…248-858-0902 Cathy Morris….248-858-1639 Charlene Molnar, Horticulture Advisor Clerk & Contact for Certification Hours of operation vary with seasonal needs. Of Volunteer & Education Hours E-mail: morrisc@co.oakland.mi.us Food Safety Hotline…248-858-0904 Michigan State University Robin Danto, Extension Educator Master Gardener Program Mary McLellan, State Coordinator 517-355-5191, ext 408 4-H Youth Programs…248-858-0905 Water Quality Education… Tom Schneider, Extension Educator 248-858-5198 Bindu Bhakta, Extension Educator Lois Thieleke….248-858-0888 Children, Youth & Family…248- Extension Educator- Food & Nutrition 452-9726 Saneya Hamler, Extension Educator 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 newsletter. Roots & Shoots is a joint publication of MSU Extension-Oakland County and Master Gardener Society Of Oakland County. Effective January 6, 2006, postal rates are increasing. With this in mind, if you have Internet access we encourage you to read Roots & Shoots online at the Master Gardener Society website www.mgsoc.org.