Roots & Shoots August / September 2007 August 1, 2007 @ 6:30pm MGSOOC General Society Meeting & Location Bowers Farm, Alternative School Building, 1219 E. Square Lake Rd. http://mgsoc.org/Images/Bowers_streetMap.jpg Speaker : Mike Best – Education: “Astronomy and Gardening” A business meeting will take place, prior to the start of our Educational program. September 5, 2007 @ 6:30pm MGSOOC General Society Meeting & Location Bowers Farm, Alternative School Building, 1219 E. Square Lake Rd. http://mgsoc.org/Images/Bowers_streetMap.jpg Speaker : Joe Aiken– Education: “Certified Arborist” A business meeting will take place, prior to the start of our Educational program. October 3, 2007 @ 6:30pm MGSOOC General Society Meeting & Location Bowers Farm, Alternative School Building, 1219 E. Square Lake Rd. http://mgsoc.org/Images/Bowers_streetMap.jpg Speaker : Steve Turner–Education: “Michigan State African Violet Society” A business meeting will take place, prior to the start of our Educational program. Tollgate Fall Fair Summer is here and fall seems a long time off. September 15th is several months away, but will be here before we are ready. The Fall Fair Committee is gearing up for the fall classic. If you are new to Tollgate, every fall we have a Fall Fair in which we open the doors and invite the public to see what a great place Tollgate is. We will have tables set up with children's activities. These tables are pumpkin painting, beading, CD animals, t-shirt painting, fish catch-and-release, leaf painting, flower press, make a kite, image making, make a frog and mask making. We also have different groups come in and give shows to educate the public. These are, Michigan Herpetology, Bat Conservation and Birds of Prey. Other events are Line Dancing, hay rides and the popular maze. We ask our volunteers to bring a dish to pass for the volunteers at lunch time as well as treats we will pass out to our guests. We ask that no treats have peanuts or peanut products in them for our guests. Final set up will start at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, September 15th. We ask that all volunteers park in the upper field. If you have worked at the Fall Fair before and you would like to work a certain table, please let me know. If you are new to Tollgate and would like to volunteer, we would enjoy having you help out. All your hours are good towards your Master Gardener hours. We need more volunteers to join us on the second Tuesday of every month to help pull the Fall Fair together. We meet at the Volunteer Communication Center at 7:00 p.m. We have several needs. If you or anyone you know would like to be a face painter, please let me know. We have several spots open for face painters. We still need 1/2 gallon milk containers (cleaned out), CDs and empty cottage cheese/yogurt containers. These can be left in the Volunteer Communication Center. Again, if you would like to volunteer, you can contact me at 248-669-9179 or at garyrose@mindspring.com . Don't forget the Fall Fair Committee meets the second Tuesday of every month at the volunteer center. Hope to see you there. Gary Rose, Fall Fair Committee Reprinted with permission from “The Tollgate Troll”, July 2007 edition. Carol’s Corner I hope your summer is going well and your flowers are withstanding the hot and dry weather. Deer seem to be more troublesome than usual at my house this summer. Last fall I bought a large number of Alliums during our Bulb Fundraiser and had a glorious display! I’m already anticipating buying more during this year’s fundraiser. Details on this years’ fundraiser will be coming your way shortly. Once again you rose to the task of judging at the Oakland County Fair. I don’t know what they would do if it were not for Master Gardener Volunteers help. Many of us get hooked by the experience (at least I did) and judge every year. It’s that much fun! Interviewing the children about their projects is so refreshing. Their knowledge is amazing. Hopefully you are all busy with your various volunteer projects. Now seems like a good time to remind you that you have until December 31 to get your volunteer and education hours completed for 2007. All hours must be entered into our database by January 31st. For recertification you need 15 volunteer hours and 5 education hours. Last fall the State office set a new policy concerning Advanced Master Gardener Volunteer status. MGVs now have 5 years to achieve ADVANCED MGV status. (Previously you had only 2 years from the date you achieved Master Gardener Volunteer status.) This allows a MGV who can achieve only the minimum requirements for annual recertification (15 volunteer hours & 5 education hours) to get their Advanced MGV certification in 5 years. From the President’s Desk As Labor Day approaches, I will make a concerted effort to walk the Mackinac Bridge, a.k.a. our “Mighty Mac”. 2007 will denote a remarkable and significant milestone, in Michigan history. We can all celebrate the 50th anniversary of the bridge’s opening to vehicular traffic. Thousands upon thousands of pedestrians all converge to this landmark. Each afforded the unique, focused and close up view of this engineering marvel, spanning five miles of the straits area, between St. Ignace and Mackinac City. You recognize the foresight of our leaders of the day, entrusted with such an enormous fiscal responsibility. Serving as your Society Membership President, now some 2½ terms, I’ve reached what I believe is my own “transitional bridge”. Without exception or apology, I’ve accomplished most of what I set out to do. A number of important factors will now determine any future decisions. I bring this to light with absolute confidence, that there are now many exceptional candidates among our current membership roles as our elections approach. Regards, John Humphrey Pontiac Agricultural Network —By Jean Gramlich Lynn Hartung, co-founder with Judy Hainaut of the Pontiac Agricultural Network in 2006, came to our June meeting to talk about their ambitious plans to develop urban community gardens in the city. A diverse group of residents seeks to restore their connection to the earth and food production and provide residents with healthy, organically grown food. They will educate citizens, particularly young people, about good nutrition, farming using organic methods, marketing and entrepreneurship. They hope to partner with Pontiac Schools in developing apprenticeship programs and with restaurants and commercial kitchens to prepare and sell their produce to the public. They hope to help senior citizens and others to establish garden plots in their own back yards and to supply food to low-income residents. The group is forming a coalition with a number of other agencies in the city including Baldwin Center, MSUE, 4H and MGSOOC, First United Methodist Church, Hispanic Outreach, Oakland Livingston Human Services Agency, Pontiac Garden Club and Habitat for Humanity as well as food banks and the Oakland Technical Culinary Arts. They hope to set up a food co-op and a farmers’ market. In the future they would like to use abandoned warehouses for growing produce hydroponically and for raising fish. To illustrate the possibilities for community building through agriculture, Lynn showed a film by Heifer International, a group which has garnered international acclaim by providing animals to poor villagers throughout the world. The film showed agricultural projects in Toronto, Milwaukee and Brooklyn where young people from diverse cultures were working together and learning leadership skills, cooperation, and entrepreneurship. “Changing the world one plot at a time. Membership Directory Insert for New Members (Clip this page and attach it to your Membership Directory) Marianne Cotter 3764 Highgrove Way Home: 248-393-0068 Class of 2007 Lake Orion, MI 48360   mariannegngr@netscape.net         Kathleen Gunning 5491 Van Ness Dr Home: 248-851-6823 Class of 2007 Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302   kgunning@comcast.net     Don Mahalak 812 Spartan Dr Home: 248-656-0948 Class of 2007 Rochester Hills, MI 48309   dmahalak1@comcast.net     Lynn Matell 4475 Chloe Ct Home: 248-618-9344 Class of 2007 Waterford, MI 48329   roadrally@gmail.com     Susan Metz 565 Cherry Tree Lane Home: 248-651-7132 Class of 2007 Rochester Hills, MI 48306   smetz96058@aol.com     Susanne Nicholson 270 W Tacoma Home: 248-435-6053 Class of 2007 Clawson, MI 48017   susiennicholson3@wowway.com     Jeanette Raniszeski 14240 Arden Home: 734-261-6319 Class of 2007 Livonia, MI 48154   jeye814@hotmail.com     Denise Raveane 3812 Hillside Dr Home: 248-935-0851 Class of 2007 Royal Oak, MI 48073   denise.raveane@yahoo.com     Bonita Reiber 4019 Devon Rd Home: 248-549-0172 Class of 2007 Royal Oak, MI 48073   coupons@wowway.com     Beth Rockford 454 S. Squirrel Rd Home: 248-892-5860 Class of 2007 Auburn Hills, MI 48326   beerock99@yahoo.com     Margaret Wanat 30565 Red Maple Lane Home: 248-644-5699 Class of 2007 Southfield, MI 48076   rwanat155056mi@comcast.net     Richard Wanat 30565 Red Maple Lane Home: 248-644-5699 Class of 2007 Southfield, MI 48076   rwanat155056mi@comcast.net     Christine Wilder 3350 Sawgrass Ct Home: 248-299-9139 Class of 2007 Rochester Hills, MI 48309   chrisanddave@sbcglobal.net     Notes from Nutcase Nursery Late Summer 2007 There’s a strong possibility that what you read today could hurt your feelings but it’s time we had The Talk. The subject is serious and the “the Talk” is for your own good. There is no reason for you to be embarrassed. It is believed that every gardener, at one time or other, will go through what you may be going through right now. The condition to which I refer may not be curable but it can be controlled. The most important thing is that you deal with it for yourself, not anyone else. It’s less embarrassing that way. Ironically, many gardeners actually grow out of it. No pun intended. I’m writing about the malady with many vague and clinical names - - - Thinning Impairment (T.I), Overactive Nurturing Disorder (O.N.D.), or just plain amnesia. It has even been described simply as a problem with hand-eye coordination. While the hands and the eyes are critically involved in gardening, I warn you that this is a dangerous oversimplification. Research indicates that certain common behaviors are manifest as this disease plays itself out. In some patients, the problem is easily identified, even by complete novices. Has a neighbor kid ever stopped by your estate and, wide-eyed with wonder, says “You sure got a lot of plants, lady.” This kind of comment should be considered a heads up. If you have ever been the object of this or a similar comment, it may be time for you to take a personal inventory. The optimum time of the year to take responsibility for your mental health is right now while the jungles outside your doors are flexing their muscles. Warning signs of the disease’s presence abound. Are you a collector? Have you more than “a few” varieties of hostas, daylilies, heuchera, ornamental grasses? Have more than a few collections? If you have one or more areas with a large concentration of a certain genus, or large accumulations of the same plant (such as a ten by twenty foot bed of all purple echinacea), it might be time for an intervention of sorts. If you no longer own implements used to mow lawn areas you might consider seeking help. Deep in your heart you know it’s time for tough love. And tough love is difficult when what you need to be tough with what was once weak and dependent on your expert touch The seeds of the disease could have been planted when you bought that first coreopsis or gaillardia. After the first season you notice that there were a couple of babies in the vicinity of the mother plant. How cool. You grow fond of the little plant because it rewarded you with its proliferation. Then the following spring you find only one seedling has survived and the mother plant is now a mushy stump, compliments of another tricky winter. Suddenly you want to hunt and protect every seedling you see. All it takes is one near disaster to hook even the most sensible gardener. It seems so innocent. But safety stock has a way of turning on you and things get worse. This disease is not something to make fun of. No one understands how deeply troubled the afflicted are unless they walk in their Wellies. Ask yourself if you have ever been sucked in by this simple-sounding scenario? Let’s say a going-out-of-business flower stand caught your attention and you felt sorry for that flat of puny, root-bound white impatiens. There were only 48 plants and you took them home and grouped them nicely but ran out long before you wanted to. You decide to get more. You finally head back to the place where you bought them but the place is no longer. Oh, well. You’ll get more next year. No big deal you tell yourself, and shrug it all off. Next year rolls around and you see flowers for sale again. This time you stop and wind up filling the trunk and the back seat with flats. There might not be anything left later, the voices say. Hoarding Warning, the other voices say. Shut up says Mother Nature. If you run out of places to tuck the annuals you can always put them in pots. Besides, you tell yourself you’re saving lives. But the addiction grows, fed by other situations that also seemed so innocent at the time. Remember the first time you tried to grow a perennial from seed? It seems that no matter how scientifically you go about propagating, it’s still an experiment. Sometimes the seeds don’t sprout at all. Or, six seeds sprout and you decide to plant them out and they all become crispy critters. Okay, you’ll try again next year. Next year comes and you try again. This time instead of planting out the lucky ones, you pot them and coddle them all summer. They put on heft and you plant them out in the fall. But after another peculiar winter, there is no sign of life in the spring. Perhaps this next time we will concentrate a littler more on watering and mulching. Finally, the next spring comes and you are the proud parent of whatever it is. If your first six attempts at growing that particular perennial ended in failure you become not just emotionally attached to the first plant that makes it through a winter but also to every other plant that can be propagated in your universe. Before you know it, there are knautias sprouting like crabgrass, coreopsis popping yellow heads from underneath a wheelbarrow that hasn’t moved for a while and so many nepeta that the area near the front porch smells like the big cat house at the zoo. But who hasn’t sighed at the sight of a congregation of baby blue fescues, or smiled at the progress the tiny pink cranesbill has made filling in a dry shady area? You must be strong. This is the time of year when you should be leaning on your hoe and asking yourself some serious questions as you survey your beds. “How in the heck did that plant get from the back of the back to the front of the front?” “How many is too many?” “Who in Heaven’s name put that there?” A lot of these questions don’t even have definitive answers. Sometimes you just have to blame the birds and move on with getting your life in order. It doesn’t matter how these situations occurred in the long run. The only thing that matters is how you handle them. Late summer is the best time of year to see where you need to cut back. With the heat earlier this season, some of your lovelies have never grown so large. I vowed to never fertilize again, some of mine were so large. The purple coneflowers are the size of saucers. The daisies increased, multiplied and filled the earth. And that great blue lobelia. So many died in the past you swore you would never try them again. In retrospect, you remember the old laxative commercial where they questioned the number of prunes you might consume if you chose not to use their product. The lines were “Are six enough? Are twelve too many?” You know you don’t need to keep all of those seedlings. Why not dig some and make more? Oh wait. That would be wrong unless I donate them to a plant sale. Yes, Nature abhors a vacuum but this is ridiculous. How can I compost a perfectly beautiful plant? Oops. I mean, how can you compost a perfectly beautiful plant? You need to approach the dilemma from the aspect of intelligent design. Not the intelligent design juxtaposed against evolution amusing our politicos. I’m talking about the real intelligent design, like the classes at the Michigan School of Gardening or Tollgate promote. If your garden plan is a formal one, then repeating the placement of the same kind of plant is considered part of the process. But if your design isn’t meant to be so stately and repetitious you need to pull all but three plants from your bounty. Three is the maximum you can have; one for you, one for the critters and one for a spare. Unless, of course, your design calls for planting in groups of three in which case you must be limited to one grouping. I could keep reciting exceptions to these rules but I don’t want to be an enabler. With the proper treatment you can look forward to someday owning just one or even NONE of a particular plant. It takes strength, fortitude, a strong desire to declutter, and growth. Remember, your reward for ridding your beds of the thugs is the freedom to put something else in their spots Or not. To contact Nutcase Nursery, email nutcase_nursery@yahoo.com. Nominations Requested for the Society’s Annual Election In accordance with the Master Gardener Society of Oakland County by-laws, this announcement is made to inform our membership of the following (3) Three open SEB (Society Executive Board) positions, their terms of service and duties. Article V – Officers Section 3 a. President (2 Year Term) To preside over general membership and SEB meetings; to appoint standing team leaders on an annual basis; when necessary and with the approval of the SEB, may remove any team leader; to serve as ex-officio member of all committees; to oversee the execution of these by-laws and policies in order that the purpose, mission and goals of the Master Gardener Society of Oakland County are served. d. Treasurer (2 Year Term) To prepare and present annual budget to SEB; to keep account of money collected for programs, projects, and dues; to disburse all funds as required; to maintain a complete set of records and to prepare and present monthly and annually, financial reports for the SEB and the general membership meetings; to cooperate fully with the vice-president in the performance of audits; to surrender all books, records, and money to the succeeding treasurer. As an MSUE sponsored group, the treasurer is required to adhere to the financial accountability policy and procedures as established by the state MSUE directors. e. Team Administrator (1 Year Term) To perform duties as assigned by the SEB Article VIII – Elections Section 1. Nominations for elected SEB officers (president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer, team administrator) will begin with a notice from the Nominations Committee to be published in the August/September Roots & Shoots. Written nominations are to be submitted to the Nominations Committee prior to the October general membership meeting. Nominations for elected SEB officers may also be accepted at the October general membership meeting. Section 2. Nominations for elected SEB officers shall be closed at the conclusion of the October general membership meeting. Ballots shall be mailed to all members entitled to vote via US mail, within (5) five days following the October meeting. Ballots must be returned by US Mail or electronic transmission. Ballots must be postmarked or returned by electronic transmission, no later than 20 days after the ballot mailing date. Section 3. Election results shall be announced at the November general membership meeting. Candidates receiving a plurality of votes cast for a particular office shall be elected for a term of (2) two years. Elections will be held annually, with the election of two officers, alternating between president/treasurer and vice president/secretary. The team administrator shall be elected every year. The term for the newly elected officers shall begin January 1st. Section 4. Only those persons who have indicated their consent to serve if elected or appointed shall be nominated for office or other positions. This is your opportunity to participate in the direction of your society! Don’t Let the Summer Go (sung to ‘Kokomo’ – Beach Boys) Ajuga, buddleia, oooh I love to see ya Carnations and daisy, oooh you make me crazy Eranthus, dianthus even agapanthus. (stomp) In the yard on my knees Waving at those honey bees, Pulling out the maple trees, Living out my fantasies. Afternoon delight, Blooming cosmos shiny white Zinnias so jewel bright Longest day and shortest night Don’t let the summer go ! Tomato, potato, oooh I need to let go! Blueberries and cherries, little garden fairies Mowin’ and hoein’, everything is growin’ (stomp) It’s the thing that I love, I hear the mourning dove, How ‘bout some moisture from above Where is my other glove ? Dirt ground in my skin Bruises all down my shin It’s a game I’ll never win, Mosquitoes chase me in Don’t Let The Summer Go !! --Submitted by Susan Tatus Mc Larty 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@oakgov.com E-Mail: lenchekc@oakgov.com Mary Wilson…248-858-0887 Linda Smith…248-858-0887 Horticulture Educator Horticulture Secretary E-Mail: wilsonm1@msu.edu E-Mail: smithlin@oakgov.com 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@oakgov.com Food Safety Hotline…248-858-0904 Robin Danto, Extension Educator 4-H Youth Programs…248-858-0905 Water Quality Education…248-858-5198 Tom Schneider, Extension Educator Bindu Bhakta, Extension Educator Lois Thieleke….248-858-0888 Children, Youth & Family…248-452-9726 Extension Educator- Food & Nutrition 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. Submit articles for publication by suggested deadlines below. January 1 for February/March Issue March 1 for April/May Issue May 1 for June/July Issue July 1 for August/September Issue September 1 for October/November Issue November 1 for December/January Issue 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. ?? ?? ?? ?? - 1 -