Madeline Church

Linda Frost

I n t e r n s r e c e i v i n g t h e i r g r a d u a t i o n c e r t i f i c a t e s

Interns that have also received certificates but not shown are: Kelly Denson, Robert Dillard, Marjorie Seipand Paula Silva.

NOTE - Interns with a symbol after their name have gone beyond the extra mile and have completed all the necessary hours to receive their certification and now are fully Certified Master Gardeners.

L E A D E R S H I P President

Michael Bishop Vice President

Jill Barris Secretary

Michelle Scott Treasurer

Suzy Murray Members at Large

Linda amprecht John Slusarz Sandra Williams

State Directors Huxley Smith Mary Lambert Alt - Nina Dawson

Gazette Editor John Slusarz

Hours Coordinator Betty Rogers

Extension Office Lisa Martinez

Nina Dawson Kathie Fernandez

D i d s o m e b o d y m e n t i o n f o o d ?

Betty Weber

P1 NMG Officers 2016

P1 Holiday Celebration

P2 Volunteer

Opportunities

P2 Other Happenings As usual, with the Nueces Master Gardeners, the food served up at the celebration was fantastic! P2 Monthly Meeting

P2 Betty Rogers Note

P3 President’s Corner

P3 Agent’s Notes

P3 Year in Review

P4 Looking Forward

P5 Pots and More Pots

P5 Birthdays

P6 Coffee Grounds

P7 Free Soil Test

P7 Editors Note

P7 Disclaimers

I N T H I S I S S U E

2 0 1 6 I n t e r n R e c o g n i t i o n a n d H o l i d a y C e l e b r a t i o n

The Nueces Master Gardeners gathered at the Garden Senior Center on December 6 to honor the Interns that successfully completed the training and to celebrate the holidays.

Issue 13 – Jan. 2017

MASTER GARDENER GAZE TTE NUECES COUNTY, TX PAGE 2

O N G O I N G P R O J E C T S

FOR COMMITTEE/PROJECT CONTACTS & TO FIND

ABOUT GETTING INVOLVED - C L I C K T H I S

10:00am - Board of Directors Meeting 11:30am - Meet and Greet Over Lunch 12:30pm – General Meeting

To volunteer for future lunches, contact Rita Phillips 991-0750 or email rnphillipscctx@grandecom.net

All students and MGs are invited to attend our monthly MG

meetings. If you attend the entire meeting you will earn 1 hour for the Board Meeting, 1 hour for the General Meeting and 0.5 hour for CE

5325 Greely D r, Co rpus Christi, TX 78412 - CLICK FOR MAP

WINTER LECTURE SERIES 10 TO 11:30 A.M., WEDNESDAYS:

JAN 11 - NO SUCH THING AS HOUSEPLANTS - Botanical Gardens Executive Director, Michael Womack

JAN 18 - HEART HEALTHY COOKING WITH HERBS - Nueces Master Gardener Herb Specialist, Deb Holliday

JAN 25 - HEALTHIER PLANTS USING HOUSEHOLD PROD- UCTS - Nueces Master Gardener, Frank Eicholz

O T H E R A C T I V I T I E S

ORCHIDOLOGY: 1st Thursday of the month, 7 pm

EAT YOUR WEEDS - WINTER FORAGING WORKSHOP: Sat, Jan. 14, 9 am /noon. Mark “Merriwether” Vordergruggen.

ROSE BED TO ROSE BUD: Saturday, Jan. 28, 10 am/noon. Corpus Christi Rose Society.

BLACKLOCK’S INTRODUCTION TO BIRDS OF SOUTH TEXAS: 1-Day Short Course Tuesday, Jan. 24—Class: 9-11:30 am, Education Station. Field Trip: 1-5pm. See Calendar below

BOTANI CAL GARDENS, Wednesdays, 7:30 a.m. COURT YARD AT T HE GARDEN SENI OR CENT ER , 1st Monday, 9:15 a.m. Contact: Betty Whitt 991-5375 FOOD B ANK PROJECT “Outgrow Hunger” Tuesdays 7:30a.m. (Except MG meeting day then Wednesday) Contact: Mary Lambert 813-7596 or e-mail her at cwlmel@yahoo.com NATURE CONSERVANCY Mondays, 4:00pm & Blu- cher Park 5:00 pm until sundown (Behind the Main Library). Contact: Karen Smith 877-9723 RA Y HI GH SCHOOL GREE NHOUSE Tuesday MG Workday 9:00-11:00

Wed. Jan 4 - Coastal Bend Cacti & Succulent Society meeting, 7pm, Garden Senior Center, 687-6474 Tue. Jan. 10 - Garden Council, 10am, GC, 537-8231 Tue. Jan 17 - Aransas/San Patricio Master Gardener Association, 10am, 892 Airport Rd., Rockport, 361- 790-0103 Wed. Jan 25 - Plumeria Society meeting, 6:30pm, Garden Senior Center, 813-9616 Thur. Jan 26 - Bromeliad Society meeting, 7pm, Gar- den Senior Center, 658-8650 Thur. Jan 26 - Bonsai Society meeting, 7pm, Garden Senior Center, 992-0009

F R O M B E T T Y R O G E R S

T I P S O N R E P O R T I N G Y O U R H O U R S

All Master Gardener volunteer hours for the 2016 calendar year must be posted by January 15, 2017. Failure to post your hours by that time could cause non-recertification. Any hours posted after January 15, 2017 will be added to your cumulative hours only.

O T H E R A C T I V I T I E S T H I S M O N T H

M A S T E R G A R D E N E R S M E ET I N G Tuesday, Jan 17 at Garden Senior Center

Do you know of any future gardening related events, meetings or activities that could be of inter- est to Nueces Master Gardeners? Send us an e-mail and we will gladly add it to future Gazettes.

2 0 1 7 B O T A N I C A L G A R D E N S C A L E N D A R O F E V E N T S The South Texas Botanical Gardens has published their 2017 Calendar of Events. To get a head start in the planning of your activities with them click the link below to download.

CLI CK T HI S FOR PDF D OWNLOAD

http:/ / stxbot.o rg/ assets/2017-m aster-calendar.pdf

PAGE 3 MASTER GARDENER GAZE TTE NUECES COUNTY, TX

Santa looked a lot like Daddy!

My Dad was a fairly staunch person, he wasn’t mean,

so don’t think that I am saying that; he just didn’t get too emotional about much of anything. As a kid, I re- member him sitting at the kitchen table having a ciga- rette and a cup of coffee. He loved coffee and I think maybe that’s where my love for the liquid also comes from. As he sat at the table, he would give my mother a hard time about this or that, nothing serious, he just loved to get a reaction from her, so he could hear her go off on him. On occasion, when he knew he’d pushed a little too much, he’d chase her around trying to give her a hug; the whole way, with my mom saying “get away from me!” Once, he made her so aggravat- ed, that she made him a halo and a pair of wings and unknowingly taped them to his back. We were all dy- ing, as we watched him wander around the house, wings flapping and he didn’t even have a clue.

My dad was a very loving man, though! He didn’t say it much, but I always knew how much he cared about us. He and my mom had a mine, yours and ours fami- ly. Each brought kids into the family and then they had my younger sister and me afterwards. We never thought of each other as stepbrothers or stepsisters; they were just my brothers and sisters as far as I was concerned and I knew my parents felt the same way. Dad would have helped any one of us that reached out to him with just about anything.

My dad loved putting up the Christmas decorations. Every year come rain or snow, it was usually wind in Lubbock; dad would drag out Santa, the Rudolph and the rest of the reindeer, and all of the rest of the out- side decorations. He mounted Santa and Rudolph on the roof and spotlighted them where everyone could see them. He put lights all around the house and the porch, even down the bannisters and across the rails. Mom and Dad’s house was the prettiest on the block, by the time he got through. One of my favorite mem- ories was rounding the corner and pulling up to see Santa and Rudolph atop the house. They were there to greet us; it was like my Dad was Santa, greeting us from the roof. I miss Santa and Rudolph, but I miss my Dad most of all! He loved Christmas, so I love Christmas!

Well, I hope everyone had a great holiday and a Merry

Christmas.

John wanted me to give a bio, so I will try; I call Zapata County home, even though I have no family living there anymore. I’m a graduate of Zapata High School, did a year at Bee County College. Then I spent eight years in the Marine Corps. My wife, Jerry and I married while I was on boot camp leave and she fol- lowed me around while I was in the Marine Corps. After leaving the service we then settled in Alice, Texas, which is still our home. We have two boys and two grandsons, which none live in Texas.

I would like to take this opportunity to share a few thoughts on the Nueces Master Gardeners:

I think that we could grow our membership and our activities more if we had our own place. Maybe 2 to 5 acres with a building, offices, and a room for meetings that would hold over a hundred people. Also, if we had our own location we could then have a greenhouse that could be used to support many of our current ongoing and promote our starting new projects. This would allow us to grow in many ways.

We need to have more Nueces Master Gardeners become specialist to help with our speakers bureau. I think it wouldn’t be bad to have 3 more Nueces Master Gardener specialists in very major gardening areas.

We need fund raisers outside of our own group – plant sales, herb sales or educational classes. This would be very easy with our own location.

Well, I sincerely hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday and will be ready for the New Year.

Michael

Continued on page 5

2 0 1 6 Y E A R I N R E V I E W

At the December Celebration meeting a slide presenta-

tion was made covering the 2016 Nueces Master Gar- dener year in review. It covered a lot of the events and activities that the NMGs had participated in over the course of 2016.

T o see th at sli d e p r esentati on - CLICK T HIS

MASTER GARDENER GAZE TTE NUECES COUNTY, TX PAGE 4

2016 brought many new changes for me and my family. After having lived in East Texas for ten years, we changed our surroundings by moving to Corpus Christi and surrounding ourselves with a terrific bunch of new people. Alt- hough, I had lived here for five years previously, I hadn’t thought about sub-tropical climates in quite some time; palm trees and plumerias hadn’t even crossed my mind, but I quickly put in gear and submersed myself in South Tex- as Flora. I also submerged myself in volunteers. Everyone told me managing volunteers would be a huge challenge, especially Master Gardeners. I have found that you are a happy, wonderful group of people that thrive on acknowl- edgement and an occasional shove. I am very happy to be in Corpus Christi and very happy to have met each and every one of you.

January 11th, 2017 will mark one year since I started as your Nueces county horticulture agent. I’ve spent most of the first year, just trying to figure out what in the world is going on. I’m not saying that I’ve figured it out yet, but with the first year in the books, I find myself thinking about the organization and Extension and all of its’ mysteries. Extension is full of surprises all of the time; just when you think you know what you’re doing, whammo, you figure out, nope that should have been done differently. In my opinion, within any organization, communication is the key to success; so I strive to provide that communication to you. Please forgive me when I fail to do so, it may be, be- cause I’m just an ignoramus or maybe possibly because it just slipped past me.

We’re a terrific group and we accomplish many great things every year, but there is always room for improvement. Not to quote Donald Trump, but I am very interested in the things that would make our volunteer organization great and I hope you are too. Here are some things in no particular order that would move our organization towards great:

Better Recruiting – This would lead to larger intern classes. We’ve got to do a better job of advertising our clas- ses to draw in a larger group. We need to be training around 20 interns each year. We should probably find some way to advertise this more at all of our events. I must utilize the media more effectively.

Permanent Home – Our organization needs a space with acreage in the Corpus Christi area. We could start with just the location, but it would need to transition into a training and office space and include public areas for dis- play gardens and trial gardens. It would also need to have room for a greenhouse. In my opinion, this one item is the only thing holding our organization back.

More Programming – We need to be providing more public education. We need to build up our number of vol- unteers, so that every area that provides public education is overflowing with willing members. This past year, I witnessed outstanding educational programming from the group. I was very impressed with MG’s who were delivering programs, but I saw very quickly that this group was stretched too thin. Teaching in front of groups is not everyone’s forte, so don’t get me wrong and think that I am saying that everyone needs to hustle in front of a group of adolescents. The key here is more volunteers.

Accentuate the Positive – We should figure out what we do well and focus on keeping those things great and slowly adventure into new areas. We can’t afford to miss out on fantastic opportunities if they arise though.

Big Annual Fundraiser! – Our group needs to put on at least an annual fundraiser that is synonymous with our group; something that when the public hears it, they know that it is Nueces County Master Gardeners doing it. (a spring and fall fundraiser would be even better).

Dream Big!

Working together, there is nothing that we can’t accomplish. I am very blessed to know each and every one of you. By the time you read this, you will have already spent the holidays with family and friends. I hope you got lots of rest and enjoyment from those you love. Thank you for the outstanding educational services that you provide to the citi- zens of Nueces County, they are very blessed to have you.

L O O K I N G F O R W A R D By Nueces CEA Kevin Gibbs

MASTER GARDENER GAZE TTE NUECES COUNTY, TX PAGE 5

In early December, Sally Hunt, from “Coastal Gardens”, called the AgriLife office and offered for anyone interested in some free clay pots that they are welcome to come and get some - and there were thousands and thousands of clay pots to be had. And did the Nueces Master Gardeners respond! Several NMGs managed to dig out many hundreds of clay pots ranging in size from 1” to 6”+. The NMGs filled their cars, trucks and SUVs with this once in a life time oppor- tunity. A very special thanks to Sally Hunt for her generosity and for making the effort so that some of these pots will be put to good use.

Extra Bonus - NMG Rosemary Plank and Victoria Reyes (of Ray High School) managed to dig out and haul over 300 clay pots to the Ray High School Greenhouse. The pots they gathered will be used by the Ray High School students in their horticulture projects over the next few years.

S a n t a l o o k e d a l o t l i k e D a d d y ! Continued from page 2

He was a master mechanic, you could call him and within a se- ries of a few questions, he would have narrowed down the problem and already be advising you about how to fix it. When it was too complicated, he would show up and take care of it himself. He had a temper when he was younger though. Once, he got so aggravated working on a car, that he through a pair of plyers as hard as he could. They stuck right though the radiator! Maybe that’s why he held his emotions in check when he was older, he’d already realized the things in life that were im- portant from the mistakes that he’d made earlier in his life. He knew towards the end of his life that nothing mattered more than family and faith. I learned a lot from my parents, they made me who I am today. My mom passed on her sense of hu- mor, her willingness to try anything once, her arts and crafts skills and her huge heart. My dad gave me his wit and dark sense of humor. He taught me to problem solve, to work hard, to control my temper, to fight for what is right, but most of all he taught me to love my family and cherish the time spent with them. I love you mom and Dad! Thank you for everything! Hope you’re enjoying heaven Dad, we’ll see you soon!

Nueces Master Gardeners celebrating a birthday this month include the following. The next time you see them be sure that you wish them a very

H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y ! Jan 06 Jan Shannon 2 Jan 08 Frank Eicholz 25 Jan 13 Helen Orsak 10

Jan 15 Bobby Leach 15

Jan 18 John Slusarz 25

Jan 25 John Seip 16

Jan 25 Beth Spirko 25 Jan 29 Paul Parr 13 Jan 30 Maire Kelly 26

Sally Hu n t

P O T S , P O T S A N D M O R E P O T S

MASTER GARDENER GAZE TTE NUECES COUNTY, TX PAGE 6

We recycle our paper and plastics, so why not add one of our morning staples--coffee--to the list? Composting is a nat- ural way of recycling, breaking down organic waste, and turning it into nutrient-rich matter. Coffee grounds can be used in the composting process in a variety of ways.

1. Coffee grounds can be applied directly to your garden; they can be applied as a top dressing to nitrogen-loving plants such as azaleas, roses, lettuces, and most perennials. Although the grounds are highly acidic, most of the acidity is removed during the brew- ing process.

2. Add coffee grounds and filters to your compost pile. Coffee grounds act as a green mate- rial that is high in nitrogen. Combined with brown material, coffee helps to create a rich environment for your compost micro- and macro-organisms to do their job of breaking down the waste.

3. Coffee grounds can be used in worm bins along with other household waste to create vermicompost (indoor com- post made by red worms).

4. Coffee grounds can be used out in the garden to create slug barriers around your hostas, ligularias and other plants that are susceptible to slug attacks. Make sure that you use caffeinated coffee as it is the caffeine that will deter and even kill the slugs. Simply create a small 1/2 to 1 inch wall of coffee grounds around the susceptible plant. Replenish the barrier as necessary.

Ways to Use Compost: Compost can be mixed directly into your soil, applied as a thick layer of mulch, used in a thin layer on your lawn, or soaked in a bucket to make "compost tea" for watering your indoor or outdoor plants. Compost cannot replace soil, but should be used to amend it.

1. The amount of compost that you need to amend soil will depend on the nutrients present in the soil and the condition of the soil. Compost helps break up heavy clay soil, improves water retention in sandy soils, and nourishes soil that has been depleted of important nutrients. Have your soil tested to find out what it needs.

2. Do not get intimidated by numbers. Sometimes people recommend adding as much as 4 inches of compost to newly established beds. This is to create optimal conditions. If this feels like too much, add anywhere from to 1/4 to 1 inch of compost to the bed once or perhaps even twice a season (spring and fall). Getting into a yearly routine will cut down the quantities that you will need to create fertile soil. Also remember that less is better than none. Nature replenishes the soil every year by having deciduous trees drop their leaves to create a rich leaf litter. Gardeners should get into the same good habit.

3. You can either incorporate the compost into the soil as you plant or add an inch on top of established planting (this is called top-dressing). It will seep into the ground through the season. If you are using fine or coarse bark mulch around your woody plants, add compost into the bark mulch mixture.

4. In the vegetable garden combine compost with aged cow manure to create an environment that is rich in organic matter and ideal for most vegetables. You can either amend the soil in the fall or the spring, depending on when you have time. Heavy feeders such as tomatoes, corn, and squash benefit from a mulch of 1/2 inch of compost.

5. In your window boxes and potted plants, add 1/4 of compost once or twice a year to revitalize your container plants. Work it into the top layer of the soil, discarding old soil if necessary.

6. The advice varies slightly for planting trees. The soil you plant a tree in should be similar to the soil in the surround- ing area. If the new soil is too rich, the roots of the tree will not grow past the nutrient-rich material used to fill the hole. Add compost if you are planting in heavy clay or sandy soil that has difficulty holding nutrients. If you are amending the planting hole, try and amend as much of the area as possible. Add compost into the mulch as part of the top-dressing.

Sour c e : h ttp ://www .ny b g.o r g/gar d e n s/ ho m e -gar dening/tips/ compost-coffee.php Related Article: http://buckscountymaster gar dener s.blogspot.com/ 2016/04/coffee -gr ounds-for-gar den-by-scott.html

U s i n g C o f f e e G r o u n d s I n t h e G a r d e n a n d I n C o m p o s t By Sonia Uyterhoeven New York Botanical Gardens

MASTER GARDENER GAZE TTE NUECES COUNTY, TX PAGE 7

Help minimize excessive nutrients from flowing through storm water systems and into rivers, bays and estuaries. Ex- cess fertilizer and nutrients can pollute storm water runoff. As part of the effort to reduce the introduction of fertilizers and other nutrients into local receiving bodies of water, the City’s Storm Water Department and the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Center are co-sponsoring free soil testing now through February 17, 2017.

Citizens can pick up free soil testing kits at Gill’s Nursery located at 2810 Airline Road, Turner’s Gardenland, 6503 S. Padre Island Drive and Bay Area Nursery at 5902 S. Staples. Drop off sites are the City of Corpus Christi Utilities Building at 2726 Holly Road and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Center in Robstown. Test kits will be sent to Texas A&M University-College Station and results will be sent to the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Center in Robstown. The Extension S e r v i c e will s e n d t h e s o i l s a m p l e s t o t h e l a b a n d m a i l results to residents. For more information contact the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service at (361) 767-5217.

The two adages to the left were submitted by Nueces Master Gardener Sandra Williams and the one on the right is just something that I like.

January is not a very busy month for gardeners. It is usually the time to clean up the garden from last

year’s growth and getting it ready for the upcoming annual plantings. However, a lot of gardeners are ac- tively planning their seed purchase for the upcoming season. Reviewing their seed catalogs, or scouring their favorite seed sites on the web, to determine what seeds they will purchase.

This year you might consider sharing your extra seeds. A lot of seed packets will contain many more seeds than can ever be used under the best of conditions. If you purchase a seed packet that contains 50 seeds and the absolute maximum that you will ever possibly sow are 30 seeds – what to do with the other 20 seeds? Most gardeners will attempt different methods to save them for the following year. But, if you are anything like me, that usually doesn’t work out well.

To share those excess seeds a simple post on the Nueces Master Gardener Facebook Bulletin Board will, more than likely, put those extra seeds to good use by another Master Gardener. A win – win! This would also apply to those of you that were shrewd and harvested seeds from your locally grown plants. Here is a link to the Nueces Master Gar- dener Facebo ok Bulletin Board - CLICK THIS

Kevin O . Gib bs, CE A -Ho rticulture—E dito r: Jo hn M. Slu sarz

Disclaimer - The members of Texas A&M AgriLife will provide equal opportunities in programs and activities, education, and em- ployment to all persons regardless of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, sexual orientation or gender identity and will strive to achieve full and equal employment opportunity throughout Texas A&M AgriLife. The information herein is for informational purposes only. Reference to commercial products or trade names is made with the understanding that no discrimination is intended and no endorsement by the Master Gardeners is implied.

Individuals with disabilities who require auxiliary aid, ser- vice, or accommodation in order to participate in any Exten- sion event are encouraged to contact their County Extension Office at 361-767-5217 at least one week in advance of the program in order for proper arrangements to be made.

Contacts: for general information or name, address or phone num- ber change please contact the Extension office at:

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service ATTN: Horticulture Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service 710 E. Main, Suite 1, Attn: Horticulture Robstown, Texas 78380 (361) 767-5217

A N o t e F r o m Y o u r M a s t e r G a r d e n e r G a z e t t e E d i t o r

Editor: John M. Slusarz Phone: 361-939-0505 E-mail: jmslusarz2@gmail.com

C I T Y O F C O R P U S C H R I S T I F R E E S O I L T E S T I N G