April Vol. 26, No. 4 Editors: Julie Stark/Lisa Slattery April 2016 MASTER GARDENER EVENTS Steering Committee Mtg. Extension Office April 5 • 6:30 pm April Library Talks 6:30-7:30 pm Blairstown Public Library 305 Locust St., NW Ste. 2, Blairstown April 18 and 25 Ely Public Library 1595 Downs Street, Ely April 5, 12, 19 and 26 Hiawatha Public Library 150 W Willman St., Hiawatha April 6, 13, 20 and 27 Awards Banquet Flamingo Banquet Hall 1211 Ellis Blvd., NW April 28 • 6:00 pm social / 6:30 dinner Creative Gardening Series Cedar Rapids Downtown Library Whipple Auditorium April 7, 14 and 21 • 6:30 pm “Sweet April showers / Do spring May flowers.” ~ Thomas Tusser— A Hundred Good Points of Husbandry, 1557 What’s Inside… Plant Sale Plans Underway—Pages 1-2 Noelridge Easter/Mother’s Day Showcases—Page 2 April Library Talks—Pages 3-4 Creative Gardening Series—Page 4 Coordinator Comments—Page 5 Noelridge Greenhouse Wins Award— Page 6 IHeart Media Outdoor Living Show— Page 6 Volunteer Spotlight—pages 7-8 Nearby MG Events—Page 8 Steering Cmte Report—Pages 9-11 The 2016 Charlene Woeste Master Gardener Plant Sale By: Karen Woeste and Phil Pfister The 15 th annual Linn County MG Plant Sale will be Saturday, May 14, at the ISU Extension & Outreach Linn County parking lot, 383 Collins Rd NE. Even though we have some cooler temperatures in the forecast, all the signs are pointing to an early spring, and that means it’s time to start thinking about what to dig, divide and prepare for the plant sale. The Charlene Woeste Plant Sale is one of our major fund raisers, and much of the success depends on the generous donation of plants from the Master Gardeners’ gardens. We have a reputation for providing interesting, Continued—Page 2
Transcript
April
Vol. 26, No. 4 Editors: Julie Stark/Lisa Slattery April 2016
MASTER GARDENER EVENTS
Steering Committee Mtg.
Extension Office April 5 • 6:30 pm
April Library Talks 6:30-7:30 pm
Blairstown Public Library 305 Locust St., NW Ste. 2,
Blairstown
April 18 and 25 Ely Public Library
1595 Downs Street, Ely April 5, 12, 19 and 26
Hiawatha Public Library
150 W Willman St., Hiawatha April 6, 13, 20 and 27
Awards Banquet Flamingo Banquet Hall
1211 Ellis Blvd., NW April 28 • 6:00 pm social /
6:30 dinner
Creative Gardening Series
Cedar Rapids Downtown Library
Whipple Auditorium
April 7, 14 and 21 • 6:30 pm
“Sweet April showers / Do spring May flowers.” ~ Thomas Tusser—
A Hundred Good Points of Husbandry, 1557
What’s Inside…
Plant Sale Plans Underway—Pages 1-2
Noelridge Easter/Mother’s Day
Showcases—Page 2
April Library Talks—Pages 3-4
Creative Gardening Series—Page 4
Coordinator Comments—Page 5
Noelridge Greenhouse Wins Award—
Page 6
IHeart Media Outdoor Living Show—
Page 6
Volunteer Spotlight—pages 7-8
Nearby MG Events—Page 8
Steering Cmte Report—Pages 9-11
The 2016 Charlene Woeste Master Gardener Plant Sale By: Karen Woeste and Phil Pfister
The 15th annual Linn County MG Plant Sale will be Saturday, May 14, at the ISU Extension & Outreach Linn County parking lot, 383 Collins Rd NE.
Even though we have some cooler temperatures in the forecast, all the signs are pointing to an early spring, and that means it’s time to start thinking about what to dig, divide and prepare for the plant sale. The Charlene Woeste Plant Sale is one of our major fund raisers, and much of the success depends on the generous donation of plants from the Master Gardeners’ gardens. We have a reputation for providing interesting,
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unusual and high quality plants, and a lot of that is a result of planning early, so the plants have time to become well established prior to the sale. We’ll be sending out guidelines for preparing plants for the sale in the near future. In the meantime, please start considering what you can bring to the sale, and how best to prepare it. Any questions should be directed to Karen Woeste (319-270-5678; [email protected]) or Phil Pfister (319-360-1734; [email protected]). Please be as generous as you can with plants for the sale. We need a good selection of many kinds of plants, and choices within each kind.
Noelridge Easter & Mother’s Day Showcases By Diane Stevens and Kathy Rhodes, Noelridge Co-Chairs
Easter weekend brought slightly over 1800 people to the Noelridge Park Greenhouse for the annual Easter Showcase/Open House. This showcase featured displays and information by the Eastern Iowa Aquarium Society, North American Native Fish Association, the Harshbarger Hosta Society, the Eastern Iowa Orchid Society, Pet's Playhouse, Cook's Honey, along with the Linn County MG. The vendors, ZD Crafts and Sharon's Cards were on hand with garden variety crafts & artwork. The first 500 children were given a free marigold to start off their gardening season.
Deb Main organized a terrific selection of information in the form of handouts and brochures at the MG table. Master Gardeners answered gardening related questions, interacted with the public, emphasized the Year of the Pollinator, and handed out save-the-date reminders pertaining to the upcoming library talks, Creative Gardening Series, Plant Sale, and Garden Walk.
Over 20 MG and MG Interns along with Friends of Noelridge volunteered their time to help the Noelridge Greenhouse staff make the weekend a success. Thank You each and every one of you.
Noelridge will hold their annual Mother's Day Showcase/Open House on Sunday, May 8th from 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Admission is free. There will be exhibitors, vendors, and interesting displays concerning upcoming educational events planned at Noelridge Park Gardens this year. Tour the greenhouses and enjoy hundreds of blooming plants that will be planted through out the city this spring. There will be beautiful planters, hanging baskets, perennial, and annual plants for sale. The Master Gardeners will again have an informational table at this event. Each attendee will receive a free tropical milkweed plant.
April 18 - Veggies in Containers (Judy Stevens): Don't have the space or the necessary sunlight for growing vegetables? Try growing them in containers that can be moved around to catch the sun and do not take up a lot of space. Tomatoes, peppers and herbs can all be grown outside your kitchen door. Bring your ideas for container gardening to share.
April 25 - Container Gardens (Deb Walser): Container gardens do not have to be three geranium, asparagus fern and vinca vines. Come see what can be done with your containers. Deb’s own containers will be featured along with planting instructions.
Ely Public Library, 1595 Dows Street, Ely Tuesdays 6:30-7:30
April 5 - Verticals, Vines, and Variants (Debbie Main): Great ideas on how to pack more plants into your home landscape! Debbie will cover flowers and food crops which can be grown vertically, how to train them, where to locate them within your landscape, growing tips, and some unusual ideas on what to use to keep them vertical.
April 12 - Everything Creative in Garden Photography (Lori Bailey): Your garden is the perfect place to fine tune your photography skills, from lighting, composition and getting face to face with your flowers using your macro setting. Lori will share basic garden photography tips plus adding the creativity to put the “WOW” factor in all of your photos.
April 19 - Dazzling Dahlias (Beula Dvorak): I fell in love with dahlias on a recent trip to Nova Scotia….. Now, come join Beula and share some of her favorites and gain some tips on growing them and put more dazzle in your gardens.
April 26 - Container Gardens (Deb Walser): Container gardens do not have to be three geranium, asparagus fern and vinca vines. Come see what can be done with your containers. Deb’s own containers will be featured along with planting instructions.
Hiawatha Public Library, 150 W Willman St., Hiawatha Wednesdays 6:30-7:30
April 6 - Creating Miniature Gardens (Sylvia Kelly): Do you believe in fairies and other tiny creatures. Learn to create magical places with miniature plants, tiny furniture and accessories. Learn lots of tips and ideas to inspire you to create your own tiny garden indoors or out. A great way to interest children in gardening.
April 13 - Quilt Gardens (Beula Dvorak): Do you love quilts? Do you love flowers? Join Beula on a visual tour of the quilt gardens of Northern Indiana, along the Heritage Trail between Elkhart and Shipshewana. Get tips for developing your own quilt garden.
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April 20 - Let Your Light Shine! (Matt Pieper): Matt will help you better understand the ins and outs of landscape lighting.
April 27 - A Few of My Favorite Things (Wil Carew): Join Wil as he
talks about raindrops on roses and fungus on leaves. Bright copper
ninebark and cottonburr compost. He’ll touch on coralbells, tied up tomatoes on netting, flowering weigelas and hydrangeas, fruit,
vegetables, tools, trees and gardening in general. These are just a few of his favorite things.
Planting for Pollinators-Creative Gardening Series 2016 By Devon Dietz
All class are held at the Cedar Rapids Downtown Library, Whipple Auditorium and are free.
Thursday, April 7, 2016—6:30 p.m. What’s the Buzz? Tell Me What’s Happening with Pollinators Dr. Donald Lewis, ISU Extension & Outreach Entomologist: Declines in the number of domestic honey bees that began nearly a decade ago have led to increased interest in the “other” pollinators and what can be done by gardeners, landscapers and others to promote and enhance the pollinator community on which much of our varied food supply depends. What have you done for pollinators lately? What more could you do? What more should you do?
Thursday, April 14, 2016—6:30 p.m. Messy Fields Make Good Neighbors Rob Ewoldt, Iowa Producer, Rafter E Ranch, LLC: Hear about the dilemmas and delights of being a Scott County farmer while attempting to make a living for family, and treating the land as sustainably as possible. Rob will explain what practices he has adopted to improve his soil while providing competitive yields. Some of the practices he uses are no-till farming, proper timing and placement of nutrients for crop utilization, cover crops and grassed waterways.
Thursday, April 21, 2016—6:30 p.m. The Monarch Research Project and Monarch Zones Clark McLeod, Lead Director, Co-Founder, Monarch Research Project and Becki Lynch, Director of Habitat, Monarch Research Project, Linn County Master Gardener: What are Monarch Zones? What is the Monarch Research Project? By working together, how can we, as a community, bring back our Monarchs and their habitat quickly? Clark will give an overview of the research Campbell Watts and he have conducted thus far, and how it has led to Monarch Zones and the Monarch Research Project. He will review the goals and purpose of the Monarch Research Project, and share the long-term vision. Becki will share plans and activities for the initial Monarch Zones in 2016, and the learning/educational opportunities that will occur next summer at the Flutterby Acres Monarch Zone, Noelridge Park.
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April 5
Coordinator Comments By: Shelly O'Neal
Happy Spring Everyone!
I am looking out the window and seeing green grass! I am sure you are all finishing your garden planning, and ready to get your hands into the soil.
The Winter Garden Fair was a wonderful success with over 375 attendees and 70 classes offered. It takes many hands to make light of work. We had many hands including the WGF Chairperson, Jean Wilson, all the planning committee members, speakers, and the many volunteers that assisted in making the event successful. Thank you all!
The VRS Hour Entry system is now ready to have you begin entering your hours. The winners of the first quarterly drawing were: Dick Faas, Laurie Azeltine, LouAnn Jayne, and Tom Row. Congratulations! Remember to enter your hours every quarter to be entered into the quarterly drawings.
Along with Spring, always comes spring cleaning. A time to clear out the clutter, maybe find some treasures, and create space for new endeavors. Some of the new projects the Master Gardeners are encouraged to participate in, is the area of community gardens.
The Linn County Master Gardeners received almost $3,000 total for 3 mini-grants, out of 4 possible, to use in community garden projects in which the MGs will be working with the community to grow, teach and connect. The award winners were for community gardens at Wellington Height’s, Options of Linn County, and the Ely Library. Congratulations to the grant writers, Carson Fixmer, Beula Dvorak, and Diane Wiesenfeld!
The MGs have also received multiple requests for collaboration on gardens at the Czech and Slovak Museum, Olivet Mission, and School Gardens 101. Horizons has also requested an opportunity to work with the MGs. They are wanting to begin a project to provide opportunities to children in urban poverty areas to grow their own gardens at the Horizons gardens.
So as you can see there are many things “blooming” for our organization. Please contact me if you are interested in participating in any of these new opportunities.
Awards Ceremony– April 28
Please mark your calendar for the Annual Master Gardener Awards Banquet, April 28 at the Flamingo, 1211 Ellis Blvd. NW, Cedar Rapids. The cash bar begins at 6 pm, dinner at 6:30pm.
Cash bar, buffet dinner and awards including the Silver & Gold Star Awards, Hours Appreciations, the Silver Trowel, Lifetime MG, Outstanding New MG and MG of the Year will be presented.
Formal invitations will arrive in your mailbox shortly.
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Noelridge Greenhouse Wins Award By: Diane Stevens
The Eastern Iowa Orchid Society entered two specimen orchid plants from Noelridge Greenhouse's tropical orchid collection in their orchid display at the Suburban Chicago Orchid Show at the DuPage County Fairgrounds in Wheaton, Illinois Feb 20-21, 2016.
The Phalaenopsis (moth orchid) Taipei Gold x Buena Cerise Sparks was pulled for American Orchid Society judging and received a Highly Commended Certificate for flower quality and a Certificate of Cultural Merit for superior cultivation characteristics. A description of the plant and flower will be entered in the national database for this orchid hybrid and can be referenced worldwide. This orchid is probably over 20 years old and had 35 flowers on six blooming stems.
The second orchid, a pink blooming Cymbidium, received the Best Cymbidium in the Show. Eastern Iowa Orchid Society's display won the Show Trophy for the best orchid display in the entire show. Volunteers from Friends of Noelridge are primarily responsible for the orchid care at the greenhouse. A special thanks to Noelridge volunteers Nile Dusdieker, Peggy Green, and John Cox for being so dedicated in care of our orchids.
Congratulations!
2016 IHeart Media Outdoor Living Show By Karen Woeste
The 2016 IHeart Media Outdoor Living Show was held on March 12-13. The co-chairs were Sue Usher and Karen Woeste. Sixteen Master Gardeners volunteered their time: Sue Usher, Shelby Foley, Mike Anderson, Karen Woeste, Fran Potratz, Shirley Thornton, Kay McWhinney, Devon Dietz, Shelly O’Neal, Tracy Walder, Keith Dearborn, Claire Smith, Judy Stevens, Scott Feddern, Tina Patterson, Debbie Main and Barb Wing.
There were four presentations given, with Mike Anderson presenting “Landscaping with Shrubs”; Judy Stevens “Growing and Arranging Your Own Bouquets”; Deb Walser “New Perennials for 2016” and Devon Dietz “Iowa Butterflies and their Food”. There were 25 people who attended the presentations. The Master Gardeners’ booth answered questions and gave out information to approximately 150 people. There were approximately 1100 people who attended The Outdoor Living Show. There were $22 in publications sold, and $130 in plants for the Lowe Greenhouse. It was a successful event, with many questions answered for the public, and an opportunity to educate the public regarding the role of Linn County MG.
Thank you to all who made this event possible!
April 7
Volunteer Spotlight—Sarah Neff By Linda Skvor
Meet Sarah Neff!
Sarah, a graduate of the 2014 MG Class, grew up in Clarion, Iowa, and was the little sister tagalong to one sister and two older brothers. Sarah spent a lot of time outside with her brothers and father and their Boy Scout events, which included hunting and camping. In keeping with her upbringing, Sarah and her husband, Bill, live on an acreage in SE Cedar Rapids, an “organic retreat,” where she still hunts, harvests and processes venison.
Sarah is blessed to have four children and seven grandchildren, so the acreage has lent itself as a classroom for the “wonders of Iowa nature.” Sarah enjoys watching the baldfaced hornets build their “amazing” hives in the tree limbs and then, after a winter freeze, Sarah cuts them down for all to examine. She has harvested maple sap and mushrooms, examined old bird nests and spring peepers, viewed baby birds, wildflowers, downed timber, skeletons of many mammals, and bracket fungus. It sure sounds like Sarah’s place is nothing short of the Indian Creek Nature Center!
Sarah’s devotion to perpetuating the Monarch butterfly population is very apparent as she explained to me in detail how she raises monarchs. Suffice it to say, Sarah could easily be teaching a class. Once again her acreage enables her to take her grandkids into her pasture to find little pearl eggs on the underside of milkweed leaves, which were then examined under a microscope. As Sarah said, if it “looked like a hot air balloon,” they’d found a monarch egg!
Sarah has been a lifelong volunteer in her children and grandchildren’s school and church activities, as well as fundraising for athletic and club events. Her entire family plays tennis, so part of the acreage contains a tennis court, which also substitutes for a basketball court or roller skating rink. Sarah has toyed with the idea of turning it into a huge fenced in container garden – a “perfect blockade from the browsing deer” – but with occasional pickleball or tennis games still being played --- her vision has still not materialized.
Four years ago, Sarah had a life changing event; she was bitten by a deer tick, which resulted in Lymes disease. As Sarah said, she “surrendered her life to this sickness for a long time.” During recuperation, she began to study more about the environment, the water quality, environmental poisons, organics, plants, trees, flower, fruits, veggies and how it all affects our health. Sarah said, “The Master Gardening course was just the ticket to introduce me to the info I desired. It has opened doors to many opportunities to help other Lymies
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all over the U.S. and made me realize how important our environment is that we are leaving for the next generation.”
The one cool thing Sarah learned this year is WORMS! She stated, “They are our friends, so put them in your life and make a plant happy. Vermiculture is easy and the rewards are immeasurable. Who would think a bunch of peelings would turn into black gold with very little work on your part…just worm work.”
As for Sarah’s future volunteer endeavors, she will be helping out at the Summit Pointe Senior Home in Marion with their garden club and dementia garden through the Community Garden aspect of MG.
“These elderly gals are so smart about plants and container gardening, It's my privilege to be with them and hear their stories about growing up on Iowa farms. They have all become very dear to me.”
No doubt Sarah has become very dear to them as well!
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Nearby Master Gardener Events of Interest
April 9
March 2016 – Steering Committee Minutes—DRAFT
Abridged for Germinator Present: Steve Bartlett, Jackie Baumhauer, Larry Dawson, Beula Dvorak, Cindy Fagan, Darrell Hennessey, Linda Hinzman, Sylvia Kelley, Sam Krumbholz, Jackie MacLaren, Jane Schildroth, Linda Shepard. Absent: Kay McWhinney, Pam Scott, Linda Shepard. Guest: Shelly O’Neal. Quorum established. Minutes of January 5,2016 approved.
Announcements: Larry Dawson will be the speaker this Friday for KCRG at 11:45. He will talk about the Winter Garden Fair.
MG Coordinator Report: Shelly reminded us that the Programs for Excellence are due by March 15. We are recommending The Winter Garden Fair, Noelridge Butterfly Garden, and NewBo Garden Project. She shared some information about the MG Program in Polk County. They usually have a class of 30-35 and take candidates on a first come, first serve basis. We discussed how our interview process seems to be in place and is working well. We also want to make sure that we are encouraging diversity into the program. We currently have 167 MGs and are not sure how many are very active and how many are doing the minimum. Linn County is in the top 10 programs in the State for volunteer hours. A discussion followed about clear guidelines for new MGs who take classes, and if they can watch a missed webinar at home. Shelly should decide how a MG can make up a missed class.
Financial Report: Linda H. reported that $2,300 has been paid out thus far for the WGF. We received $2,000 from Marion for their share of the heat curtain at Lowe Greenhouse. The budget committee meets later in March to discuss new budget submissions. The committee consists of Linda H, Darrell, Cindy, Phil, and Shelly. They will approve requests and take them to the Executive Committee, and then the April Steering Committee Meeting. We may have to tweak the budget to accommodate the pollinator speaker’s expense (Chip Taylor) and the pollinator buttons. After some discussion, Jackie MacLaren suggested that we pursue better guidelines to understand the budget process. The Executive Committee will take this up at their meeting. Is there an audit for the budget? Who conducts that?
Old Business: The MG Mentoring Program could be an add on class at the end of the training classes. New MGs could learn about opportunities and decide if they would like a mentor to help them during their first year as an intern. We would also like to offer a night for current MGs to have the opportunity to sign up for a mentor and learn more about the different projects and committees. We discussed the possibility for a you-tube video to learn about MG projects.
Project and Committee Reports
Awards Banquet: This year's banquet is April 28, at the Flamingo Banquet Hall. 6:00 social, 6:30 dinner, followed by the awards ceremony. Formal invitations to be sent in March.
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Creative Gardening Series: Thanks to Karla and Shelly, the brochures will be ready for distribution at the WGF. Shelly will be sending the CGS notice to the Gazette and place it on the events list for Master Gardeners and Social Media. All speaker topics relate to pollinators.
Community Outreach Gardens: The committee will be meeting later in March to prepare for the new growing season and new garden partners. We are looking for additional MGs to join our project as we are getting calls for consultation/education to help establish more school and community gardens. We are in need of folks for Vernon Middle School and Bowman Woods Elementary working through the Marion Blue Zones project. If interested, contact Beula Dvorak ([email protected]) or Phil Pfister ([email protected]) ASAP and we will get you started.
Demo Gardens: Noelridge: Volunteers are continuing to take cuttings, repot, trim and spruce up greenhouse plants in anticipation of the Easter and Mother's Day Showcases and the garden growing season. Volunteers are needed the weekend of March 26-27 for the Annual Easter Showcase to lead greenhouse tours, answer questions, and man the MG table. The Eastern Iowa Orchid Society entered two specimen orchid plants from the greenhouse at the Suburban Chicago Orchid Show in Wheaton, IL the weekend of February 20-21. The orchids won various awards such as Best of Show, Certificate of Cultural Merit, Highly Commended Certificate for flower quality, and the best orchid display in the entire show. MG Peggy Green and intern Lelia Garner spend a great deal of time helping other Friends of Noelridge volunteers care for the orchids.
Expert Education: Dates/topics from last summer’s webinars presented in March: Tuesday, March 8-Attracting Pollinators (Nathan Brockman) and Growing Herbs (Susan Appelget-Hurst); Tuesday, March 15-Theme Gardens (Lisa Orgler) and Trough Gardens (Gary Whittenbaugh); Tuesday, March 22-Xeriscaping (Denny Schrock, PHD) and Water Feature’s (Jamie Beyer). We will be able to get handouts and evaluations for each session. An email for webinar volunteers has been sent to the Expert Ed committee members.
From the Ground Up: From the Ground Up had two teams at Echo Hill School in February.
Greenhouse: Throughout January and February, we scheduled work sessions on an as-needed basis. These sessions included the propagation workshop, and a number of planting sessions to prepare for the WGF. Now it’s time to start seeding and transplanting for the demo gardens, donation to the food pantries and community gardens, Plant Sale, and various other gardens. Starting February 23, weekly work sessions will be every Tuesday and Thursday, 9:00-12:00, and Thursday evenings 6:30-8:00. All MG are welcome, as is the public. On Friday, February 19, three Friends of Marion Parks worked at the greenhouse starting seeds for some of the beds they plant and maintain. We will be growing these flowers, and the Friends have offered to help. This will be the second year potted arrangements will be offered for sale at the WGF. Shelby Foley, Coleen Kint and Tina Patterson spearheaded the project. Linda Hayward and
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Many materials can be made available in alternative formats for ADA clients. To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call 202-720-5964.
Linn County Extension Master Gardeners
383 Collins Road NE, Suite 201 • Cedar Rapids, IA 52402
Barbara Wing assisted in preparing the pots and baskets, and on Saturday, February 13, 14 MG and MG Interns planted the arrangements. In addition to Shelby, Coleen and Tina, MG volunteers included: Jo Dillon, Judi Dolezal, Randy Dusil, Teresa Dusil, Sandy Fiegen, Holly Foster, Lee Garner, Peggy Green, Michele Jones, Sylvia Kelly, Jan Knott, Mary Mikkola, Barb Neal, and Carrie Nikson. The next Lowe Park Greenhouse team meeting is Saturday, February 27, from 9:00-11:00. The March meeting at the greenhouse will be on Saturday the 26, from 9:00-12 noon.
Hortline: Five new MG interns have been trained or are continuing training in January and two more in February. Doris Hardt reported 42 client contacts in December. Those numbers will be increasing as we go from February through March and into Spring. One of the computers from the main office has replaced the Hortline Office computer. The Zip Scope has not yet been downloaded, but Wil Carew will be contacted to see if he would get it up and working. The Hortline Office will move to the larger office where Connie was located near the entryway which will provide more room. The large table will remain and can be used for small meetings at times when Hortline is not in session.
Planting for Pollinators: A big thanks to Jean Wilson and all the WGF volunteers. The next series for pollinators is the Creative Gardening Series. Karla McGrail is working on seeds and MW balls to be distributed at the WGF and other events.
Winter Gardening Fair: Karla's unexpected absence is sorely felt, but several volunteers have stepped up to help. We've had quite a few glitches, but are working through them with hopes the day is a success.
WMT: The planning stage is well underway for the March 12 and 13 show. We anticipate no problems with staffing the booth and supplying the show with the requested speakers. Contact either Sue Usher (366-5820) or Karen Woeste (270-5678) if interested in helping with this event.
New Business: We are looking for names to take on the WGF for next year. Wil Carew is updating the VRS reporting system. We have some glitches to work out. Shelly will e-mail us when we can report our hours on line. The EcoFest at NewBo Market is Saturday, April 23. Do we want to have a table, share with 4H, have a project?
Executive Committee meets March 22 at 10:30 am; Steering Committee meets April 5 at 6:30 pm.
