The Lowdown WSU Spokane County Extension Master Gardeners July 2017 The Lowdown Inside this issue: Foundation News 2 Book Review 4 Fact Sheet Update 7 Potager Update 8 Self-study Quiz 10 Upcoming Events 12 Extension Information Dr. Jeremy Cowan 477-2145 Regional Horticulture Specialist [email protected]Tim Kohlhauff 477-2172 Horticulture Program Coordinator [email protected]Anna Kestell 477-2195 Food Preservation/Safety [email protected]Jackie Sykes 477-2193 Clinic Coordinator [email protected]Master Gardener County Site http://extension.wsu.edu/spokane/ master-gardener-program Master Gardener Foundation of Spo- kane County http://www.mgfsc.org/ WSU Master Gardener Site http://mastergardener.wsu.edu/ HortSense Fact Sheets http://hortsense.cahnrs.wsu.edu/ Home/HortsenseHome.aspx On Line Timelog Reporting: hp://ext.wsu.edu/Volunteers/logon.aspx I want to Thank all of Master Garden- er for their Volunteer me in the Plant Clinic. We have had some really busy days, and tough mysteries to solve, but we have all made it through OK. Many quesons were easy to answer, however, make sure you are sll giving WSU approved advice. If you have not done so this year, check out the online resources below. Hortsense: hp://hortsense.cahnrs.wsu.edu/Home/HortsenseHome.aspx Pestsense: hp://pestsense.cahnrs.wsu.edu/Home/PestsenseHome.aspx Gardening in Washington: hp://gardening.wsu.edu/ Extension Spokane County: hp://extension.wsu.edu/spokane/ Please take a few minutes to become familiar with the new look of the website. Navigate through the Master Gardener links so you will know where to direct our clients &/or where to find informaon when in the Plant Clinic. (If you find broken links, please let me know). The site is having technical difficulty so here is the updated instrucons on navigang the site. Scroll down and click on the brown box that says Master Gardeners. Click on Plant Clinic and Resource Center (Now you can view the menu on the left hand side of page.) To view Home Garden & Landscape, click Overview just under said title. (To see the menu, use your back arrow; this is one of the glitches that is not fixed yet). These sections contain some of our Co-Pubs Another route to Hortsense, click Garden Pests and Prob- lems then click WSU Hortsense is at the top of the page. Cooperative Extension Search: hps://search.extension.org/ Use this website when you cannot find informaon on WSU.
Transcript
The Lowdown
WSU Spokane County Extension Master Gardeners July 2017 The Lowdown
One of the highlights of this past month was the Foundation board’s first-ever strategic planning re-
treat. Although retreat may not be the best of words as we only met at local library instead of our
usual extension locale. Despite a rocky start involving a small fire at the facilities, our facilitator,
Dawn Keig (a business professor at Whitworth University) led us on an exploration of what it means
to be the Master Gardener Foundation of Spokane County.
The gist of the event was that the directors of the Foundation want to make sure
that the Foundation is doing what it can to keep the Program successful. In our
first years, the Foundation had been focusing on making sure that the Program has
the funds that it needs. As a result of the retreat, the Foundation is working with
the Program to explore other ways in which the Foundation can help the Program
meet its goals.
Foundation Board Meeting Highlights
Vivian Powers, the Lead of the Foundation event – Cabin Fever, presented to the Foun-
dation board during the monthly meeting. Vivian reported on the success of the 2017
event and explained how she and her team would make Cabin Fever 2018 even better.
The board approved her plans – I hope to see you there.
The election process has begun for Foundation board directors. The nomina-
tion committee was formed during this past meeting. Master Gardeners who
are interested in serving on the Foundation board should contact Laren Sunde,
Matt Velasco, or Jill Ferguson. Directors serve a three-year term beginning in
January. What does it mean to be a director??? You represent the member-
ship of the Foundation / Master Gardeners in the business of the Foundation.
There are ten board meetings per year with additional work on committees
that serve to guide the Foundation forward. If you need more information
contact the nomination committee or me (Tim Stiess) – we will be glad to an-
swer any questions you have.
Happy Gardening!
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We are so glad you are with us!
Shuman Cathy 3-Jul
Tiegs Vi 6-Jul
Johnson Dee 7-Jul
Elliott Rhonda 7-Jul
Marcum-McCoy
Mia 8-Jul
Beaven Jane 10-Jul
Dinneen Merilee 10-Jul
Williams Carol 13-Jul
Rich Lynette 15-Jul
Lamoreux Cathi 18-Jul
Stiltz Mark 19-Jul
Whitehead Karen 21-Jul
Malm Susan 23-Jul
Coleman Todd 23-Jul
Jacobus Rose 28-Jul
Nokes Steve 29-Jul
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A Book Review by Lisa Klapp
The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating
By Elisabeth Tova Bailey
Does your love for plants and animals extend beyond the tame, beyond garden plant varieties and pets? Life and its complex web are miraculous. As a developing gardener, endless questions flow as I plant or observe, weed or water. We talk about bees and butterflies, even spiders and worms, but other creatures are just as much a part of garden life. Such as a woodland snail …
What if you were housebound, your life changed due to illness or injury? This author, new to me, found herself bedridden for years after a mysterious viral illness took her strength, but not her life, when on a mountain vacation in Europe. This lover-of-life found herself with more time than we could ever wish for – but no strength to hike or ski, to garden, or even to read for very long at a time.
Enter a tiny snail, the accidental addition to a pot of wild violets brought as a gift from a thoughtful friend. Elisabeth’s life changed forever. Each night she noted this wild snail’s trek out of the pot to the bedside table below, munching on paper envelopes and fallen flower petals. Their slow-paced lives paralleled each other and she was awakened to a new world, invisible to the busy rest-of-us.
This lovely story opens your eyes to the beauty of a tiny snail and the joy it brought to Elisabeth dur-ing the first months of her very long illness. She observed and studied this Neohelix albolabris wood-land snail each day in the short periods she could between bouts of complete weakness and exhaus-tion. The little snail gives birth to 118 tiny babies in the course of their time together. Elisabeth even-tually asks her caregiver to release it to its original home in the woods, keeping one of its offspring a while longer, as she herself gains the strength to return home. In the author’s words, “The original snail and I had been fellow captives, but now we had both returned to our natural habitats.”
This thoughtful book is just 170 pages long, the winner of several awards and called “Beautiful!” by the famous biologist E. O. Wilson, author of Biophilia. I have given it as a gift to others already, includ-ing my youngest daughter Brooke, who once loved a slug she named Juliette. For those of us who love such humble creatures, this book is a masterpiece.
WSU Spokane County Extension, in collaboration with Zinnia Permaculture Designs and CHI Farms, are pre-senting a Permaculture Design Certificate course this August. We are now accepting registrations at Brown Paper Tickets.
The course will cover the 72-hour curriculum required for a Permaculture Design Certificate and have many hands-on modules, guest speakers, and good times. Our [tentative] course schedule is attached and more information will be available soon at our course website: http://extension.wsu.edu/spokane/event/inland-northwest-permaculture-design-certificate-pdc-course/
I look forward to seeing you soon, and hope you can join us for this permaculture experience. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email or call. Oh, and please share this with anyone who might be interested!
Unfortunately, Master Gardeners are not permitted to go out to people's homes to do work, or even consultations, as Master Gardeners, because of liability issues and strict guidelines from WSU.
What it would take:
Personal safety is our primary concern. While it is unlikely to ever happen, we don’t want a volun-
teer in an unsafe environment where they could be injured.
There is a county that does on-site consultations as a fundraiser (donations of $50 per home visit)
but WSU highly discourages this. The University has each volunteer fill out extra waivers and
paperwork for every home visit they make as MGs.
Work on private property: This point refers to using private property for a class or demonstration
area (for example, an adaptive gardening demonstration). We must generate a Memorandum
of Agreement with the owner and these take between 6 months to a year at a minimum. It’s a
difficult process and the client would probably have to hire an attorney to make sure their in-
terests were protected.
What we can suggest:
Information so they can do the project themselves.
Arborist list of certified arborists, if it is tree related issue.
Calls for garden help during the school year (late Sept-mid June) might be referred to Spokane
Community College Horticulture program, as some students there are able to do small jobs.
There might be possibilities for help on this website: http://spokanecares.org/index.php . In the
past we have referred people needing yard care assistance to Catholic Charities; their local
church; a local Boy Scouts troop; or even a nearby school; but those mostly assist with one
time “acute care” yard clean up rather than installation and maintenance. Volunteers of Amer-
ica may be a resource, as they help coordinate projects within the community. I don't know if
you have seen the "Somebody Needs You" feature that runs in The Spokesman-Review's Voice
sections most Thursdays.
Some of our MG Volunteers work as professional landscapers/arborists/nursery growers/designers. They cannot use their Master Gardener status in advertising their services. Unfortunately, we can’t refer clinic visitors directly to MG owned or operated businesses because this implies an en-dorsement of their service by the University. We can include them on our lists of service providers, like the certified arborist list. If you have any questions about these rules, please contact Tim.
Here are the websites to find our WSU publications: http://gardening.wsu.edu/ or http://pubs.wsu.edu/ Gardening in Washington (statewide publications):
Growing Quinoa in Home Gardens FS258E Quinoa (KEEN-wah) is one of the “superfoods” that has attracted lots of interest from both home consumers interested in eating healthy foods and professional nutritionists advising clients. This 13 page fact sheet gives homeowners a guide for which types to plant for their area, sources of seed, soil preparation, plant care, and pest management with color pictures.
Washington Bumble Bees in Home Gardens This publication will help readers recognize bumble bees, understand their general life cycle, and suggest things homeowners and the general public can do to encourage these fascinating and beneficial insects. This 8 page fact sheet is full of color photos and is very well researched.
Upjohn Rhubarb Pie Submitted by Phyllis Thayer 5 C. raw rhubarb, cut in small chunks (for 9 to10-inch pie) 1-1/2 C sugar 1 egg, beaten small pinch of salt 2 T flour 1/4 orange, ground (skin and all) small sprinkle of cinnamon and cloves (to your taste) 1-2 T butter pie crust for top and bottom
Mix rhubarb, sugar, egg, salt, flour and ground orange in a bowl. Pour into prepared pie shell. Dot with butter. Place second pie crust on top, seal and make slashes in top crust. Bake one hour at 375 degrees. (I found that I need to bake it about 1 hour and 20 minutes at 375 degrees to get it to bubble through the top crust.)
I use Crisco to make my crust and sometimes a little whole wheat flour in place of some of the white flour.
The story of this pie: This was a seasonal favorite at the Upjohn Pharmaceutical Company in Kala-mazoo, MI. Because it was a short season, some folks had a piece for morning coffee break, an-other for lunch and yet another for afternoon break. I think the secret ingredient is the orange.
French pumpkins, bush beans, zucchini, cucumbers happy in Victory Cubes
& Dek Pro Tech Squares
The verdict is already in on these planters and I vote ‘yes’. The wood pro-tecting squares are working great and the bags don’t look unsightly as a grow-ing container like I was worried they might. I decided not to start these things inside, but rather sow directly in the pots. We’ll see if they get to task comple-tion. These photos are from June 18. I also have tomatoes growing in a similar set up I got out of Gardener’s Supply catalogue, tomato cage supports includ-ed with the bag purchase.
French Leeks, Onions, & Shallots taking their time
In order to dig a trench for the leeks, I decided I had better locate the bur-ied sprinkler line first. It was such slow going with careful digging by hand that by the time I got done, there was no more arm power to dig a new trench for the leeks. Thus, I put some soil back on top of the sprinkler line and just used that as my trench. I really have no idea if this is even slightly workable for the leeks, but we will find out.
Onions & shallots are plugging away, slow but steady. I think the gang of neighborhood quail may have yanked out a few, but there are enough left to collect some experimental data.
Mignonette Strawberries in planter with chives
I still can’t believe these tiny seeds have turned into little berry plants. They look like something for a fairy garden. I can’t imagine they would produce berries this year, but the seed packet says they can…
Paris Market mix lettuce, arugula & basil under lights, seeded June 8
(continued on page 9)
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(continued from page 8)
Crimson Carmello tomatoes a bust
I started my tomatoes downstairs under lights in the same room that held overwintered plants from last year. Alas, a cycle of aphids secretly overwintered, too, and attacked the Crimson Carmello tomatoes with a vengeance. All are lost. But my Super Sweet 100 cherry tomatoes and Heirloom Beefsteak tomatoes were strong enough to fend off the aphid damage. I also hit the tomato jackpot when Claudia Myers showed up with a truckload of amazingly huge heirloom tomatoes and peppers in about 15 varieties. She got a new greenhouse, oh my stars.
De 18 Jours radishes much longer than 18 days
But they were tasty with a little zing even when harvested quite small. I’m not a huge radish fan, so gave two big bunches away and then seeded the carrots in the same container. But I think I will try some more radishes in the fall. Just a little in a green salad would add a nice bite. The carrots are small & round so it says a container is OK.
Vive les herbes!
All gardens can be a potager if you just add herbs!
Thyme, oregano, basil, dill, marjoram, cilantro, mint—everything is happy and growing well, as you might expect from the herbs. Dill reseeded itself freely everywhere and accepted careful transplant when very young. Basil was started under lights in the basement and moved outside end of May.
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JULY 2017 QUIZ
1. What is the website address for Extension Spokane County?
2. If you cannot find the information you need on WSU’s website, where can you find other exten-
sion websites for gardening information?
3. Besides fundraising for the MG program, on what will the MG Foundation now be focusing?
4. If you would like to help with Cabin Fever 2018, who would you contact for more information?
5. Laren Sunde, Matt Velasco, and Jill Ferguson would love to hear from people who are interested
in what activity that supports the MG program?
6. If you have any questions about the MG Foundation, who should you contact?
7. What creature is the ‘main character’ in a book that tells the story of a gardener’s way to cope
with being suddenly housebound for an extended period of time?
8. What unexpected household items does this creature eat when it ventures out for food?
9. Name the title and author of the above referenced book.
10. When is the Inland Northwest Permaculture Design Certificate Course?
11. How can you register for this event?
12. Can a Master Gardener provide on-site help or consultation for clients?
13. Why or why not?
14. Which page of this publication might be useful to an MG who has been asked to give on-site con-
sultation or help?
15. Which ancient grain now has a publication for growing in home gardens?
16. Which tomato variety was a bust in Lynn’s potager experiment?
17. If you add herbs to a garden, what can you call it?
18. For which new planters has Lynn Meyers given a firm, ‘Yes!’, vote
of confidence?
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JUNE 2017 QUIZ ANSWERS
1. Joe Lamp’l
2. “Growing a Greener World”
3. Association for Garden Communicators
4. Weeding
5. June 17
6. Program Support
7. Higher
8. June 1, 5 p.m., Extension Classrooms
9. Any Master Gardener
10. 48 average sized 4 x 8 raised beds
11. The Foodscape Revolution
12. Polycultural
13. Aeroponics, aquaponics, hydroponics
14. Yes
15. Spokane Community Gardens
16. Kathy Callum
17. Gardening in Washington State website
18. Backyard Composting EB 1784E
19. In hybrid poplar trees
20. “Yellow & Dalmation Toadflax” PNW 135 pdf
Extension programs and policies are consistent with federal and state laws and regulations on nondiscrimination regarding race, sex, religion, age, color, creed, national or ethnic origin; physical, mental, or sensory disability; marital status, sexual orientation, or status as a Vietnam-era or disabled veteran. Evidence of noncompliance may be reported through your local Extension office.
Calendar of Events
Monday 10 MG Foundation Meeting 10 a.m. Extension Conference Room
