The Bluebonnet Master Gardener Association is proud to announce its 2022 annual college scholarships winners. Eight scholarships, ranging from $1,500 to $1,000, were awarded to high school graduates from Austin, Washington, Fayette & Colorado Counties, Texas. To view the winners’ bios, see below. The winners are:
Mackenzie Lee (Austin Co.)
Jagar, Rau (Colorado Co.)
Brynn Mikulenka (Fayette Co.)
Laura James (Fayette Co.)
Waylon Hinze (Washington Co.)
Weston Hinze (Washington Co.)
Keely Mikolajchak (Washington Co.)
Eli Saunders (Washington Co.)
All eight demonstrated outstanding acheivement in leadership, citizenship, community service and other endevours that form the basis of becoming lifelong responsible, productive citziens and leaders in their communtiies.
Congratulations to our 2022 scholarship winners!
Hybrid Program-Live & Remote Options!
September 26 & 27, 2022, 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Civic-Consvention Center
375 S. Castell Ave.
New Braunfels, TX
For more information, visit:
https://tamu.estore.flywire.com/products/texas-fruit-conference
or call 979-862-1218
When: Sept. 30, 2022 8:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Where: Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Research & Extension Center, Uvalde
1619 Garner Field Rd
Uvalde, Tx 78801
Space is limited so RSVP now at: tx.ag/TxOliveUpdate
Colorado County members of the Bluebonnet Master Gardener Association are pleased to announce the upcoming Colorado County Lunch-N-Learn Series focused on gardening and horticulture!
Programs will be held on the 3rd Wednesday of each month at the Colorado County Services Facility located at 305 Radio Lane in Columbus. Registration will open at 11:50 am with the program starting promptly at 12:05 pm and ending by 12:55pm. Attendees are asked to bring their own lunch. Light refreshments including coffee, tea and snacks will be provided. No preregistration is required for this free program.
The following is our program line-up:
For more information please contact the Colorado County AgriLife Extension Office at 979-732-2082.
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The Gardens at Texas A&M Saturday, June 11, 2022 Free parking available in lot 97. Join us at our annual community Summer Celebration for food and fun for the family, including children’s educational activities, story time with Chance The Librarian, JJ’s snow cones, and more. You won’t want to miss this fun-filled morning! |
By Faye Beery, 2022 Class Coordinator
On April 26, 2022, our new Bluebonnet Master Gardener intern class graduated with 33 interns. One of them, Joe Jimenez, completed his 50 hours of volunteer work during the class period and is now a full fledged Master Gardener. We also had the youngest intern that we have had, Webb Sherman, age 17. The class had the largest ever enrollment with 40 students, but unfortunately, we lost 7 due to various reasons.
Joe Jimenez with Class Coodinator Faye Beery.
Webb Sherman with Class Coordinator Faye Beery.
We kept statistics for our class to determine the knowledge gained during the classes. Our pretest average grade was 55 with 23 missed. Our final test (posttest) averaged 89. The highest score was 98, made by several people. We also gave them 2 bonus questions from a list of words given them weekly that corresponded with their chapter. With the bonus questions, the average score was a 95. With the bonus questions, the highest score was a 108.
Several of the students were new to the area, having recently brought property in one of our 4 counties. There were also 3 sets of couples who were new to the area.
All of them were eager for information and asked lots of questions. They enjoyed the speakers and kept some of them a little over time to ask more questions. They are going to be good master gardeners, a good source of information for our community, and good friends.
Thanks also to the helpers for the class. Nikki Griffin was invaluable handling all the food and drink for the classes, as was Marcella Ausmus, helping with the hospitality and grading papers. Esther Hartman, Susan Yancey, and Leah Pierce helped to grade papers also. Thanks to all who came.
Bluebonnet Master Gardener Intern Class 2022
Interns:
| Prudence Allwein Ramin Baranpourian Jim Campbell Mary Lu Campbell Nancy Darst Linda Duffy Carla Eriksson Tory Farley Jeri Franco Dolores Gonzalez Cheryl Grassmann Freida Hale Amy Schramm Webb Sherman John Sims Chris Terry Jim Hudgins |
Linda Huron Joe Jimenez Chad Johnson Kayleigh Johnson Lorrie Maddox Scott Maddox Rebecca Marek Margie O’Brien Mary Ott Karen Reip Jacqueline Samples Keri Sherman Barbara Shersh Carrie Staples Renee Urish Angelica Zurita |
Fruit & You in ’22!
The Texas Fruit Conference is returning for its 11th year, and we would love to have all fruit growers and enthusiasts join us for two days of education, networking, and fruit sharing!
When: Monday, September 26th and Tuesday, September 27th
Where: New Braunfels Civic Convention Center, New Braunfels, Texas
What: New grower information, advanced orchard management topics, research on new and existing fruit crops, fruit variety performance, pesticide CEU’s, and our Taste of Texas Fruit Reception!
Contact: Monte Nesbitt, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Horticulture, 979-862-1218, monte.nesbitt@ag.tamu.edu
The Bluebonnet Master Gardener Association’s popular Kids Kamp is back in 2022! The three day summer camp for kids is accepting registrations now. The Kids Kamp will be held in all four BMGA counties for kids ages 10 to 13 years of age.
Washington County: May 31 – June 2, 2022
Colorado County: June 14- 16, 2022
Fayette County: June 21 – 23, 2022
Austin: June 28 – June 30, 2022
The kids will learn about recycling, organic gardening, mulch and compost, erosion control and insect I.D. There will also be cricket races! The kampers will make garden related crafts and enjoy healthy snacks.
Christy Schweikhardt, a Master Gardener who facilitated the soil & gardening segments of Kids Kamp for two years, said, “We fill the Kids Kamp with hands-on activities that are both fun and educational. The kids who participated in the past Kids Kamps were entergeitc and eager to learn, even over summer break. For the volunteer Master Gardeners who particpate in running the Kids Kamp, it is rewarding to help AgriLife Extension Service and the State of Texas foster fact-based gardening and food knowelge in a future generation of Texas gardeners.”
At only $30.00 for the program, this may be the best bargin in summer fun.
There’s always something blooming in our native plants garden. Low maintenance and lots of color even in the fall. Texas Lantana, Scarlet Sage, Green-Eyed Daisies, Mealy Blue Sage and Esperanza are still showing off their beautiful flowers. The Chile Pequins are full of peppers and the Yaupon Holly is loaded with beautiful red berries. The garden is open to the public so stop by and see what’s blooming.
Common Name: Lantana
Botantical Name: Lantana urlicoides
This Bluebonnet Master Gardener Association Texas Natives Garden is designed to educate visitors, students and area residents as to the benefits of native plants. The garden shows how native plants, trees and grasses attract bees, butterflies, and birds as well as providing a beautiful display of seasonal color. Water-wise gardening practices are on display as an educational tool to show how rainwater harvesting and a drip irrigation system can be used efficiently.
Link to more information about Lantana urliocides
Find the garden located at:
E.A. Arnim Archives & Museum
101 E. North Main Street
Flatonia, TX 78941
The garden is between the brick and metal buildings on Hwy 95.
The Bluebonnet Master Gardener Assocation is pleased to announce that its 2022 Master Gardener training classes begin January 13 in Bellville, Texas. Registration is now open.
The series consists of 50 hours of training held every Thursday until April 21, 2022 (Two classes will be on Wednesday February 16th and April 6th). Master Gardener Faye Beery of Bellville is the coordinator of the 2022 training program. Ms. Beery was certfiied as a Master Gardener in 2012 and coordinated several training classes in Austin County. The BMGA class is designed for trainees from any of the four Bluebonnet Master Gardener counties of Austin, Colorado, Fayette and Washington. Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service provides the training material and many of the expert horticulture and related speakers used by Master Gardener programs statewide.
This is a unique opportunity for individuals who are interested in horticulture and serving their community. Master Gardeners are trained in all facets of horticulture such as plant & soil science, entomology, plant pathology, fruit and vegetable gardening, and much more. Upon completion of their training, Master Gardeners will be required to give at least 50 hours of volunteer service time in their local community in order to receive the title of “Master Gardener”.
An Open House is scheduled January 6, 2022 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon at the Austin County Extension Office, 800 E. Wendt St., Bellville Texas 77418. for anyone interested in learning more about the program. This event will provide a great opportunity to visit with current Master Gardeners, learn about projects in each of the counties, and enjoy a few Master Gardener goodies.
The Bluebonnet Master Gardener Association will kicks-off its Fall 2021 Citrus Tree Sale today.
Links to Citrus Growing Expert Resources:
Ambrosia from your Backyard, Growing Citrus on the Upper Coast of Texas
All Trees are SOLD OUT.
Only varieties suitable for growing in the Austin, Colorado, Fayette and Washington Counties are offered. Orders accepted from August 27, 2021 to September 7, 2021.
Pick-up: Buyer must pick-up trees:
September 10, 2021
12 noon – 3:00 p.m.
American Legion Post
1630 Meyer St.
Sealy, Texas 77474
Photo of Pete & Paula’s Patch
Pete & Paula’s Pollinator Patch is a section of the Bluebonnet Master Gardener’s Sens Center Demonstration Garden in Austin County, Texas. The garden overall is dedicated to demonstrating sound techniques for growing vegetable and other food crops. However, this year, Master Gardeners Pete Smith and Paula Trahan started the “Pete & Paula’s Pollinator Patch” to demonstrate the use of plants which attract pollinators to the garden to pollinate the vegetables in the garden. As many fruit and vegetable plants require a pollinator to set fruit, attracting pollinators to the garden is necessary.
Lantana
After about four months, Pete and Paula are pleased with how quickly our pollinator garden has progressed. “We truly got a late start, but everything has grown by leaps and bounds. Every plant was a pass along or freebie from the garden center.” Ms. Trahan explained. Pete & Paul’s next step is to include a small solar water feature in the center to attract more butterflies, bees and birds. Included in the garden are lantana, standing cypress, Asian purple basil, echinacea, porterweed, rock rose mallow.
The Fort Bend Regional Vegetable Conference is a celebration of vegetable production along the upper Gulf Coast region. Counties of Waller, Wharton, Harris, Galveston, Brazoria, Colorado, and Austin join with Fort Bend to put on this event focusing on teaching sustainable practices to help producers maximize efficiencies and profitability. Although we were not able to host our annual Vegetable Conference in February, we have put together a short virtual summer session with topics centered around sustainable and organic production, disease and insect management, and variety selection. Partnering sponsors have allowed us to offer this program at a great price. The cost to attend is $10. We will offer three (3) continuing education credits in the General category for Texas Department of Agriculture Pesticide Applicator license holders.
Come join us virtually at the Fort Bend Regional Vegetable Conference – Summer Session on Thursday, July 29, 2021. The conference will begin at 9:00 am and end at 12:00 pm.
To register, please go to https://tinyurl.com/t86xftbh. There will be no in office registrations. For general questions, please contact Brandy Rader at 281-633-7029.
Please join Texas A&M Agrilfe Extension Service August 27, 2021 for the Fall Horticulature Seminar, hosted by Texas A&M Agrilfe Extension Service for Austin County. Topics, which will be presented by AgriLife Extentions Agent Robert “Skip” Richter and Specialists Tim Hartmann, Ph.D and Monte Nesbitt, Ph.D include:
Planting Fall Vegetables
Fruit Tree Care and Maintenance
Citrus Tree Care and Maintance
Prepping Plants for Freezes
RSVP HERE by August 25, 2021 or call 979-865-2072.
The Bluebonnet Master Gardeners of Washington County are pleased to present the 2021 “Lunch-N-Learn” series to be hosted on the first Tuesday of each month, September-November. The series boasts topics related horticulture with the homeowner and backyard gardener in mind! Speakers are experts in their fields and practical gardeners with great tips and information for everyone.
Programs are held in-person at the Washington County Expo Sales Facility; 1305 East Blue Bell Road, Brenham.
Program registration will begin at 11:50am with the program beginning at 12:05pm and concluding at 12:55pm. At the conclusion of each session the speaker and our Washington County Master Gardeners will be available to answer questions.
All Master Gardener Lunch-N-Learn programs are free to the public and you are welcome to bring your own lunch and drink.
By Faye Beery, Bluebonnet Master Gardener Assocaiton
That is how long the Master Gardener program has been going in our 4 county region. On May 25, 2021 the Bluebonnet Master Gardeners celebrated our 20th anniversary of the demonstration garden in Austin County. While the weather was not the best, everyone enjoyed the program given by Dr. Shackelford, good food and seeing the Bluebonnet Master Gardener Association’s demonstration garden located at the Sens Acitvity Center in Bellville, Texas. Vegetables were available, most gave a voluntary donation to the garden, as well as some produce was avaialbe to pick in the garden.
Pete Smith standing the in the “keyhole” of the keyhole garden
A big attraction in the garden was the keyhole garden. The keyhole concept was first introduced into arid African regions by the U.K. organization Send a Cow. The idea was to help poor families grow their own food despite the poor soil and drought conditions. The keyhole concept is a raised circular bed with a wedge shaped cutout on one side which allows persons easy access to the whole bed. When seen from above, it resembles a lock and keyhole. In the center is a wire cage for compost which decomposes and provides nutrients to the bed. This form is less labor intensive and more affordable for people who want to grow their own food. And you don’t have to bend over.
The outer structure can be any sturdy material, cinder blocks, bricks, rocks are a good choice. They are placed in a round design with a wedge on one side so that individuals can reach the middle as well as the outsides allowing for easy planting and harvesting. The wire cage in the center makes it easily accessible to place the compost materials.
Keyhole garden constuction
Keyhole garden under construction
Rainwater system & keyhole garden
A strong advocate of the keyhole concept is Deb Tolman, PhD, from Clifton, Texas. She is an environmental scientist and landscape designer and co-founder of the Silo Project a non-profit organization, which is centered on sustainability. Due to her outreach and workshops, there are more than 70 keyhole gardens in Clifton, which is in arid North Texas. She recommends a 3:1 ratio of brown and green material which forms the core garden. Decomposition rapidly generates heat and breaks down the material to feed plants. Brown material includes brown grass/leaves; paper and wood, straw, sawdust, lint from the dryer or vacuum, and lots of cardboard, which is the first layer in the bottom of the bed. It should be thoroughly wet to begin decomposition. Green materials include kitchen scraps, manure, green grass/leaves, or plants. Her website provides instructions on how to construct a keyhole garden. Follow the link to her Field Guide PDF .
There is also a new addition to the garden which is currently under construction this week. It is Pete and Paula’s pollinator patch. They plan to include plants which attract pollinators to the garden to pollinate the vegetables that grow there. We’ll have more on this when they begin planting.
I know everyone is happy to get back to our regular meetings. See you at the next one!
The Bluebonnet Master Gardener Association is proud to announce its 2021 annual college scholarships winners. Three $1000 scholarships were awarded to high school graduates from Washington, Fayette & Colorado Counties, Texas. The winners are Taylor Limbaugh (Fayette County), Clayton Boeker (Washington County) and Leroy Stavinoha, III (Colorado County). All three demonstrated outstanding acheivement in leadership, citizenship, community service and other endevours that form the basis of becoming lifelong responsible, productive citziens and leaders in their communtiies.
Congratulations to all three 2021 scholarship winners!
The Bluebonnet Master Gardener Association is proud to announce the graduation of 10 Master Gardener Interns who completed its 2021 Master Gardener Training Class. The training classes began January 12th and continued every Tuesday through April 27th at the Weimar Civic Center. This was the first Master Gardening Training class held in Colorado County, although trainees from all four BMGA counties were eligible for the class. The 2021 Class Coordinator was BMGA member Robbie Showers, who was assisted by Lynn Showers. Colorado County AgriLife Extension Agent Laramie Kettler was the sponsor of the class. Some training presentations were virtual while some where in-person.
After completing 64 hours of intense instruction and passing a final exam, to be certified as a Master Gardener, the interns are required to complete 50 hours of gardening volunteer service within 1-year. Such volunteer activities must be work on approved BMGA projects that assist Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service in educating the public about gardening.
One of the ten interns, Ms. Nancy Galloway, completed her 50-volunteer hour requirement prior to the class graduation date in April. Robbie Showers commented that the 2021 “interns are eager to learn and work hard to get their hours.” She said they “were a great bunch of people to work with” during the class.
Congratulations to the 2021 BMGA Master Gardener intern graduates:
Cheryl Rose
Mariar Schonenberg
Frank Montieth
Norma White
Nancy Galloway
Regena Williamson
Mary Ellen Holub
Lisa Slinkard
Linda Miller
Sharon Wegenhoft.
Insects and pests are some of the most diffcult challenges home gardeners and homeowners try to manage. To address these issues, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service specialists in entomology and integrated pest managemnt (IPM) have team-up to present two podcasts: “Bugs by the Yard” and “Unwanted Guests”. Both are free and open to the public to listen and learn from these specialists.
Bugs in the Yard: A weekly podcast focused on garden pests and bugs.
Hosts: Texas A&M AgriLife Exention
Dr. Erfan Vafaie (IPM Specialist)
Molly Keck (entomologist, Bexar County)
Wizzie Brown (entomolgoist, Travis County)
Listen: Link to Listen to Bugs by the Yard Podcasts
Unwanted Guests: This podcast covers insects and pests we don’t want in the house.
Hosts: Texas A&M AgriLife Exention
Robert Puckett, Ph.D. (entomolgist, Bryan-College Station)
Jane Hurley (IPM Specialist, Dallas)
Molly Keck (entomologist, Bexar County)
Wizzie Brown (entomolgoist, Travis County)
Listen: Availalbe on podcast platforms like iTunes and Audible.
The black soldier fly has a unique life-history and are quickly gaining global attentionf or their ability to convert organic waste into valuabe protein and rich fertilizer. This Texas A&M AgriLife Extension online workshop will highlight rearing methods of the black soldier fly application to everyone from backyard hobbiests to the scale of industrialized production.
What: Black soldier Fly – A Quick and Easy Method for Composting
When: May 28, 2021 from 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon
How: Via Zoom link Launch Meeting – Zoom
Bark blown off the “Lightning Tree” by lightning strike.
Lightning is a grand display of nature’s power.
Strong thunderstorms rolled through our area in March 2021. Afterwards, we suspected one of the mature live oak trees on our property was hit by lightning. I sent some photos of the tree to Daniel Lewis of the Texas A&M Forest Service. Mr. Lewis confirmed the photos showed a textbook pattern of a lightning strike. He also assured that most trees recover from lightning strike damage with no problem.
About 30,000,000 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes hit in the contiguous 48-states of the United States every year. Although lightning does not always strike the highest point around, it usually does so, according to NOAA’s National Severe Storms Laboratory. This makes tall trees, particularly on a hilltop or in a pasture, more vulnerable to lightning strikes.
NOAA’s NSSL says a typical lightning flash is about 300 million Volts and about 30,000 Amps. In comparison, household current is 120 Volts and 15 Amps. There is enough energy in a typical flash of lightning to light a 100-watt incandescent light bulb for about three months. Lightning heats the surrounding air anywhere from 18,000 degrees Fahrenheit to up to 60,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
Lightning damage wrapped around the tree.
Lightning traveling down a tree trunk turns water to steam. If it gets under the bark into the surface moisture of the wood, the rapidly expanding steam blasts pieces of bark and branches from the tree, and the wood along the path is often killed. The charge carried by the lightning is then dissipated along the surface of the Earth. This is explained on the NSSL website Severe Weather 101. The photos in this blog show the blasted pieces of bark from our live oak tree.
There are ways to protect trees of significance or that could endanger human life if struck by lightning. For more information go to Texas AgriLife Extension Tree Care Kit, Understanding Lightning & Associated Tree Damage.
One conclusion from the study of our lightning-struck tree (we now refer to it as the “Lightning Tree”) is that a mature Texas live oak tree, even jolted by the immense power of a lightning bolt, is mighty indeed.
By Christy Schweikahrdt
