M.G.s  &  Interns,

Hope everyone had a great, relaxing Labor Day week end and got energized for our work days this week.  I want to thank everyone who came out last week; we had one of the best turnouts in a long time and as a result, a great deal was accomplished.  It’s amazing how much can get done when there are so many helping hands.  The intern class was very well represented and I hope the interest will spread as word gets out about what a good time we have at the garden.  There is so much fellowship, sharing of gardening tips and just getting to know each other that it hardly seems like work.

This week we will continue working the beds and applying fresh mulch.  We will also sow a few more rows of fall vegetables to add to the broccoli, brussels sprouts, and cabbage we planted last week and will begin preliminary planning for the layout of the plant sale since it’s just a month away.  It’s hard to believe that October is already right here upon us; but I have no doubt that we will be ready and will have one of the best fall sales ever.

Hope to see many of you back this week and maybe even more will join us.

See you at the garden………..
The Garden Team

M.G.s & Interns,

Just a brief reminder of our workdays this Wednesday and Friday.  Through the generosity of our county commissioner Brent Weaver, we now have three large loads of mulch and load of ground asphalt which was delivered last Tuesday.  The asphalt was used to raise and resurface the pathway around the Texas Bed by Jerry Jobe and his “old” helper who pushed many wheelbarrow loads of this material to the bed then raked it level and reset the Texas stepping stones; this made a big improvement to the looks of the bed and will help with drainage issues.  There is enough left for us to do the same thing to the interior path around the herb bed this week.  With this large quantity of mulch we can now replenish all the beds with a new, thick layer which should go a long way to help with weed and watering issues.  Of course these piles are not going to move themselves so we will need many helpers to get it spread. These amendments to the garden will go a long way to improving it’s over all look for the October plant sale.  We owe a big vote of thanks to Brent for all he has done for us at the garden; even with all his road and bridge projects and countless duties throughout the county he still has time to give us a hand whenever we need him.

Thanks to all who came out last week and did such a great job on the beds.  I failed to bring the sign in list home and if I tried to name everyone from memory I know I would leave someone out, so I will do it at the meeting.  I do want to apologized to Patty Bright for mis-identifying her as Patty Black in my last roll call of workers; sorry about that Patty.

Hope to see as many of you as possible at the coming work days………….

The Garden Team

M.G.s  &  Interns,

Hello to everyone and hoping you’ve been able to keep up with your yard and garden chores between the showers; it’s almost like we’re living in the tropics with the daily rain.  We had a couple of good work days at the garden last week, but then, any day spent in a garden is a good one.  We cleaned and prepped two of the vegetable beds and they are now ready for fall seeds.  Also, the new, year round Aluminex cover was placed over the small greenhouse and secured all around to keep it in place in high winds.  It is a reflective, shiny material woven from aluminum-like fibers that is actually somewhat attractive; just hope it doesn’t distract pilots bringing their aircraft in for landing – oh, that’s right, we no longer have commercial flight traffic.

Summer rose pruning will begin in earnest this week and we will continue work in the vegetable beds. The muscadines are reaching full ripeness and are ready for picking and juicing for jelly or just for eating; the rains have really made them plump and sweet.  We had better hurry on this as the poachers appear to have been helping themselves.

Any help we can get at the garden is very appreciated.  On Wednesday we were joined by: Toni Clark, Ann Abshire, Tony Lucenti, Judy & Melissa Starr, and Bob Pittman.  And on Friday, coming out were: Darlene Price-Bailey, Delia Walker, Verna McCollom, Pat Tolbert, Phyllis Smith and Jerry Jobe.  On Monday I made an impromptu visit to the garden during one of our little showers and found Tim Schreck weed-eating in the rain. He found time to do this even with a full time job, wife and young children at home, community service projects galore and probably chores of his own screaming for his attention.  He said that because of his job he can’t come out on the work days so he likes to come out and give an hour or so of his time whenever he can. This is what being a Master Gardener is all about; thanks Tim for that extra dedication.

I’ll repeat an earlier point I made that we have tasks at the garden that will fit any level of physical limitations.  Bad back? Bad knees? Heat sensitive?  Just let me know and if the project of the day is off limits for you and I promise there’ll be something else for you to do within your capabilities.  We begin arriving early enough to work before it gets too hot and there is ample shade and even a big fan under the porch. Now, if you just don’t like to sweat, well, that’s not an issue I can really do anything about………

Come when you can, not if you can; we’ll be glad to see you.

The Garden Team

M.G.s  &  Interns,

Hope no one suffered any damage from the deluge last week, other than cabin fever and frustration due to closed roads.  We were able to get one work day in on Wednesday and although we had to contend with off and on showers through the morning we did manage to get the the two beds at the entry arch weeded.  When the rain rolled in we moved into the greenhouse and began working on re-potting some of the transplants and propagations that are thriving and out growing their containers.

The Aluminex year round cover for the new greenhouse, researched and ordered by Tony Lucenti, has arrived and we will try to get it in place next week. This will help to keep the temp low enough during these hottest months to enable us to use the space for plants and seedlings.  Also, a bench purchased with a donation from Helen Duron’s family was delivered last week and assembled by Jerry Jobe this week end.  If anyone would like to see it, it is being stored in the garage at the garden pending it’s permanent placement, in Helen’s memory, under the eucalyptus tree in the herb bed.  A plaque with her name will be affixed to the bench.
The rains should not be a major issue this week, so we will focus on cutting and edging the grass whose growth was re-invigorated by all the recent heavenly irrigation.  We will also be removing vegetables that have stopped producing and start making plans for those beds.  We are experimenting with starting our own broccoli from seeds this year rather than going to the expense of buying the seedlings from the nursery; they were planted in seed cups last week and hopefully will emerge strong and sturdy and be ready for the ground by the end of next month.  We will also be doing the same with other fall vegetables in the next couple of weeks.
There are MGs who come to garden on a regular basis and get little recognition for their hard work and dedication.  To remedy this, I will begin listing the names of those who come out each week just as a way to say thanks, give them a pat on the back and to give all of you a little feed back on the level of participation that is going into keeping the JCMG Garden looking the way it does.  On Wednesday, loyal Delia Walker braved the weather to come out to join two members of the garden team; Friday’s work day was a complete wash out, so everyone was excused.

Hopefully, if the sun comes out this week, so will you.  View your time in the garden as a part of your health regimen.  An article I recently read pointed out that “A growing body of research links more time in nature with a reduction of stress and depression, faster healing time and less need for pain medication.”  And  “vitamin N” is free…….works for me.

The Garden Team

 Cecil Hightower

M.G.s  & Interns,
Thanks to some good help last week we got a lot done but, of course, there’s still much to do as is always the case in any garden.  A special thanks to Melissa and Judy Starr for working their magic on the herb bed; after weeding and cultivating the soil it has really been revived.  The grounds were mowed by Bob Pittman who has become our ‘go to’ lawn guy as he has taken on the chore of cutting the grass every week this summer, and for this dedication there are not enough words of appreciation.  He handles the zero turn radius mower with the precision of a surgeon; when finished, the garden looks as sharp and clean as the edges he hones on our knives and pruners. The blackberry canes were pruned with a ‘how to’ manual in one hand and clippers in the other as this was our first year to tackle this chore in the new berry bed and hopefully our efforts will result in another bountiful crop next spring.
This week we will begin pulling up some of the spent summer vegetables and prepping the beds for the fall planting which isn’t that far away.  Also, the roses will be tended to as we begin giving them their mid season, light pruning.  And Donna will continue plant propagation in earnest as she has over the last few months.
As you can see, there’s a lot going on with opportunities galore to expand your horticultural knowledge while giving some much needed help at the garden.  Which brings me to the point:  did you know that to fulfill your required 20 hours of garden time a year for annual re-certification you only need to spend 1 3/4 hours a month there?  If everyone could give us less than two hours a month, our garden would look like Moody Gardens, well, close.  As our mission statement says, the test garden is ‘ the hub of JCMG’ through which we educate not only ourselves, but the public as well.  More and more visitors are coming out with questions about their own gardens, our organization and just to look around, so we really need for it to look it’s best year round; it’s the physical manifestation and reflection of our entire organization and reputation as “Master” gardeners.  Recently, while working late one afternoon, I came upon a couple taking pictures around the garden, when I approached and asked if they had any questions they said: “yes, how can we get a job here?”  They didn’t understand why I laughed, if only……
Even if the rains come as predicted, we’ll still be there – in the greenhouse, or under the shed or just standing out in it, enjoying the cooling drops.

The Garden Team

M.G.s  &  Interns,
Due to 4th of July celebrations, there will be no ‘official’ work day this Wednesday, however, please feel free to come out and putter around if you need a ‘dirt fix’.  There are many light chores that would not be to taxing in this heat, such as dead heading the roses, picking vegetables ready for harvest or just working under a shady tree.  We were grateful for the intrepid gardeners who came out last week and although few in number, they were strong in motivation and a lot was accomplished.  Some major weeding was done, trees were pruned, the citrus beds were fertilized and many new propagations were potted for the fall sale.
The vines in the ‘vinyard’ are groaning under the weight of what looks to be a bumper muscadine crop, so dig out those jelly recipes and/or wine bottles for they will soon be ripening.  We will be back on schedule Friday, 7/6/12 so come early if you can as it’s actually not too hot if we start before the sun gets too high. One of the major tasks scheduled for Friday will be to prune the blackberry vines to ensure we can duplicate, or surpass, the bumper crop of huge berries we had this year.  This will be the first pruning as this is a new bed for us, so if you are growing your own and need to learn how to do this or would like to start your own vines this is the perfect opportunity to learn how to care for them; not only will you get garden hours you can also claim some for education – a garden ‘twofer’.
Hope to se you………
The Garden Team

M.G.s & Interns,
Congratulations to all the new M.G.s who received certificates last week and also to Danita Deaton for being honored as Intern of the Year.  It’s been a pleasure getting to know all of you over the past year and working with you at the garden.  And to those interns who didn’t have quite enough hours to be certified: please don’t give up on your goal of becoming an MG; we’re here to help you in any way we can.
These garden notes have been scarce lately as it’s been a crazy, busy summer so far but hopefully things will settle down.  However, you really don’t need me to remind you each week of our work days, do you?  We are out there every Wednesday and Friday and if there is a particular project coming up like rose pruning, or vegetable planting, etc. I will definitely keep you informed.  Last week the citrus beds were cleaned out and, if the weather allows, we will be giving all the citrus trees their last dose of fertilizer for the year Wednesday.  If tropical storm Debby doesn’t rain us out next week, we’ll turn our attention to the flower beds and continue propagation activities in the greenhouse.
Wednesday may be our last good work day if the rains come later in the week as predicted and the next Wednesday is July 4th, so if you’ve got an hour or two to spare please come out and help.
Thanks……….
The Garden Team

M.G.s and Interns,
Now that the cleaning and renewing of the greenhouses has been accomplished, it’s time to turn our attention to the garden.  Although October seems so far away it’ll be here before we know it and that means plant sale; and since the fall sale is held on the grounds of the garden, we want it to look it’s best for the public visitation.  If we focus our attention on just one bed a week there won’t be that last minute flurry of clean up activity before the sale.  Two beds have already been tended to so we are already ahead of the game.  If you interns are short on your garden hours with graduation right here upon you, these next few weeks will be perfect to make up the deficit.
The rains really helped the vegetables which will soon be providing their bounty.  A few peppers and squash have have already been picked and remember that whatever is harvested on work days will be shared.  The wonderfully fragrant banana shrubs are ready to be pruned, so if anyone would like to propagate some cuttings there will be plenty available.  For those who need less physical activities, the roses are need of a good dead heading session.  I will be giving the tomatoes, peppers and citrus trees a boost of fertilizer in case anyone needs some pointers on how to do this in their own gardens.
The weather is supposed to be unseasonably cool next week so the “it’s too hot” defense is not going to work; so, just take a deep breath, grab your tools and come on out – we need you!
The Garden Team

MGs  &  Interns,
Thanks to some very energetic workers last week a lot was accomplished.  All plants and equipment were moved out of the old greenhouse and it was disinfected with a clorox scrub down; the same was done in the new greenhouse earlier.  The tops were removed from the potting tables and will be replaced with plastic lattice which will provide better drainage and will be much easier to keep clean.  Hopefully, this resurfacing will be completed by Wednesday and we can begin to move some of the sun sensitive plants back in.  Two of the rose beds received their spring cleaning and we will move on to the others next week.
All the vegetable beds have been planted and everything seems to be thriving.  Luckily, the pests have not been a big problem yet, but the mockingbirds have discovered that some of the tomatoes are beginning to ripen and are mounting an assault.  Some okra seeds were saved from the ‘Baby Bubba” miniature variety from last year’s okra test and hopefully we can get them to germinate as they were very popular.  We’re experimenting with some ‘Sugar Baby’ watermelon this year and the two hills we planted have sprouted.  We didn’t have much luck with the ‘Black Diamonds’ last year so we thought another variety would do better in our soil.  The citrus “orchard” is looking great and will get it’s second shot of fertilizer next week to sustain all the Meyer lemons, satsumas and grapefruit that are hanging on.
The big bed with the cannas and lantana cascading over the wall is really beautiful now and many have commented on how colorful and bright it is.  We’re so used to seeing it that we just take it for granted, but  first time visitors to the garden are really amazed by it; someone commented last week that it looked like a postcard.  This is because of all the hard work and attention so many of you have given these beds, and if I haven’t said it loud enough: thank you!  It’s obvious that for many, working in the garden is a pleasure and not just an obligation.
See you next week……………….