Next CHES Meeting, Rainwater Harvesting, October 10th

October 4, 2016 by lheideman

Presented by Zach Davis, Somervell County Extension Agent for Agriculture and Natural Resources

Water? It’s an issue that people don’t want to think about, but it’s something we all need. We know our water supply is limited and it’s something that is not going to get a whole lot better. As society moves forward we need to find ways to conserve as much as we can. A simple solution that will continue to be important in the future is Rainwater Harvesting.

Rainwater Harvesting reduces the demand on our existing water supply and helps reduce the contamination of surface water which is a “win-win” for everybody. Rainwater can be sanitized so you can use it for basically any purpose you use traditional water. Different uses include:

Landscape watering
Wildlife and livestock watering
In-home use
Fire protection, etc.

As diverse as our needs are, whether you live in a rural, semi-rural or urban setting, a rainwater harvesting system can be just as diverse and just as beneficial. The systems can be as simple or as complex as you would like it to be. The choice is yours to make it your own!

How much rainwater can you catch from a couple barrels??? A 2,000 sq. ft. house X 0.6 X 1 inch of rain = 1,200 gallons of water. To put that in reference to how much we use, the average American uses approximately 69 gallons of water per day. A one inch rain could supply you with water for 17 DAYS. AND leave 1,200 gallons of ground water in our aquifers.

If you are interested in learning more about this topic come down for the Community Horticulture Educational Series, October 10th, at the Senior Citizens Center, Glen Rose, at 6:30 pm.

About the presenter:

Zachary A Davis, County Extension Agent for Agriculture and Natural Resources, has been employed for the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service for seven years serving in three different counties. Stationed in Somervell County for over one and a half years, Davis has worked with master gardeners, homeowners, master naturalist, livestock producers and 4-H youth to promote proper agriculture practices.

Zach and his wife Kristen, a self-employed wedding photographer, currently have a 2 year-told daughter named Emma. In addition to his extension work Davis has a small herd of black maine-angus cows that are managed on his parent’s ranch in Slidell, TX.

Educational programs of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service are open to all people without regard to race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, or veteran status. The Texas A&M University System, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the County Commissioners Courts of Texas Cooperating.

Next CHES Meeting, June 13th

June 1, 2016 by lheideman

Gourds…Creative Art and Birdhouses and…How to Grow Them

Come hear Cindy Lear and Nancy Walsh, Lake Granbury Master Gardeners and gourd artists speak about the different types of gourds, learn how to have success growing them in our area, and use them for creative purposes. They have a wonderful PowerPoint presentation to share with us.

Cindy is a retired teacher, stained glass artist, and a gourd artist for the past three years. She is also the team leader for the Lake Granbury Master Gardener community education programs.

Nancy has experimented with different art mediums all her life, but only started her venture with gourd art over the past 6 years. She won her first blue ribbon in the Novice Division at the Texas Gourd Festival in 2013. She grows 200+ gourds per year at her home in Tolar. She is currently serving as 1^st Vice President/Membership Services, which includes planning monthly education programs for the Lake Granbury Master Gardeners. This will be an interesting evening!

The Community Horticultural Education Series, sponsored every second Monday by the Somervell County Master Gardeners and the Prairie Rose Chapter of Native Plant Society, is held at the Citizens Center, 209 SW Barnard Street, just off the square, in Glen Rose. It is free and open to the public. The program will begin at 6:30 pm.

Next CHES Meeting, May 9th, Interactive Gardening/the Garden Loom

April 30, 2016 by lheideman

You are invited to attend the next Community Horticultural Educational Series (CHES) meeting on Monday, May 9th, at 6:30 pm, at the Community Center in Glen Rose, 209 SW Barnard. Pat Kreiner will entertain and educate us on the subject of Interactive Gardening, highlighting the Garden Loom. We are looking forward to an evening of learning and laughter! The public is invited at no charge.

Pat Kreiner lives on a 2 acre mini-farm called Wildwood Cottage with her husband David & son John where she gardens, raises chickens, ducks, quail & rabbits. Gardening with her grandmother & father at an early age inspired a lifelong adventure in gardening. She has studied with individuals, schools, organizations in a variety of areas & earned multiple certifications. Working for several garden & herbal related companies has been an enlightening education on many levels. Throughout the years working as a landscape consultant she has specialized in Wildlife Gardening, Permaculture, Culinary & Medicinal Herbs, Horticulture Therapy, Square Foot Gardening & Container Gardening, In recent years she has been indulging her nerdy side by working at museums as a Historical Interpreter. During this time Pat has researched & demonstrated the historical uses of plants by Native Americans & Texas Pioneers. She loves to share her experiences as an educator for adult & children’s programs on multiple topics. Her best advise for anyone who wants to learn about gardening is to develop a sense of humor & an appreciation for the Natural World because many times it does not care what books you’ve read or what the experts said and that includes HER.

Interactive Gardens are a major part of Ms. Kreiner’s philosophy to incorporate Horticulture Therapy in every public garden. Public or private gardens strive to interact with those who visit by presenting a beautiful display, plant groupings for a purpose and all being explained by signage. Visitors can revel in the sight, scent and sound of our gardens but usually it is a hands off enjoyment. This is where Interactive gardens create a more personal connection for your visitors. Examples such as Sensory Gardens, Garden Looms, A Working Water Pump, Creating an Outdoor Hopscotch, Pick Me, Water Me or Plant Me Spots move your visitor from an observer to a participant. Once they are a participant by creating or taking care of a portion of the garden it is now in a small or large part their garden.

NEXT CHES PROGRAM, MARCH 14TH

February 27, 2016 by lheideman

Can we save our oaks from oak wilt?

There are not many things more heartbreaking for Texans than to watch our mighty oaks succumb to Oak Wilt. There are several things we can do to prevent the spread of oak wilt and keep oaks as part of our local landscape.

Rachel McGregor, Texas Forestry Service’s Oak Wilt expert for our region will introduce us to Oak Wilt, including prevention, identification and disease management (when to prune, how it spreads and options for stopping the spread) at our Monday evening meeting.

We will then follow up with a field day at High Hope Ranch, Tuesday morning from 10:00 AM – noon, so we can put what we’ve learned to the test. We will see live oaks with and without oak wilt and discuss the best interventions and protocols. This will help us all be able to identify what is going on in our own property and neighborhood. If you would like to join us at High Hope Ranch (adjacent to Fossil Rim’s Overlook) please let our program chair, Sandra Skrei know by emailing her.

A great link for your further research: http://texasoakwilt.org/oakwilt/

Rachel McGregor is from Springtown, Texas. She is married and has an almost two year old red headed son, Resin, and yes what they say about a red heads temper is true. She graduated from Texas A&M University with a Bachelors of Science in Urban Forestry in 2010, while working on undergraduate research with Dr. David Appel at Texas A&M University on oak wilt. Rachel received a Masters of Science in Plant Pathology with an emphasis on Nematology from Tarleton State University in 2012. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Cross Timbers Urban Forestry Council and is an ISA Certified Arborist . Rachel has been working as a Staff Forester II in Granbury for almost three years and her goal is to educate the public on the importance of early detection and management options for Oak wilt, while also assisting landowners with helpful stewardship information and resources for their property.

Rachel was recruited from Texas A&M to attend Tarleton as one of the first graduate students in Forestry. She is the Staff Forester in the Forest Resource Development & Sustainable Forestry division for Texas A&M Forest Service. She is one of seven foresters to cover land owner outreach in the entire state of Texas. Each state in the United States has a forestry agency, but Texas was the first in the nation to establish its state forestry agency as part of a land-grant college.

The Prairie Rose Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas has a short business meeting starting at 6:00 PM Monday, March 14 (and the second Monday of every month), followed at 6:30 by a joint program with the Somervell County Master Gardener’s CHES program. The public is always welcome to attend. We meet at the Somervell County Senior Citizen’s Building, just off Glen Rose’s square.

CHES Program Monday, February 8th

January 29, 2016 by lheideman

Community Horticultural Education Series

Presented by Somervell County Master Gardeners

Everyone is invited. Program begins at 6:30 pm

at the Citizens Center, 209 SW Barnard, Glen Rose.

Featuring Dr. Christine Morgan, who will share her knowledge on

“The Importance of Greens in the Diet and How to Grow Them”

This will be a discussion about the importance of green leaf vegetables in the diet. For thousands of years it made up 45-60% of the daily diet of humans.

The availability of plant nutrition in leaves is unequal to any other vegetable we eat. The ability to alkalize the body’s pH and the ease of absorption of nutrients will be covered.

The lecture will include a PowerPoint presentation, covering the many varieties we have to choose from; how to have proper soil to grow the most nutritious greens; how to plant in succession plantings; how anyone…no matter their living situation, can begin to grow their own greens and why they really should; and how to enjoy greens for all seasons.

Two handouts will be included: (1) Growing Greens for All Seasons and (2) Seven Fast-Growing Low-Labor, Edible Greens

There will be a short question and answer session at the end.

Christine Morgan is a long time resident of Glen Rose and has been quietly in practice for 26 years. She holds a Doctor of Naturopathic Ministry degree from Southern College of Natural Health. She started her career in the pre-veterinary program of St. Mary’s University and received a Bachelor of Science in Biology, majoring in Animal Nutrition Studies, and a Master of Science degree in Holistic Nutrition from the American College of Holistic Nutrition. She is also a Certified Nutritional Counselor, and a Holistic Health Care Practitioner from Leymans University. She has certification as a GAPS (Gut and Psychology Syndrome) and Gluten Sensitivity practitioner also. She also is an Amino Acid Therapy Practitioner, and EFT practitioner as well. She has been a researcher of human health all her adult life, and is passionate about continually learning about true health and effective living. She is a Master Gardener and a certified square-foot gardener, teacher and lecturer.

Exciting New Plans for 2016 CHES Programs

December 31, 2015 by lheideman

by Sandra Skrei, CHES Programs for Prairie Rose Chapter, Native Plant Society of Texas

CHES and Prairie Rose Chapter of the Native Plant Society are now meeting together!

We’ll start the New Year with a SWAP and MEET

SWAP:

Gifts – White elephant style, but no spending money allowed and you don’t get to be anonymous! Bring a gardening/native plant book you no longer use to recycle, a plant, something from your garden, to help someone else garden, or you’ve made from your garden, even those goofy socks with plants on them you got for Christmas.

Information – Have a question prepared for members of the ‘other’ group or bring a ‘factoid’ about gardening and/or native plants to share. When your gift is chosen, you’ll introduce yourself, explain your gift, and share your information or ask your question.

MEET:

We’ll get to meet each other, and perhaps get to know your fellow members a little better!

How it will work:

Please bring your gift wrapped in a plain bag, newsprint, box, or something else reused, covering it just enough to disguise it.

When you sign in, you’ll get a raffle ticket, we’ll draw those to take turns. When it is your turn, you pick a gift, and unwrap it.

The gift giver will then introduce his/herself, explain why they brought that gift, and then share their tip or ask their question. If the question is asked by a Master Gardener, a member of the Native Plant Society will answer, and vice versa.

Gifts may be ‘stolen’ from each other, in which case the person who had to give up their gift picks another gift. The first person who was drawn, will have a final chance to ‘steal’ a gift, too!

Doors open at 6:00

Meeting starts at 6:30

Monday, January 11^th, Somervell County Senior Citizens Center

Future programs sponsored by the Prairie Rose Chapter of the Native Plant Society:

March: Texas A&M Forestry Service, Oak Wilt Program and Services, we will sign up for a field trip Tuesday morning with our speaker to show us how to inspect and manage for oak wilt.

May: Native American natural dyes with Pat Kriener of the Big Bear Native American Museum and Johnson County Herbal Society, Cleburne. Follow-up field trips to the Museum’s Native American Powwow on May 27/28 and the Herbal Society’s Natural Dyes workshop June 4^th at 10:30

July: TBD

September: Minette Marr, Ladybird Johnson Wildlife Center’s seed bank director on their milkweed and Texas Ash projects. Field trip Tuesday morning (to be confirmed in August) to High Hope Ranch, (bordering Fossil Rim in Glen Rose) to scout and learn collecting techniques.

November: TBD

Please indicate your interest in a field trip to the Bamberger Ranch in Blanco County. www.bambergerranch.org. They are closed in August and Nov-Jan. We can join a Land Steward Workshop April 23^rd from 8:30 – 4:30 for $115 each (Texas Master Naturalist enjoy a discount), or schedule our own.

Information on ranch tours from their website:

Group Tours – want to see more?

While Selah Bamberger Ranch Preserve is not open to the public on a daily basis, there are ways to visit the ranch. We have workshops, field days and public tours throughout the year, and we can also tailor a private tour to a specific group. There are many components of the ranch available to select from for a private tour including the Rain Machine Demonstration/Nature Trail Walk, Ranching Heritage/Horse Demonstration, Dinosaur Tracks/Fossils, as well as a visit to the Scimitar Horned Oryx. One or more of the knowledgeable ranch staff guides all tours. If you have a group that is interested in visiting us, contact the ranch office for available dates and prices.

You can schedule a tour of the ranch, for your group on “The Bluebonnet”, our covered trailer. We will take you to see all the tour spots offered to other visitors. Meal service maybe available for larger groups of 20 or more for an additional fee.

COST- $15 per person
($300 minimum*)

*20 or more people needed in order for everyone to pay just $15.00

CHES Meeting, September 14th

August 28, 2015 by lheideman

Somervell County Master Gardeners Present

Community Horticultural Education Series (CHES)

Monday, September 14, 6:30 pm, Citizens Center

209 SW Barnard, Glen Rose

Zachary Davis, our Somervell County Agri-Life Extension Agent

will present a program on Fall Gardening.

So bring your questions and a friend.

As always, there is no charge and it’s open to the public.

Door prizes, too!

Next CHES Meeting, June 13th

Next CHES Meeting, May 9th, Interactive Gardening/the Garden Loom

CHES Meeting, September 14th

Monthly Meeting

Public Education Event: “Success with Seeds” by Dorothy Buchanan

Monthly Meeting

Open House for the Public

Arbor Day Celebration