Maine Master Gardener News

 November 2006

Hancock County Master

Gardener Hoop House Garden

Has a Successful First Year!

Master Gardener volunteers were surprised when they tallied up the

final numbers in the log book of vegetables grown in the new hoop house at the Hancock County Extension Office in Ellsworth.  According to the garden log kept by Hancock County Master Gardener volunteers, 354 pounds of vegetables were grown and donated to the hungry from March through October. Seven students from the 2006 Hancock County Master Gardener Volunteer Training worked in the demonstration greenhouse for their volunteer project.

The hoop house and its framed raised beds were built by Master

Gardener Volunteers and Extension staff in the fall of 2005.  Cold frames were constructed on top of the raised bed frames, extending the growing season by two months!

The first task the Master Gardeners faced this past spring was to

harvest the peas and greens planted the preceding fall by Extension staff.  Volunteers then solicited local businesses for compost donations and prepared three beds inside the hoop house and four beds outside on the Extension office grounds. Volunteers planned and planted the gardens using seedlings started during the spring volunteer training    program. Seeds were donated by Johnny’s Selected Seeds and these       gardens took part in the “Plant a Row for the Hungry” (PAR) program.  Among the vegetables donated to the Emmaus Center and the Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry in Ellsworth were 100 pounds of tomatoes, 60 pounds of lettuce, 22 pounds of cabbage, 21 pounds of peppers, 30 pounds of green beans, and 66 pounds of cucumbers.

Master Gardener volunteers also installed temperature-responsive

automatic openers for the cold frames in the hoop house, and created

crop education and identification signs. They took on the major task of installing running water and electricity to the hoop house.  The Hoop House Project was funded with the proceeds from a Master Gardener Perennial Plant Sale the previous year.

Volunteers watered and weeded throughout the season and were on hand for a tour of the Ellsworth Extension office grounds by the   national review team of the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (CSREES).

Volunteers met in early November for a fall cleanup of the beds and to plan for the winter garden---and to pick the last tomatoes and surprise crop of giant marigolds.

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Other than an unexpected late spring frost that killed off the first tomato seedlings, and a mid-summer watering challenge, a successful first season for the hoop house has been

declared by volunteers, Betty Beardsley,

Josephine Jacob, Tish Noyes, Georgianna Pulver, Joy Ryan, John Speirs, Carter Tew and Sue Baez of the Extension Office staff.

Submitted by:

Georgianna Pulver, Hancock County Master Gardener Volunteer

Poinsettia Care In the Home

Poinsettia, the quintessential holiday plant was introduced to the United States in 1825 by Joel Robert Poinsett, the first U.S. ambassador to Mexico who obtained plants form the wilds of southern Mexico.  Botanically, the plant is known as Euphorbia pulcherrima.

Recent improvements in poinsettia have greatly improved their longevity, but to ensure maximum beauty and possibly more than one year of flowering, some maintenance is required.

Watering.  Examine the soil regularly, and when the soil is dry down about one inch, water thoroughly until it runs freely out the drainage holes.  If a saucer is used, discard the water that collects in it.  Saturated soils lack sufficient air and can cause root injury.

Plants exposed to high light and low humidity require more frequent watering, so check plants frequently.

Light.  Place the poinsettia near a sunny window where it will have the most available sunlight.  Do not let any part of the plant touch the cold windowpane because this may injure it.

Temperature.  OK, this is where it gets a bit tricky here in Maine…To keep the plant in bloom, maintain it at a temperature of 65-70 degrees F during the day and, if possible, move it to a cooler place at night.  Since most of our homes are much cooler than 65 at night, this shouldn’t pose a problem!  Avoid exposing the plant to hot or cold drafts which may cause premature leaf drop.

Reflowering.  Poinsettias can be reflowered the following year, but unless a yearlong schedule of care is observed, the results usually are not good.  For such a schedule, continue normal watering of the soil until the first of April, then allow it to dry gradually.  Do not let it get so dry at any time that the stems shrivel.  Following the drying period, store the plant in a cool (60 degrees), airy location on its side or upright.

In the middle of May, cut the stems back to about 4 inches above the soil, and either replant in a pot 1-2 inches larger in diameter or shake old soil off the rots and repot in the same container, using a new, moist soilless mix.  Water thoroughly after potting and place the plant near the window that is exposed to the most sunlight.  Try to keep the plant at a temperature of 65-70 and water when the surface is dry.  After new growth appears, fertilize every two weeks with a complete-analysis water soluble fertilizer at the recommended rate on the package.

Move the plant outdoors in June in a lightly shaded location.  Continue watering and fertilizing the plant while it is outdoors.  Pinch each stem (remove one inch of terminal growth) in early July.  Then, between August 15^th and September 1, cut or pinch the new stems back, allowing three or four leaves to remain on each shoot.  After this second pinch, bring the plant indoors and again place it near a window with a sunny exposure. 

After this second pinch, bring the plant      indoors and again place it near a window with a sunny exposure.  If the plant is not pinched, it will grow too tall and be unsightly.  Continue watering and fertilizing, trying to keep the plant at a temperature between 65-70 at night.

Poinsettias are short-day plants, which means they flower about 10 weeks after the daylight shortens to about 12 hours or less.  Therefore, to have the plant in full flower by Christmas, keep it n complete darkness between 5pm and 8 am from the first part of October until Thanksgiving.  During this     period, any kind of light exposure between these times will delay flowering.  Remember to put the plant near a sunny window in the daytime.  Continue fertilizing the plant until mid-December.

So, if you are up to the challenge of tending to a fussy plant, poinsettias just might be the answer.  If not, you can be like the rest of us and buy a new plant every year.  I like to think of it as supporting the green industry!

Submitted by:

Barbara Murphy, Extension Educator

Oxford County Extension

Upcoming Events

Winter/Spring of 2007

January 9—11, 2007

2007 Maine Agricultural Trade Show

Augusta Civic Center

January 23, 2007

Maine Landscape & Nursery Growers Show

Augusta Civic Center

Saturdays, March 10, 17, 24, 31

9 am—noon

Advanced Training in

Pruning Woody Landscape Plants

Hancock County Extension Office

1-800-287-1479

March 8—11, 2007

Portland Flower Show

“Gardens around the World”

At the Portland Marine Complex

58 Fore Street, Portland

FMI:  (207) 775-4403

March 17—25, 2007

New England Spring Flower Show

Bayside Expo Center

Boston, MA

April 14, 2007

Maine Garden Day

Central Maine Community

College at Auburn

Master Gardener

“Bright Ideas”

to be Featured

Every gardener has a “tool box” of practices, techniques, tips or tricks they use to improve their garden, stretch resources, solve problems or make gardening easier or more enjoyable.  We’d like to feature those “bright ideas” by Maine Master Gardeners in this newsletter on a regular basis so that others could benefit from the ingenuity of others.  The idea could be “hard” such as a tool, a book or a trellis design that you have found useful as a gardener or “soft” like a garden-related web site or a method to plant, grow, water, weed or harvest for efficiency.   Show your creativity, resourcefulness or ingenuity.  The ideas presented could be original, duplicated or adapted.

With over 1200 Master Gardeners in Maine, there ought to be a wealth of “bright ideas”.

This new column is an invitation to all    Master Gardeners across Maine to submit one or more of their “bright ideas”.  Your idea might be a paragraph in length that would include background information, idea description and source (if applicable).  A photo or drawing could accompany the idea.  Your name (or initials) with your county and town should be included so that others could contact you if needed.   Anonymous ideas would also be accepted.

This column will be a way you can have   input to this newsletter and share the information that you think other gardeners would appreciate or use.  We’d like to feature one to three ideas per issue depending on length and available space.

You can submit a “bright idea” via email or by phone. 

Bright Idea Editor,

Richard Brzozowski

at rbrz@umext,maine.edu

or by calling 1-800-287-1471. 

Place “Bright Idea” in the subject line.  If submitting an idea by phone, remember to include your name and phone number.  This toll-free number is available 24-7.

Here is a sample of a Bright Idea from a MG in Knox-Lincoln  Counties:

Water and watering was always a    problem for Master Gardener Dean Slye of Waldoboro.  In an effort to solve the problem, he ran some roof gutters on his barn so the rainwater would dump into a series 55 gallon barrels located on the 2^nd story of the barn.  He connected a water hose from the barrels and ran it to his garden in a system of “T’s” and gate valves for a “low tech” drip irrigation   system.  The system was gravity fed – no pumps necessary.  Now, he has     water that can be directed to any area of the garden using very little energy.

2^nd Annual Hancock County Master Gardener Fall Gathering

Marjorie Peronto, Extension Educator

Forty-five Master Gardeners and their guests gathered at the Hancock County Extension office on Thursday, November 2^nd for a delicious potluck supper and a celebration of their accomplishments. Our own talented Sue Baez used your project photos to create a slideshow with music that entertained us during dinner.  We heard reports on a variety of 2006 Master Gardener projects which demonstrated the cooperative spirit, leadership and gardening expertise that MG volunteers bring to Hancock County’s citizens and communities.  We were joined by UMCE’s Dean and Director Lavon Bartel (who is about to retire and aspires to become a Hancock County Master Gardener Volunteer herself in ‘07!) and UMCE Marketing Leader Jen O’Leary.  What a fun and proud night it was!  The evening concluded with awards recognizing the following volunteers for their contributions to the Master Gardener Program.

HANCOCK COUNTY MASTER GARDENER VOLUNTEER AWARDS 2006

Extension Outstanding Volunteer Awards – Jim Jaffray and Dan DeLong

Given to an individual who’s outstanding volunteer contributions exemplify the goals and ideals of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension

Nothing But Blue Skies Award:  Stephanie Carter

Given in honor of a Master Gardener from the class of 2006 who demonstrates an outstanding positive attitude and willingness to contribute

Full Sun Award:  Betty Beardsley

In recognition of the Master Gardener from the class of 2006 who gave the most hours of volunteer service this year

Hardy Perennial Award:  Marshall Rice, Roberta Macko

Awarded to a person who has deep roots with the Master Gardener Volunteer Program and brings us joy when she/he returns every spring

Stop Me Before I Volunteer Again Award: 

Carolyn Hollenbeck

Awarded to a Master Gardener who has risen to the challenge of showing leadership in a diverse array of volunteer activities

Golden Shovel Award: Alvion Kimball

Given to a Master Gardener whose innovative ideas, contagious enthusiasm and strong leadership inspires us to “break new ground” in our volunteer endeavors.

We Couldn’t Have Done it Without You Award:  Theresa Guethler

Given to honor a Master Gardener who worked diligently behind the scenes managing people, projects and logistics, to keep our program thriving and our volunteers fruitful.

Honorary Extension Educator’s Award:  Elisabeth Curran

This is the highest award given for outstanding leadership and service in the Hancock County Master Gardener program.  It is awarded for years of service, capacity of leadership, and participation in the program as an example to others.

People who completed their first 40 hours of volunteering, receiving certificates:

Returning Master Gardeners who volunteered 20 or more hours this year:

"Hour Glass” Awards:  Given in recognition of volunteer service exceeding 100, 250, 500 and 750 hours during one’s Master Gardener career:

Master Gardener Recipe Offering

At the Gathering, many of you asked me for this recipe.  This is a simple recipe, great for holiday entertaining and gift giving.   Enjoy!!     submitted by:  Carolyn Hollenbeck (04, 05)

Cheddar Cheese Crackers

1 cup (4 oz.) unbleached all purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

a generous pinch of cayenne pepper

1 cup (4 0z.) grated extra sharp Cheddar Cheese *

8 tablespoons (4 0z.) unsalted butter

Using a food processor:

Wisk the dry ingredients together. Using a food processor fitted with a metal blade, process the cheese and butter until well mixed.  If butter is cold, cut it into small chunks before processing.  Add the flour mixture and pulse until well blended.

Using an electric mixer:

Finely grate the cheese and soften the butter.  Wisk together the dry ingredients. Cream the butter with the cheese until well mixed.  Add the dry ingredients on low speed and mix well.

For both methods:

Scrape the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap and form into a rectangle.  Refrigerate the dough about 1 hour or until firm.  Form the dough into 3 logs about 1 inch in diameter.  Wrap each log in plastic wrap. Chill.  If freezing, wrap the logs in aluminum foil. And freeze up to 3 months   If refrigerating, place the wrapped logs into a plastic storage bag and store up to 3 days.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven.  If using frozen dough, remove it from the freezer and let it rest to make slicing easier.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Slice the dough into ¼ inch slices and place the slices on the sheets ½ inch apart.  Bake 8 – 10 minutes until very lightly browned, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and side to side.  Watch carefully as they will burn easily.  If your oven tends to be hot, use only one rack and bake in the middle of the oven.  Serve immediately or at room temperature.  Makes approximately 4 dozen 1½ hor d’oeuvres.

Gearing up for the 2007 Hancock County Master Gardener Training

Please help us spread the word!  The 2007 training is scheduled for Friday mornings from January 26^th through May 4^th.  There will also be two Saturday sessions, February 17^th and March 3^rd.  The focus of this year’s training is Ornamental Gardening. We will cover gardening with annuals, perennials, lawns & other groundcovers, trees and shrubs in addition to the core botany, soils, pest management, seed starting, and volunteerism sessions.  Deadline to apply is January 10^th.  If you know of a good candidate for the Master Gardener Volunteer Program, please have them call the Extension office and we’ll send them an application!

If you have taken the course before and would like to take it again, you need to have completed your initial 40 hours of volunteering, and submit another application.

Many Thanks to the 2006 Helpline Team

By Carolyn Hollenbeck –

MGV Helpline Coordinator

As the 2006 Master Gardener Volunteer season draws to a close, I would like to take a moment to reflect on our team successes, personally thank the team members, and share some of our accomplishments with other Master Gardener Volunteers.

A special thank you goes to team members Betty Beardsley, Stephanie Carter, Rita Doyle, Robin Mass, Joan Miller (Machias Office), M. Murdoch, Judy Phillips and Margery Read for giving me a hand this year.  It has been a pleasure working with all of you! By using a schedule that contained volunteer names, phone numbers, e-mails and scheduled work days, we were not only able to provide coverage and contact information to the Extension Office, but could easily communicate with each other.  Together our team logged over 170 hours of volunteer time and helped more than 260 clients. Take a moment now to tell yourselves how wonderful you are!!!

Thank you to Marjorie Peronto for purchasing 3 new books which are favorites of mine at home.  Garden Insects Of North America by Whitney Cranshaw, The Pruner’s Bible by Steve Bradley and The Organic Gardener’s Handbook Of Natural Insect and Disease Control by Ellis and Bradley are now part of the Office Library.  All three books have “user friendly” formats and are packed with great

information.  To date they have been very helpful to our team researching information for clients. Kudos also to Sue Baez (Administrative Assistant and MGV) for helping me transfer some of my favorite reference web links from my laptop to the office computer.  We now have a MGV Horticultural Folder on the desktop for our quick reference.  Master Gardeners will be able to easily update it with new educational links when they are located.

Sue Baez deserves additional recognition for converting my thoughts for a standardized MGV office protocol binder into our new Master Gardener Guidelines Booklet.  MGV’s now have easy access to the information that is needed to perform office tasks.  Names of Extension Office Staff, office phone numbers and e-mails, calling card operations, call answering protocol, handling of client specimens and a Master Gardener Resource List are now readily accessible. All team members were given their own copy.  This will certainly make training of new volunteers much easier and as well as assure that Helpline volunteers are all “on the same page”.

Newsletter created by:

Hancock County Cooperative Extension

63 Boggy Brook Road, Ellsworth, ME  04605

1-800-287-1479  or  667-8212   Fax:  667-2003

Editors:

Marjorie Peronto, Extension Educator

mperonto@umext.maine.edu

Sue Baez, Administrative Assistant II

sbaez@umext.maine.edu