Allamakee County Master Gardener Seeds of Wisdom

Iowa Sta te Univers i ty Extension — June 2018

Master Gardener Meeting Allamakee County Master Gardeners

Thursday, June 28, 2018

PLACE: Mary Techau’s. Annual potluck

ROLL CALL: Introduce any guests

SECRETARY’S REPORT: Published in the News-letter

TREASURER’S REPORT: Update on the plant sale

OLD BUSINESS: Plant Sale and Mary’s report

Open Class Building and signing up for events.

Any other Old Business

NEW BUSINESS: Two road trips have been

scheduled for August

Webinar dates have been set for Tuesday’s in July/August

Aphids

NEXT MEETING: August 23 at Barb Davidson’s after her garden tour

HOSTESS:

Our 2019/20 Dues are Due July 1

At our Thursday, June 28 meeting we will be collecting dues or you may send your dues to the Ex-

tension Office. If you are writing a check please make it payable to: Allamakee County Extension.

MG’s $5.00 and Associate MG’s $10.00.

Thank you,

Caroll Schreiber – Treasurer.

Master Gardeners 2018 Picnic

On Thursday, June 28, Mary Techau will host the Master Gardeners summer picnic at 900 Chestnut Rd. in Waterville, eat at 6:30 p.m.

All club members and spouses invited, meat provid-ed. Please bring a dish to share.

Directions: Waterville Rd. from Elon or Hwy. 76, go down the hill past The Winchester (former Waterville Store) and follow Paint Creek. Turn left on Busness Hill, right on Chestnut Rd. Log home is 1/2 mile on the right.

Garden Tour Cici has set up a garden tour on Thursday, August 23, 6:00 p.m. We will take a tour of

Barb Davidson’s gardens of rural Decorah. They are GORGEOUS gardens and we were not able to go last year. We will be setting a meeting time and location at our next meeting.

“We come from the Earth. We return to the

Earth. And in between, we garden” Anonymous

2018 is half over! You are busy volunteering at Master Gardener events and tending public gardens around the community. Please log your volunteer and continuing education hours online to add to the 29k volunteer hours already logged in 2018. Visit https://mastergardenerhours.hort.iastate.edu/ to enter your hours online.

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Allamakee County Master Gardeners met on April 26, 2018 at 7:00 p.m. at the Waukon Wellness Cen-ter. Vice President, Pat Meeter called the meeting to order. Seventeen members answered to roll call “What am I bringing to the plant sale?” There wasn’t a Secretary’s Report. Treasurer’s report: Christmas basket for Extension staff, Mary Engstrom for plant supplies, postage. Balance: was given. Bills presented: Don Haler, Connie Benedict, and Judy Egeland for driving to Caledonia, MN.

OLD BUSINESS: Judy Egeland reported that 15 people came to their herb class. They would prefer future classes be held at the library and not through NICC. Don Haler will be working on the MG scholarship appli-cation form. Mary Kay Winke will work on the field trip to Prairie Moon Nursery and Hidden Springs Flower Farm in Spring Grove, MN.

NEW BUSINESS: May 19 Plant Sale: Cici passed out sign up sheets for working at the plant sale and poster sheets. We will start cleaning the building on Friday, May 18 at 9:00 a.m. Mary Trebbein, Jan Howe, Karen Boot, Pat Meeter, Clara Lensing, and Jane Meyer will help move the plants from the high school at 11:00 a.m. Noon: we will help unload, mark, and arrange plants in the zone. Mary Trebbein will bring coffee for Saturday. Don Haler and Caroll Schreiber will bring cash boxes. Cici will contact newspapers for ads and radio stations. Mary Engstrom will contact someone about the sign at the 4 way in Waukon. Mary Trebbien is making four terrariums to be sold at the plant sale but needs soil and small plants. It was moved and ap-proved to let her spend $20 for supplies.

It was moved and approved to pay out of town volunteers $10 per trip for helping plant seeds and transplant plants for only the plant sale.

Allamakee County Fair is July 18-22. The only thing we have been asked to do is: Open Class Registration on July 17 and handing out money and project release on Sunday, July 22. Judy Egeland has volunteered to give a food dehydration demo. Mary Trebbien will help clean the building on Saturday, July 14 with the help of 4-H.

Pat Meeter shared with the group: an article about rhubarb and frost bite, honey, and a seed book marker she got at the Prairie du Chien St. Patrick’s Day parade from the MG group there.

Our next meeting is June 28 picnic at Mary Techau’s home.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:50 p.m. Caroll Schreiber and Sharon Hoffman served as hostesses.

The weather for the sale was very good. The plants looked nice. Aphids were a problem with some of the

plants. My sister who has had a greenhouse for almost 30 years and has written about aphids on her blog to

check Becky’s Blog visit https://www.beckysgreenhouse.com/

We made a very nice amount and after a few expenses we can see a positive reward for our work. I took

notes and suggestions so again we will need to discuss if we want to plant the seeds and do this in 2019.

Minutes from April 26, 2018 MG Meeting- Cici Mueller

Plant Sale Reflections—Mary Kay Winke

Start early. Your best chance of attracting orioles is when they first arrive in early spring.

Use the same nectar recipe for orioles as you do for hummingbirds-four parts boiled water to one part

sugar. Keep nectar fresh, and don’t use food coloring.

These birds are attracted to the color orange, so look for a sugar-water feeder specifically designed for orioles.

Make sure your feeder has large enough perches and drinking ports. It’s not unusual for orioles to try hummingbird

feeders, but their bills are often too big. Orioles love the color and taste of oranges. Offer orange halves on a branch or feeder. Orioles will also eat grape jelly. Serve the jelly in an open dish or cup, and keep it fresh.

When placing the oriole feeder in your yard, think like a bird. Instead of hiding the feeder under an awning or tree,

put it out in the open so the birds can see it while flying overhead.

Hang your feeder near a birdbath. If your bath has a bubbler, even better. Orioles love the sight and sound of mov-

ing water.

If you don’t attract orioles in your first year, keep at it. It often takes several seasons to find a following.

From Birds & Blooms www.birdsandblooms.com/birding/attracting-birds/bird-nesting/how-to-attract-orioles/

Attract Orioles to Your Backyard!

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Cooks Nook ~ Stir Fried Snow Peas—Pat Meeter

Farmers Markets The area Farmers Markets are looking for local growers, producers, bakers and crafters for the upcoming

season. Find your local farmers’ market at the following locations:

Allamakee Farmers Market, Allamakee County Fairgrounds, Weekly Market on Mondays (June – Sep-tember) from 3:30-6:00 PM

For market rules and registration forms, contact the Allamakee County Extension office at 563-568-6345 or

check online at http://www.extension.iastate.edu/allamakee/info/farmersmarket.htm

Lansing, Main Street Plaza, Weekly Market on Saturday mornings (May—September) Please contact 563-538-9229

Harpers Ferry, Weekly Market held on Fridays

“A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are

singing, and the lawn mower is broken.” James Dent

With snow pea and snap pea season near, other than eating raw, this is what we like. Use as many snow

peas as you need for a serving and add any other fresh vegetables you have on hand such as peppers, on-

ions, garlic, broccoli etc. Sauté in 1Tbsp or less of any mild oil with a large minced garlic clove. It only takes

2-4 minutes. Add fresh lemon juice and black pepper and enjoy. Serve with or on your favorite rice.

Ingredients

2 lbs. frozen rhubarb 2 lbs. sugar 1 piece of peeled root ginger

Recipe Place frozen rhubarb in pan. Add sugar and ginger Allow to thaw When thawed stir & bring slowly to the boil Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally Remove ginger before potting Recipe is from Rahbaun Farm Ardrahan, Co. Galway Ireland. Made in small batches at our farm in Co. Galway

Handmade Rhubarb & Ginger Jam by Connie Benedict

“I am summer, come to lure you away from your computer…

come dance on my fresh grass, dig your toes into my

beaches.” Oriana Green

Sharon Hofmann, Andrea Carstens and Mary Techau just planted at the Waterville Public Library.

Check out the Horticulture and Home Pest Newsletter website for seasonal tips and topics. https://hortnews.extension.iastate.edu/

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Shade-friendly vegetables are a must for backyard gardeners who struggle with the light needs of other, more needier veggies, like tomatoes, peppers, or cucumbers. If you have a garden that gets more shade than sun, any one of these shade-friendly vegetables is a great choice. With each veggie pick, we’ve included how many hours of light it needs per day, so you can pick the right shade-friendly vegetable for your garden. Easy Ways to Give Your Plants More Light 1. See if branches are casting shade over your food garden. If so, get an arborist to thin the overhanging trees. 2. Paint nearby sheds, garages, or fences white to reflect light back to your plants. 3. Grow your edibles in portable containers or ones with wheels so you can move the crops to sunnier spots in your yard as needed. 4. Place light-colored flat stepping-stones between your rows to reflect light and absorb heat, which encourages faster growth. 1. Lettuce Light needs: 4 hours per day. Lettuce is fast and easy to grow, and it can be seeded as soon as the garden is ready in early spring. In shade, stick to loose-leaf varieties, such as Green Salad Bowl and Black Seeded Simpson, that are ready to pick just four to five weeks from seeding. Avoid heading types of lettuce, which take longer to mature when there is less light. Why we love it: Low on space? No problem! Loose-leaf lettuce thrives in pots, planters and window boxes for weeks of fresh salads. 2. Spinach Light needs: 4 hours per day. Spinach grows best in the cool weather of spring and fall, thriving in little sunlight. In fact, growing it in the shade prolongs the harvest by delaying bolting, especially in warm regions. For a solid harvest, try Space, a smooth-leaf type with great disease resistance, or the classic heirloom variety Bloomsdale Long Standing, with deep green, crinkled leaves. Why we love it: Popeye was right—spinach is good for you! It’s packed with vitamins and can be eaten raw or cooked. It’s a rich source of vitamins A and K, plus folate, manganese, magnesium and iron, and includes flavonoids that can help fight certain cancers. It also adds variety to your homemade salads. Win-win! 3. Bush Beans Light needs: 6 hours per day. Homegrown snap beans are a tasty summer treat and do well even in shady spaces. Sow seeds in beds or pots after the last expected spring frost, planting more seed every two to three weeks for months of tender pods. Early maturing bush varieties include Capitano, which yields buttery yellow beans, and Mascotte, an award winner that sets a heavy crop of slender green pods and is great for containers. Why we love it: Bush beans are simple to grow and an ideal choice for a children’s vegetable garden. 4. Scallions Light needs: 4 to 6 hours per day. Also called bunching onions, scallions are a nonbulbing onion with narrow, upright foliage and a mild onion flavor. Start seeds indoors under grow lights, or direct-seed in the garden in early spring. Water regularly, as scallions have shallow root systems. Begin to harvest when the shoots are about 6 inch-es tall. 5. Hakurei Turnips Light needs: 4 to 6 hours per day. A farmers market favorite, Hakurei turnips are also easily grown in a home garden and ready to pull 40 days after seeding. For a nonstop supply of gourmet turnips, sow more seed every few weeks from spring through autumn. Begin to harvest when the roots are 1-11/2 inches across. Why we love it: These turnips offer a double harvest; smooth, crisp roots and nutrient-filled, tender greens. 6. Arugula Light needs: 2 to 3 hours per day. Jazz up your homegrown salads with peppery leaves of arugula. Extremely fast-growing, this cold-weather veggie is tolerant of low light conditions, especially when grown during the warmer months of summer. Harvest often to encourage heavy leaf production. Why we love it: The delicate white blooms of arugula are also edible; sprinkle them on salads, stir-fries, pizzas and other dishes before serving. Besides the typical super nutrients, arugula (like all green veggies) contains chlorophyll, which can help ease inflammation. 7. Spring Radishes Light needs: 4 to 6 hours per day. Going from seed to harvest in just three weeks, spring radishes are perhaps the fastest-growing vegetable. They’re perfect for both children and those new to gardening, and there are many colorful varieties like Easter Egg, Roxanne and Amethyst. Why we love it: All parts of the radish plant are edible—from root to leaf to seedpod. 8. Kale Light needs: 4 hours per day. Growing your own kale is an easy way to add more of this superfood to your diet. It grows well in partial shade, and can be planted in containers or garden beds. For the quickest crop in shade, stick to varieties with smooth leaves, like Red Russian. These types are fast-growing and quick to mature. Why we love it: Harvest kale as a baby green just one month from seeding for a super tender salad. 9. Herbs Light needs: 3 to 4 hours per day. Any herbs tolerate shade, growing happily with just a few hours of light each day. Chives (pictured here) produce beautiful blooms and beloved kitchen herbs. Stick to leafy herbs like cilantro, parsley, lemon balm, chives and mint. Avoid heat-loving herbs such as basil, thyme and rosemary, which grow best when planted in full sun. Why we love it: Growing your own fresh herbs saves you money at the grocery store. 10. Swiss Chard Light needs: 4 hours per day. Swiss chard was made for the shade. With its large, dark green leaves and colorful stems and veins, it does well in vegetable gardens, flower borders and containers. For sheer produc-tion, you can’t beat Fordhook Giant, the classic variety with white stems. But don’t overlook the showy colors of Bright Lights and Peppermint, which are almost too pretty to eat! Why we love it: Enjoy baby Swiss chard as a salad green or as a cooked vegetable. taken from www.birdsandblooms.com/gardening/top-10-lists-for-gardeners/vegetables-grow-well-shade/

Top 10 Vegetables That Grow Well in Shade—Becky Litterer

Thymely Tidbits—Pat Meeter

2018 Allamakee County Fair July 18-22 Mark your calendars, for the Allamakee County Fair in July. There are TWO entry days this year. You may enter exhibits either Tuesday, July 17 between 10:00 AM and 2:00

PM or Wednesday, July 18 between 3:00 PM and 8:00 PM.

Volunteers are still needed for the actual fair days. We will discuss at the picnic.

Please call Mary Kay Winke at 563-568-3800 or mkwinkeaol.com to volunteer your time to help.

Thanks and we’ll see you at the fair!

Open Class book is available online or at the Extension Office

www.extension.iastate.edu/allamakee/news/

Good morning...and it is a beautiful day with a nice start of cool plus rain during the evening. Got the garden in with lots of help from my son. My knee is giving me lots of trouble. Have most of what I purchased at the plant sale potted and planted also. The plant sale was VERY successful. More information later in the news-letter and thanks to everyone who in anyway helped with this project. Pat and I wrote down the hints ...IF we decide to do again in 2019. We have a Road Trip scheduled for Friday, June 8. Hope all of you got the message. There are also two oth-er Road Trips scheduled and noted in the newsletter. We are having our June potluck at Mary Techau. Directions to her place are in the newsletter. I suppose we should talk about what we will be doing at the fair at our potluck. It sounds like they are trying to have someone in the building full time and we will be doing mostly what we did last summer. Hopefully, no storms that will send us underground.

President’s Ramblings - Mary Kay Winke

Seed Savers sent a letter to Caroll Schreiber about the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. It is located underground north of the Artic Circle. There is a ceremony held yearly with seeds from around the world being deposited. One of the ways this can help people of the world took place recently when the political problems in Syria negated the use of seeds stored in Syria. The ongoing studies involving drought tolerant crops was not possible without the loan of seeds from the Global Vault. The Iowa representative was also able to replace seed for a Norwegian gentleman whose family had grown a certain bean for generations, but no longer had viable seed. I’ll carry the letter if anyone wishes to read it in entirety. I hope many of you took the time to read the information or visited with Jessica about Sarah’s Garden. It is located at the David Davis Mansion in Bloomington, Illinois. David Davis was a lawyer and a good friend of Abraham Lincoln. He held many elected positions including US Senator from Illinois. Jessica O’Connor took her FFA team there when they were traveling through the state for a competition. They were given seeds from the garden which they grew in the Wau-kon High School greenhouse and donated to our plant sale. The garden itself was created by Sarah Davis the wife of David Davis in 1872 with some of the plants brought there by Sarah from New England, MA and Jefferson’s Monticello. It is still located in its original location on the grounds with at least 7 of the original plants. The garden was in need of a massive restoration and 89 Master Gardeners from McLean County put in more than 6000 hours in 5 years and mentored 124 4-H members doing 718 hours of work in the garden. It is now open to more than 50,000 visitors every year which might not have been possible without the co-operation of everyone involved, especially the Master Gardeners. My mother grew up in Bloomington so it has been of particular interest to me. More information is available at www.daviddavismansion.org/garden or talk to Jessica.

“The easiest way to kill any plant is to make it the focal point of your garden” Grumpy Gardener

“In summer, the song sings itself.” William Carlos Williams

“You know you’re a gardener when you consider a truckload of manure an acceptable

anniversary gift.” Grumpy Gardener

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Whether you’re new to growing or a seasoned expert, our collection of 25 vegetable gardening tips will help. Enjoy! 1. If its getting cold and you have tomatoes still ripening on the vine — save your tomatoes! Pull the plants up and bring them inside to a warm dry place. Hang them up, and the tomatoes will ripen on the vine. 2. Companion planting is an excellent way to improve your garden. Some plants replenish nutrients lost by another one, and some combinations effectively keep pests away. 3. Paint the handles of your gardens tools a bright, color other than green to help you find them amongst your plants. You can also keep a mailbox in your garden for easy tool storage. 4. Compost needs time to integrate and stabilize in the soil. Apply two to three weeks prior to planting. 5. There is an easy way to mix compost into your soil without a lot of back breaking work: Spread the compost over your garden in the late fall, after all the harvesting is done. Cover with a winter mulch such as hay or chopped leaves and let nature take its course. By spring, the melting snow and soil organisms will have worked the compost in for you. 6. Like vining vegetables, but don’t have the room? Train your melons, squash, and cucumbers onto a vertical trellis or fence. Saves space and looks pretty too. 7. Garden vegetables that become over-ripe are an easy target for some pests. Remove them as soon as possible to avoid detection. 8. Onions are ready to harvest when the tops have fallen over. Let the soil dry out, harvest, and store in a warm, dry, dark place until the tops dry. Cut off the foliage down to an inch, then store in a cool, dry area. 9. Keep dirt off lettuce and cabbage leaves when growing by spreading a 1-2 inch layer of mulch (untreated by pesti-cides or fertilizers) around each plant. This also helps keep the weeds down. 10. When planting a flower or vegetable transplant, deposit a handful of compost into each hole. Compost will provide transplants with an extra boost that lasts throughout the growing season. 11. Insects can’t stand plants such as garlic, onions, chives and chrysanthemums. Grow these plants around the garden to help repel insects. 12. Milk jugs, soda bottles and other plastic containers make great mini-covers to place over your plants and protect them from frost. 13. For easy peas, start them indoors. The germination rate is far better, and the seedlings will be healthier and better able to fight off pests and disease. 14. Healthy soil means healthy plants that are better able to resist pests and disease, reducing the need for harmful pes-ticides. 15. Another reason to use natural and organic fertilizers and soil amendments: earthworms love them! Earthworms are extremely beneficial in the vegetable garden; increasing air space in the soil and leaving behind worm castings. Do what you can to encourage earthworms in your soil. 16. Diatomaceous earth makes an excellent organic insecticide – it is an abrasive white powder used to damage the cuticle, skin and joints of insects. It also makes an excellent slug barrier. 17. Some vegetables actually become better after a first frost, including kale, cabbage, parsnips, carrots, and Brussels sprouts. 18. When transplanting tomatoes, cover the stem with soil all the way up to the first set of leaves. This greatly encour-ages root growth, making a stronger, healthier plant. 19. Healthy soil means a thriving population of microbes, earthworms and other organisms. A soil that has “good tilth” will produce robust garden plants that are better able to resist pests and disease. 20. A simple five percent increase in organic material (compost) quadruples the soil’s ability to store water. 21. Plants will do best if they are well suited to your growing area. Take some time to read up and choose plants accord-ingly. 22. Keep garden vegetables from getting dirty by spreading a 1-2 inch layer of mulch (untreated by pesticides or fertiliz-ers) around each plant. This will also help keep the weeds down. 23. Water your garden in the early morning to conserve moisture loss and to help avoid powdery mildew and other fun-gal diseases that are often spread by high humidity levels. 24. If you’re short on space, garlic, leeks and shallots make excellent container plants. They tend to have few insect or disease problems and don’t require much room for roots. 25. Over watering is worse than under watering. It is easier to revive a dry plant than try to dry out drowned roots. Information provided by Planet Natural Research Center

Tips and Tricks for Gardeners

“Don’t add just one okra plant to your garden. Plant four for each family member. Add one for

each pet and 2 for each relative with two first names.” Southern Living, Grumpy Grandpa.

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The Iowa Master Gardener program with Iowa State Uni-versity Extension and Outreach will host a trio of Growing Season webcasts this summer. Master Gardeners will gain educational hours while learning about insects, tree care, organic vegetables, composting and growing roses. The two-hour webcasts will be shown at the ISU Extension and Outreach Office in Allamakee County. The webcasts are open to the public for a $5 fee and open to anyone who may be interested.

Summer webcast topics Tuesday, July 31 at 9:30 a.m. or 3:30 p.m.

Insect Update and Tree Care – Receive the latest details about invasive garden pests, including Japa-nese beetle, Emerald ash borer and spotted wing drosophila from Donald Lewis, professor and extension entomologist at Iowa State. Then learn about how to maintain the health of trees from Jesse Randall, as-sociate professor and extension forester at Iowa State.

Tuesday, August 14 at 9:30 a.m. or 3:30 p.m. Local Bees and Organic Vegetables – Find out how to attract native bees and other pollinators to the garden from Randall Cass, entomologist with ISU Extension and Outreach. Then learn how to organically maintain a vegetable garden from Kathleen Delate, professor and extension organic specialist in horticul-ture and agronomy at Iowa State.

Tuesday, August 28 at 9:30 a.m. or 3:30 p.m. Compost 101 and Growing Roses – Build your compost IQ with Ajay Nair, associate professor and ex-tension vegetable production specialist at Iowa State. Learn how to manage a home composting system and troubleshoot potential problems. Then learn how to grow roses that make a garden shine with Aaron Steil, assistant director of Reiman Garden.

Master Gardeners can gain six continuing education hours for participating in the webcasts. Ten hours are required each year to remain active Master Gardeners.

Three Growing Season Webcasts

Registration Open for Fayette County Fall Master Gardener Program “Master Gardeners provide volunteer service across Iowa,” said Susan DeBlieck, ISU Extension and Out-reach Master Gardener assistant coordinator. “They are excellent community resources who provide sup-port at school gardens, community gardens and farmers markets.” New for 2018 is an expansion of the flipped classroom model that was offered at six locations last year. Lec-tures that were previously given during classroom sessions are now available to be watched at home, free-ing up class time for hands-on activities and tours of local gardens. “From our experience offering a flipped classroom last year, trainees love being able to watch the course lectures at their own pace,” said Margaret Murphy, horticulture educator and regional food coordinator for ISU Extension and Outreach. “Additionally, receiving hands-on experiences during class increased the level of learning and gave trainees an opportunity to work together and share ideas and experiences.” Training sessions will also begin as early as in mid-August, about four weeks earlier than past start dates, in order to take advantage of daylight for hands-on activities and tours. Training sessions will not be limited to Tuesday evenings but can be held on other days of the week. The Class on Campus training session will be held Nov. 3, bringing all Master Gardener trainees together for hands-on workshops with ISU Extension and Outreach instructors. Training sessions will be held throughout the state, contact your ISU Extension and Outreach county office for training locations. Those interested in the course can apply at https://mastergardenerhours.hort.iastate.edu/application-form.php. Training fees are $195. After completing the course, Master Gardener trainees work as volunteers within the community, volunteer-ing 20 hours per year and building their gardening know-how by participating in ten hours of continuing edu-cation. Individuals not interested in becoming a Master Gardener volunteer can still receive training. The ProHort program allows individuals to gain knowledge while earning a certificate of completion. Cost for the ProHort program is $550 and does not include any volunteer requirements. Nearly 2,000 Master Gardeners were active across Iowa in 2017, compiling over 115,000 volunteer hours. Master Gardeners volunteered nearly 60 hours each, significantly more than the 20 hours required. Those volunteer hours are valued at $2.7 million.

The modern trend is to no longer banish the vegetable garden to the far corner of the back yard. Rather, homeowners

are now putting vegetables and fruit trees or bushes on display as part of an elegant, edible, landscape design.

While this is a modern trend, an edible landscape is really an ancient practice dating back to medieval monks and an-

cient Persians growing a rich array of vegetables, flowers, fruits, and herbs for edible, medicinal, and ornamental virtues.

It was also a long practice of English gardens which was reinstated in 2009 by Queen Elizabeth when she had an organ-

ic edible landscape installed within the Buckingham Palace Garden which includes heirloom species of beans, lettuce,

tomatoes, and other edibles.

While an edible landscape doesn’t need to be as elaborate as the Queen’s, an edible landscape does use attractive,

food-producing plants in a well-designed garden plan around the home and/or living area in the same way that ornamen-

tal plants are used. It may also incorporate ornamental plants. As a result, the edible landscape offers fresh, affordable

food, a variety of foliage and colors, and sustenance for bees, butterflies, and birds.

As this trend grows, there are a growing number of professional landscape companies getting into the business of help-

ing homeowners plan their landscape to include edibles, courses for certification as agriscaping educators and profes-

sionals, and any number of books and online articles providing information. Interestingly enough, some subdivision de-

velopers now offer buyers a choice of either traditional landscaping or agriscaping for their new home.

Design is what separates edible landscaping from traditional vegetable gardening. Whether ornamental or edible, de-

sign should be pleasing to the eye and draw one into the garden to experience it. Instead of rows of vegetables which

lead one away like a highway, the same space can be made very attractive (and edible) by incorporating basic landscap-

ing principles starting with a center of interest and then curving other plants around it—the same way one would plan an

ornamental garden. Add a few flowers, a trellis for beans/peas or cucumbers, an arbor for grapes, a bench, a bird bath,

a fruit or nut tree, garden ornaments and voila! It’s an ornamental edible landscape!

Planning an edible landscape incorporates the same design values of traditional landscapes. Carol Venolia writing for

Mother Earth Living, says start small, choose plants appropriate for your climate zone, and offers the following design

tips.

Create primary and secondary focal points. Use plantings and hardscaping (such as paths and patios) to define spaces

for various uses and experiences. Work consciously with color, texture and seasons of blooming and fruiting when

choosing your garden’s palette. Pay attention to how you lead the eye from one part of the garden to another.

Except for featured specimen plants, create groupings of plants to avoid a busy, random appearance. Explore the aes-

thetic potential of plants: Grow vines on arbors; create edible landscape walls with vines and shrubs; espalier fruit trees;

use containers as accents; grow decorative borders of edibles. Make plants do double duty by shading your house in

summer and admitting sunshine in winter, reducing your home’s energy use.

For inspiration, one need not look far. Seed Saver Exchange and the Winneshiek Medical Center have edible gardens

that are also pleasing to the eye and spirit.

Additional resources are available on the ISU Extension Answerline blog at

https://blogs.extension.iastate.edu/answerline.

Edible Landscaping – Landscaping with Taste

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Homemade Garden Marker Ideas Here's a DIY Garden Markers using canning lids and canning jar labels. This makes a nice eco-friendly craft if you reuse your old canning lids too. SUPPLIES

Canning lids (be eco-friendly & use old lids) Canning labels Permanent marker Coat hangers (or other strong wire)

1. HANDWRITE ON LABELS & APPLY TO LIDS I used a permanent marker on kraft canning labels. Just peel and stick the canning labels to your mason jar lids. 2. NAIL HOLES IN LIDS Put an old piece of wood onto your table to protect it. Gently tap a nail into the top of the can-ning lid to create a hole. The hold just needs to be large enough for the coat hanger wire to slide into. 3. CUT COAT HANGER WIRE Make 3 cuts to your coat hanger with a wire cutter. Cut the bottom once in the center of the hanger. Then cut each side of the hanger about an inch above where it starts to curve to create a hook. 4. BEND WIRE TO FORM HOOK Use needle-nose pliers to bend the end of the wire to form a hook. 5. HOOK LIDS ONTO WIRE Slide the decorated canning lids into the nail hole, and hang in your garden. NOTE: Since these are paper canning labels, they will wear off in the garden over time. You could add a sealant to help keep them more water resistant. You can reuse the lids year after year and apply new canning labels too. Just soak the old lids in water for a few minutes until saturated. Then the old paper label will slide right off the lids. Apply a new canning label, mark the hole, then hang in your garden. canningcrafts.com/blogs/news/114699846-diy-garden-markers-with-canning-lids

Wire cutters Needle nose pliers Hammer Nail Old piece of wood to nail lids on