straw bale gardening ~ wisconsin, sheboygan county

Summer 2013

Sheboygan County

Master Gardener

Cooperative ExtensionUniversity of Wisconsin-Extension Sheboygan County 5 University Drive, Sheboygan, WI 53081 (920) 459-5904

Inside this issue:

Up-Coming Events 2

The Wisconsin Gardener 2

Summer Garden Events 2

MGV Picnic Potluck 3

Amazing Race/Tour of Master Gardener Project

3

Yankee Gardens in Sheboygan Falls 3

Summerfield Trip 4

Sheboygan Area Garden Walk 4

Mid-Summer to Fall Vegetable Plantings

5

2013 Master Gardener Board 5

Straw Bale Gardening 6

Two Garden Jewels in Phoenix 7

2013 Projects & Chairs Listing 8

Greetings From Your President:

Its another cold and rainy day in late Mayjust like the cold and rainy days in early May and (pessimistically) probably those to come in early June. Its been a tough spring for gardeners and farmers; but I hope you have been finding some time to work in your gardens. Though I have been working hard in the gardens at Kohler Andrae State Parkweeding and edging and hauling mulch and rocks, I havent done much more than plant a few pan-sies, prune a few bushes and pull a few weeds in my own garden. Panic is beginning to set in as I worry that I wont have any tomatoes or peppers or shallots or beans from my own plot this summer. It makes me thankful for the excess energy I expended last November in spreading 60 bags of mulch on my beds. That was an unconventional task for late fall and all that mulch probably slightly delayed my gardens spring development; but it is a relief not to be hosting a pile of mulch in my drive-way. In addition to being tough to get into the garden the lower average of degree days has delayed the appearance and bloom times of many spring plants. This year, my daffodils bloomed a full month later than in 2012. Sherry Speth has been scouting the wetlands at Kohler Andrae State Park looking for purple loosestrife plants to harvest for beetle raising. Last year the beetles came so early that she missed them and this year the plants havent yet made an appearance. Jim Pecquex told me that the wet weather has been very good for the cedar apple rust on his junipers. I suspect that we gardeners and horticulture hotliners will be dealing with a lot of complaints about fungal diseases as we

Message From the President Sue Mathews

get into warmer weather. Drought last year. Too much rain this spring. Its always something! But we cope!

Sue Mathews

President, Master Gardener Volunteers Sheboygan County

Master Gardener VolunteersSummer 2013 Page 2 Master Gardener VolunteersSummer 2013

Master Gardener Volunteer Up-Coming Events

June 2013 June 25 (Tuesday) - The Amazing Race - 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm (See page 3) July 2013 July 25 (Thursday) - Sheboygan County MGV Picnic - 6 pm 9 pm in Sue Drolls garden Rain dateJuly 30 (Tuesday) (See page 3) August 2013 August 3 (Saturday) - Sheboygan County MGV Field Trip to Door County Gardens (See page 4) August 29 September 2 - Sheboygan County Fair Contact Sue Droll and volunteer to work at the MGV booth.

Summer Garden Events

Free Wednesdays 4 pm 8 pm June - August Green Bay Botanical Garden Every Wednesday 6:30 pm $30 June into September Boerner Botanical GardensMilwaukee Walking Garden Classes June 16 (Sunday) 10 am - 4 pm $10 Spring in Bloom Garden Tour at Afterglow FarmPort Washington Historical Society June 22 (Saturday) 3 pm 10 pm $100/$150 Juneapalooza Benefit for Meals on Wheels of Sheboygan County, Inc. at Christopher Gardens July 7 (Sunday) 9 am 4 pm Paine Art Center & GardensOshkosh Art Faire on the Green, Chihuli Venetians Exhibit, and a walk in the gardens July 9 11 (Tuesday Thursday) Wisconsin Farm Technology Days Breezy Hill DairyBarron County

July 13 (Saturday) 9:00 am 4:00 pm $10 Sheboygan Area Garden Walk July 13 (Saturday) Garden Walks in Manitowoc, Wauwatosa, Stevens Point, DeForest, Madison, Mukwonago, Wisconsin Rapids, Wild Rose, Green Bay and probably more. July 17 August 11 10 am 4 pm daily Ohlbrichs Blooming ButterfliesMadison Free-flying in the Bolz Conservatory August 16-17 WIMGA Annual Conference Janesville August 23 (Friday) Rock the Garden Fundraiser Bookworm Gardens September 15 Rotary Botanical GardensJanesville Auction of Sun Garden Artartists interpretations of sun sculptures on display in the gardens throughout the summer

Up-Coming Wisconsin Public

Television Programs

The Wisconsin Master Garden-ers Association is helping to un-derwrite The Wisconsin Gar-dener produced by Wisconsin Public Television.

Visit The Wisconsin Gardener Program Transcripts and Videos web page at http://www.wpt.org/gardener/series.cfm


MGV Picnic Potluck

Join us for the annual MGV potluck picnic on Thurs-day, July 25, 6 pm to 9 pm. The picnic will be held in Sue Drolls garden at W5616 Sumac Road, Plym-outh.

Brats, burgers, veggie burgers, beverages, and utensils will be provided.

Please bring a dish to pass and a lawn chair. RSVP to Tammy Zorn by July 19. If youd like a veggie burger, let Tammy know.

In case of rain, the event will be rescheduled for Tuesday, July 30.

The first MGV Amazing Race was held in 2011 and was a big hit; so we decided to do it again. This event gives Master Gardener Volunteers a chance to visit and learn more about some MGV projects.

The 2nd Amazing Race will be held on Tuesday, June 25, from 6:00 to ?:00. You will have the op-portunity to visit projects at: UW-Sheboygan Waelderhaus Sharon S. Richardson Community Hospice Kohler Andrae State Park

The Amazing Race will start at the MGV Office at UW-Sheboygan where racers can drop off appetiz-ers, pick up their passport and get directions to the

first site. The race will end back at UW-S in the Courtyard Garden where prizes will be awarded and refreshments will be served.

Following the pattern of the popular The Amazing Race television show, each site will have a chal-lenge for the racers to complete, for example identify a plant or find something in the garden. When you complete a challenge you will get a stamp on your passport, a prize ticket, and a map to the next site.

So put your racing shoes on, bring an appetizer to pass, and

Amazing Race/Tour of Master Gardener Projects

Sheboygan County Master Gardeners have re-ceived a request for help for the Yankee Garden in Sheboygan Falls. The Yankee Garden honors pio-neers from New England who settled near the falls of the Sheboygan River. It is a small shrubbery and perennial garden at the corner of Pine St and Gid-dings Ave (Hwy 32). Nobody seems to be taking care of it. It is weedy and overgrown and in need of some TLC and redesign work. The Chamber Main Street in Falls approached Falls resident (and new MGV) Jim Pecquex to see if Master Gardeners would be interested in taking on the project.

At this point we dont wish to commit to accept this garden as an official and ongoing MGV project; but Jim has offered to lead work on this project if he can find some other MGV volunteers to lend a hand. Jim is mainly a vegetable gardener and would like the input of some gardeners who have more experi-ence with this kind of garden. This would be a nice project for a few of our many Falls gardeners. And if there is enough interest this could become a perma-nent project.

If you would be interested in helping with this pro-ject, contact Jim (467-1509 or [email protected]).

Yankee Garden in Sheboygan Falls


Summer Field Trip to Door County

Plans are being finalized for the MGV Bus Trip which will be setting off for Door County on Satur-day, August 3. So pencil in that date on your calen-dar. Once details are complete a registration form will be emailed. But we do know what gardens we will be visiting. Home Garden of Dale and Joan Jeanquart. For a

sneak peak at their pot people, check out this article in Midwest Living .

Evergreen SchoolhouseGallery and Garden of

Karin Over-beck. Karin is a stained glass and mosaic artist and her garden fea-tures her work. For a preview, check out the Evergreen School-house website. Karins garden was also featured in the March/April 2013 issue of Wisconsin Gar-dening.

The Garden Door is a free public garden created and main-tained by the Door County Master Gar-dener Association in cooperation with the UW Peninsular Research Station. Check out their website and this article.

Harbor View Park in Egg Harbor will be the locale

for our picnic lunch. Final stop will be

the Flying Pig Gal-lery and Green-space in Algoma.

Plan to start early and get homewhenever.

Sheboygan Area Garden Walk

The 17th Annual Sheboygan Area Garden Walk will be held on Saturday, July 13 from 9 am to 4 pmcome rain or come shine. The admission fee is $10 with proceeds going to Bookworm Gardens and E.H. May Environmental Park Trust (Maywood).

Included on the tour are five gardens

Bachelors Garden902 Mulberry Lane, Kohler Lilies of the Alley320 Lincoln Ave, Sheboygan Domaine du May2026 N 9th St, Sheboygan

Labor of Love GardensW4505 Stonefield Circle, Sheboygan

10 Gardens of the John Michael Kohler Art Cen-

ter608 New York Ave, Sheboygan

Master Gardener VolunteersSummer 2013

We all try to get the most from our vegetable gar-dens by planting crops in succession. When one crop is harvested, another can be planted in its place. On a recent visit to Jungs Garden Center in Sun Prairie I picked up an information sheet on when to plant various vegetable crops for fall har-vestSue Mathews Crop Comments Bush Beans Plant up to 7-8 weeks before

first frost. Plant seed deeper, 2, to protect from sun.

Beets Plant mid-July to late summer.

Can withstand early fall frosts. Broccoli Sow seeds in late June or ear-

ly July for transplanting in mid-August. Frost improves flavor.

Brussel Sprouts Start seedlings in early June

to transplant in mid-July. Frost improves flavor.

Chinese Cabbage Plant mid-July to mid-August

or 3 months before first frost. Cauliflower Start seeds in mid-June for

transplanting in late July. Chard Plant in late July for greens

well into October. Collards/Kale Plant in early July for greens

well into October. Cucumbers Allow 2 months from seed to

first frost. Sow in early July. Endive/Escarole Sow seeds up to 3 months

before first frost.

Kohlrabi Sow seeds up until end of Ju-

ly. Lettuce Plant seeds up through late

August. Give more shade than earlier plantings to pre-vent bolting.

Onions Seed for bunching onions can

be sown around July. Peas Sow seeds for pea pods and

shelling peas in early August. Select heat resistant varieties like Wando.

Radishes Sow seeds up to one month

before first frost. Needs plen-ty of water to prevent bolting.

Rutabaga/Turnip Best planted in early to mid-

July. Harvest after one or two frosts.

Median dates for first frost in Eastern Sheboygan County October 18-24 Central Sheboygan County October 11-17 Western Sheboygan County October 4-10 Check out this website for other Sheboygan climate data

Mid-Summer to Fall Vegetable Plantings

2013 Officers, Board Members and WIMGA Representative

President: Sue Mathews Vice-President: Jim Burkard Secretary: Lori Walker Treasurer: Debbie Ott

Board Members: Terry Hartle-Felder, Kristi Richer-son, Sherry Speth WIMGA Representative: RoseMarie Hassman


Straw Bale Gardening From Sherry Speth

A few weeks ago I was listening to Larry Meillers Garden Talk radio program featuring Joel Karsten, author of Straw Bale Gardens. Joel was a very inter-esting speaker and, though it sounded like one of those gardening technique fads, I became interest-ed in his message. My ears picked-up when the author mentioned that straw bales are great for rais-ing potatoes. I love fresh dug potatoes from the gar-den, which are hard to grow in our heavy clay soil. He also stated that straw bale gardens can be used to grow sweet potatoes and peanuts, which are hard to grow in Wisconsins relatively short growing sea-son. At Bookworm Gardens, we have many kinds of gar-dens based on a variety of books. One garden we hoped to expand on was the garden based on a book about George Washington Carver, which con-sisted of a plant stand in the greenhouse. Dr. Carver was instrumental in developing ways to en-rich the soil using crop rotation and planting a varie-ty of foods such as sweet potatoes, peanuts and soybeans. Adding peanuts and sweet potatoes to our garden would really add to the telling of the book. After listening to Larrys program, I bought Joel Karstens book. The book was very informative and easy to read with lots of photos. Kaurie Mihm, Bookworms Garden Manager, and I have used his information to establish a straw bale garden. I have raised sweet potatoes some years ago with limited success - very small yield. We are hoping for better results with straw bale gardening. Joel stated that straw bale gardening can be used for most garden crops. This gardening technique

sounded perfect or, at least, easy. It sounded so good, Kaurie de-cided to do her whole garden this year in straw bales.

Kaurie has planted 20 bales at her house, and I have planted 6. Now, how this works isyou place your straw bales on landscape fabric or a weed barrier of some kind in full sun with the twine on the sides of the bales. For the first 2-weeks, the bales should be condi-tioned by adding fertilizer and watering using a schedule the author has developed. The condition-ing starts composting the bales and thereby gener-ating heat. The heat helps the plants to grow faster. At the end of two weeks, the bales can be planted. If seeds are used, a thin layer of top soil should be added to the top surface of the bale as a seed medi-um. The bales will decompose during the summer, so some support using posts or wire may be useful to hold the bales together. Stringing wire between the supports will also give support to tall plants like tomatoes. Straw bale gardening appears to be ideal for pota-toes. In addition to the looser growing environment (as compared to clay), planting the potato at the bot-tom of the bale forces the stem to grow through the bale allowing for more tuber production. It also al-lows for an easier, cleaner harvest. Stay tuned, we will let you know our outcomes.


Two Garden Jewels in Phoenix By Sherry Speth

This spring we visited Phoenix on our way to the Grand Can-yon. During the spring, we love to stop in Phoe-nix to soak up some heat and visit the Desert Botanic Garden, which is located in Papago Park. We have been there many times. The desert in spring-time is beautiful and never fails to delight us. This year, there was color everywhere. The prickly pear cacti were in full bloom along with desert wild flowers and pollinator gardens. This garden was teaming with bees and other pollinators including hummingbirds. Recently, the garden opened a fab-ulous restaurant, which we found a perfect place to get the travel kinks out and enjoy lunch outside in a gorgeous outdoor setting. Each year, the garden features at least one artist with pieces located throughout the garden. We have been there when a Chihuly was featured. A marvelous Chihuly glass sculpture has been re-tained at the garden entrance. It is amazing to see what Chihuly does with glass. This year, the garden featured an artist with very modernistic pieces and a second installation of four gigantic heads each made of botanic elements and made to represent each of the four seasons. They were fabulous. The next day we tried to find the Japanese Friendship Garden, which is also located in Phoenix. Judy Salzwedel had visited this garden previous-ly and recommended it. As you may have guessed, we never miss an opportunity to see an authentic Japanese garden. Judy told us that the garden was part of the Margaret T. Hance Park, which straddles Interstate Highway 10. After driving around the area a number of times and not finding it, we parked the car and walked through the Margaret T. Hance park. We finally found the friendship gar-

den tucked away from the cares of everyday life obviously on the opposite end from where we had parked the car. The Phoenix Friendship Garden is built on the top of the I-10 freeway tunnel in the middle of Phoenix. It is a stroll garden complete with a stream, Koi pond and a 12-foot waterfall. A teahouse and tea garden complete the walk. The garden is a collabo-ration between Phoenix and its sister city of Himeji , Japan. The garden is called Ro Ho En, which roughly translates to Heron, Phoenix Garden . Ro Ho En is a combination of three Japanese words. Ro means Heron, a bird symbol of Himeji City. Ho is the Japanese word for the Phoenix bird. En means garden. Ro Ho En, therefore, is a name symbolizing the friendship between the two cities represented in this garden. Over 60 trips were made by artisans from Japan to Phoenix to build the garden, which includes 1500 hand- picked rocks and 50 varieties of plants including a number of kinds of bamboo. The entrance fee is $5.00, which is worth it because it comes with a colored map labeling trees and ground covers on one side and the bushes and bamboo the other. It is interesting to look at the kinds of plants they chose that can stand up to the heat and dry conditions of Arizona and yet fulfill the idea of a Jap-anese garden. The Phoenix Friendship Garden is open from October 1 to May 31st, when it gets too hot for even a stroll garden. If you ever get to Phoe-nix make sure you stop in at this oasis in the desert. Hint: park on the east side of the Margaret T. Hance park.

Master Gardener VolunteersSummer 2013 Page 8

October 11th Memorial and Dutch Settlement Historical Marker

Lori Walker 668-6859 [email protected]

Plank Road Trail Trailhead Maintenance Erie AvenueRhonda Barts 395-2225 [email protected] Sheboygan Falls GreenbushDiane Lueke 526-2309 [email protected] PlymouthHwy 57Kendra Ford 528-7060 [email protected]

Plymouth Arts Center Pamela Hailer 892-8390 [email protected]

Plymouth Mill Street Railroad Overpass Terry Hartle-Feldner

892-4026 [email protected]

Purple Loosestrife / Invasive Species Control Sherry Speth 467-2002 [email protected]

Sensory/Peace Gardens Barb Pence 459-7962

Sharon S. Richardson Community Hospice Ruth Davis 912-8917 [email protected]

Sheboygan County Administration Building Lori Walker 668-6859 [email protected]

Sheboygan County Fair Sue Droll Sherry Speth 946-3064 467-2002 [email protected] [email protected]

Speakers Bureau Lori Walker


UW-Sheboygan Campus Landscaping Jim Burkard Sherry Speth 458-8891 467-2002 [email protected] [email protected]

Annual Business Meeting Kristi Richerson 912-7793 [email protected]

Bookworm Garden Sandy Livermore Sherry Speth

452-1775 467-2002 [email protected] [email protected]

Education & Program Committee Sue Mathews 458-1848 [email protected] Garden Walk Doris Weber Mary Rhines 467-3266 208-7532 [email protected] [email protected]

Nancy Guse 892-2011 [email protected]

GenerationsPlymouth Sue Droll

946-3064 [email protected] Horticultural Hotline

Pat Juers Kristi Richerson 458-1523 912-7793 [email protected] [email protected]

Horticulture Referrals at Work or Home RoseMarie Hassman Mary Rhines

452-3064 208-7532 [email protected] [email protected]

Kohler Andre State Park Sue Mathews


Kohler Foundation/Waelderhaus Herb Garden Karel Gulig Carl Faas 452-0116 452-3428 [email protected] [email protected]

Marsh Park Tower Project Nancy Themar 894-3660 [email protected] Master Gardener Newsletter Sue Mathews 458-1848 [email protected]

Mentor Committee Judy Prange 894-7567 [email protected]

2013 Projects & Co-Chairs

straw bale gardening ~ wisconsin, sheboygan county

Documents

sheboygan area garden

extension sheboygan

sheboygan county mgv

master gardener board

wisconsin gardener

garden jewels

door county gardens

spring plants