the garden news...the garden news september & october 2013 in cooperation with clark county and...
TRANSCRIPT
The Garden News September & October 2013
In cooperation with Clark County and Washington State University, the Master Gardener Foundation of Clark County is
dedicated to promoting research-based horticultural practices at the 78th Street Heritage Farm and other venues across
Clark County through education, consultative programs and experiences which preserve or enhance our environment.
Inside: ♣ MGFCC Board
members and President’s
Letter, page 2
♣ Erika’s Corner, page 3
♣ Training classes, page 4
♣ Recipes for the Garden,
page 5
♣ Floral Fair, pages 1, 5, 6
♣ Foundation Meetings &
Speakers information,
pages 7 & 8
♣ Hazel Dell Garden
report, page 8
♣ Wanda’s Garden report
page 9
♣ Book reviews, page 9
♣ Native Notes, page 10
♣ Photo Finish, page 10
Harvest Fun Days
Saturday, September 28th from 10 AM to 3 PM
at the 78th Street Heritage Farm.
The Master Gardener Foundation will have fall vegetable starts
and potted perennial plants for sale .
Letter of Thanks: Thank you for volunteer-
ing in the Master Gar-
dener’s area at Clark County Fair. I know Sue
and Art are very glad
you were there to help.
85 people filled 148
spots with only 2 open-
ings unfilled. Best ever
in the 3 years I have been doing the sign-ups.
So give yourself a well
deserved pat on the back. Hopefully, we can
continue with this great
record next year and maybe even surpass it by
filling every spot. Again,
thank you for your sup-
port and I hope you en-joyed your experience.
From Sandy Burckhard Susan and Art Feigion in their 26th year as Volun-
teers at the Clark County Fair! Sue completed her
Master Gardener training in the Class of 1996. Sue
was an assistant floral director under Aleta Porter;
both veterans of the old Floral Building. Art has
developed computer documentation records for the
floral awards and the cash awards given. He is an
expert judge in the cooking areas for 4-H.
Clark County Fair
Master Gardener Exhibit The crimson and white ribbon
hangs proudly next to one from
some years ago – “Best Educa-
tional Exhibit - Clark County
Fair - Vancouver Washington”
it says in gold lettering; the
planning team’s reward for
many an hour’s hard work de-
signing and assembling the
Master Gardener exhibit this
year.
The team included Carolyn
Gordon, Ginny Dimick, DJ
Miles, Joy Olsen, Barbara
Nordstrom, Michele Huffman,
Roberta Doster, Art and Sue
Feigion, Erika Johnson and
Bekah Marten. They wasted no
time in coming up with two
great themes:
Edible Landscape and Beneficial Bugs; team members got busy right away plan-
ning a large home landscape display, complete with a metal arbor, painted land-
scape backdrop, lawn lined with rocks and filled with attractive and edible plants.
The plants served to hold Ag Bites – fun facts about agriculture, along with the
name of the plant. The stroll through this landscape ended with a continuously
looping slide show illustrating examples of how to incorporate edibles into one’s
landscape and images of beneficial and pest insects. And for the kids – several
educational activities centered on bugs – crafts projects including a butterfly plant
container clip and honey bee storybook, as well as a Pest or Pollinator Concentra-
tion game and a bean bag toss where good bugs got thrown into the garden and
bad bugs got tossed into the “bad bug bucket”. Continues on page 5
2
Foundation Office Location
78th Street Heritage Farm
1919 NE 78th Street
Vancouver WA 98665
360-397-6060 ext. 5706 [email protected]
Web Page:
http://www.mgfcc.com
President: Peg Schauer
Vice President: Marie Ogier
Secretary: Fran Hammond
Treasurer: Joseph Ziemba
Directors:
Nancy Funk
Burke Harris
Sharon Kitashima
Dean Sutera
Willy Wyffels
Executive Administrator:
Judy Chamberlain
News from the Master Gardener Foundation Board
Photo left:
Our President, Peg
Schauer, left with the
sun glasses, board
member Nancy Funk
and vice president
Marie Ogier, give their
time to summer garden
tours.
Our president, Peg Schauer has been so busy seeing Prague and eastern
Europe this summer she almost forgot to come home. We have all been
busy with our gardens and Peg sends word that she is thankful of every-
one’s help at the 78th Street Heritage Garden and so many more Foun-
dation events and responsibilities.
She writes: “Marie has done a fine job of handling the Presidential
gavel in my vacation and now this hospitalization. Things are progress-
ing. Now that you mention it, Sept. is the month I should be able to get
out of here after dropping a bunch of dead leaves and showing some
new color like the vine and Japanese maples will. It is likely I will have
to stay out of the dirt for a while, but I am sure looking forward to
watching the fall garden in all it's colorful glory. No reason not to ex-
pect a full recovery. Life is good and I am discovering I can be a pretty
tough cookie. Feel free to use this as my letter to the troops in my Mas-
ter Gardener Foundation Battalion.”
From Peg and to Peg, “Onward to Battle”
First Time Rewards at the Fair!
Stephania Potter writes about her Fair experience: This is the very
first time I have ever entered anything in the fair. I got blue ribbons in
all my fruit and vegetable entries.
And I got 1st. 2nd, 3rd ribbons for
my flowers (I just went out and
gathered a few, not knowing what
I was doing exactly).
Enclosed is my photo of the con-
cord seedless variety of grape
called "Tomcord". I have 9 varie-
ties of seedless grapes that I pur-
chased from Broadacres Nursery
in Aurora, Oregon, when we went
there on our Master Gardener On
the Road Tour a couple of years
ago. Judges Choice Ribbon ►►
3
WSU Extension programs and employment are available to all without discrimination.
Evidence of noncompliance may be reported through your
local WSU Extension office.
Coordinator's Corner
News from Erika
WSU Extension
Clark County
Master Gardener
Program
The Heritage Farm
1919 NE 78th St. PHONE:
360-397-6060
FAX:
360-397-6122
PROGRAM CONTACTS
The Answer Clinic
mganswer-
360-397-6060 Ext. 5711
MG Program
Coordinator
Erika Johnson
360-397-6060 Ext. 5738
Dr. Charles Brun
Educational Advisor
360-397-6060 Ext. 5701
On-the-Road Events
Cathy Green
On the Road Tours for September & October
September 4, Wednesday, Fall Training for Master Gardeners Begins
September 21, Saturday, 15th Annual Farms Tour, 10 AM to 3 PM
September 27, Saturday, Harvest Fun Days, 78th Street Heritage Farm, 10
AM to 3 PM, MGF Plant Sale, with many fun events for the whole Family.
October 15: Deadline to submit articles for the Nov.-December Newsletter.
Heather Lund
Newsletter Editor
Publication on Alternate Months
Deadline the 15th of the
month before publication.
Is it fall already?! Although summer's definitely got its
moments, fall is actually my favorite season. I love the
dip in temperature and softening of light, along with
faded memories of "back to school." While I'm long out
of school, fall does still signal a back to learning – in
the form of annual Master Gardener training! The class
is full again this year and starts Sept. 4 at the American
Legion. Many of the same presenters are back, but there
will be some new additions to the class in the form of
hands-on trainings/activities. Two of them will be held
at the farm, one where trainees will rotate through four
stations learning the basics of vegetable gardening, and the other at the site’s
permaculture forest, where we’ll tour and toil in this natural food forest.
Two events will occur at our favorite demo gardens – the Wildlife Botanical
Garden at CASSE and the Natural Garden Demo Site at Pacific Park; both
will include scavenger hunts designed to engage trainees in plant ID and criti-
cal observation of the plants at each location. There are two more On the
Road Tours - in September and October – featuring some of your fellow
Master Gardeners’ landscapes, as well as two more workshops - Composting
and Putting the Garden to Bed, at the downtown library. I am looking forward
to attending this year’s annual Washing-
ton State Master Gardener Conference in
Everett, WA – my first. Thanks to every-
one who participated in summer pro-
gramming with Master Gardeners – fair,
farmer’s markets, events, tours, trainings,
and more – together we have accom-
plished much!
Many Thanks, Erika
Help Needed for writing plant and gardening articles for the November-
December newsletter. Items of interest are related to winter gardening tasks,
especially putting your garden tools to rest. Please consider writing an article,
which does not have to be long, really, less than one page!
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Wk # Date Time Topic Presenter
1 Sept. 4 12:45 to 2:00 Botany for MGs Charles Brun
2:15 to 3:00 Natural Gardening Max Sydow
2 Sept. 11 9:00 to 10:45 Vegetables in Western WA Karen Palmer
11:20 to 11:45 IPM Erika Johnson
3 Sept. 18 9:00 to 11:30 Plant Pathology Charles Brun
12:30 to 1:00 Plant Pathology continued Charles Brun
4 Sept. 25 9:00 to 10:30 Tree fruits Western WA Charles Brun
10:45 to 11:45 Tree fruit problems Charles Brun
5 Oct. 2 9:00 to 11:45 Weed management Chip Bubl
12:30 to 2:30 Pesticide saftety Chip Bubl
6 Oct. 9 9:00 to noon Soils Craig Cogger
7 Oct. 16 9 to 10:30 Ornamental plant problems Charles Brun
10:45 to 11:45 Permaculture Joseph Leyda
8 Oct.23 9am to 10:30 Compost Jo Ann Dolan
9 Oct. 30 9am to 11:45 Entomology Todd Murray
12:30 to 1:15 Answering questions in the AC Charles Brun
1:15 to 3:00 Water management in the home garden (not confirmed) Jen Naas
10 Nov. 6 9:00 to 10:30 Turf Erika Hohman
12:15 to 1:15 Native Plants Erika Johnson
11 Nov. 13 10:30 to 11:45 Urban Forestry Jessica Antoine
Master Gardener fall training schedule (subject to change; contact 397-6060 x 5738 for confirmation of topics)
Veterans are welcome to attend. Seating is limited. Please sit along the edges of the
room, allowing the tables for current students. Thanks!
On Solid Ground, WSU Agricultural and Natural
Resource Science Email newsletter. "Rachel Webber, editor, WSU's On Solid Ground"
If you have not signed up for this email newsletter, now is a
good time to get this interesting information. The last
E-newsletter had a very interesting article on yellow jack-
etes, wasps and hornets. This is a difficult time of the year
for them, as they sense they are at their life’s end. Killing
one will attract the attention of others so stay clear, especially to those ground dwellers.
5
Recipes from the Garden to the Kitchen Original ideas unfold in my quest for things to do with apples
and other garden fruits and vegetables; they come from various
sources. This is an adaptation from The Ball Blue Book guide
to preserving.
Curried Apple Chutney
2 quarts of cored, peeled & chopped apples. 16 to 20 ripe
yellow delicious variety for sweetness.
2 pounds of raisins 1 cup chopped yellow onion
1 cup chopped sweet red pepper 3 cloves garlic
4 cups of white vinegar 1 teas. cayenne pepper
3 T mustard seed, 3 T fresh graded ginger, 2 teas. Allspice
2 teas. Sea salt, 2 or 3 teas. yellow curry powder.
Many chutney recipes call for brown sugar. I leave it out because the apples and raisins make this a sweet chutney
with just the right tartness. The original recipe suggested 4 cups of brown sugar!
Combine all the ingredients in a large pot. Simmer slowly until thick, stirring to keep the apples from sticking to
the bottom of the saucepan. Ladle hot chutney into hot canning jars (pint size or less) leaving 1/4 inch air space then
remove the air bubbles with a spatula. Cap with 2 piece lids and follow the hot water bath method in a boiling water
canner for a minimum of 10 minutes. I think it tastes best when aged for a time in the jar. Makes 7 to 9 pints. We
enjoy this chutney with pork loin. For vegetarians, the chutney is excellent on winter squash.
Submitted by Heather Lund
A praying mantis egg case could not have had better timing exploding with dozens of tiny manti on
the opening day of the fair! A new component was added this year – a garden educator’s poster contest.
Area parents, teachers, students, gardeners, etc. were encouraged to document a kids’ educational garden
activity through creation of a poster and submit it for judging. Five entrees were received on topics ranging
from bees, worms and lettuce-tasting, with prizes awarded for first, second, and third place. This team has
set the bar high and they are
no doubt thinking about how
to hold it there. Consider
joining next year and bring-
ing your creativity to life at
the fair!
Poster Photo Left:
WSU Food $ense Coordina-
tor, Jodee Nickel, won the
first place award in the Gar-
den Educators’ Exhibit for
her lesson on
Plant Parts We Eat.
This is the first year for the
Garden Educators' Exhibit.
Each entrant received copies
of the other entrants' lesson
plans and fair goers got ideas
for working with children in
the garden and helping chil-
dren learn about healthy
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MG Exhibit at Clark County Fair wins opening day Education Award!
foods. We hope that this will inspire others to engage children in gardening. We had six entries, Lett*uce
Eat, Worms, Parts of Plants We Eat, What Can I Eat with this Beak, Bees, and Zucchini Pancakes. The first
prize went to WSU Food $ense coordinator, Jodee Nickel.
Of course, the floral show was a big success with beautiful and interesting entries under the conscientious
direction of Susan and Art Feigion. Thank you to
Susan and Art and all the Master Gardeners who en-
tered.Our Fair exhibit was featured on Garden Time
TV. To see the segment go to
http://www.gardentime.tv/archive.htm, episode 292,
August 3, 2013. YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/embed/5xKZVgWQ-K4. Photo left:
William McClenathan of Garden Time TV, interviews
Barbara Nordstrom about the MG children’s activities
and the Garden Educators’ Exhibit at the Clark County
Fair. See Garden Educators’ Exhibit posters in the
background.
Many peopled entered floral designs and various horticultural specimens at the Fair. Each year is an interesting challenge in the garden as to what will be the best pieces to cut and enter in the
fair. Last summer the dahlias and sunflowers were late in blooming, so we did not have as many entries.
This year the dahlias were excellent and we had many fine entries. So, much
of the effort is preparing the entries and doing the documentation paper work
for each entry. Thank you to the volunteers who helped on the entry days for
both shows.
First Show Awards that went to Clark County Master Gardeners:
<<Pictured left:
Sharon Kitashima: Best of Class in Annuals/Perennials with Eryngium 'Jade
Frost' and Best of Class in Vines with Clematis 'Tritennata Rubromarginata'
DJ Miles: Best of Class in Container Gardening with a hypertufa planter with
Agave ‘J.C. Raulston’ and Best of Class in Ornamental Grass, Chloris, com-
mon name Windmill Grass. It is not hardy
here and has to be overwintered inside or a
greenhouse. Also, Best of Class in Horticul-
tural Collection for a selection of conifers.
Joy Olsen: the Superintendents Award for a
white Rose of Sharon in the Shrubs & Trees
Class.
Second Show Awards that went to Clark County Master Gardeners:
Ruth Clark: Best of Class in Ornamental Grass with
Miscanthus sinensis 'Malepartus' DJ Miles: Best of Class in Container
Gardening with a unique container of succulents which hangs vertically.
Heather Lund: Best of Class in Annuals/Perennials for a large Hosta leaf,
Karen Palmer: Best of Class in Horticultural Collection with a selection of
five crabapple branches, 'Sugar Tyme', 'Purple Prince', 'Golden Raindrops',
'Indian Magic', 'Zumi' and then took Best of Show for Horticulture with this
collection. (more photos on the photo finish page) Pictured right ►►
7
Master Gardener Foundation of Clark County educational meetings are held the first Tuesday of the
month except for July, August, and January. The meetings are held at CASEE Center, Bldg B, Room
202/205, 11104 NE 149th Street, Brush Prairie, WA 98606 Refreshments, Meeting at 7 PM.
September 3rd Speaker: Nancy Chennault
Topic: New Plant introductions for 2014
Bio: Co-owner of “The Plant Station LLC”
with divisions, “My Front Porch” for custom
containers for residences and businesses and
“The Gardens @ Sandy Bend” for trial and
evaluation gardens of new introductions of
all types of plants. Owner of “NgC Flora
Support” which is a consultant for green-
house growers and retail garden cen-
ters...sales, marketing and production.
Nancy has worked in Horticulture since
1974 and owned a retail nursery, garden cen-
ter with greenhouses producing annuals and
vegetables for 20 years. She has sold young plants for a regional plant broker for 10 years and has been tri-
aling and evaluating plants in garden settings for 12 years.
In her spare time, Nancy is a garden writer for the Columbia River Reader, a regional monthly newspaper
and the Volunteer Coordinator of Castle Rock America In Bloom program. Nancy has been a WSU Master
Gardener since 1981 and teaches classes on hobby greenhouses, annuals, perennials, roses and fruit trees
since 1985.
October 1st Speaker: Samantha Hatch aka “Sam the Maple Lady”
Topic: Special care and pruning for Japanese Maples. The presentation will
include fertilizer needs, soil types, water usage, special needs for specific
USDA zones. Plus a discussion of 100 or more maple cultivars that are not usu-
ally found at local nurseries and garden centers.
Bio: Sam and her husband own and operate Eastfork Nursery. She has been
growing Japanese Maples since 1984 which also was the year she bought her
first greenhouse, a 20’ x 50’ Quonset covered in double poly with an inflator fan. Since 1985 she has added
two more greenhouses and a shade area.
In 1987, Sam joined the Specialty Nursery Association of Clark County
(SNACC) and began to participate in their annual plant sales. Working fulltime
for Clark County government she spent her non-work passion time with her ma-
ples. Sam retired in 2006 and began conducting nursery business fulltime which
included developing her website and selling maples on the internet. There are no
employees at Eastfork Nursery, Sam takes care of the maples and her husband
Dave takes care of the maintenance. She grows over 3,000 maples with 100 or
more different cultivars. The nursery is open by appointment only which allows
for some private time. Continued on page 8
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Master Gardener Foundation of Clark County educational meetings...
November 5th Speaker: Heather Havens from Concentrates, Inc.
Topic: Natural Fertilization and Soil Management
Bio: Heather Havens has a B.S. in Agriculture from OSU and she is the General
Manage and a shareholder of Concentrates, Inc. in Milwaukie, OR. Heather has
been helping Pacific Northwest farmers and gardeners with organic and natural
soil, garden and farm management for over 20 years. She enjoys making natural
and organic soil management practices easy to understand and implement.
Products that Heather recommends can be found at Concentrates, Inc., 5505 SE
Mallard Way, Milwaukie, OR 97222, 503-234-7501, www.concentratesnw.com.
Concentrates’ products can also be found at your local farm and garden store.
December 3rd Speaker: Dr. Judith Harpel
Topic: Bryophytes (Mosses, Hornworts and Liverworts) of Yellowstone National Park
The presentation will provide an overview on what are bryophytes
and how they relate to the vegetation types within Yellowstone Park.
The discussion will also include some of the rare species that occur in
the park.
Bio: Dr. Judith Harpel is the Curator of Bryophytes and an Adjunct
Professor at the University of British Columbia and has been working
with bryophytes for over 30 years. She has done field work in Alaska,
Canada, Eastern United States, the Russian Far East and the Pacific
Northwest. Currently she has been working on the Yellowstone bryophyte flora for the last nine years.
Summer at the Hazel Dell School and Community Garden
Topics at this summer’s program at the Hazel Dell School Garden included water pollution with a visit from the
WSU Watershed Stewards, birds and pesticides with the Autobahn Society, Bees and Wasps, Worms, Seeds, and
Plant Parts We Eat. The sessions with the Boys and Girls Club children were led by WSU Master Gardeners Barbara
Nordstrom and Bobbi Bellomy with assistance from WSU Growing Groceries Mentor Suzy Taylor, & WSU Master
Gardeners Penny Matkins and Laura Heldreth. Garden tasks included weeding (of course), planting, pruning, dead-
heading, spreading bark, harvesting, and (did I mention?) weeding. Each session included a story, journal page/
reflection, and a healthy snack. Thank you to the Master Gardener
Foundation for supporting the HD School Garden and to WSU
Food $ense for providing the healthy snacks.
Quotes from children’s journal page: On Seeds: You can get
seeds from some plants like beans, peas and strawberries and also
you can get seeds from farmers and you can get them from your
own garden. On Worms: They help our plants grow well. They
make clay into soil by eating it and wiggling through it. Worms
help make comport and compost helps plants. Yay worms!
Photo right: Boys & Girls Club members, Isaac, Ethan, Sicily,
and Amber assist WSU Growing Groceries mentor Suzy Taylor
harvest potatoes at the Hazel Dell School and Community Gar-
den. “Digging potatoes is like digging for buried treasure!”
9
Rainy Day Gardener’s Book Review submitted by Elizabeth Ladd
Botany for Gardeners by Brian Capon
I found this book much easier to follow than most botany texts. The information is pre-
sented so that the reasons for plant structures are explained. Many real full color photos
are included which I found easier to use than black and white line drawings. Especially
interesting are electron microscope photos of plant structures – graphic and artful. I know
the information is not necessary for the average gardener, but I thought it was fun and use-
ful to try to understand why plants grow (or fail to grow).
This book is available online and in bookstores, and is locally published by Timber Press.
The Third Garden Year at the
VHUMC Community Garden Submitted by Wanda Wilson as her report for 2013 on
the Vancouver Heights United Methodist Church’s,
Minnie Stromgren Memorial Garden .
Hear, Hear, the third garden year.
Workers came from far and near.
They raked and hoed from dawn to dusk,
And weeded and watered al long as they must.
Their veggies grew
And troubles were few.
Until...the pressure dropped,
The playground flooded and the water stopped!
The temperature soared.
The gardens roared.
What shall we do? What shall we do?
We’ll call Mike!
He’ll make it right.
Mike dug and delved ‘til way past twelve.
Oh dear, oh dear! What shall I do?
I know! I’ll call Rick.
He’ll do the trick!
He came with his front load machine.
He dug and dug with that machine so keen.
Until there it was! Not a slab, a blob!
Too big to lift, it was nudged and pushed
to the gardens so lush.
So there it sits,
Giving us fits.
About a yard of cement with that water pipe embedded.
Until someone thinks
What to do? What to DO?
The irrigation system was repaired and
All is well. Many thanks, Foundation,
For all you do! And to all the people who fix our
problems!
PS Then appeared at least two truck loads of
chips of questionable quality, unannounced, too
many, in the wrong place—what to do—who to
call?
Please remember to post all of
your Volunteer hours to the end of
October! This data is very impor-
tant for our funding from WSU.
You have earned the credit for
your valuable time!
10
In cooperation with Clark County and Washington State University, the Master Gardener Foundation of Clark County is
dedicated to promoting research-based horticultural practices at the 78th St. Heritage Farm and other venues across
Clark County through education, consultative programs and experiences which preserve or enhance our environment.
Native Notes from Elizabeth Ladd
Plant: Aquilegia formosa or Western Columbine
Growth: Flowering perennial – low growing to 2 feet
Water needs: likes regular water, but will survive some
dryness
Light needs: Requires sun to part shade
Columbines are adaptable from a sunny spot to dappled
shade. It is a great naturescaping plant for butterflies and
hummingbirds. Its appearance is delicate and it mixes
well with ferns, trillium, heuchera and thalictrum. There
are many colors available in hybrid plants, but the native is red with yellow accents. Once you plant one in
a happy place, it will self-seed. Sometimes columbines are available from the Master Gardener green-
houses and local nurseries.
Photo Finish with more Fair shots
Photo Right: In the second show, Ruth Clark: Best of Class for
Ornamental Grass with Miscanthus sinensis 'Malepartus' ►►
Editor’s Note: Thank you to those who sent me information about the
Fair events and winners; DJ Miles, Karen Palmer, Barbara Nordstrom,
and Erika Johnson. Barbara and DJ Miles also sent photographs.
Center photo: DJ Miles: Best
of Class for Container Garden-
ing with a hypertufa planter
with Agaves and Best of Class
for Ornamental Grass with
Windmill Grass and Best of
Class for Horticultural Collec-
tion for a selection of conifers
Photo Left: MG Exhibit at Clark County Fair wins opening
day Education Award! The completely restructured MG
exhibit at the Clark County Fair was a winner. The display on
edibles in the garden let fair goers know that veggies can be a
beautiful addition to their landscape.