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Volume 26 Issue 5 may 2020

The Tollgate Farm News

Greeting To All

Tollgate Garden Volunteers!

I hope this issue finds you well and safe. I

think I speak for us all when I say we miss our time at Tollgate. You will all be kept informed of any changes in the access to

the site for gardening and any restrictions involved. We will need all of your help

when the time comes to return and reclaim our gardens from the weeds!

What a whiplash

weather month May has been so far. From 70’s and

shorts to winter coats and snow. It

never is a dull moment with Michigan weather.

I am enjoying my daily walks and

seeing all the neighbor’s gar-dens on blocks

other than my own that I don’t usually see. I have seen a few shrubs of interest:

Japanese pieris, a broadleaf evergreen shrub with drooping clusters of lily of the

valley like white flowers rated zone 5-8. This specimen has been in bloom for over a month.

Mahonia or creeping Oregon grape is also zone 5-8 and a broadleaf evergreen shrub

with ball-like clusters of yellow flowers.

The usual springtime beauties have been out in full color as well, the phlox and

crabapple trees, quince and azalea. I have sent some pictures to share with you in this issue.

Enjoy your walks, your gardens and your families.

Thanks for being a Tollgate Garden volun-

teer.

Renee Cottrell, President

Pictures by Renee Cottrell

Notes from the President Renee Cottrell

Spring is sooner recognized by plants than by man.

-Chinese proverb

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Greetings all,

What a strange time that we are all living through. I miss our garden workdays. I miss seeing everyone on the property. I miss working in the gardens myself. With most of the Tollgate staff working from home, there is lots to do around the farm. Animal care and basic grounds and building maintenance take up most of my time these days. I also con-centrate on ways to economize. Many businesses and organiza-tions are facing a cash flow issue, and MSU is no exception. With-out summer camp and with other revenue generating activities on hold, a prime focus now is to save where we can. It is pretty quiet around the farm these days. With no field trips or sum-mer camp preparation, the atmosphere is surre-al. I am sure that we will get back to “normal” at some time, I just wish I had an idea as to when that will be. Strange times.

It may just be my imagination, but the lack of people activity seems to have made the wildlife much bolder. Lots of deer in the back fields, that really don’t move away until you get pretty close. I see turkeys around every day and lots of bird life by the pond. One day there were three ospreys trying their hand at fishing! It has been fun to watch hawklets developing in their nest out back. Mom and dad are always around and ever watchful. The kids are downy and look

like they are large enough to start producing their adult feathers. With the site closed until September 1, it will be interesting to see how the wild critters respond.

I hope that you are all well. I look forward to seeing you all on the farm again,

Roy

Tollgate’s Ornamental Cherry Orchard

Gorgeous!

A little over two years ago, MSUE, Oakland County, the State of Michigan and the City of Novi worked together to establish an ornamen-tal cherry orchard in the arboretum composed of Japanese cherry varieties. Last year, the blooms were so-so. This year was a different story. The trees have really got their roots under them and have exploded with blooms. They’re still growing and will do nothing but get prettier and prettier as the years go by. Almost every-one missed the show this year. Hopefully, these pictures will build anticipation for next year’s show!

Roy Prentice

FROM THE TOLLGATE

FARM MANAGER

GREETINGS

Pictures by Roy Prentice

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Lessons from the Garden

I have always wished for more time in the

garden, an earlier start to my spring chores and more time to research the plants I may want to try. As mother al-

ways said, “Be careful what you wish for”.

I regret the sad circumstances that have

allowed the leisure time for some of these wishes to come true this spring. I pray everyone can stay safe and healthy and

our leaders stay the course to return us safely to a semblance of normal. But I do

not regret the lessons I have learned from my extra time in the garden.

With so much alone time it is normal to

be a bit more introspective. Alone in the garden with time to work and think and enjoy I have found nuggets of wisdom that

will make me a better gardener and a bet-ter citizen.

• There are struggles we may never see.

We do not see deep in the soil with the

roots of plants struggling to obtain enough nutrients, water and space in

order to survive; the gardener not knowing there is an issue until the sprouts start to fail. We might not

know the struggle of our neighbors to put food on the table when there is no paycheck coming in until the news

shows the epic waiting lines at food-banks across the country. In both of

those situations we need to take action to see success.

• We attend education classes to learn

new techniques and do our best to ap-

ply horticultural practices for our plants to thrive. Likewise we need to listen to the knowledgeable profession-

als and apply the best hygiene practic-es to keep ourselves safe in this crisis. To ignore the science or to do nothing

will yield failure.

• Soil preparation to sow grass seeds is

essential for the strength and resilience of the lawn in the long term. Compact-ed soil resists new roots; strong roots

will yield better plants. Preparation, cooperation organization and strong

leadership will enhance our ability to respond to a crisis. We will make mis-takes but we must also learn from our

mistakes.

There is always hope in the garden and in the world for a better tomorrow.

Happy Gardening!

Renee Cottrell

Pictures by Renee Cottrell

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The first Nursery event to be disrupted in this year of Coronavirus was our second propagation session. It was scheduled for the first Thursday in April, and we were all looking forward to a fun evening that combined a potluck dinner and then work in the basement to transplant seed-lings to larger cell packs as well as plant some new varie-ties that were sprouting in the frig. Thus, the planting task scheduled for that evening, with 13 Nursery Team mem-bers present, had to be completed by Tollgate North Greenhouse Manager Deb Kearney – with some help from Hudson, her trusty canine assistant. (see pictures nearby).

Our 2020 seedlings represent a diverse variety of plants – including natives and non-natives.

Typically, it would be the Spring Sale of 2021 when we would feature most of these plants in our standard 1-gallon pot. Since these are the only plants that we have any physical access to right now, we are brainstorming to find a way to offer these to our members who may be interested. However, it will be many weeks before these tiny seedlings could be potted up for sale, with many logistics issues to resolve… but stay tuned as we try to find a way to offer these Nursery plants for sale this summer.

I know many of you may be spending extra time in your home gardens, while work at Tollgate isn’t possible. We are hopeful that the Nursery will be able to accept plant donations this fall to restock for Spring 2021. So please continue to think about Tollgate’s Nursery as you enjoy your home gardens this season.

I’m interested if you have any suggestions for the Nursery Team to consider, as we navigate this strange gardening year. And it is always a good time to join the Nursery Team as a Row Leader, Co-Row Leader or Member at Large - let me know if you are interested!

Peg Palmer - pegpalmer@mi.rr.com

VOLUNTEERS TOGETHER DIVIDING GROWING SHARING

NURSERY NOTES Peg Palmer

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Photos by Roy Prentice

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Photos by Roy Prentice

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Take a Tollgate Picture

When the Governor’s Stay Home, Stay Safe order expires, take a walk at Tollgate.

Capture that ground breaking experience, SPRING.

Take a Tollgate picture and email your

photos to: TollgateCalPics@Gmail.com.

The preferred format is Jpeg, landscape files. Send photo files at full or actual size in separate emails if necessary.

Spring is coming to Tollgate. Don’t miss it!

Larry Bolam Photo by Mike Janczarek

Wishing everyone a wonderful May & Memorial Day. Be safe!

Click on this link to the form on the MSU Extension Tollgate Farm and Education Center website: MSU Tollgate Garden Volunteers Membership Form. Forms will also be available at the next Tollgate Volunteer General meeting and attached to this newsletter.

Thank-you!

Angie Carter

tollgatemembers@gmail.com

Quilt Raffle Update

The Tollgate quilting bees worked hard all winter to hand craft a beautiful quilt. Each year, the quilting

bees produce a work of art that is raffled to one lucky recipient. Funds from the raffle are used to support all

of the wonderful work that is done in the horticultural gardens at Tollgate. This year, the quilt was nearly completed when the pandemic occurred. It is a beauti-

ful work. The quilt group is not able to have the finish-ing touches done to the quilt. Fortunately, fabric has a

long shelf life. We have decided to hold the quilt until 2021 and raffle it then. Like so many aspects of life now, a little patience will be needed.

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Volunteer Activity Day and Meetings Information

248-347-3860 ext. 400

● The next Tollgate Gardens Advisory Council

meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 2nd at

7:00 pm. All Tollgate Gardens Volunteer

members are welcome to attend.

● Listings to contact individual Council Members

and Area Garden Leaders are available at all

general meetings and in the Volunteer

Communication Center.

● Tollgate Volunteer Membership is renewed

annually. The 2019 Tollgate Garden Volunteers

membership is from January 1, 2020 to

December 31, 2020.

Farm Manager Roy Prentice - 248 347-3860 ext. 251 email - prentic1@msu.edu

President .......................... Renee Cottrell

Vice President… ............... Marilyn Alimpich

Secretary… ....................... Dave Komraus

Treasurer .......................... Sue Janczarek

Membership ...................... Angie Carter

PR ...................................... TBD

Programs .......................... Jackie Stengel

Hospitality ........................ Teresa LaRosa

Farm News Editor ............. Jennifer Roberts

For membership questions or to update your current membership information send email to:

tollgatemembers@gmail.com

MSU Tollgate Gardens Volunteers For general information and questions Contact Roy Prentice or See Website:

http://tollgate.msu.edu/volunteering/

Activity Days Activity day hours are 9:00 am to noon unless otherwise noted on the Tollgate Garden Volunteer Important Dates and Events listed on the first page of the Tollgate Farm News or by the Area Garden Leader (AGL).

Lunch will be provided on scheduled workdays. Veggie alternatives are available upon request.

This schedule does not exclude you from working independently on the site. However, on non-scheduled days, your efforts will need to be self-directed with guidance from the garden area binders located in the Vol-unteer Communication Center.

If you aren’t getting

The Tollgate Farm News

email, Check your

SPAM folder

• Trowel

• Pruners

• Loppers

• Garden Scissors

• Your Favorite Weeding Implement

• Hand Saw

• Plant Division Forks

• Shrub Rake

• Sun Screen

• Garden Gloves

• Knee Pads

• Insect Repellant

List of Suggested Gardening Implements to Bring

from Home as Needed

• Spades

• Garden Rakes

• Brooms

• Wheelbarrows

• Weed Buckets

• Leaf Rakes

• Garden Hoe

• Long Handled

Garden Forks

Garden Tools Available for Use at Tollgate

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In the event of an emergency please notify:

____________________________________________ __________ - _____________________________

Name Phone

Were you a Tollgate volunteer member last year? Yes ( ) No ( ) Are you interested in serving on a committee or garden project? Yes ( ) No ( )

If yes, please note below if you have a particular area of interest.

________________________________________________________________

A donation in support of the Tollgate Volunteer organization would be greatly appreciated ($20 suggested). If you would like the newsletter mailed to you rather than

emailed, please include an additional $10 to cover postage. Check here to have the newsletter mailed to you. ___

Make checks payable to: Michigan State University

Return to: Tollgate Gardens Volunteer Office 28115 Meadowbrook

Novi, MI 48377-3128

Questions: Phone: 248-347-3860 Ext. 251

2020 Membership is from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020 Please read this Privacy Policy:

By filling out and submitting this form you authorize the Tollgate Garden Volunteers (TGV) and MSU to

use your contact information to communicate with you via email, newsletters and other formats. If you

wish your email and other identification information to not be used by the TGV and MSU, please check

this box ( ). (By checking this box you will not receive email notification of workdays, or other volunteer

Name_____________________________________________

Address____________________________________________

City _______________________________________ MI

Zip______________ - _________

________________________________ Name you would like on badge

Telephone Number Day ______ - ___________________________

Evening ______ - ___________________________

Email ____________________________________

Date Submitted __________________________

2020 Please print all entries. Thank you.

MSU Tollgate Garden Volunteers Membership Form