volume 21 issue 11 november 2015 2015 tollgate …came to the farm did a wonderful job of felling...

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The Tollgate Farm News Volume 21 Issue 11 November 2015

2015 TOLLGATE GARDEN 2015 TOLLGATE GARDEN 2015 TOLLGATE GARDEN SEASON FINALESEASON FINALESEASON FINALE

TOLLGATE GARDEN VOLUNTEER IMPORTANT DATES AND EVENTSTOLLGATE GARDEN VOLUNTEER IMPORTANT DATES AND EVENTS

DECDECDEC MEETINGSMEETINGSMEETINGS JANJANJAN MEETINGSMEETINGSMEETINGS

1 TGV General Meeting 7:00 5 TGAC Meeting 7:00

9 AGL Planning Meeting (tentative) 10:00

DECDECDEC ACTIVITIESACTIVITIESACTIVITIES 21 TGV General Meeting 7:00

5 Rose Garden Mulching 9:00

No Tollgate Volunteer Meetings November and December

2015 Golden Shovel Award 2015 Ginger Meyer Award

Kurt Westermann (right) was awarded the Golden Shovel. He is pictured here with Tollgate CSA Manager, Brendan Sinclair. Kurt was unable to attend the dinner.

Jackie Stengel was awarded the Ginger Meyer Award. Pictured here from left to right: Roy Prentice,

Jackie Stengel, Kate Harper and Renee Cottrell.

f rom the Tol lgate Farm Manager Roy Prentice

Greetings All,

October and early November has pushed us to the brink of the 2015 gardening season. When we weren’t dodging rain drops, we had a good turn-out for our last few Activity Days. The beds are now all snug for the coming winter. All of the volunteers that came to the farm did a wonderful job of felling frost flattened flowers and removing annuals. Thanks to all that made 2015 such a great year at Tollgate!

Recognition Dinner: This year’s volunteer recogni-tion dinner was a great success! The event was supported by the Americana Foundation and MSU Extension and was very well attended. Over one hundred and thirty volunteers and guests joined us for dinner, a presentation of the Tollgate gardening year and the awards ceremony. We had so many attendees that we filled the big barn for the presenta-tion. The presentation that was put together by Darretta Ferasin and myself was a big hit as were the many door prizes. The food was really great too. This year our caterer incorporated lots of Tollgate

products in the meal. Potatoes, squash, carrots and other vegetables from the farm were all an integral part of the dishes. One of the highlights of the evening was the recognition of our first year volun-teer who made the most visits to the farm during 2015. This year our “Golden Shovel” award winner was Kurt Westermann. Along with the traditional gold painted implement, Kurt also received a golden shovel pin provided by the Americana Foundation and will have his name engraved on a plaque hung in the Tollgate Volunteer Center.

Also awarded was the “Ginger Meyer” award. This award was presented to long-time Tollgate volunteer, Jackie Stengel, for her many years of service to Tollgate. Jackie is instrumental in many projects on the farm including engaging all of the wonderful speakers that entertain and inform our group, manag-ing the summer open house and serving as one of the welcomers for the open house and fall fair. The Ginger Meyer award was established to honor the memory of Ginger Meyer who, along with her hus-band Adolph, was instrumental in establishing the Americana Foundation and in donating Tollgate to MSU. The award, a silver bowl inscribed with Jackie’s name, was presented by Ginger Meyer’s grand-daughter, Kate Harper. Jackie’s name has also been inscribed on a plaque that will be hung in the Tollgate Volunteer Center. Both the golden shovel and Ginger Meyer awards are given annually. Thank you Jackie and Kurt for all that you do for the farm!

Thank you to all of our wonderful volunteers for another great year at Tollgate! I can’t wait for winter to loosen her icy grip so that we can get going on 2016. It will be maple syruping time before we know it!

Roy

GREETINGS

Photos by Mike Janczarek and Darretta Ferasin

Bob Janson, Current Americana Board President, Welcomes the Volunteers and Guests

“What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

As we glide into the restful arms of winter…

We bid farewell to the 2015 garden season and welcome the slower pace and natural rest phase of the winter season. I try every year to find enough superlatives to express the wonderful things the gardeners have achieved this season but without a poet’s skill, I usually fall short. Please know that I am grateful for every effort, talent, time and kind-ness throughout the season given by each of you. Without the planning skills of my fellow TGAC members, solid leadership from Roy, dedicated support from The Ameri-cana Foundation and the countless hours given by our volunteers we would not be able to boast such a beauti-ful, successful site and volunteer program.

A summary of Tollgate re-elected TGAC and appointed members who work tirelessly behind the scenes and deserve our thanks:

Our elected members: Sue Janczarek, Treasurer David Komraus, Secretary Peg Palmer, Vice President

Our appointed members: Darretta Ferasin, Editor of the newsletter Jackie Stengel, chairperson of our education/

speaker programs Nancy Roggers, chairperson for membership Yvonne DeMattos, PR and Hospitality

I am honored to continue to be a part of such a wonderful group of people and look forward to a new season with the Tollgate Garden Volunteers.

Save the Dates: There is the remaining mounding of the roses activity on December 5th and we will begin our membership meet-ings in the New Year on January 21st!

All members interested in joining/forming Garden Teams should save the date (tentative at time of print-ing) Saturday, January 9th at 10:00 AM for the Area Garden Leader/Teams meeting. Information on the gardens and volunteer teams will be presented with opportunity for teams to get an early start on planning. I will confirm this date via e-mail or Doodle invite.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving and Holiday Season.

Thank you for being Tollgate Garden Volunteers.

Renee Cottrell, TGV President

NotesNotesNotes from the President

Photos by Darretta Ferasin

John Woodrich

Beans 422

Beets 433

Cabbage 1134

Carrots 121

Cucumbers 91

Egg Plant 10

Garlic 121

Leeks 70

Onions 443

Potatoes 445

Summer Squash 387

Tomato 167

Winter Squash 209

Grand Total Pounds 4053

2015 Tollgate PAR Garden Harvest Totals

ATTENTION PHOTOS NEEDED

FOR 2017 TOLLGATE CALENDAR

I hope many of you have been taking pictures of the farm and continue to do so throughout the year and may be willing to share your pho-tos with the rest of the membership by submit-ting them for consideration for the Tollgate Calendar. The pictures in the calendar are all taken by volunteers and employees of MSU Tollgate Education Center. It is great fun for me to compile the photos to make our calen-dar each year. I am accepting any and all pho-tos of the farm for the 2017 calendar but am in special need of fall photos

The preferred format is in landscape format.

The photos can be submitted to me, Nancy Roggers, or to Roy Prentice, farm manager extraordinaire, on a memory stick with your name and phone # so that I can return it to you or you can e-mail them to me at [email protected]

The deadline for submitting your photos is January 31, 2016.

Thank You Americana Foundation and MSU Extension for the Delightful Evening

and your continued Support

GET WELL GET WELL GET WELL SOON!SOON!SOON!

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We can’t say it enough - THANK YOU to all the Tollgate Garden Volunteers who contributed to the amazing success in the nursery this year! Whether you helped to mulch the nursery paths on one of the first workdays last March, donated plant divisions from your home garden, stood for hours at the nursery potting table dividing and potting plants, weeded nursery rows on your hands and knees, performed research on the internet to populate “plant tags”, or worked the spring or fall plant sale - we couldn’t have done it all without you!

In addition to the many helping hands that help accomplish large tasks on multiple nursery workdays over the summer, a success-ful nursery operation depends on a core dedicated nursery team of 10 - 12 “Row Leaders” who each focus on a specific area of the nursery. We currently are looking for 3 – 4 more members to join our team. The basic responsibilities of a Nursery Row Leader include:

Research to provide expert knowledge for the plants in the assigned row. Each row leader is asked to learn about the existing plants in their row(s) as well as identifying other varieties that would appeal to our plant sale customers that we should add to our list of requested donations. Row leaders are also responsible to provide input to the content of “plant tags”, or to approve the content of plant tags created by other volunteers who may help with this research through the winter. Worried that you do not have enough plant knowledge to be a row leader? Not true!!! The majority of our row leaders learned to be experts about the plants in their rows by becoming a row leader, not the reverse. We have existing expertise to guide you while you are learning.

Provide maintenance (weeding, watering, pruning, fertilizing) throughout the gardening season for their assigned row. This includes coaching and sharing knowledge with Tollgate Volun-teers on scheduled workdays. For the past 2 years the nursery team has developed a weekly watering schedule with nursery team members (and occasionally other volunteers) sign up for one or two weeks during the summer to be sure the plants get adequate moisture. This process is critical to maintain the health of our plants after the spring sale, since it isn’t realistic for anyone to make multiple trips to Tollgate each week throughout the summer. Knowing who is assigned to water and better communication in general amongst the team also has helped to avoid overwater-ing. Concerned that you don’t have enough time to come out to the farm to be a row leader? No problem!!! Join together with a friend to be co-row leaders or ask to be a co-row leader with one of our existing members.

Winter propagation projects are a popular (voluntary) activity for the nursery team. Last year we grew a variety of native plants from seed in order to meet requests from customers in 2014 that included plants that would attract butterflies and beneficial insects. We’re currently in the planning phase for propagation projects for this winter. The specific schedule will depend on the varieties that we select to propagate, but generally this will involve 2 – 4 sessions in January – April timeframe. We will meet at Deb Kearney’s basement greenhouse, dubbed “Tollgate North” by the team last year. It is great fun to get out some gardening gloves and tools and go dig in the dirt in the middle of winter! Want to join in the fun for the winter propagation but don’t know a thing about growing plants from seed? Join the crowd!!! Most of the team members have not grown perennials from seed in the past. We provide direction on what needs to be done on each of the workdays, so you don’t need prior propaga-tion knowledge.

So, the Nursery Team provides a great opportunity to learn, share your knowledge, and do (gardening stuff) – and it can be year-round if you are so inclined! Please contact Peg Palmer or Renee Cottrell if you are interested in joining the nursery team.

Peg Palmer - [email protected] Renee Cottrell - [email protected]

NURSERY NOTES November 2015

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Volunteer Activity Day and Meetings Information

248-347-3860 ext. 400

● The Tollgate Gardens Advisory Council next meeting will be held on Tuesday December 1, 2015 at 7:00 in the Tollgate Office Building. 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 2015 Tollgate Garden Volunteers membership is from December 1, 2015 to November 30, 2016.

Farm Manager Roy Prentice - 248 347-3860 ext. 251 e-mail - [email protected]

President ........................... Renee Cottrell Vice President… ............... Peg Palmer Secretary… ........................ Dave Komraus Treasurer ........................... Sue Janczarek Membership ...................... Nancy Roggers PR ....................................... Yvonne DeMattos Fall Fair .............................. Dennis Roggers Programs ........................... Jackie Stengel Hospitality ......................... Yvonne DeMattos Farm News Editor ............. Darretta Ferasin

For membership questions or to update your current membership information send e-mail to:

[email protected]

MSU Tollgate Gardens Volunteers For general information and questions

Contact Roy Prentice

Activity Days Activity day hours are 9:00 to 3:00 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 - 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 clipboards located in the Volunteer Communication Center.

If you aren’t getting The Tollgate Farm News

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Tollgate Volunteer InformationTollgate Volunteer InformationTollgate Volunteer Information

THE TOLLGATE FARM NEWS

Tollgate Gardens Volunteer Office 28115 Meadowbrook Novi, MI, 48377-3128 www.tollgate.msu.edu

Tollgate Garden Advisory CouncilTollgate Garden Advisory CouncilTollgate Garden Advisory Council

Trowel Hand Pruners Loppers Garden Scissors Your Favorite

Weeding Implement Hand Saw

Plant Division Forks Shrub Rake Sun Screen Gloves Knee Pads Insect Repellant

List of Suggested Gardening Implements to Bring

from Home as Needed

Spades

Garden Rakes

Brooms

Wheel Barrels

Weed Buckets

Leaf Rakes

Garden Hoe

Long Handled Garden Forks

Garden Tools Available for Use at Tollgate

volume 21 issue 11 november 2015 2015 tollgate …came to the farm did a wonderful job of felling...

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