February 2017

Can You Dig It? PINE COUNTY MASTER GARDENERS

IN THIS ISSUE

Committee Updates 2

Wellness Expo 3

2017 Leadership

Team 3

Julie Weisenhorn Guest

Speaker at April MG

Meeting 3

Summer Food & Fun

Program-Pine City 4

Plant Sale 4

Upcoming Educational

Events 5

Upcoming Horticulture

Days 6

Learning

Opportunities 7

Arboretum Classes and

Workshops 8

Contact Us:

U of M Extension

Pine County Office

635 Northridge Dr. NW

Suite 280

Pine City, MN 55063

800-657-3813 or

320-591-1650

mnext-pine@umn.edu

February Meeting Agenda Tuesday, February 7, 7:00 p.m.

Hinckley High School, Room 147

Schedule:

6:00 p.m.—Hort Day Committee meets

7:00 p.m.—Meeting Agenda

Audit Committee

Hort Day Committee Report—Kim

Education Committee Community Ed

class planning meeting – Lauren

Grand Casino March 30th Wellness

Expo Sign-up and Classes – Sally

Summer Food & Fun planning

meeting – Terry

Community Garden & Fair Booth

Committee Chairs needed

Julie Weisenhorn websites to show

us in April

Other and show and tell

Adjourn

Refreshments: Barbara Fischer

Program: “Christmas Cactus” –

Roxanne Beavers

Next Meeting: Tuesday, March 7, 7 p.m., Hinckley High School Room #147

6 p.m. – Committees meet: Hort Day, Community Garden, JMG & Newspaper Column

Program: “Pollinators” – Roxanne Beavers, Darlene Collins, Kim Metz & Barb Videen

Refreshments: Lauren Meister

Congratulations!! Congratulations! Together, 33 Pine County Master Gardeners completed 1,443 volunteer hours and 567 education hours in 2016. Take a look at our 2016 Annual Report to see highlights of what was accomplished. Thank you for all that you did and do as a Pine County Master Gardener.

Thanks to Paul Olesen for his 15 years of service and to Merrilee Eberhart, Cheryl McHugh, Clarissa Ellis-Prudhomme, Kim Metz, Kara Nelson and Barbara Seedorff for 10 years of service.

Welcome Our New Interns We are thrilled to have two new interns for 2017. They are now in the middle of taking the Master Gardener Core Course. They are Ralph Flesher of Pine City and Barbara Fischer of Sandstone.

PG 2 OF 8 UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA EXTENSION

CAN YOU DIG IT?/FEBRUARY 2017

Committee Updates:

15th Annual Horticulture Day 2017

”Let’s Get Growing”

Saturday, March 25, 8:00 am— 2:00 pm, Pine City High School

Setup—Friday, March 24, 4:00 pm until it is done

PROGRAM:

Keynote: “Low Maintenance and Bee Friendly Lawns” - Sam Bauer, University of Minnesota Extension Educator

and Turf Specialist, and James Wolfin, Graduate Student.

Breakout sessions:

*”Taking Your Vegetable Gardening Skills to a New Level” by Steve Poppe, University of Minnesota Horticulture

Scientist at the West Central Research and Outreach Center at Morris, MN

*”Growing Strawberries in Minnesota” by Steve Poppe

*”Daylilies: The Perfect Perennial” by Jackie Froemming, University of Minnesota Associate Extension Educator

*”Gardening Lessons I Learned the Hard Way” by Jackie Froemming

*”Permaculture Ecological Design” by Matt Frank, Founder and Editorial Director of “From the Ground Up

North”

*”Native Bees: Their Diversity, Biology, Habitat, Needs and How to Help” by Pam Herou, Xerces Society.

Chair: Kim Metz

Committee Chairs:

*Ask a Master Gardener table - Sally Brewster *Food – Kevin & Nancy Stephenson

*Registration – Char Husom *Mailing list, Documents, Folders – Barb Videen

*Decorations – Cindy Novy *Exhibitors – Kara Nelson

*Speakers – Clarissa Ellis-Prudhomme *Publicity – Terry, Roxanne & everyone

The flyers are out. The brochure was emailed to you and registration is NOW OPEN. Copies of the brochure

are available online at www.extension.umn.edu/county/pine. They will also be available at the Extension

office, Beaver Meadow Garden Center – Hinckley; Flower Box – Pine City; La Finca Deli & Market – Sandstone

and Village Floral – Grantsburg. The registration fee for Pine County Master Gardeners who are helping with

Hort Day is $10 to help cover the cost of lunch and handouts.

Education Committee: Community Education Classes Chair Lauren Meister

Thanks to our committee we have Community Education classes planned on “Seed

Starting” at Hinckley-Finlayson High School on Thursday, March 30 at 7 p.m.; Willow

River High School on Monday, April 3 at 7 p.m.; and tentatively at East Central Schools

on Thursday, April 6. Thanks to Barb, Kim, Kari, Charles and Lauren for volunteering to

teach these classes.

We also have “Totally Tomatoes” classes at Pine City Elementary School on Tuesday,

April 25 at 7 p.m. and tentatively at East Central Schools on Monday, May 1. Thanks to

Barb, Ben, Jon and Kim for volunteering to teach that class.

Grand Casino Wellness Expo March 30, 2017 We are planning to have a booth at the Grand

Casino Wellness Expo on Thursday, March 30.

We need volunteers to man the booth and to

decide on what our display will be. This year our

priority topics are Local Food, Pollinators, and

Biodiversity. We already have displays on “Grow a

Healthy Handful” and “Pollinators”. We could use

volunteer(s) to make a new display on reasons to

grow your own food and one on biodiversity.

The Casino has requested that we do two one-half

hour classes during the day on vegetable variety

selection for our area. This happens to also be the

day that we are offering the Seed Starting

Community Ed class at Hinckley-Finlayson High

School at 7 p.m.

Let Lauren and Sally or Terry know if you would be

willing to present a class at the Expo on vegetable

varieties or seed starting or a similar topic that

day. Also, let us know if you can spend 2-3 hours

at our booth answering gardening questions. We

will pass around a sign-up sheet at our February

and, if needed, at our March meeting. There is

always a steady stream of people to talk to. It is a

lot of fun and a good opportunity to visit with a

lot of local people about gardening.

Our 2017 Planner is for You

Take a look at your copy of our 2017 Planner. It

includes the schedule of all of our meetings for 2017.

Thanks to you for filling out our program planning

survey with what you wanted to see happen in 2017.

Thanks to Kim and our Leadership Team for all of

their efforts to take what you suggested and putting it

into the Planner. Thanks to Roxanne for updating it.

Note that you can write down your volunteer and

education hours each month in the Planner so that

you do not forget about them. Better yet, input your

hours online each month. The instructions on how to

input your hours are in the Planner. Please check to

see the committees that you are on. Plan to attend

the committee meetings when they meet. Committee

meetings are usually held prior to our monthly

meetings. The Planner is a valuable resource to help

you. So please keep it handy so you can look at it

often.

Julie Weisenhorn, U of M Extension Horticulturist will

be the guest speaker at our Tuesday, April 4 meeting.

She wants to know what 5-6 topics that we want her

to show us websites on where we can find gardening

information to use for answering gardening

questions. Please email or tell Terry your suggestions

by March 1. Thanks.

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Your 2017 Leadership Team Thank you to our outgoing president Kim Metz and

welcome to our Leadership Team for 2017. Please

contact them with your questions and suggestions.

They meet 3-4 times/year to set goals, policy,

budget and plan for the following year. We

welcome: President Kara Nelson; Vice President

Kevin Stephenson; Secretary Ben Wiener; Treasurer

Tom Rolf; Past President Kim Metz; Members-at-

Large: Bill Conway; Jennifer Eaves; Carol Evans; Jon

Hjelm; Nancy Stephenson; Barb Videen; Extension

Committee Representative Kari Holmberg and

Coordinator Terry Salmela.

What Website Topics Should Julie Show us in April?

Summer Food & Fun Program in Pine City

Here's an exciting opportunity to help our area youth

to become interested in gardening and to do a great

service for needy youth in our county.

We, Pine County Master Gardeners, have been asked

if we would be willing to teach a half dozen vegetable

(and possibly flower) gardening classes to youth on

Monday or Thursday afternoon for two months for

the Pine City Summer Food and Fun program in June,

July and possibly into August.

This program will provide noon lunches at a church

(Zion Lutheran) near Robinson Park in Pine City. That

will be followed by fun learning opportunities at the

park for youth who qualify for the Back-Pack

Program during the school year.

The Back-Pack Program currently provides free packs

filled with food each Friday during the school year

for 42 Pine City School District students facing

hunger over the weekend. This Summer Food and

Fun program will help to meet that need for food in

the summer months.

Our Master Gardener Leadership Team discussed this

request at our December 6th meeting. They believe

that this is a very worthwhile program that meets our

priority goals for 2017 of local food and improving

horticulture skills. They believe that we should offer

to teach a half dozen two-hour classes on one

afternoon/week for six alternate or successive weeks

in June and July. The program would like us to teach

the classes at the Pine City Community Garden in an

effort to get kids interested in gardening through

demonstrations, hands-on dig-in-the-dirt activities

and the rewards of gardening. A possible outcome

goal of the program is to have the youth become 4-H

members and exhibit vegetables and possibly flowers

at the Pine County Fair.

Julie Samuelson is coordinating the program and will

be the 4-H leader. Leigha Lange, Youth Director at

Our Redeemer Church, will serve as the adult

supervisor for the youth. We just need to provide

educational sessions for the youth each week at the

community garden. Julie and Leigha will meet with us

to help us plan the program. Julie is a former Pine

County Master Gardener.

Thus far, Carol Evans, Kim Metz, and our two new

Master Gardener interns, Barbara Fischer and Frank

Flesher, have volunteered to work on this project.

Brad Miller will give us some suggestions from what

they did at the garden with youth from the TSA

program last summer and Lyn Johnson will give us

ideas from the JMG program that we do at Pine City

Elementary School. We can use more help with

teaching the classes. Please let Terry know if you are

willing to volunteer a few of your Master Gardener

hours next summer by helping these needy youth to

get excited about gardening and hopefully to use

those skills at home.

PG 4 OF 8 UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA EXTENSION

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New Idea for our May Plant Sale The Leadership Team discussed a new idea for

generating sales at the May Plant Sale - highlighting

"Heirloom and Specialty Plants" grown from seed. We

have several Master Gardeners who bring vegetables

and flowers grown from seed, but we haven't really

coordinated efforts up to this point. So, we'd like

those of us who grow from seed - Kim, Barb Videen,

Kari, Kara, Charles, and anyone else??? - to

coordinate plantings so we can have a variety of

heirloom/specialty vegetables and flowers to feature

in our advertising. We're thinking the Kristy Henning

daylilies may have reached market saturation at this

point, and highlighting something else may increase

sales. We are also still looking for items for the

Garden Treasures tent too. Roger and Linda Fischer

will be Chairs for the Plant Sale this year - May 24 is

the date.

Upcoming Events

Build Your Community Engagement

Toolkit February 10, 2017, 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the

Arboretum

It's not just what you know, it's how you share it!

Master Gardeners and interns will learn best

practices for making presentations and answering

questions from the public. Leaders will share real-life

examples, lessons learned and methods for success.

In the morning attend the “Growing Great Speakers”

workshop, presented by Jackie Froemming, to learn

about building your public persona and developing

effective presentations, handouts and evaluation

forms.

In the afternoon attend Julie Weisenhorn's

presentations “Good Question, Good Answer, What

Makes a Good Resource?”, and “Ask an Expert: An

Online Tool for Q&A.”

This training counts as 4.5 hours of Master Gardener

continuing education. The deadline to register is

February 3, 2017. Volunteers, wear your maroon

promo shirt! We’ll be taking group photos.

Questions? Contact Jackie Froemming at

froem022@umn.edu.

2017 Forest Pest First Detector

Workshops - Registration open! Workshop registration is $50, payable online.

Thursday, March 2, 2017, 8 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Cloquet Forestry Center, 175 University Rd,

Cloquet, MN 55720

Wednesday, March 8, 2017, 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM

Oakdale Discovery Center, 4444 Hadley Ave N,

St. Paul, MN 55128

For registration questions contact UMN Extension

Forestry Program Coordinator, Emily

Dombeck: edombeck@umn.edu

Berry Growing for the Home

Garden Workshop LEARN TO GROW BLUEBERRIES, STRAWBERRIES,

RASPBERRIES, AND HONEYBERRIES at a Kanabec

County Master Gardener & Mora Community

Education sponsored Berry Growing Workshop.

Date: February 18, 2017

Time: 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Location: Trailview School, Commons Area, 200 9th

St, Mora, MN 55051

Topics: site preparation, variety selection,

maintenance, and current research on new varieties.

Instructors: Seth Wannemuehler and Nathan Hecht,

University of Minnesota Graduate Students in the

Applied Plant Sciences program.

There is no fee for the class but they will be asking

for a free-will offering to help cover expenses.

Pre-registration is requested by Wednesday, February

15, 2017, using one of the following methods:

Call Mandi Yoder in the Mora Community Education

Office at 320-679-6200 or via email at

myoder@moraschools.org or, Call the Kim Pautsch in

the Kanabec County Extension Office at 320-679-

6440 or via email at kim.pautsch@co.kanabec.mn.us

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? Email Mandi at

myoder@moraschools.org

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Upcoming Horticulture Days

February

2/18/17: Gardening Knowledge For Free, St.

Cloud, Stearns County. More info

at www.z.umn.edu/GKFF

2/18/17: Berry Growing for the Home Garden,

Mora, Kanabec County. More info at Berry

Growing Class

March

3/4/17: Spring Days Gardening Workshop and

Expo, St. Michael-Albertville, Wright County.

More info at www.springdays.org

3/4/17: 2017 Garden Expo, North Branch,

Chisago County. More info

at www.extension.umn.edu/county/chisago

3/4/17: Let's Get Growing! Rosemount,

Dakota County. Call 651-480-7700 or

www.dakotamastergardeners.org for more

info.

3/11/17: Burst into Spring, Cambridge, Isanti

County. More info at http://

isanticountymastergardeners.com/burst-into-

spring.html

3/11/17: Gardeners' Day, Winona, Winona

County. Call 507-457-6440 or z.umn.edu/

mgwinona for more info

3/18/17: Houston County Garden Days,

Caledonia, Houston County. Call 507-725-

5807 for more info.

3/25/17: Gardening Education Day, Collegeville,

Stearns County. More info at z.umn.edu/

GardenEdDay

3/25/17: Hort Ed Day, Little Falls, Morrison

County. Call 320-632-0161 for more info.

3/25/17: Learn and Grow Garden Expo, Big Lake,

Sherburne County. More info at z.umn.edu/

gardenexpo2017

3/25/17: 15th Annual Pine County MG Hort Day,

Pine City, Pine County. Call 800-657-3813 ext.

4 or www.extension.umn.edu/county/pine for

more info.

April

4/1/17: McLeod County Horticulture Day,

Hutchinson, McLeod County. Call 320-484-

4334 for more info.

4/1/17: Garden Fever 2017, Chaska, Carver/Scott

County. More info at https://eventgrid.com/

Events/25758/garden-fever-2017

4/1/17: Ready, Set, Grow! Garden Expo 2017,

Brainerd, Crow Wing County. More info

at www.crowwingmastergardeners.org

4/8/17: Home Landscaping and Garden Fair,

Bunker Hills, Anoka County. More info

at www.anokamastergardeners.org/

4/8/17: Let's Get Growing, Alexandria, Douglas

County. More info

at www.extension.umn.edu/county/douglas

4/11/17: Meeker County Gardener's Gala,

Litchfield, Meeker County. Call 320-693-

5275 for more info.

4/20/16: Gardening Seminars, Sauk Rapids,

Benton County. More info at z.umn.edu/

BentonMG

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Schoolyard Gardens Conference 2017

Friday, March 3, 2017, 8:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m. $65 special members & Master Gardener rate, includes morning coffee and lunch

Use your garden savvy to help kids grow! School gardens enhance self-esteem, foster an appreciation for conservation, inspire healthy eating habits, and encourage kids to "dig in" to learning school concepts! This annual conference always has a strong attendance by Master Gardeners, who join school administrators, school food service professionals, and parents to share ideas and resources for building and sustaining school gardens. From nutrition programming to building valuable community partnerships, the conference agenda highlights practical and inspirational tools from the leading experts and educators in the state. Certificates of Attendance will be available. For more information go online to www.arboretum.umn.edu/schoolyards2017.aspx

Which Veggies Grow Best?

The 2017 Master Gardener State Seed Trial is OPEN for registration! This year's trial explores the best food plant varieties to grow in Minnesota with human health benefits (nutrients, fiber, phytochemicals, etc.). These plants will be easy to grow. At least some of them can be grown in a container on a patio or deck. Many can be grown easily from seed and reproduced by seed saving. Education and outreach programs will be developed using 2017 seed trial results. The cost to participate is $10.00. Visit our site for more information and to register. The deadline to register is February 24 by USPS or March 3 online. To register go online to www.mnarbonline.com/2017-MG-Ext-Annual-seed-trial-sign-up-152-seeds-17-p23:

If you love planting, join the state-wide project to help native pollinators. Receive seed from the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum and plant it in your local communities! These seeds are available for Master Gardener projects in the upcoming year and will be distributed on a "first come, first served" basis. We will send out general mixes of either upland or wet meadow prairie seeds depending on the request and project location. Seed is in a state ready to be spread on the ground and can be done so while snow is on the ground or in the spring. Once our mixes are sent out we will be able to accommodate requests for individual species with what seed we have left. Interested? Contact Jackie Froemming at froem022@umn.edu or 218-828-2323.

Save the Date! 2017 Master Gardener

State Conference: June 23 and 24

This year's conference features tours, resources, networking, skill-building, and workshops! To receive an email notification when registration opens, email: leen0014@umn.edu with the subject MG2017.

2017 International Master Gardener

Conference

Oregon State University Extension Master Gardener Program and the Oregon Master Gardener Association are hosting the 2017 International Master Gardener Conference at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Oregon, July 10-14, 2017. Register by the end of February to avoid a price rise. To register go online to http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/2017imgc/

PG 5 OF 8 UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA EXTENSION

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Seed Your Community with Minnesota

Native Plants

At the Arboretum: Horticulture skill-building workshops and specialized classes

© 2017 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved. University of Minnesota Extension is an equal opportunity educator and employer. In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, this material is available in alternative formats upon request. Direct requests to 612-626-6602. Printed on recycled and recyclable paper with at least 10 percent postconsumer waste material.

Discover something new in a fun and friendly environment.

Skill-building workshops: Science of Plant Propagation: Cuttings; Saturday, January 28, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Science of Plant Propagation: Grafting; Saturday, February 4, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Trees: Pruning Essentials; Saturday, February 4, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Shrubs: Pruning Essentials; Saturday, February 11, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Science of Plant Propagation: Soil; Saturday, February 11, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Plant Selection for a Winter Garden; Saturday, February 25, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Seed School: Seed-Saving 2-Day Workshop Friday, August 11, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.; Sunday, August 12, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Featuring Tim Johnson, Head of Preservation from Seed Savers Exchange

Specialized classes: Insect Pollinators - Beyond the Honeybee Saturday, January 21, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Planning & Implementing a Sustainable Yard: An Introduction Saturday, January 28, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Sustainable Fruit Growing: Shrubs & Vines Saturday, February 18, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Sustainable Perennials Saturday, February 25, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Sustainable Lawns & Turf Saturday, March 11, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Sustainable Trees & Shrubs Saturday, March 18, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum How to Save Tomato Seeds Thursday, August 10, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Featuring Tim Johnson, Head of Preservation from Seed Savers Exchange

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