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February 2016

Muscatine County

New Officers for 2016 are Bill Koellner and Lynn Pruitt as Co-Chairs, and Louise Abdallah as Secre-tary/Treasurer. Other members of the Board are Mary Danner, Jane Hodge, Chris Humrichouse, Carolyn Lemaster, Ed Moreno, Emma Mae Pruitt, and Deidre Zihlman.

New Initiative Aims to Increase Produce for Iowa Food Banks

Iowa Master Gardeners will receive support to fight

against hunger, poor nutrition (adapted from ISU Newsletter)

PHOTO: Mills County Master Gardeners have donated 28,000 pounds of produce to 300 needy

families since establishing the Glenwood Giving Garden in 2011. Iowa State University Exten-

sion and Outreach is expanding its efforts to have Master Gardeners supply more fresh produce

to Iowa food banks in 2016.

Let’s see what Muscatine County Master Gardeners can do in

2016 to make sure there are no hungry people, especially no

hungry children, in Iowa, especially not in Muscatine County!

PAGE 2 WORTH WH ILE D IR T FEB RU A RY 2 01 6

Upcoming Events Hosted by Master

Gardeners throughout Iowa What: The Fight to Protect Trees When: February 4, 6:30PM Where: Altoona

What: Sentinel Plant Network Short Course When: February 16, 6:00-9:00PM Where: Reiman Gardens, Ames

What: Shade Tree Short Course When: February 23-25, 2016 Where: Ames

What: Gardening Symposium When: February 27, 8:30AM-3:30PM Where: Independence

What: Think Spring Garden Seminar When: February 27, 9:00AM-3:00PM Where: Indianola

What: A Garden on the Edge When: March 3, 6:30PM Where: Altoona

What: Winter Gardening Fair When: March 5 Where: Cedar Rapids

What: Spring Symposium When: March 5 Where: Mount Pleasant

What: Art of Gardening When: March 19, 8:00AM-3:30PM Where: Muscatine

What: Spring Garden Conference When: March 26, 8:00AM-4:00PM Where: Council Bluffs

What: Siouxland Garden Show When: April 1-3, 2016 Where: Sioux City

(continued above right)

OTHER NEWS AND INFORMATION

Muscatine Art of Gardening

Check your mailbox for Art of Gardening brochure. If you did not receive one, contact Cindy Kress at 563.288.6161. Register early to attend the March 19 fun training event!

Final Winter Webinar on Food Security in Iowa

February 11, 6-8pm — Best Practices for Food Safety. Get information on the best practices for handling garden produce going to food banks and the importance of food safety procedures. After this we-binar we will spend time discussing what projects we want to apply for mini grants for and what informa-tion we need to gather.

Need Continuing Education Hours?

The 2015 Growing Season webinars are now on You-Tube. Learn about water features, theme gardens, planting for pollinators, and more. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBsBPVFxix-qdpQPatShDMyGGdWdiLpq2

What: Spring Garden Seminar When: April 2, 8:00AM-3:30PM Where: Dubuque

What: Spring Fever Symposium When: April 2 Where: Iowa Arboretum

What: Garden Study School When: April 7-8 Where: Iowa Arboretum

Note also our local Master Gardening upcoming events listed on page 14 of this Newsletter

Hello Master Gardeners, January, which would normally be a slow time for gardening, has been busy for Muscatine County Master Gardeners! Food Security Webinars and More Info We have hosted two of the three Food Security Winter Webinars with the third scheduled for Thursday, February 11th. The webinar is from 6 – 8 pm at the Extension office. If you missed the first two and are interested please let me know and we can arrange for you to view them. Any Master Gar-dener who watched all three webinars will be eligi-

ble to apply for a mini grant for up to $1000 for

a project focused on donation gardening or garden-ing education to those in poverty. The overall goal of this project is to help make healthy choices easier for those in need by increasing their access to fresh garden produce. As part of this statewide project the Muscatine Island Research Farm’s demo garden theme this year will be Donations and Pollinators. At our February 9th general meeting staff from the Research Farm will be sharing information about this upcoming project and how Master Gardeners can get involved, so I hope to see you all there! Online Reporting A note about the online reporting system: when you sign in for the first time this year you will be asked to check Yes or No to the annual volunteer agreement. This will take the place of the paper form we used last year. I encourage you to record your hours often to make the job easier at the end of the year! We still have a handful of Master Gar-deners who need to complete the background check information. These need to be completed in early 2016 – so I will be in touch with you soon if yours is outstanding.

Director’s Input

By Krista Regennitter , Muscatine County Extension Director, Iowa State University Extension and

Outreach

PAGE 3 FEB RU A RY 20 16 WORTH WH ILE D IR T

WIN Do you volunteer at the Master Gardener Farmers Market booth? ISU Extension and Outreach has an outreach program called WIN, which stands for Wellness and Independence through Nutrition, that focuses on providing information to help adults 50+ years stay well and independent. One piece of the WIN program is to talk about con-tainer gardening and how Food Assistance can be used to purchase some seeds to grow your own garden. The outreach information would be a perfect fit for the Farmers Market and Master Gardeners. Those interested in becoming a WIN Volunteer Educator and including the display and outreach materials when they man the farmers market booth are encouraged to contact Krista to express their interest. A brief training will be scheduled to introduce you to the materials and resources.

Wake Up Wednesday

One last note, on March 23rd we will be partnering with the Greater Muscatine Chamber of Com-merce and Industry and the Muscatine Island Re-search Farm to host a Wake Up Wednesday cham-ber event at the Muscatine County Extension of-fice. This event is an opportunity to showcase all the many programs and services Extension and Outreach offers in Muscatine County. I am look-ing for a few Master Gardener volunteers to man a Master Gardener table. The event is bright and early, 6:45 am – 8:45 am, and includes healthy breakfast fare. If you are interested in volunteer-ing please let me know. Either way I hope you plan to stop by to learn more about Extension and share your Master Gardner story with others!

PAGE 4 IL WORTH WH ILE D IR T FEB RU A RY 2 01 6

Muscatine County Master Gardeners Board

Meeting Minutes January 12, 2016 - 7:00pm

Muscatine County Extension Office

By Louise Adballah, Master Gardener

Bill Koellner called the meeting to order at 7:00

p.m. Board members present were: Bill Koellner,

Emma Mae Pruitt, Lynn Pruitt, Louise Abdallah,

Deidre Zihlman, Carolyn Lemaster, Mary Danner

and Jane Hodge. Also present was Extension Liai-

son Krista Regennitter.

First order of business was to elect new officers.

Due to busy schedules Emma Mae made a motion

to nominate Lynn Pruitt and Bill Koellner as co-

chairs of the Muscatine County Master Gardener

Board. Jane seconded. Motion passed unani-

mously. Jane nominated Louise Abdallah as Secre-

tary/Treasurer. Carolyn seconded. Motion passed

unanimously. It was noted that all receipts and dis-

bursements of funds are recorded in the books by

the extension office and reported by the Treasurer.

Krista will email the 2015 interns to seek two vol-

unteers for intern positions on the board.

Treasurer’s Report: The current balance is

$5,276.13 as of January 12, 2016. Bill Koellner

made a motion to approve copy expenses of $52.81

and $19.08. Mary Danner seconded the motion and

it was unanimously approved.

General Meeting dates for 2016 are February 9,

April 12, June 14, August 9, October 11 and the

annual meeting on December 13. Speakers for Feb-

ruary, April, and June were discussed. Krista will

contact Vince Lawson or Brandyn Chapman at the

Muscatine Island Research Farm to see if they are

available to speak on February 9th. Deidre will con-

tact Hannah Howard from Tree’s Forever about

April 12th. The theme will be trees and how such

programs as Tree’s Forever can be of use to us as

Master Gardener’s.

Lynn will contact Charles Rickey about hosting the

June meeting at the Arboretum. Depending on the

date of the Demo Farm Tour at the Research Farm a

presentation from someone at Port Louisa on polli-

nators was suggested for August 9th. Krista will

reach out to the Research Farm to see if the tour

date has been set yet.

Board meeting dates for 2016 are January 12,

March 8, May 10, September 13 and November 8.

Due to the popularity of the spring nursery tours it

was decided to schedule three this year on April

19th, 26th and May 3rd. Nursery’s being consid-

ered are Taylor’s, Garrison’s and the Hilltop. Jane

Hodge will contact them to see if they would be

willing to participate. All nurseries will be asked to

provide an education tour and a 10% discount for

the night.

An additional tour of Wildcat Den later in the year

is being considered.

Other planned events for 2016 are:

The Farmer’s Market June through September,

Carolyn and Mary volunteered to facilitate the

volunteers and recipes for the Farmers Market.

The Bucket Brigade, July 19th, at the Muscatine

County Fair (Fair dates are July 20-24).

Continue to print recipe booklets to sell at $4.00

at the Farmer’s Market as they brought in over

$80.00 in revenue last year.

The annual Art of Gardening will be held on

March 19.

Krista Regennitter noted that she needs to finish the

background checks for members who have not

turned in their paperwork yet. There are 13 active

members who have not completed the background

checks yet.

Jane Hodge made a motion to adjourn at 8:37p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Louise Abdallah

PAGE 5 WORTH WH ILE D IR T FEB RU A RY 2 01 6

Muscatine Master Gardeners — at your SERVICE — Many of our Master

Gardeners have already signed up for service projects in 2016. Please review the following and see if there are some places where you want to contribute or lead. We will be finaliz-ing these lists at the February 9 meeting. — Lynn Pruitt, Co-Chair —

Arboretum: - Charles Rickey 563-260-5807

The Arboretum is located out by the Discovery Center off of the Bypass and Cedar Street. Mem-bers can work their own hours weeding, etc. or can contact

“Rick” for more specifics. Volunteers: Chris Hum-richouse, Sandy Wales, Dennis Latimer, Mary Danner

Art of Gardening – Chair position open

The Art of Gardening committee in coopera-tion with staff from Muscatine Community College plans, helps to set up, and evaluates the event after it has taken place. The main respon-sibility of the committee is to decide on class top-ics and contact prospec-

tive speakers. We work from previous years' evaluations, trends in gardening, and topics that we feel would be interesting to fellow gardeners. We have developed an extensive speakers' and topics' data base. The committee also determines fees, engages vendors, and selects the lunch menu. We meet twice a month until the above is com-pleted, usually beginning in late August. All other responsibilities are then handed over to MCC. Vol-unteers: Bill Koellner, Emma Mae Pruitt, Lynn Pruitt, Susan Cradick, Ginny Maine, Pam Viner

Bucket Brigade: - Barb Woods 563-506-4506 and Linda Wells 563-263-0292

This committee determines the theme for the buckets, which are judged according to guidelines and placed around the fairgrounds. Vol-unteers: Bill Koellner, Linda Starcevich

Community Donation Gardens – Krista Regennitter 563-263-5701

Seminars are being held early in 2016 which will ex-plain more about this initiative introduced by ISU SNAP-Ed team in Ames. Volunteers: Carolyn Lemas-ter, Emma Mae Pruitt, Lynn Pruitt, Chris Humrich-ouse , Heather Harroun

Fair Floral Hall: - Joyce Gauger 319-330-5235

This committee helps man the floral hall during the fair. They welcome visi-tors who come into the Floral Building, answer questions (or take a phone number to get back to them); promote the Master Gardener program; and generally just be available to engage them in con-versation about gardening if they show an interest. Volunteers: Bill Koellner, Emma Mae Pruitt, Lynn Pruitt, Laura McGinnis, Jan Koellner, Sara Carroll, Sandy Wales, Susan Cradick, Carol Gundrum

Garden at Melpine School: - Joyce Gauger 319-330-5235

There is an area at Wild Cat Den that features an old schoolhouse (Melpine School). This committee cleans off and plants (as needed) a small planting area (by the outhouse) in the spring and helps water as needed. Volunteers: Pam Viner, Sara Carroll, Sue Cradick (continued next page SERVICE)

PAGE 6 FEB RU A RY 2 01 6

(continued from previous page SERVICE)

Farmer’s Market Committee: 2016 – Susan Cradick 563-288-9809

These individu-als meet and determine how they want the Master Gar-dener booth set up on Saturdays at the Farmer’s Market. They

assign themselves to a Saturday(s) and submit a recipe to be printed and passed out and prepare a recipe for sampling on the Saturday they work. Volunteers: Laura McGinnin, Sara Carrol, Carolyn Lemaster, Mary Danner, Bonnie Reeb, Susan Cradick, Jan Koellner, Bill Koellner

Historian – Chair position open

Any member who would like some volunteer hours not involving some of the more physical aspects of many projects, can get some hours by coming into the Extension Office and filling notebooks with Master Gardener articles, pictures, etc. Volun-teers: Don Paul, Carol Gundrum

Manning Desk at Extension Office – Chair position open

Any member(s) who would like some volunteer hours can get some hours by coming into the Ex-tension Office and manning a phone for answering questions from callers. The hours and days can be flexible, but set, so callers know when someone is there when they call in. This person doesn’t have to “know all the answers” but can get a phone number and call them back once they’ve re-searched the questions by calling ISU in Ames, or looking up question in the many reference books at the Extension Office or calling other Master Gar-deners knowledgeable in those areas. Volunteers: Chris Humrichouse

WORTHWHILE DIRT

Member’s Garden Tours — Chair position open

During June and July when many of our gardens are at our best we like to have our club tour these gardens, sometimes when we have a regu-lar meeting night

and sometimes on an “off” Tuesday. We all enjoy seeing what others plant and have an interest in and whether your garden is large or small we enjoy “visiting.” Sign up if you’d like us to visit your gar-den. You can always add your name if you want to think about it (or take your name off if you change your mind.) Volunteers: Linda Starcevich, Joyce Gauger

Mulford Community Gardens – Heather Harroun 563-554-0028

Mulford Community Garden is a 300x300 fenced garden located at Mulford Community Church 2900 Hershey Ave. It provides private plots for any-one in the community who wishes space to garden. It also features a garden which supplies a produce stand that is open on Saturday mornings during the season as well as providing some fresh produce for an emergency food pantry. Some of the tasks in-clude: advising gardeners, filling water tanks for the community garden participants use, preparing plots in the spring (tilling), maintaining the fence and grassy areas (mowing, weed eating), planting, weeding, harvesting the garden for the produce stand, maintaining some apple trees and raspber-ries, maintaining hand tools provided for gardener use, We are in the process of clearing the center section and re-planting some ornamental shade trees for a resting area, help at the produce stand. Volunteers:

(continued next page SERVICE)

(continued from previous page SERVICE)

Muscatine Branching Out – Kathy Chalupa 563-299-0887

Muscatine Branch-ing Out is a separate organization in-volved in the plant-ing of trees in the area and can always use help at various times during the year. Volunteers: Dennis Latimer, Susan Cradick

Muscatine County Fair Office Garden – Bill Koellner 319-627-4545

The Fair office has a garden area that needs the usual atten-tion, cleaning up, planting, weeding, etc. An excellent project for those living in the West Liberty area.

Volunteers: Emma Mae Pruitt, Lynn Pruitt, Susan Cradick

Newsletter: Lynn Pruitt 319-723-4362

Chairpersons of all committees along with volun-teers on any MG projects need to submit pictures and/or articles for the newsletter throughout the year. Any items or information, quips, quotes, etc. can be sent to Lynn for publication. Pictures when you work the Farmer’s Market, working in commu-nity gardens, etc. are all items of interest. Take pic-tures and submit to Lynn. Volunteers: Bill Koellner, Emma Mae Pruitt, Carolyn Lemaster

Newspaper Articles: Linda Meloy 563-263-8473

This committee agrees to help write articles for the newspapers on top-ics of their interest or suggestions from Linda. All sorts of material for preparation is available on-line or from ISU pub-

lications, etc. Volunteers: Emma Mae Pruitt, Lynn Pruitt, Bill Koellner, Sandy Wales, Mary Danner

Muscatine Bridge Entry Sign Area – Laura McGinnis 309-791-0054

This committee is to help clean off in the spring and plant any needed perennials and annuals and do some periodic weeding, watering and clean-up in the fall. Volunteers: Barb Woods, Susan Cradick

Publicity: - Chair position open

This committee would see articles get put in the paper of special events, honors, interest, projects, etc. Notice of meetings, update of display boards for Master Gardeners, signage, etc. This new Com-mittee that can meet and plan their own guidelines and extent of participation with the main focus of getting Muscatine Master Gardeners’ name in front of the public. With all the hours Master Gar-deners put in doing community work it would be nice to have it recognized. Volunteers: Ed Moreno

Senior Resources – Louise Abdallah 563-299-0212

This is a new project (actually an old project need-ing revitalization). Louise would like to hold some meetings to brainstorm and implement some solu-tions for a planting area located at the Senior Re-sources building on Mulberry Avenue. Volunteers: Chris Humrichouse

World Connection Garden – Linda Meloy 563-263-8473

This Garden is located at 8th and Cedar Streets in Muscatine. This is a fairly new garden area Linda has worked hard on and needs the usual attention, cleaning up, planting, weeding, etc. Volunteers” Chris Humrichouse

Zoo Garden: Maryrose Peterschmidt 563-263-0846

This committee can be called upon to help clean up in the spring/fall and help with planting/weeding throughout the summer. Can also volun-teer to help keep up cer-tain “berms.” Volunteers: Emma Mae Pruitt, Lynn

Pruitt, Laura McGinnis, Pam Viner, Jan Koellner, Linda Starcevich, Sara Carroll, Mary Danner, Susan Cradick

WORTHWHILE DIRT PAGE 7 F EB RU ARY 20 1 6

WORTHWHILE DIRT PAGE 8 F EB RU ARY 20 1 6

Muscatine Eagle Watch

Contributed by Maryrose Peterschmidt

We had a beautiful sunny winter day for

the eagle-watch. The Pearl City Sta-

tion on the river front was the perfect

place to view the eagles. Telescopes

we set up on the patio for viewing. The

Zoo Garden was one of several groups

that set up a display. We talked with

many visitors and some who came from

out of town. There were two presenta-

tions during the day, sponsored by the

Corps of Engineers and given by person-

nel from Wildlife Prairie State Park in

Illinois. We got to see first hand and

learn about birds of prey. All the

groups who took part in the day had

great displays and activities for the

kids to do. It was a fun way to let

the general public and many visitors

from out of town learn about the Zoo

Garden. The Corps provided everyone

with hot chocolate and coffee. It was

a good day.

(by Kathy Chalupa, Master Gardener)

Muscatine Branching Out Celebrates

25 Years

Saturday, January 30th, was a big day for Muscatine Branching Out. The organization celebrated 25 years of tree planting in the Muscatine community. Participants enjoyed a tasty breakfast while being entertained and enlightened by Steve Brower.

Steve is a landscape architect with the Leopold Heri-tage Group and an avid Aldo Leopold researcher. Leopold's childhood years were spent growing up in Burlington, and Steve gave us insight on how that

influenced Leopold's life achievements. We got lost in the slides of the Leopold family trees, their beautiful homes, and vistas.

Aldo Leopold’s grand nephew, Jim Spring, brought bowls he had crafted out of fallen tree wood. Each told its own story – a knot here and a splay there.

Later we were treated to a Tree Q & A panel with:

Steve Brower, Landscape Architect with Leopold Heritage group

Randy Elder, Landscape Architect, Iowa Arbore-tum past-president and dwarf conifer enthusiast

Ron Knopik, USDI Biologist and conservationist

Rick Rickey, Nurseryman, Master Gardener, and Muscatine Arboretum past-president

There were door prizes for all. Master Gardener,

Jane Hodge won the grand prize of a hard bound

copy of Aldo Leopold’s Sand County Almanac. The

morning ended too soon, but we all came away

with renewed dedication.

WORTHWHILE DIRT PAGE 9 F EB RU ARY 20 1 6

"Examine each question in terms of what is ethically and aesthetically right, as well as

what is economically expedient. A thing is right when it tends to perserve the integrity,

stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise." —

Aldo Leopold

(see next page for MBO 25th Year Photos)

Gardening Question All of our crab apple trees except for one have

lost their berries, presumably from birds consuming them. (See the photo below taken January 30, 2016). Since we are well into winter I am wondering if there is some-thing wrong with the fruit or is this com-mon? Anyone have an thoughts on this?

Thanks, Lynn Pruitt

WORTHWHILE DIRT PAGE 10 FEB RU AR Y 20 1 6

Muscatine Branching Out’s 25th Year Celebration

PAGE 11 WORTH WH ILE D IR T FEB R AU RY 2 01 6

I Want to Select a Mulch for my

Gardens!

By Bill Koellner, Lifetime Muscatine County Master

Gardener

A friend, who was now landscaping their yard,

asked “What should I use for mulch?” Was it

going to be for decoration only, was it to be best

for their flowers, or did they plan on a garden

also? The basic question is, Why Mulch?

The greatest benefit of mulch is moisture reten-

tion. Garden yields and productivity of your

flowers are directly affected by the amount of

water in the soil. In dryer years, where rainfall is

not as frequent, gardeners will want their soil to

retain as much water as possible. First, be sure

that the beds are covered with a layer of organic

material. This will drastically reduce the level

of moisture evaporated from the soil. Mulching

can retain up to 80 percent of added moisture in

your soil. When you keep the top of the soil pro-

tected from direct heat, it will lose less water.

Mulch must breathe, and not become a place

where mold issues arise, which would be un-

healthy for plant life.

The following is from observation and experi-

ence, but some is from professional literature.

Rock and/or pebble mulch - . Rock mulch is

sometimes used in perennial flower beds.

Large rocks absorb even more heat during

the day, creating the potential for larger

warm micro-climate near your plants. It all

depends on the size, quantity, and color.

Pebble mulch/ gravel allow water to drain

through but can be washed away with heavy

rains. Little pebbles will cause dings and

nicks in your mower blade, causing it to be-

come dull much more quickly; and flying

pebbles/gravel can cause injury.

Pumice rock - Pumice rock is a very lightweight,

porous rock that comes from volcanic eruptions. It

is often in flower beds and other perennial garden

beds. It has the ability to trap and retain moisture,

because it’s so porous, which none of the other rock

mulches are able to do. A disadvantage is that it is

easily washed away with downpours or near down-

spouts. Once the pumice rock has settled into the

soil, water can enter the soil profile, and the pumice

maintains the advantage of retaining water. It is

decorative, but fades over time.

Straw mulch - When I was a young boy, we used

straw mulch on our garden. However, small crit-

ters made their home in the mulch, and they had

direct access to our garden plants. Straw does not

work well on flower beds for the same reason, and

you sure don’t want the small rodents close to your

home. It also deteriorates over time, and does not

look good. Also, straw can contain weed seeds,

which may only add a problem to your garden.

Newspapers - Jan and I are big fans of initially us-

ing newspapers for our plantings. Their function is

mainly to suppress weeds and eventually decom-

pose and add a little bit of organic matter. Newspa-

pers can be unsightly, so I would recommend lay-

ing another type of mulch, perhaps compost or

wood chips, on top of them. I’ve observed that us-

ing newspapers increases the worm population.

When using newspapers, It gets pretty moist under

newspaper after it rains. This will increase the

worm population. Worms are great for aeration and

quality soil structure. I do not use the colored

newsprint due to extra chemicals involved. In addi-

tion, with the change to soy-based ink, it is very

biodegradable. Remember, what you put on your

soil can move up the food chain to birds or into the

food we eat, thus pass on chemical induced prod-

ucts like colored or shiny newsprint.

Grass clippings – We use grass clippings exclu-

sively on our community garden, and we have no

weeds, and it retains the moisture very well. It adds

organic matter to the soil profile after the growing

season when we remove the dead plants, and turn

the soil which includes the grass clippings. If you

(continued next page, MULCH)

PAGE 12 WORTH WH ILE D IR T FEB RU A RY 2 01 6

(continued from previous page, MULCH)

are preparing your garden early in the year, the

new green clippings have a large amount of ni-

trogen, and when integrated into the soil profile,

releases that nitrogen, however, when the clip-

pings are brown, the nitrogen has been released,

and the clippings serve a great mulch. The

clippings we use are devoid of any herbicides,

fungicides, and pesticides. If any chemicals

have been used on the lawn where the grass

clippings came from, it’s best to not use them.

All the more reason to avoid using chemicals on

your lawn… so you don’t have to throw away

all that awesome organic matter that could oth-

erwise be benefiting your garden!

Landscape fabric - This is a black fabric, gener-

ally made of woven polypropylene, which

means it’s a form of plastic. Being made into a

woven, fabric-like material makes it breath-

able. It is plastic and has one great benefit, es-

pecially for gardeners who live further north and

typically have a shorter growing sea-

son. Melons, tomatoes and peppers need plenty

of heat and sunlight to grow a healthy, strong

plant, and to produce their fruit. Using a black,

landscape fabric catches the heat of the sun,

warming up the soil beneath it sooner than

usual, and keeping the soil a little warmer at

night. I find that this fabric is better used

around my flowers and not in my garden. If I

could find a colored fabric that would reflect the

spectrum of sunlight, it would enhance the

growth of peppers and other vegetables. There

have been studies at the universities regarding

colored garden fabric with excellent results.

Wood chips - Some wood chips retain water

better because of a greater ability to take up and

hold moisture. This is an advantage for both

overly wet and overly dry areas. When it rains

too much, the wood chips will suck up the ex-

cess moisture and prevent ponding. When it

rains too little, the wood chips will release the

water slowly providing your plants with water

even in dry times. Wood chip mulch will down

down a lot faster particularly if the chips are

older. What we have used to a great extent is to

take year old decomposed leaves and place

them next to the ground, and then put the wood

chips on top of that for a more appealing look.

The benefits are great, in that the decomposing

leaves provide food to the soil and plants while

being covered by wood chips.

Cocoa hulls - You can find cocoa hulls at some

garden stores. There are positive and negative

issues with this mulch. The cocoa hulls have

sharp edges, and slugs that plague your hostas

can not crawl across these sharp hulls. Cocoa

hull mulch is made from the shell of the cocoa

bean. However, there is concern because of its

possibility of toxicity to animals. Chocolate is

toxic to dogs and cats, because of its content of

theobromine and caffeine. Considering all that,

if you have animals, it may be taking a bit of a

gamble on your dog or cat getting sick to use

cocoa mulch on your property

Cost

Mulching can be expensive be. Many communities

have options for free mulch: some communities

have yard debris recycling programs that turn de-

bris into mulch, allowing citizens to gather it for

free or a very small cost. Look for these in your

community and look for the best options in your

gardens.

(see below for wood mulch at work)

PAGE 13 WORTH WH ILE D IR T FEB RU A RY 2 01 6

* If bird feeding has been a favorite activity this winter,

order trees and shrubs which provide cover and small

fruits for your feathered friends. Consider species such

as crabapple and hawthorn which can help lure hungry

birds from cultivated fruits, if planted on the opposite

side of the yard.

* Check any vegetables you have in storage. Dispose of

any that show signs of shriveling or rotting.

* This year plan to grow at least one new vegetable

that you've never grown before; it may be better than

what you are already growing. The new dwarf varieties

on the market which use less space while producing

more food per square foot may be just what you're

looking for.

* Send off seed orders early this month to take advan-

tage of seasonal discounts. Some companies offer bo-

nus seeds of new varieties to early buyers.

* Don't start your vegetable plants indoors too early.

Six weeks ahead of the expected planting date is early

enough for the fast-growth species such as cabbage.

Eight weeks allows enough time for the slower-growing

types such as peppers.

* Prune fruit trees and grapes in late February or early

March after the worst of the winter cold is passed but

before spring growth begins.

* Fertilize fruit trees as soon as possible after the

ground thaws but before blossom time.

February Gardening Guide (Courtesy of Nebraska Extension)

Here is a checklist of gardening tasks that should be done in February:

* Order perennial plants and bulbs now for cut

flowers this summer. Particularly good choices are

phlox, daisies, coreopsis, asters and lilies.

* Check stored bulbs, tubers and corms. Discard

any that are soft or diseased.

* Don't remove mulch from perennials too early.

A warm day may make you think spring is almost

here but there may be more cold weather yet to

come.

* Order gladiolus corms now for planting later in

the spring after all danger of frost has passed. Lo-

cate in full sun in well-drained soil.

* Branches of forsythia, pussy willow, quince,

spirea, and dogwood can be forced for indoor

bloom. Make long, slanted cuts when collecting

the branches and place the stems in a vase of wa-

ter. Change the water every four days. They

should bloom in about 3 weeks.

* Late winter is the time to prune many deciduous

trees. Look over your plants now and remove

dead, dying, or unsightly parts of the tree, sprouts

growing at or near the base of the tree trunk and

crossed branches.

Muscatine County Extension Office 1514 Isett Avenue Muscatine, IA 52761-4629 563-263-5701 or 800-992-0894

Krista Regennitter Muscatine County Extension Director Master Gardener Liaison

. . and justice for all

Iowa State University Extension programs are available to all without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, or disability.

Iowa State University and U.S. Department of Agriculture coop-erating.

2016 Muscatine County Master Gardener Board

Board Members Bill Koellner, Co-Chair (16) Lynn Pruitt, Co-Chair (17) Louise Abdallah, Secretary/Treasurer (16)* Carolyn Lemaster (16)* Deidre Zihlman (16)* Emma Mae Pruitt (17) Mary Danner (17)* Jane Hodge (17)* Chris Humrichouse (Intern) Ed Moreno (Intern) ( )Year term expires as of Dec. 31

* Going off Board Dec 31, 2016/2017 but eligible

Current Emails and Addresses As a reminder – keep both the Extension Office and Lynn Pruitt current on any changes of e-mail addresses, phone numbers, or mailing ad-dresses. These need to be current to keep you — our members — informed.

Mark Your Calendar! —2016—

Feb. 9 General Meeting 6:30 pm Extension Office

Feb. 11 Final Food Security Webinar 6:00-8:00pm Extension Office

Mar. 8 Board Meeting 6:30 pm Extension Office

Mar. 19 Muscatine’s Art of Gardening All Day Muscatine Community College

Mar. 23 Wake-up Wednesday 6:45-8:45am Extension Office (see page 3)

Apr. 12 General Meeting 6:30 pm Extension Office

May 10 Board Meeting 6:30 pm (tdb)

WORTH WH ILE D IR T PAGE 1 4 FEB RU A RY 2 01 6

Editorial Comments:

Thanks to the various contributors to this month’s Muscatine County Master Gardener Newsletter. Please remember, this is YOUR newsletter. Your articles, photographs and other tidbits are welcome. Send them by the end of each month to pruitt.lynn@gmail.com or call 563.260.0234

— Lynn Pruitt, Editor —