The Lowdown

WSU Spokane County Extension Master Gardeners October 2017 The Lowdown

Inside this issue:

Foundation News 2

Potager in a Pot 4

Fact Sheet Update 6

Fall Banquet 7

Self-study Quiz 9

Upcoming Events 10

Extension Information

Dr. Jeremy Cowan 477-2145

Regional Horticulture Specialist

jeremy.cowan.@wsu.edu

Tim Kohlhauff 477-2172

Horticulture Program Coordinator

tkohlhauff@spokanecounty.org

Anna Kestell 477-2195

Food Preservation/Safety

akestell@spokanecounty.org

Jackie Sykes 477-2193

Clinic Coordinator

jsykes@spokanecounty.org

Master Gardener County Site

http://extension.wsu.edu/spokane/

master-gardener-program

Master Gardener Foundation of Spo-

kane County

http://www.mgfsc.org/

WSU Master Gardener Site

http://mastergardener.wsu.edu/

HortSense Fact Sheets

http://hortsense.cahnrs.wsu.edu/

Home/HortsenseHome.aspx

On Line Timelog Reporting:

http://ext.wsu.edu/Volunteers/logon.aspx

Remember Summer!

SOIL PARTY 2017

The Lowdown Page 2

News from the Foundation

By Tim Stiess

Brrrrrr. Fall is here.

As I write this, the heat is on in my house and all the tender vegetables have been harvested.

The September Foundation Board meeting had a few bits of news to share…

The Foundation presented the MG Program with our annual check. Under our agreement Foun-

dation was scheduled to make the following payments

2016 - $8,000

2017 - $12,000

2018 - $15,000

These increments were to allow the Foundation to build up a reserve, while the Program’s reserve

got slightly smaller. Well, thanks to some great volunteers and some amazing fundraising

efforts, the Foundation board was secure in offering the Program additional funds. So, instead

to the $12,000 for the year, the program has been given $15,000 for 2017.

The 2017 Fall Banquet is just around the corner (November 2) so buy your tickets now

(mgfsc.org). But wait, at the last board meeting we authorized the 2018 Fall Banquet… The

Fall Banquet team is so committed to giving us the best event

they can - they are already making sure that we get the best

speaker and the best location for 2018 right now. Sadly, our

Lincoln Center Location will not be available to us after this

next one, so the team has secured a new home for the Fall

Banquet. We can give the Lincoln Center a big send-off this

November 2nd during Fall Banquet 2017.

Dan and Kay Loibl were recognized for all their achievements in their support of the Program

and the Foundation. Kay has been an active Master Gardener volunteer for years and was one

of the founding board members of the Foundation. Dan, though never a Master Gardener,

continues to volunteer for the Program/Foundation. They were both given honorary lifetime

memberships with the Foundation during the MG appreciation dinner/dahlia tour that the Loi-

bl’s hosted on September 14.

(continued on page 3)

The Lowdown Page 3

We are so glad you are with us!

Lilly Doug 5-Oct

Neuffer Julie 9-Oct

Morris LuWanna 11-Oct

McKenny Carol 15-Oct

Dentler Bruce 16-Oct

Hartanov Claudia 18-Oct

Schultz Carol 20-Oct

Callum Kathy 23-Oct

Smith Roberta 28-Oct

(continued from page 2)

In other news, I got a chance to sit in on the MG Program’s Advisory Board’s Sep-

tember meeting. They are transitioning from being “advisory” to taking on more

of a leadership role for the volunteers. I am excited by the possibilities that this

can create. As President of the Foundation, I will work with the Foundation

Board to help give this new effort the wings it needs to fly in any way that we

can.

Next Foundation board meeting is October 16th at 10 a.m. in the extension conference room. This meeting

will serve as the Annual Meeting of the Foundation as well as performing some of regular meeting tasks.

Remember: Dig plants for the Garden Fair.

The Lowdown Page 4

Ronde de Nice zucchini

The Ronde de Nice zucchini are great, but they MUST be picked when they are the size of an eight ball. Even at the size of a soft ball, the seeds in the center start to darken, the fruit smells wrong, and it is way too seedy. Using a bag might even be the best way to grow zucchini so you don’t have so much of it. This is a nice cultivar with much lighter green skin and a pleasing snakeskin look instead of the plain old dark green. The skin is very thin and tender. I did some shredding and freezing for zucchini cake this winter.

Rouge Vif d’Etampes pumpkin

This has been the most exciting success for me on the deck this year. Good growth shows in the photos about three weeks apart in September; about six pumpkins are growing. The vines sprawled all over like I hoped they might, and the first pumpkin to show up tucked itself into a bed of decorative sweet potato vine about three feet above where the plant was growing in a bag.

Rolande and Mascotte bush beans

These two cultivars are a definite yes. Easy to grow in a bag, staking not nec-essary, dump out the whole bag when finished. They were tender and deli-cious and there were enough to harvest at one time to make it worthwhile. We had several meals and I had enough to share with a friend several times. Rolande was ready before Mascotte by about two weeks and that was actual-ly kind of nice to not have a dump truck load to freeze or can, just enough to be reasonable for regular dinners for about a month.

(continued on page 5)

Potager in a Pot 2017

What can you grow in a pot?

What should you grow in a pot?

Final Update

By Lynn Meyers

The Lowdown Page 5

(continued from page 4)

Parisian Pickling Cucumbers

The Parisian pickling cukes did not get turned into pickles like I hoped. A bag is not enough to make pickles; what was I thinking, of course not! But they were delicious sliced, sprinkled with salt to draw out some of their liquid for a few hours, then sop up excess moisture with paper towels & marinate in the classic vinegar/sugar water mixture a few more hours. Very good, but you need to grow more than one bag of these if you want to make pickles. I gave them an inverted tomato cage with the legs bent out to climb on, and it worked OK but was pretty tippy and precarious at first. I think this would be a good one to grow in a “real” garden or perhaps with a better setup.

Little Marvel Peas

What I learned about peas: this is something one definitely needs to grow quite a bit of, or else not bother. I feel like I had about one dozen peas, after shelling. It may have been a handful—just enough to stir into a batch of mushroom risotto the last five minutes of cooking. They took forever to get started, were fussy about their spot, then once the weath-er got hot so quickly, they still didn’t like their spot, too hot now, please help us, etc. I could almost hear them complaining out there. This seems like something one needs to have at least a “bed” of, if not some classic rows in a garden plot. I’m on the fence about whether or not to try these again in a different location and maybe plant quite a few more.

Mignonette Alpine strawberries from seed

I was very skeptical about these making it to task completion like the seed packet said, but they did! You have probably grown these before; they are nearly just decorative plants since it takes about three berries to make one actual bite. But the flavor is amazing. They taste almost perfumed they are so sweet and vibrant. I can see why they suggest these in a hanging basket. It’s a very pretty plant and then you can pop one in your mouth when you walk by, but you couldn’t get enough to make even one jar of jam. It hardly qualifies as an edible plant at all, there is so little there, and yet what IS edible is just delicious.

The verdict is still out on growing carrots in a container. When I thinned them, they were skinnier than a #2 pencil, so it would surprise me if they turn out to be a big suc-cess, but time will tell. All in all, it was a fun experimental year and some of it I will do again next year!

The Lowdown Page 6

Fact Sheet Update

Here are the websites to find our publications:

For our local county pubs: http://extension.wsu.edu/spokane/master-gardener-program/home-

lawn-and-garden/

For WSU (statewide) publications: http://gardening.wsu.edu/ or http://pubs.wsu.edu/

Gardening in Washington (statewide publications):

The links below should take you directly to the fact sheet

Mycorrhizal Fungus FS269E.pdf Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott has produced anoth-er informative fact sheet to help us understand Mycorrhizal fungi. These are the fungi that can form symbiotic relationships with plant roots. How can you garden to create a favorable environment for them? Click on the link and see!

Hugelkultur FS283E Another fact sheet by Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott, this one takes a look at the peer reviewed science around hügelkultur. This is a practice we partially incorporated into the raised bed gardens here at the Extension office. We put branches and small logs into the bed under the soil, but didn’t create a true “mound garden.”

Not Gardening but still of interest:

Protecting Your Identity FS281E Identity theft is a fast-growing crime, and this new fact sheet outlines steps you can take to reduce your personal risk.

The Lowdown Page 7

BEE A DOUBLE FUN WINNER AT THE BANQUET!

Attention all Master Gardeners: a special deal for you!

Win a $50 shopping spree for both you and for a friend. We have fabulous gift certificates generously donated from area nurseries just waiting to go home with you!

Register for the Double Fun drawing by emailing your name and the name of your non-MG guests to Jan at shellmj@comcast.net.

Fall Banquet Thursday, November 2 at The Lincoln Center

Tickets on sale now at Brown Paper Tickets

Purchase online or over the phone

1-800-838-3006

The Lowdown Page 8

2017 FALL BANQUET

We know you have already accessed the Fall Banquet Auction Cat-alogue online or in print, and have started your holiday shopping plans. Will you win the Northern Quest Getaway with overnight

stay and dinner at Masselow’s Steakhouse? Will you take home the gorgeous handmade quilt and season tickets to the Arbor Crest Winery Concert Series? Our auction is bigger and better this year, just like the Dessert Dash!

We can’t wait to share the evening with you and welcome our fantastic keynote speaker this year, Rich Hatfield, Senior Conservation Biologist with The Xerces Society.

Doors open at 4:00. Please join us to celebrate the end of the gardening season and spend some quality time together. See you at the banquet!

SEPTEMBER 2017 QUIZ ANSWERS

1. Amazon Smile and Fred Meyer

2. September 14, 5 pm—8 pm

3. Yakima on September 20 –23

4. Lincoln Center, November 2, 4 pm until we are kicked out!

5. Rich Hatfield

6. Rust patched bumblebee

7. True

8. Yes

9. Eleven

10. False

11. Drought and salts

12. Water transportation

13. No

14. Fungal pathogen propagation

15. No

The Lowdown Page 9

OCTOBER 2017 QUIZ

1. What was the amount of the check the Foundation gave to the MG Program for 2017?

2. Was this more or less than the Foundation had committed to provide?

3. When is the MGFSC Fall Banquet?

4. Where is this banquet being held?

5. Will it be there next year?

6. Which two wonderful people have been given honorary lifetime memberships to MGFSC?

7. What role will the MG Advisory Board be taking in the coming year?

8. What should we be doing now to prepare for Garden Fair 2018?

9. How big should a Ronde de Nice zucchini be when it is harvested?

10. What was Lynn Myers’ most exciting success in her potager this year?

11. Which two bush beans were successful on Lynn’s porch?

12. Which variety of cucumbers did not get pickled by MG Myers?

13. Which vegetable would benefit from growing in a traditional garden, not a potager?

14. Mignonette Alpine strawberries from seed are a good choice for making lots of jam? True/False

15. Is growing carrots in containers recommended by Lynn Myers?

16. What type of gardening was partially tried at the Extension office that had its peer-reviewed

science investigated by Linda Chalker-Scott?

17. What do you win if you are a ‘Double Fun’ winner at the 2017 Fall Banquet?

18. How do you register for the Double Fun drawing at the Banquet?

19. Where do you go to purchase Banquet tickets online?

20. What can you do if you call 1-800-838-3006?

21. If you go to the Fall Banquet will you find things exactly the same as it was at the 2016 banquet?

How will it be different?

22. When can you begin enjoying the company of other MGs at the Banquet?

Extension programs and policies are consistent with federal and state laws and regulations on nondiscrimination regarding race, sex, religion, age, color, creed, national or ethnic origin; physical, mental, or sensory disability; marital status, sexual orientation, or status as a Vietnam-era or disabled veteran. Evidence of noncompliance may be reported through your local Extension office.

Calendar of Events

The Fall Classes (Oct 7, 14, and 21) are canceled.

Tuesday 10 MG Advisory Board Meeting 4 p.m. Extension Conference Room

Wednesday 11 Intro to Home Food Preservation 5:30 p.m.—7:30 p.m.

Monday 16 MG Foundation Board Meeting 10 a.m. Extension Conference Room

Wednesday 18 Causes and Prevention of Food-borne Illnesses 5:30 p.m.—7:30 p.m.

Wednesday 25 Spoilage and Canning Basics 5:30 p.m.—7:30 p.m.

Thursday 26 MG Graduation 2017 4 p.m. Extension Classrooms

Tuesday 31 Halloween

Thursday 2 MGFSC Fall Banquet 4 p.m. Lincoln

Center

Monday 13 MG Foundation Board Meeting 10 a.m. Extension Conference Room

Tuesday 14 MG Advisory Board Meeting 4 p.m. Extension Conference Room

Thursday 23 Thanksgiving