Volume 15 No. 4 JuJlyuly//August 2016 Inside Dirt Henderson County Master Gardener Newsletter
Upcoming Meetings: Meetings are held at noon on the third Wednesday of the month at the East Texas Arboretum 1601 Patterson Rd, Athens TX
The Perks of Not Being a Wallflower by Lydia Holley July 20, 2016
Too hot to work outside? Take Master Gardening August 17, 2016 a break to plan your fall class at Trinity Valley garden, or think about Community College. Fees becoming a Henderson County include a $135 registration fee Master Gardener. and $50 for a handbook which Inside : is distributed on the first day of President's Message 1 Whether you are an class. experienced or novice Summer Vegetable Saute 2 gardener, we are looking for After completing the course, Passion Flower Vine 3 people willing to volunteer and interns volunteer a minimum Save the Dates 4 share gardening information. of 50 hours to the Master Summer Series 5 You can easily pick up an Gardening Program within a application at our Summer year. There are numerous Children's Garden Year in Series programs, call programs and opportunities in Review 6 903-675-6130 to request an which to acquire hours. Once State Conference 7 application, or find one online certified, Master Gardeners What you need to know at maintain volunteer and henderson-co-tx-mg.org/about- continuing education about Tomatoes 8 us/becoming-mg/2016-MG- requirements. What to do NOW 9 Application.pdf. Applications should be returned by August Although a lot is required of a 19. Texas Master Gardener, we love it! (con't page 9) You then register for the Volume 15 No. 4 July / August 2016 2016 Officers President Lydia Holley VP Program & Administration Yvonne Sparks VP Member & Community Education Linda Schafer Secretary Barbara Penner Treasurer Susan Stokes Historian Cherie Tanneberger
Summer Vegetable Saute by Paula Winter One of the pleasures of vegetable 1 red bell pepper, gardening is harvesting your cut into chunks vegetables and then preparing them for 1 shallot, sliced a meal. And even if you don’t have a ¼ teaspoon salt vegetable garden, there are coops and farmers markets that can also provide Freshly ground black pepper to tast you with fresh food. The following 1 pinch paprika recipe takes advantage of some of that Directions: summer bounty. It’s an easy, simple Heat olive oil and butter in a large recipe that really brings out the flavor skillet; cook and stir garlic in hot skillet of the vegetables, instead of covering it until softened, about 5 minutes. Add up. Enjoy! zucchini, yellow bell pepper, red bell Ingredients: pepper, and shallot; continue to cook 1 tablespoon olive oil and stir until tender, 1 tablespoon butter about 5 minutes 3 cloves garlic, finely more. Season with minced salt, pepper and 2 zucchini, halved paprika. lengthwise and sliced Adapted from: 1 yellow bell pepper, Allrecipes cut into chunks
Page 2 Volume 15 No. 4 July / August 2016 Passion Flower Vine By Martha Rainwater, (HCMG Intern 2015)
Passion flower vines fertilize it at all, water originally came from when conditions are dry tropical areas in South and your Passion Flower America, Central vine will take off. Wayward America and Mexico. vines can be controlled with Roman Catholic pruning so it does not take priests of the late over your garden. 1500s named it for the Passion of Jesus Passion Flower vines require very little care once Christ. The flower’s established. They are very hardy and if frozen back five petals and five to the ground in winter, will still grow vigorously sepals represent the 10 from the disciples who base when remained faithful to the Jesus throughout the Passion. The circle of hair-like rays represent the crown of throne Jesus wore on the day of his death.
There are 400-500 different species of the Passion Flower vine. The flower comes in different shapes and colors of large showy flowers, twining temperatures foliage and is an easy rise. They many attributes of the passion flower to grow perennial. vine, aside from amazingly striking blooms and the The vine produces a edible fruit, include its qualities of pest and disease light green or yellow resistance, its heat and salt tolerance and it fruit that can be eaten adaptability to various soil conditions. It’s also the or made into a drink. larval plant for several butterflies, mainly the Gulf Leaves can be cooked Fritillary and Zebra Longwing. or eaten raw in a salad. Passion Flower vines can be grown from the seed of Plant your Passion the fruit, but it is easier if you simply dig up the Flower vine in the small plants that are springing up around the vine light shade where it from its underground roots and transplant them. can climb on a fence or trellis. Mulch it, lightly