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DCM GA 1989-2009 CELEBRATING 20 YEARS TABLE OF VOLUME XII , ISSUE 4 DECEMBER 2009 CONTE NTS Gardening for Pleasure and the Planet GARDEN 1 INFOFEST Garden InfoFest NEW KIDS 3 on the BLOCK... The sun was just coming over the tree The usual Garden InfoFest fanfare was tops when out of the shadows a convoy available for all to participate: silent PLANTS, POTS 4 of 50 plus Denton County Master auction treasures, abundant door AND PEOPLE Gardeners filed through the gates of prizes, yummy 4-H food concessions, Upper Trinity Regional Water District. JMG games galore and fabulous shop- BOOK REVIEWS 6 Tucked into their cars and pickups ping. Highlights of the day were found were all kinds of goodies they needed by all inside and outside the venue. DCMGA AWARDS 7 that day. Slowly but surely, they Speakers and DCMGA demonstrations paraded around the highlighting the ‘hot topics’ enticed MINUTES 8 grounds unloading the visitors and kept them spellbound. equipment, setting All around the scene Master Gardeners ASK THE MG 9 up canopies and revealed tools of the trade, declared RIDING THE tables, assembling words of wisdom and instructed intelli- 10 RAILS demonstrations and gently. As the day wore on the wind putting the final began to stir, the clouds began to NEWSY NEWS 11 touches to their designated talents. darken, Master Gardeners loaded up As the sun touched the sky all were their wares and filed out one by one CHRISTMAS ready to greet over 200 visitors from satisfactorily knowing they had 12 LUNCH around the county to share with them fulfilled their mission. everything they wanted to learn about EARTHKIND ‘Water Conservation’ and ‘Fall SPECIALIST 14 TRAINING Vegetable Gardening’ . These topics, chosen early in the planning stages by MEET THE 2010 the members due to their growing BOARD OF 16 DIRECTORS popularity in the community, were the focus of the 2009 Garden InfoFest held PRESIDENT’S 18 on a fabulous fall day in October. CORNER Upon entering GENERAL the gates guests 19 MEETINGS were greeted by Brother Nature COOL SHADE 20 and the sound of FOR 3RD GRADE bubbling water as it cascaded over the DCMGA 20th RETREAT 22 Anniversary Cake Fountain. 2010 BOARD/ See more pictures on Page 2 24 COMMITTEES page 1 2009 GARDEN INFOFEST FALL VEGETABLE GARDENING C O N S W E A R T V E A R T I O N New Kids on the Block... Lots of new faces running around DCMGADCMGA----herehere are a few of their stories... ANA THOMPSON... for the last two years Marti Wall ... has been living in Denton for has lived in Argyle moving from Rhode Island. She 42 years, living in Gonzales, Tx (South Central) before she landed here. She enjoys all flowers and finds the heat to be a formidable factor when gar- vegetable gardening. Marti plans to install a new dening. Ana’s passion is ROSES, ROSES and ROSES. landscape plan and reduce the amount of turf She has 47 rosebushes in her garden that she area. She has three granddaughters who, so far, planted in 2008. She plans to rework her garden to share her love of plants. employ the best practices and everything she learned in Master Gardener class. IMOGENE AND DON WIER... have Laurel Wallace…lives in the Cross Roads lived in Denton for eight years after making the for the last ten years, coming over from Seal Beach rounds in Kansas, Iowa, Oklahoma, Borger and Odessa, Tx. They find the plants and environment in Southern California. The climate was so mild in different here, but now have the time to work and that part of California Laurel could grow every- learn gardening. Imogene and Don plan to learn thing. She loves all flowers, especially those that how to handle the different environments of sun attract birds and butterflies to her gardens. She and shade in their garden. Don worked for Phillips plans to redo some of her gardens and apply what Petroleum Company and Imogene became familiar she has learned in class. Laurel loves that the re- with land-grant colleges and extension service mainder of her immediate family have found their through 4-H while attending Kansas State. way to Texas. MARTHA “MARTY’ WINGO... has lived in Denton for the last eight plus years, coming all the way from Frisco! She has a passion for St. Augustine grass, Pecan trees, butterfly gardening and fra- grance in the gardens. She will be redesigning, installing and maintaining 5 different gardening ‘zones’ in her yard after she completes class. Marty is a retired police officer and volunteers as a Sexual Assault Survivor Advocate for Denton County Friends of the Family. Her daughter is a 3rd year Veterinary student at A&M, and she has five grandchildren! “Like the musician, the painter, the poet, and the rest, the true lover of flowers is born, not made. And he is born to happiness in this vale of tears, to a certain amount of the purest joy that earth can give her children, joy that is tranquil, innocent, uplifting, unfailing. Given a little patch of ground, with time to take care of it, with tools to work it and seeds to plant in it, he has all he needs.” CELIA THAXTER (1835(1835----1894)1894) page 3 Plants, Pots and People Gardeners meet at Fairoaks BARBARA BURGIN A fun time was had by all who attended the 6-pack party at Fairoaks Retirement Community. On Tuesday, October 20th 3 ½ Master Gardeners, 5 ½ members of the Garden Culture Club spent several hours planting daffodils and arranging fall flowers in flower posts and flower beds. (I counted myself as the ½, belonging to both MG’s and the Garden Club). MG’s and Garden Club members were asked to bring a 6-pack of flowers or a bag of potting soil. They responded with a bounty of flowers and a ton of potting soil. We had flats of pansies, snapdragons, dusty miller, dianthus and mums to plant; we even had several blue- bonnets that were grown from seed by a member of my garden club! We had enough do- nated planting soil to not only refresh the existing pots, but we were able to fill and plant extra flower pots to give to any resident who wanted them. The Garden Culture Club donated 100 daffodils to Fairoaks. We planted 50 Carlton (large 14- 18"), 25 Jetfire (a miniature 10") and 25 Tete a Tete (a miniature 6"), all solid yellow in color and on the top 10 list for our area. I can hardly wait until this spring when they bloom! The residents had signed up to have the flowers planted and many came to the potting site to help plant or help in selecting the plants for their pots. Other residents who were not at home or unable to come found their flower pots filled with an assortment of beautiful fall flowers. The weather was windy, but we all had a good time planting and visiting. Three groups of gardeners all working together! If you visit Fairoaks you will see many colorful flower pots proudly displayed on tables, porches and in flower beds. A special thank you to the gardeners who helped with the fall planting, I couldn’t have done it without you! Master Gardeners: Wally Gehrke Al Kirchhoff Marry Morris Garden Culture Club: Charlie Marie Goss Karen Peden Renate Schwalm Susan Thomas Brigitte Yarborough Garden Club Members who donated soil and flowers but were unable to attend: Gay Lynn Bynum Carol Copeland Marie Harris Linda Mash Thank you one and all, Barbara page 4 Plants, Pots and People Pics TURTLES AND AND BIRDS DRAGONFLIES OH MY! FROM AROUND LYNDA HARVEY’S GARDENS page 5 BOOK REVIEWS BRENT BLOECHLE Compost: The Newspaper Natural Way to Pennies Make Food for Your Cardboard Garden and Eggs for Growing a by Ken Thompson Better Garden DK Publishing, 2007 By Roger Yepsen With all of those leaves blowing around your yard and neighborhood, it is time to gather them up and put them to good Tips, tips, and more tips, over 400 use in your yard. hundred great ideas for a better garden using simple to follow suggestions. The Ken Thompson provides a useful guide for growing and fertilizing suggestions are the gardener to use in creating compost organic. for their home landscape. The author takes you step by step from what The broad topics covered are: material to use to how to use it in your Seed Starting and Saving garden. About a third of the book covers Planting and Transplanting what compost is, how it is created from Soil, Compost, and Fertilizing the breakdown of organic matter, and Weeds and What to Do about Them what organic matter you should use for Getting a Leg Up on Pests and successful composting. A wide selection Diseases of compost bins and piles is covered with The Vegetable Plot the pluses and minuses of each dis- Flowers in Beds and Plots cussed. When you have successfully cre- Growing and Enjoying Herbs ated compost, the author details how it Tools, Supports, and Storage can be used in the landscape, in potting Out in the Yard or as a soil amendment. This is a great guide for helping an individual with a You can open this book up and find garden understand how to recycle their something interesting on every page. yard waste, rather than sending it to the There are many, many fun garden landfill or burning it. activities that can be enjoyed by the entire family. page 6 Tear out sheet and bring with you to the Christmas lunch on Dec 9 Select one name from each category: VETERANS • Educator Award: Someone who has shared their knowledge with the rest of our group or the public at large.