Farmers Extraordinaire! Lil Sprouts at St
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Farmers Extraordinaire! Lil Sprouts at St. Patrick’s Garden Club The kids grew cabbages as big as their heads. -Alice Hinsch '15 Li'l Sprouts Garden Club, sponsored by St. Patrick Catholic School, is wrapping up another season in the garden, as the school year draws to a close. With co-leaders Tom West (Thursdays) and Olena Peter- son (Tuesdays) each working with a small group of NMG volunteers, the students used square-foot gardening methods and got an impressive yield from their raised beds. MASTER GARDNENER COLLEGE REGISTRATION OPEN Master Gardener College is headed to Norfolk this fall, Thursday through Sunday, September 19-22 (classes start a day earlier for Water Steward trainees, on Wednesday, September 18). All the information about costs, classes and more can be found in the spring edition of In Seasons, the online newsletter from the state VCE-MG Programs office. The current can be found here https://www.mastergardener.ext.vt.edu/in-season-archive/ and previous issues. Ready to register? Click here! https://register.cpe.vt.edu/portal/events/reg/participantTypeSelection.do?method=load&entityId=2346624 Those attending the whole series will choose up to four breakout sessions. Banquet on Thursday night at The Main is included, but you may want to join one of the optional tours during that day, and the Sunday picnic at HRAREC. Registration is open now through July 14 for all VCE-MGs. Interested interns should check with Chris Epes about the possibility of attending. Inside This Issue 2 ASK, Plant Sale Information 5 Annoying Weeds 3 Meet Peg Fitzgerald, Three R’s in Preschool 6 Bouquets, Slightly Wilted, Butterfly House 4 Outreach at NEX. Zoo Cart, NBG Talks 7 Meeting News, Howard Victor Art Enclosure: Calendar Norfolk Office: 830 Southampton Ave. Suite 2069 , Norfolk, VA 23510-1001 office 757.683.2816 fax 757.683.2300 ASK at Taylor’s For the fifth year, Norfolk Master Gardeners have participated at the two Norfolk Taylor’s Do It Center stores for their two big spring Gar- den Parties .The second Saturday's event was part of the marathon April weekend where we had at least five other events scheduled. This year we talked to about 200 people over four total outings. The store managers have been gracious in accommodating us and we in turn have helped them selling “the right plant for the right place.” Thanks to all that worked at these events. Norfolk Master Gardeners Blanch Wise, Ginger Mayer, Jeanie Carlson, Sue Howren at the Little Creek Road Store Still Time to Deliver Plants If you weren’t able to deliver your plants to Shirley’s by the Wednesday deadline, please bring them to the Hille- gass House tomorrow between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Please, no deliveries after this time. The Hillegass family home is at 801 Stockley Gardens near the corner of Raleigh Ave and Stockley. Don’t forget: plants must be labeled (plastic 1 inch mini-blinds work best - write in pencil). Labels should in- clude both common name and Botanical name and growing conditions: S = sun A = annual PL= pollinator PS = partial shade/partial sun P = perennial N = native SH = Shade Call or email Barbara Wilson at 339-4829 or [email protected] Working the Plant Sale? If you have one of these sporty colors, please plan to wear it. If not, that's okay, just don't forget your badge and lan- yard. MEET PEG FITZGERALD– CLASS OF 2006 Peg’s journey with the Master Gardeners has been interesting in that she joined the Norfolk Master Gardeners, Class of 2006, but in 2008 she took a Civil Service job and moved to Maryland where she joined the Calvert County Master Gardeners. After two years she moved to St. Mary’s County, where she served the St. Mary’s County Master Gardener Association. Lucky for us, Peg retired and moved back to Norfolk in 2017 and resumed her tenure in Norfolk. Peg and her twin sister were born in California but moved to Wisconsin at an early age. Her mother always had a vegetable garden and little flower gardens and her memories of gardening sparked her desire to become a Master Gardener. In 2006 she retired from the U.S. Navy, was between jobs, and it was the opportune time for her to fulfill this endeavor. Peg loves nature and the interaction between plants and living things, i.e. birds, butterflies, bugs. She is particularly interested in pest management, the control of insects using natural remedies. Her primary focus at this time is the Zoo Garden, but she also helps with other activities including the plant sale. Peg is working on her Master’s Degree at St. Leo University and she expects to graduate in May 2020 with a degree in Criminal Justice. Peg’s twin sister recently moved here and their four-legged children, Baxter, Darby, and Kizmit make up the family home. -Submitted by Eileen Balance '15 The 3Rs in Preschool By Kate Melhuish '04 The 3Rs used to refer to Reading, Writing and ‘Rithmatic. But when it comes to very little kids and learning about the environment, Norfolk Master Gardeners have a completely different game plan. Did you know that NPS preschools devote a whole month to a Reduce-Reuse-Recycle curriculum? And the chil- dren absorb a lot. If only every grade level in every school could teach that, think how much easier would be our role as volunteer educators! We were asked to visit two schools in April to support the 3Rs curriculum: Lindenwood Elementary near Tide- water Drive, and St. Helena Elementary in the Berkley section of Norfolk. The children already knew a lot about Being Green. But “compost” was a new concept for most of them…until we arrived with a home-made worm bin, courtesy of Linda Ahlgrim. During our sessions the preschoolers practiced what materials to recycle, what to trash, and what can be composted. And they loved investigating the wiggly worms – every gardener’s best friends. Community Outreach at the NEX Volunteers needed to assist with Community Outreach at the NEX Garden Center on two Saturdays per month May through October, 10:00 am-2:00 pm. You do not need to have a military or spouse ID card to volunteer at the NEX Garden Center As always, I really appreciate those who volunteer! And the folks at the NEX appreciate our coming to educate their guests. Please feel free to: Email me: [email protected] Call me: 757.818.1044 Text me: 757.818.1044, please identify yourself in your text. Thank you very much!! Michèle DuCoté Michèle at the NEX for Earth Day in April Zoo Horticultural Cart Volunteers needed to assist at the Zoo Horticultural Cart on Thursdays for the months of May through September. We will be starting Garden Tales (10:45 am-12:15 pm) on May 9th and it runs until June 6th. Then Thyme in the Garden (9:45 am-12:15 pm) starts on June 13th and runs through Labor Day. At that point Garden Tales resumes and runs through the end of October. As always, I appreciate each and every one of you greatly! Without each of you, there would be no Zoo Cart. Please feel free to: Email me: [email protected] Call me: 757.818.1044 Text me: 757.818.1044, please identify yourself in your text. Thank you very much!! Michèle DuCoté NBG Free Garden Walk and Talks Enchanted Forest, May 18th, 10:30 a.m. - 12 noon. Fragrant Roses, May 21st, 1:30 - 3 p.m. Pre-registration is not required and the event is free with garden admission. A Most Annoying Weed By Mike Distefano '16 Galium Aparine tops my list of annoying weeds. I’m usually not one to worry about weeds. I let them grow because I have quite a dislike of the “manicured lawn.” Weeds are just plants that people don’t find to be pretty or fragrant but they’re great for pollinators and birds, serving both as a food source and a habitat. Aparine is originally from Europe and Asia but it’s now naturalized in the Americas. This guy is a handsome weed but he has sticky green balls. The tiny balls stick to everything, be it fur or fabric. A summer’s walk through the field can end in an hour of picking the pesky seed pods from clothing, socks, and even shoe laces. The balls are pods containing about three seeds each. They’re not actually sticky. They’re covered with tiny hooked bristles that function like Velcro. In fact, one of the most descriptive names of this weed is the “Velcro Plant”, other names are “Goosegrass”, “Sticky Weed” and “Sticky Willie”, among many. Galium Aparine is a shade-loving annual. The name is derived from the Greek word for milk, because the sap was used to curdle milk for making cheese. Aparine is from the Greek word Apario, meaning to “lay hold of” or “seize.” The Velcro plant is considered invasive and noxious. I call it “Joe Weed” after a dog named Joe. He came around one day, and he was covered with these little green balls. It took a couple of hours to pick him free. Joe inadvertently participated in one of nature’s great seed dispersal methods. Even slick-coated cats will pick them up. As mentioned before, it’s an eye catching weed that grows outward, then up and over other plants. The stems are square quadrangular rather than round, and the leaves are arranged in whorls with tiny white flowers that ultimately produce the grasping pods, or Burdocks.