September October 2020 Inside this issue: MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT Calendar of Events 2 Keeping in Touch 3‐4 August 14th 2020 Message from Evan ‐ 5 Some facts on Bats & Bees 5 The summer has flown by. In 2 weeks I will be leaving my place on the coast of Maine to An Inner View—Dawb 6 return to Wisconsin. This summer I added planngs along the perimeter of my Maine home; (I le the gardens of our Friendship home in the extremely capable hands of my How to Store Fruit/Veggies 7‐11 Fuel the Gardening Trend 12 husband). I watered them, nourished them and watched them flourish and spread. I added a few new plants to my repertoire. However, my greatest accomplishment this summer was Jumping Worms 13 building a zen garden. I am a water person, so I used driwood scks to show the flow of Back Page 14 water. I placed large rocks from the beach throughout my Zen space. Next year I'm going to build a small wall of landscaping stones to both enclose and draw aenon to my Zen garden. Then I will place my various pots and planngs on a thick bed of river stone. I'm anxious to get started!! 2020 MG OFFICERS PRESIDENT: Robynn Preston 608-339-8064 VICE PRESIDENT: Cindy Wagner 414-483-6069 SECRETARY: Donna Bulahog 715-416-3646 TREASURER: Joanne Ellio 608-584-5216 2020 BOARD MEMBERS Dawn Davidshofer 309-267-4423 Florence Johnson 608-339-6570 Gardens are a forever 'work in progress'. That may be the driving force behind my love of Della Julseth gardening. I enjoy the constant change. I so miss meeng with fellow Adams County Master 608-339-0128 Gardeners. Spring and now summer have come and gone without evidence of the contribu- Rosemary Pisley 608-547-6212 ons of Adams County Master Gardeners in our community. No one knows the path this (or any virus) will take and its subsequent impact on our daily acvies. However, if it happens EXTENSION COMMITTEE Chairman - Florence Johnson that next year, Master Gardeners are not allowed to meet and work as a group, i will work Vice Chair - Paul Pisellini with our ACMGA to create a way to be present in our community. Just a note before I sign Commiee - Jodi Schappe off. Cindy Wagner deserves a HUGE thank you for acng as the ACMGA representave with Commiee - David Zelenski the AFE school garden. She dedicated many hours and toil to measuring and distribung the Commiee-Robert Ness Commiee - Onufry Karch garden produce to the Grand Marsh food pantry. Thank you so very much Cindy. Commiee - Raechel Kosler With soil under our nails, Your president, NEWSLETTER COORDINATORS Evan Henthorne - 608-339-4237 Robynn Preston Cindy Wagner - 414-483-6069 In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks.—John Muir September 8 - PENDING Board Meeting Community Center, 9:30 A.M. members welcome October 13 - PENDING Board Meeting Community Center 9:30 A.M. members welcome October 27 - PENDING Annual Meeting 6:00 P.M. Adams Township Town Hall 1980 11th Ave- nue Friendship NEWSLETTER SUBMISSIONS Articles and ideas for this newsletter may be submitted to our editors, Cindy Wagner, [email protected] or Evan Henthorne, [email protected] KEEPING IN TOUCH EDITOR’S NOTE: recently I sent out a broadcast email to all members who I have an email address for. I asked for comments on what everyone is doing to stay safe and sane during these strange pandemic times. Here are the comments I received in response to my email. If you would like to let me know how you’re doing so we can publish in the next newsletter, please call me at (414) 483-6069. Dawn Davidshofer: Doing: Dodging garter snakes Slowly processing two downed trees for burning in a brush pile Watering the two cucumber plants and daisies that were given to me Staining the back deck Working part time Next on the list: Break down twigs for tinder Move a pile of firewood and stack it Burn brush piles Not getting done: Basic housekeeping Since there is no true gardening...you can fire me and I'll understand. The creaon of a thousand forests is in one acorn.—Ralph Waldo Emerson Mike Boucher At Villa Pines when our residents go outside for some fresh air and sunshine in our courtyard, they can enjoy the raised garden box. It works well for wheelchairs, as they can roll right up to it! This year it is filled with cherry tomatoes and green beans. We had to put some bird netting over it to keep the deer out, but the residents can still get in, and a few red tomatoes disappear every day! If flowers are your preference we have plenty of them to enjoy as well! Villa Pines raised garden box KEEPING IN TOUCH Cindy Wagner I have been devoting a lot of time and attention to my flowers and vegetable gardens. So instead of looking 50% dismal at this time of year, they are looking only about 25% dismal. I also like to do various craft projects. Here’s a picture of a sign I made. Background story: Last year we cut our own Christmas tree from our residential property. First time. It was such a mess that we agreed to never do that again. Thus, the sign, next to the trunk of last year’s tree. Dreams come true; without that possibility, nature would not incite us to have them.—John Updike Mike and Sharon Hartz We have been keeping busy as we normally do. Kind of “hiding in our woods”, gardening, cutting firewood for winter. From February through June we seldom went anywhere, but lately we do grocery pickups and pick up lunch for a picnic in a park somewhere weekly. It gets us out and helps put off isolation feelings. I’ve been doing yard art for the gardens, cutting grass, and renovating about 6,000 square feet of grass into the “no mow” grass from Prairie Nursery. Mike Hartz sculpture Hartz home Hello Adams County Master Gardeners! It is crazy how fast time has flown and how September is fastly approaching. I hope everyone has been enjoying Summer. I did want to remind everyone that the 10 hours of Continuing Education credits. The 24 hours of Volunteer hours was waived for this year. Once the state office gives us guidance that we can meet again, I look forward to connecting with all of you. Keep up all the great work you do as Master Gardeners!! Please reach out with any questions or concerns. ~Evan In nature, nothing exists alone.—Rachel Carson An Inner View with Dawn Davidshofer by Cindy Wagner Editors note: We thought it would be nice, from me to me, to get to know our fellow gardeners beer. This month our interviewee is one of our new board members, Dawn Davidshofer. 1– Where are you from / where were you born? I was born in Rockford, IL. I grew up in LaMoille, IL. There were 22 kids in my high school graduang class. I spent my adult life in the Bloomington, IL area and moved to Friendship in 2017 aer taking early rerement. 2– What do you do for fun? I love day trips and playing with my two pups. One is an Australian shipherd mix‐ (Max) Manux. I spin his caramel colored hair into yarn. And the other is a small Doberman mix‐ (Edvard) Munch. Both are named aer famous dead Norwegians. I also like to knit socks. 3– What’s your favorite food? Hot proteins: beef, pork, chicken… 4– What’s your favorite color? Navy blue 5– Cake or pie? a. cake– frosng only b. pie– fruit or cream c.. Cookies 6– Coffee or tea? Neither. Diet Pepsi and hot chocolate. 7– If you have a bucket list, tell us something that’s on it. Bike ride through the arcc circle in Norway. Kirkenes to Mon I Rana. Learn to play the fiddle. 8– Can you tell us one thing that people would be surprised to know about you. I was arrested when I was younger and had a court‐appointed aorney and the judge placed me on court supervision l midnight. I as arrested underage in a bar; since my cousin, JuJu Donini, moved our drinks off the table, I was charged with loitering. 9– Why did you join Master Gardeners? I was recruited by Mary Anne. 10– Tell us something about your garden(s). My gardens consist of two perennial beds, two cucumber plants and weeds up to my knees and no lawn mower. My property is also being taken over by rogue wild raspberry plants. How to Store Fresh Fruit and Vegetables for Months Without a Refrigerator Storing fresh fruit and vegetables from the garden is an easy task in the summer months. However, once the cooler months roll around, the abundance of produce is so overwhelming that not even our fridges can keep up. Ulizing fridges as our main source of food preservaon isn’t always the best, either. There are sev‐ eral downfalls that come with using a refrigerator to preserve food. For example, the nutrional val‐ ue of foods will decrease if kept for over several weeks, and if your home experiences a power out‐ age, all of that food could potenally go to waste. How Did Our Ancestors Preserve Food? You might have wondered at some point in your life – how did my ancestors preserve a whole win‐ ter seasons worth of frost‐intolerant produce? While the techniques vary widely across cultures, the main method of food preservaon was by ulizing a root cellar, storing large amounts of produce in the cool underground.