May

Vol. 28, No. 5 Editors: Julie Stark/Lisa Slattery

LINN COUNTY

MASTER GARDENER EVENTS

Steering Committee Meeting Extension Office May 1 • 6:30 pm

Extension Council Meeting Extension Office

May 14 • 5:00 pm

Executive Council Meeting Extension Office

May 21 • 3:00 pm

United Way Day of Caring May 10

See Page 4 for Locations/Times

Charlene Woeste Plant Sale American Legion Post 298 625 31st Street, Marion Drop off Plants for Sale May 18 • by 3:00 pm

Plant Sale May 19 • 8:00-12:00

What’s Inside…

Banquet Recap—Pages 1-3

Community Outreach Garden

Needs—Page 4

A Note from our Director—Page 5-6

Ecofest Draws Large Crowd—Page 6

Plant Sale Q&A—Pages 7-9

Creative Garden Series—Page 10

“Seeds of Kindness” Garden Walk—

Page 10

Expert Ed: Jason Evans—Page 11

Noelridge Open Houses—Page 12

Volunteers Needed—Page 13

Steering Cmte—Pages 14-15

May 2018

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Annual Spring Banquet Recognizes Linn County Master Gardeners By Beth Roof Mistresses of Ceremonies, Karla McGrail and Lisa Hinzman Howard, hosted the annual Spring Awards Banquet on April 17 (photo below).

Held at The Flamingo restaurant, the banquet recognizes the individual and collective achievements of the Linn County Master Gardeners for the

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prior year 2017. RaeAnn Barnhart, Extension Director and Jim Harken, Regional Director for Linn, Jones and Benton Counties thanked the 110 attendees for their commitment to providing horticultural information and education to the citizens of Linn and surrounding counties. Several Master Gardener Committees and Projects were highlighted and awards were presented to the following:

Silver Star certificates were presented to Master Gardeners completing 100-199 volunteer hours in the past calendar year: Mike Anderson, Steve Bartlett, Kathy Carew, Julie Clemens, Linda Eggleston, Carol Elliott, Peggy Green, Doris Hardt, Linda Hayward, Linda Hinzman, Kathy Hughes, Vicki Keegan, Sylvia Kelley, Sam Krumbholz, Becki Lynch, Debbie Main, Donna McCabe, Karla McGrail, Jay McWherter, Kay McWhinney, Mary Mikkola, Tina Patterson, Beth Roof, Julie Stark, Shirley Thornton and Paula Wilson.

Gold Star to Master Gardeners completing 200 or more volunteer hours: Wil Carew, Devon Dietz, Beula Dvorak, Larry Edwards, Shelby Foley, Lelia Garner, Coleen Kint, Rose Milden, Phil Pfister, Fran Potratz, Doug Smith, Diane Stevens, Sue Usher, Deb Walser, Bev Whitmore, Diane Wiesenfeld and Karen Woeste.

Acknowledged for completing their first 500 accumulative hours were: Kathy Hughes, Sam Krumbholz, Julie Stark, Bev Whitmore and Diane Wiesenfeld. 1,000 hours: Steve Bartlett, Rose Milden and Karen Woeste. 3,000 Hours: Phil Pfister. 5,000 Hours: Deb Walser. 6,000 Hours: Devon Dietz. The Silver Trowel Award was presented to Coleen Kint for volunteering the most hours of any Master Gardener in 2017—514.75.

Silver Star (left to right): Vicki Keegan, Beth Roof, Sam Krumbholz, Kathy Carew, Kathy Hughes, Julie Stark, Linda Eggleston, Linda Hinzman, Shirley Thornton and Julie Clemens.

Gold Star (left to right): Doug Smith Sue Usher, Larry Edwards, Bev Whitmore, Wil Carew, Beula Dvorak, Phil Pfister, Shelby Foley, Devon Dietz and Coleen Kint.

First 500 Hours (left to right): Kathy Hughes, Julie Stark, Sam Krumbholz, Diane Wiesenfeld and Bev Whitmore.

Photos (left to right) 1,000 hours: Steve Bartlett; 3,000 hours: Phil Pfister; 5,000 hours: Deb Walser; 6,000 hours: Devon Dietz; Silver Trowel Award: Coleen Kint.

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May 3

Lifetime Master Gardener green badges were given to those completing 10 years of service and 1500 hours: Pam Brackey, Debbie Main and Phil Pfister. Keith Dearborn, Brenda Garbe, Helen McKinstry, Rose Milden, and Lisa Slattery will also be receiving their Lifetime Master Gardener designation.

Two Project Teams were awarded: the Germinator, 2017 Chairpersons, Julie Stark and Lisa Slattery; Hort Writers & Bloggers: Chairperson, Lisa Slattery and Writers, Becki Lynch, Judy Stevens, Linda Skvor, Tina Patterson and Denise Klemp. The New Project Team Award was given to Fall Curriculum/Flipped Classroom: Mike Anderson, Larry Dawson, Devon Dietz, Beula Dvorak, Doug Smith, Judy Stevens and Bev Whitmore. Jack-of-All-Trades honoree was Dick Faas. Friend of Linn County Master Gardeners were awarded to Kristie Benzine and Lori Farmer, city gardeners at the Noelridge Greenhouse and Gardens; Jon McWhinney and The Flamingo management and staff.

Outstanding New Master Gardener of the Year from the class just completed was presented to Julie Clemens. The Master Gardener of the Year was awarded to Kay McWhinney.

Linda Hinzman and Karla McGrail accepted a plaque as recipients of Iowa Master Gardeners 2017 Search of Excellence Award, for the Planting for Pollinators project. Becki Lynch also chaired this ISU recognized project.

The Awards Selection Committee, chaired by Vicki Keegan, included Wil Carew, Jane Schildroth, Doug Smith, Judy Stevens, and Deb Walser. Attendees enjoyed a pre-dinner social and buffet dinner. The room was decorated with strawberry plant centerpieces designed by Shelby Foley, planted and nourished by the Lowe Park Greenhouse Team. Dessert cookies were made by Doris Hardt, Louise Harn, and Sue Usher. Sam Krumbholz volunteered as the photographer. Jane Schildroth assisted with award presentation. Beth Roof served as chairperson for the banquet.

Photos (left to right): Project Team: Julie Stark; New Project Team Award: Beula Dvorak, Devon Dietz, Mike Anderson, Bev Whitmore and Doug Smith; Jack-of-All-Trades: Dick Faas; Friend of Linn County Master Gardeners: Kristie Benzine and Jon McWhinney.

Lifetime Master Gardener, Phil Pfister

Photos (left to right): Outstanding New Master Gardener of the Year, Julie Clemens; Master Gardener of the Year, Kay McWhinney.

Search for Excellence Award, Karla McGrail and Linda Hinzman.

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Community Outreach Gardens Project Needs By Beula Dvorak

The Community Outreach Gardens Project continues to Grow – Grow – Grow – as the interest in community gardening is on the increase. We need YOU to get involved with this exciting growing project.

Here are some immediate needs and opportunities to serve others with your gardening skills……

United Way Day of Caring – Thursday, May 10

Tanager Place Gardens - 8:00-Noon, cleaning off gardens, amending soil, digging out old flower beds, plant some early season crops

Olivet Mission Gardens - 1:00 pm, unloading, distributing compost & mulch

Catherine McAuley Gardens – Cleaning off gardens, prepping for planting.

Wellington Heights Gardens – 8:00 am-3:00 pm Transferring some of the raised beds to the original gardens across the street, repairing & filling beds, prepping for planting.

Educational Presentations at the following Gardens – To assist with twice monthly sessions throughout the growing season.

Department of Corrections

Old MacDonald Farms

Catherine McAuley

Tanager Place

Wellington Heights Neighborhood

Horizons

Looking for Seed/Plant Donations for any of these Community Gardens (Dept. Corrections, Old MacDonald Farms, Catherine McAuley, Tanager Place, Wellington Heights, Olivet, Horizons. If you have some to donate, please leave in the Hortline room in the next couple weeks.

If you are interested in participating in any of the above opportunities or just want to learn more about our project, please contact Beula Dvorak (Bdvorak4@aol.com or 895-8206), Project Chair ASAP.

May 5

A Note from Our County Director.. Dear Master Gardeners,

First and foremost, a huge Congratulations to all the Master Gardeners who received awards at the most recent Awards Banquet! The details of the event, which were coordinated by Beth Roof, are very much appreciated – we have so many talented and giving volunteers.

I wanted to take a moment to share that some of the names of Master Gardeners who earned the Lifetime Master Gardener designation this year were not read off and I extend my sincerest apology to everyone. This was not in any way a reflection of Beth’s coordination, but of a gap in communication between our office and Beth for which I take full responsibility.

Those receiving their Lifetime Master Gardener designation this year are as follows: Pam Brackey, Debbie Main, and Phil Pfister along with Rose Mildren, Brenda Garbe, Lisa Slattery, Keith Dearborn, and Helen McKinstry. Thank you for your years of service and commitment to our community.

Recently our experience has reminded me a lot of one of the many things I heard my great grandma saying, “Patience is a virtue”. So with that, I thank you all for your patience as we navigate the interim without a Master Gardener Coordinator. I wanted to share with you all just a few pieces of information:

Interim coordination – Janice and Johanna are helping out to insure that MGs are supported to deliver education and other programming. As this is a busy time of year and we are short-handed, we appreciate as much lead time as possible to order supplies, and arrange details of marketing, and logistics.

MG Coordinator position has been posted and we hope to be completing interview the week of May 7 or May 14. I will be asking for 2 Master Gardeners to serve on the interview team which will also include me, an office staff member and potentially a 4-H or youth programming staff person.

Travel outside of the county – I wanted to clear up some confusion about travel outside of the county which is allowable as long as these are coordinated through our office. Primarily MGs would do this with our Coordinator, and in the interim, please be in contact with me and I’ll work with our volunteers and out of county contacts. In speaking with other county directors, we want to insure in advance that we are not taking opportunities from MGs in other counties. This is not to suggest we would do this intentionally! We will also work with our partners to insure that MGs are getting travel cost reimbursed within our fiscal policies which not all MGs may be familiar with.

One of the things I want you all to know is that we are working really hard to improve communication from our office staff. This is a work in progress and will take us all working together to make these

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improvements. I’ve received some great feedback and suggestions to improve communication. This can be challenging given we have approximately 145 volunteers in the MG program, with multiple forms of communication.

Finally, please know that my door is always open to conversations, feedback, and dialogue to determine how we can all work best together to fulfill the mission of ISU Extension & Outreach and the Master Gardener programming! In the interim and as we bring on a new coordinator, I will be involved to a greater extent to improve our work together in service to our community.

Enjoy this beautiful weather and I do hope to see you all very soon!

In Partnership, RaeAnn Gordon – County Director

Ecofest Draws Large Crowd By Linda Hinzman

On April 21, several Master Gardeners and interns represented Linn County Extension at Ecofest, held at the NewBo market. The greenhouse had many offerings of herbs, succulents, container gardens, geraniums, and many other treasures. These were very popular, as always!

Planting for Pollinators offered a seed "biscuit" for a kiddo craft project, although some adults participated as well. These are similar to a seed ball, but larger. A variety of pollinator seeds were used in the biscuits and the parents left with instructions on planting the biscuit.

An estimated 100 biscuits will be growing plants for Pollinators this season!

May 7

2018 Charlene Woeste Plant Sale By Karen Woeste, Beula Dvorak and Phil Pfister, Co-Chairs

Sometimes I wonder if Mother Nature enjoys putting challenges in front of us when planning for the plant sale. As I am writing this, it is snowing, and cold, and as I walk around our yard, the only things up are some bulbs, rhubarb, garlic, chives and surprise lilies. The soil temperature in my garden at 4” is 40 degrees F, and the plant sale is just a month away. However, we have survived late springs before, and cold plant sale days, and I am sure we will again this year. It just challenges us.

So that said, the plant sale chairs and table leads met at the American Legion Hall to plan the layout for the sale. We are really looking forward to having the sale at this location. We will be able to receive plants on Friday, groom and price, and move to the point of sale. Saturday morning, we should be set up and ready to sell, although we will want to be there early just to ‘fine tune’ everything. So, unlike last year, the sale day will not be influenced by the weather.

The forecast for the end of the week and next week is for much warmer weather. Please check your perennials and start potting up plants for sale as soon as possible. We have an opportunity to really make this sale a success, despite the slow start to the growing season, we hope you will all contribute to make this sale a success.

The 2018 Charlene Woeste Plant Sale is scheduled for Saturday, May 19, 2018. This will be the 18th year the Linn County Master Gardeners have held a plant sale. This year, the sale will take place at the American Legion Post 298, 625 31st Street, Marion, IA. The hall is large enough that we should be able to hold the sale indoors, so no worries about weather like we had last year. This location also means we will not need to carry plants, tables, etc., up and down stairs, and that as plants arrive on Friday, we can groom, price and place them where they will be for sale, which means we will be able to setup the sale on Friday, instead of Saturday morning. We are very excited to try this new location.

Plant Sale Guidelines

Perennials and other plants need to be planted in their pots at least 3 to 4 weeks before the sale. This will give them time to recover from transplant shock and they will put on some nice growth during this time.

Do not plant up plants the night before the sale.

Do not plant up plants that are too large.

Make divisions of daylilies with 2 to 4 fans in each pot. Daylilies should be planted in a one gallon pot. Put a label in each pot with the name and color of the daylily.

Make divisions of hosta with 2 to 3 plants in each pot. If you are sharing some of your more expensive hosta, one plant could be enough, but two would make it sell better. Put the name of the hosta in each pot. If the name is not known just put ‘Name Unknown”. If you know the growth

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habit, please add that information (height, width, etc.). Also if it is one of your more expensive hosta, please suggest a selling price on the label.

Other perennials should have large enough divisions that will make them attractive to our shoppers. Put the name of the perennial, its cultivar if you know it, and the color, on the label in each pot. You can use an ice cream stick, white plastic knife or spoon, or a venetian blind as your label. There will be labels available at the Extension Office.

After planting up, water with a water-soluble fertilizer according to package directions. Water every 2 or 3 days, or as needed to encourage good root and top growth. Two weeks later, water with the same fertilizer at ½ strength. A day or two before the sale, groom each plant by removing any yellowed or dead leaves, or any weeds that have come up in the pot. Water each plant thoroughly.

Look at each plant, and decide if it looks like a plant you want to buy. If not, leave it at home, plant it out in your garden and bring it next year.

If you have plants that you would like to donate, but don’t know what they are, let us know as soon as possible. We will help identify them. To avoid confusion, if you use a pot that has a price written on it, please remove it or mark it out.

Plants should be taken to the American Legion no later than 3:00 p.m., Friday, May 18, 2018. If you need pots please contact Phil Pfister at 360-1734 or by email @ ppfister47@gmail.com.

FAQ’s for Master Gardeners

Where & when is the sale? This year, the sale will be at The American Legion Post 298, 625 31st Street, Marion, IA. The sale will take place Saturday, May 19, 2018, from 8:00 a.m. to noon.

Where do I park? The far east end of the American Legion parking lot.

What are we doing on Friday? We will be receiving plants at the American Legion all day Friday. We will need volunteers to assist with cleaning and pricing the plants and moving them to the sale area.

What are the tasks from 6:00 AM to 8:00 AM Saturday? Since we are able to set the sale up on Friday, we won’t have as much to do Saturday morning. However, since this is our first time in this location, we would like to have volunteers available to address any tasks the come up before the sale.

What happens during the Plant Sale? From 8:00 to noon, volunteers will be assisting customers, watering plants, helping at checkout, stocking plants, etc. We would like the volunteers to assist the customers as much as possible to make this a very enjoyable experience for our customers. We want them to come away feeling very good about the quality of product, knowledge, service and value they received at our Plant Sale.

What should I wear? Wear your MG name badge & dress for the weather. Even though we are inside, we will assist customers needing help

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moving their purchases to their vehicles. We would like everyone to wear their MG Polo shirts, but it is not required.

I signed up to volunteer at the Plant Sale but have not yet received my assignment. Will I be needed? Yes. Plan to arrive ready to volunteer when you indicated you are available. Look for Karen Woeste, Beula Dvorak, or Phil Pfister for direction.

What will be available at the Plant Sale? All sorts of plants! Also, there will be a dedicated space & cashier for sales of ISU Publications & our gardening handbook, “Getting Your Hands Dirty & Your Feet Wet Again” as well as free handouts. We will also offer garden art, tools, MGs.

Can MGs buy plants before the sale? No. We want the public to support this event because they look forward to quality and special plants, and that there is an adequate supply available.

Are donations being accepted of plants and garden art? Yes. However, only plants that are healthy & that are recommended to plant in our zone. Tools, garden art, etc., should be in good condition and priced to sell. If it doesn’t sell, plan on taking it back home.

Do we set up the tables before the sale, and take them down after the sale? No. The Legion staff will handle the tables for us.

What happens if it rains? Nothing. Sale continues.

What do we do with the leftover plants? MGs will be able to buy them at a reduced rate. The rest will be donated or pitched. Donated garden art items will be returned to the donor or used for other events.

Will there be snacks and food for MGs? We are looking into the availability of a room that we can use for snacks for the MG’s, but we don’t have that resolved. When we do, an email will be sent to let you know.

What happens at the end of the sale? We will need to collect all the left-over plants and other items not sold, pack up the cash registers, make sure wagons, hoses, etc., are picked up by their owners. The American Legion will take care of cleaning up the building.

What if I have questions about how to prep plants for the sale? Ask the table lead or the chairs: Karen Woeste (phone: 319-295-5484 or 319-270-5678; email: Hab319kiowa@gmail.com); Beula Dvorak (phone: 319-895-8206, email: bdvorak4@aol.com); and Phil Pfister (phone: 319-360-1734; email: ppfister47@gmail.com).

Table leads are: Hostas—Jay McWherter (jaybirddad@aol.com) Daylilies—JoEllen Funk (jkinnefunk@gmail.com) Succulents/Greenhouse Plants—Shelby Foley (diggingat451@yahoo.com) Wildflowers—Doug Smith (ufulu@aol.com) Ornamental Grasses—Fran Potratz (potz23@hotmail.com) Perennials—Karen Woeste (hab319kiowa@gmail.com) Shade Plants—Devon Dietz (Devondietz5@aol.com) Vegetables—Larry Edwards (lwedward@hotmail.com) and Gene Nassif (snassif@mchsi.com)

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“Seeds of Kindness” Theme for this Year’s Garden Walk By: Kathy Hughes, Sarah Neff, Barb Neal and Julie Stark, Co-chairs

Be sure to add the 2018 Master Gardener Garden Walk to your list of summer activities.

Five gardens will be featured for the walk on Saturday, July 7 from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. These gardens represent a diverse array of styles from community gardens to more formal gardens. As always, volunteers will be needed to help our hosts prep their landscaping, as well as, greet our guests as they attend the Garden Walk event. Typically, the Garden Walk volunteers are scheduled in two shifts, morning and early afternoon. Please complete the volunteer form at the end of this Germinator issue and return it to the Extension office by June 1.

2018 Garden Walk Hosts include:

Havlik Garden: 1850 Hudson Street, SW Lunn Garden: 526 Bezdek Drive, NW Schultze Garden: 2501 Paulyn Court, NW Usher Garden: 188 17th Avenue, SW Friedman Garden: 401 Wolfe Lane, Mt. Vernon

Refer to next month’s Germinator issue for full descriptions of each of the gardens on the Walk.

Successful Creative Garden Series 2018 By Linda Eggleston and Kathy Hughes, Co-chairs We had three terrific speakers for the 2018 Creative Garden Series.

The first speaker was a local Cedar Rapidian and historian, Kathy Wilson, who explained how gardens have evolved over the years. She showed us through photos how gardens have changed from the highly structured gardens of the 1700’s has transformed to the controlled chaos of the quintessential English gardens of today.

Megan Cain returned to Cedar Rapids to discuss how to use herbs creatively in the garden. She showed a step-by-step process to build an herb spiral to add structure and interest to a garden and how herbs are an easy way to add color and interest. She also suggested some easy ways to preserve herbs for off-season use.

Rhonda Fleming Hayes came in from Minnesota to discuss how to add a variety of native plants and plant structures as lawn alternatives in our Iowa backyards and how to use “green mulch” to layer our gardens to decreasing maintenance and use of chemicals. She showed how layering helps wildlife and pollinators at all stages of their lives.

May 11

Expert Ed—“Resource Recovery: Waste Less Take Less” By Linda Hayward, Expert Ed Chair

Jason Evans presented “Resource Recovery: Waste Less Take Less” on March 22, 2018. He began by reading the book, The Bad Seed, by Jory John. The Bad Seed learned that by making small positive changes he could make a positive impact on his life and the lives of others. Jason encouraged us to make changes in our how we recycle and care for our environment.

Some of the facts Jason shared about recycling and caring for our environment:

Rain forests land is continuing to decline.

Only 10% of the water is left in the Uzbekistan Lakes. Water started being used for irrigation projects in the ‘60s.

Approximately, 36 gallons of water is used to grow and process just one 6 ounce cup of coffee.

Bottled water is usually just filtered water.

Plastic is used in a variety of ways. A plastic water bottle half-filled with oil showed how much oil is used to manufacture the bottle and then transport it.

Much of the expense in recycling occurs in the transporting of recycled materials to be processed and then to transport the new products to their destinations.

Many fibers used to make clothes today are made from plastic. As clothes are washed, bits of plastic break off; enter the waterways, eventually getting to the ocean. These have negative effects on sea life.

The Solid Waste Agency is doing its part in recycling, more than just collecting. The methane gas created in the landfill is turned into energy to heat and cool the Solid Waste facility as well as about 1000 homes. Mount Trashmore Trails have been created which will be open to the public in the summer of 2018. (Perhaps some of you will have gotten a sneak preview April 21 during Ecofest.)

Here are several ways Jason encouraged us to make small changes in our recycling thinking. Wear layers so outer layers do not have to be washed as often. Come up with creative ways to reuse plastic bottles before recycling – storage containers, making a scooper, and/or using crushed plastic containers to fill the bottoms of large planters. Use both sides of paper when printing.

Our thanks to Jason for making this presentation that has made many of us think about, “Resource Recovery: Waste Less Take Less”.

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Spring Open Houses at Noelridge Park Greenhouse By Karla McGrail

Twice a year the Noelridge Park Greenhouse is open to the public with special events. The first of these is the Easter Showcase, which happens, fittingly, Easter weekend each spring. This year’s Easter Showcase coincided with our second in a series of endless winter weather fronts, Mother Nature's little April Fool's Joke. It was cold and blustery outside, but INSIDE the greenhouse, it was warm and inviting and full of spring color. The Friends of Noelridge volunteers, which includes many LCMGs, worked alongside the city greenhouse staff to spiff up and decorate the entire building, including arranging hundreds of blooming spring bulbs and Easter decorations in addition to caring for the multitude of baby plants growing in flats, waiting to be planted in parks and gardens all over the city.

The showcase also featured aquarium displays from the Eastern Iowa Aquarium Association, and many other vendors and organizations, displaying, selling and/or distributing information-from orchids to bees to garden arts and crafts. There were even a couple of familiar faces in red shirts wowing the public with their garden knowledge and complimentary informative horticulture pamphlets! This is always a popular event for families and children, often dressed in their Easter finery, because the kiddies all get a free plant (polka-dot plant this year) and there was the big furry guy with long ears giving them high fives and candy from his basket. Spenser, the grandson of one of the volunteers, made a great bunny, and I only saw one terrified toddler the whole time I was there.

The next Noelridge Greenhouse open house event is the Mother's Day Showcase, which is coming up very soon- astonishingly, on Mother's Day, Sunday, May 13. This event has no giant costumed characters, but there is a terrific plant and garden-related crafts sale that helps fund the Friends of Noelridge projects and educational programs. This year there will be some whimsical broken pot miniature gardens, attractive and useful flower-shaped butterfly nectar feeders, and some rustic rock and wood ornamental garden signs. Of course, there will also be lots of great greenhouse-grown plants. But you'd better come early if you want to beat me to the best coleus

Top: Kathy Hughes helps with selling house plants during the showcase. Bottom: Coleen Kint answers questions and hands out pamphlets at the MG table.

May 13

Volunteers Needed

Marion City Showcase (4 more volunteers needed) Saturday, May 5 (10:00 am – 1:00 pm) Around City Square Park - Marion

Volunteers needed for PUB table and to assist attendees to plant a pot with some flower/vegetable seeds

Contact: Phil Pfister (ppfister47@gmail.com)

Ag in the Park Friday, May 11 (9:00 am - 1:00 pm) Linn County Fairgrounds Central City IA

Volunteers needed to help with demonstration table. Hundreds of children K-3rd grade attend this event

Contact: Phil Pfister (ppfister47@gmail.com)

Demo Garden—Lowe Park

We are looking for anyone interested in demo gardening, especially anyone interested in roses, rain gardens, xeric gardening and enabling gardens. We offer very flexible gardening hours.

Please join us to become part of a very interesting project. Questions??? Contact: Shelby Foley or Phil Pfister

Marion Farmers Market (1 volunteer needed for PUB table) Taube Park, 2000 S 31st St., Marion Saturday, May 5 (8:00 - 11:30 am)

Contact: Fran Potratz (potz23@hotmail.com or 319-377-0268)

Garden Walk Preps Locations: SW and NW Cedar Rapids and Mt. Vernon Flexible Gardening Hours between now and July 7

Contact: Kathy Hughes (hughesydoozey@yahoo.com); Barb Neal (xword417@gmail.com); Sarah Neff (sarahkathleenneff@gmail.com) or Julie Stark (julie-stark@uiowa.edu).

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April 3, 2018 – Steering Committee Minutes—DRAFT

The meeting was called to order, roll called, quorum established, and minutes from last meeting approved.

Present: Glenn Babinett, Steve Bartlett, Kathy Carew, Cindy Fagan, Linda Hinzman, Jackie MacLaren, Kay McWhinney, Linda Shepard, Bev Whitmore and Jean Wilson. Absent: Randy Dusil, Sam Krumbholz, Sylvia Kelley and Diane Wiesenfeld

Announcements:

From the Ground Up has been replaced with School Gardens 101, Deanna Thursby is the project chair. This program will provide ½ day, one-week classes for teachers needing CEUs during the summer. The program received a $500 grant for materials from the Keep Iowa Beautiful Initiative. Linda Haywood, Sam K and Deana will observe the Black Hawk County Program which starts in late March. After the training has been implemented, each school can apply for a $1000 grant.

Paula Wilson oversees the Hort Line scheduling.

The plant exchange is on hiatus for now, there were no participants at last year’s event.

Johanna and Janice are tag teaming to back up Shelly until a replacement is found. They asked that all requests should be sent to both of them.

Discussions are beginning on a central point for all media requests in the extension office – requests would then be forwarded to the correct person/committee.

The tables for Ecofest were paid for on Friday – they will be manned by Linda H. and the greenhouse folks, people from the pollinator committee will man the children’s table.

Attainment of the Lifetime Master Gardner award requires 10 years and 1500 hours according to the ISU handbook, and 10 years & 500 hours or 15 years in the Linn County Master Gardener Handbook. Currently, ISU has not approved “grandfathering” Linn Co Master Gardeners who were close to the award according to the LC handbook. Jean W. and team have spent quite a few hours working on this issue. The final resolution will be communicated when a decision is made.

The flipped classroom has been approved, planning for the 2018 class is in process.

A suggestion was made to send out a survey on why people do or don’t volunteer for specific projects.

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May 15

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Many materials can be made available in alternative formats for ADA clients. To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call 202-720-5964.

Linn County Extension Master Gardeners

383 Collins Road NE, Suite 201 • Cedar Rapids, IA 52402

ph (319) 377-9839 • Hortline (319) 447-0647

Finance Report: Linda presented the financial reports. A question was asked about the Veg Production entry on the Transaction Report, Johanna will check and let us know

Project Reports: No discussion, reports were approved. Reminder—Project Reports are no longer a part of the monthly Steering Committee Minutes and may be viewed by Master Gardeners at the below link:

https://www.extension.iastate.edu/linn/page/exclusive-information-master-gardeners-and-master-gardener-interns

Next Steering Committee: May 1, 2018 at 6:30pm

Next Executive Meeting: April 16, 2018 at 3:00 pm

Respectfully submitted,

Linda Shepard, Secretary

2018 Charlene Woeste Plant Sale Volunteer Sign-up Sheet

Name: _____________ email: _____________ phone: __________ Volunteers are needed to make the plant sale run smoothly! Help is needed to groom the plants for sale, label, price, stage the plants, and assist during the sale. We need pruners to groom the plants, and boxes, wagons, and watering cans to use during the sale.

Please sign up for the following times or let us know what times you can work, and if you have any specific areas you want to work: Please return this form to Janice Savel, jsavel@iastate.edu, by Friday, May 11, 2018.

Friday, May 18 – receiving, counting, grooming, pricing and moving incoming plants to the sale area:

8:00 AM – 12:00 _________________________________

1:00 PM – 4:30 PM _______________________________

4:30 PM – 6:00 PM _______________________________

Saturday, May 19 – Volunteers are needed to assist with any final setup and preparation of the sales area:

6:00 AM – 8:00 AM ______________________________

During the Plant Sale, volunteers are needed cleaning and organizing plants and the sale area, watering, assisting at the plant tables, assisting customers, staffing the planting instruction table, and teardown at the end of the sale:

8:00 AM – noon ________________________________

Teardown, cleanup and put away: noon to completion: _____________

Garden Walk – Saturday, July 7, 2018 VOLUNTEER FORM

Complete and return to the ISU Extension Linn County office by Friday, May 25th. Name: _________________________________________________________ Email Address: __________________________________________________ Phone: (Best # to reach you): _______________________________________ Please place checkmark(s) to indicate your availability: BEFORE Garden Walk (May/June/July) __ Garden Preparation (Team leaders to organize times for volunteers to assist host gardens) EVENT DAY – Saturday July 7th Garden Guide (answer questions during the walk, requires visit to host garden prior to event) __ 9:30 – 1:00 Saturday, 7/7 __ 1:00 – 4:00 Saturday, 7/7 Ticket Seller/Cashier (collect admission fee and distribute wrist bands) __ 9:30 – 1:00 Saturday, 7/7 __ 1:00 – 4:00 Saturday, 7/7 Event Volunteer at Large (assigned where needed most) __ 9:30 – 1:00 Saturday, 7/7 __ 1:00 – 4:00 Saturday, 7/7 Garden Preference (if any)____________________________________ Garden Walk Co-Chair Contacts Kathy Hughes: 319-929-4366 / hughesydoozey@yahoo.com Barb Neal: 319-360-0197 / xword417@gmail.com Sarah Neff: 319-640-5933 / sarahkathleenneff@gmail.com Julie Stark: 319-721-5836 / julie-stark@uiowa.edu

Return form to the ISU Extension Office Electronically to: jsavel@iastate.edu Drop off/mail: 383 Collins Rd NE, Suite 201, Cedar Rapids IA 52402 Assignments will be emailed early June. Volunteer orientation meetings will be held at each host garden the week prior to the Garden Walk. Thank You for volunteering!