AAMG News

Inside this issue

April Meeting: Virtual Meeting on Native

Orchids Please monitor your email for updates! We hope to conduct our Tuesday, April 14th, Master Gardener monthly meeting

on-line at 7 pm with speaker Dennis Whigham, from the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC). He will talk about his research on native orchids. Most like-ly this will occur as a Zoom meeting. We will also offer on-line plant pathology Zoom training with David Clement. Information to come. In order to help those who are less tech savvy, I will offer a "practice" meeting. The meeting will help you become

familiar with the Zoom platform. It will also provide some social time to help combat the isolation that many of us are feeling. To prepare for this session, I am asking that you go out in your yard and take a photo to feature a plant. Try to identify the plant by its botanical name. I will compile the photos into a presentation. Live in an apartment, no problem, send a photo of a houseplant, flower arrangement or share a DIY garden idea. Send to Nancy Allred at NAllred@umd.edu

MEETING NOTE from Nancy: The April MG meeting will be a virtual meeting, using a program called Zoom. A Zoom icon has been added to on our "just for MGs web page https://extension.umd.edu/anne-arundel-county/master-gardeners/just-master-gardeners This link provides instructions for logging into a meeting from an email invita-tion. FYI, Zoom also provides tutorials if you set up your own account. Zoom ac-counts are free but meetings are limited to 40 minutes unless you upgrade for a fee. As I have an account through the University, I can host a meeting or training without this time constraint. I am available to assist project chairs who may wish to set up a meeting with their committee members. I can be reached at NAllred@umd.edu or on my cell 410-952-9554

April, 2020 Volume 24, Issue 4

MG Projects 2-4

Coordinator’s Corner 5

A Message from the EAB 6

MG Manual Review 7

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The new season for the Apprentice Garden program will begin the first of April, but the date for actually meeting as a group on Wednesdays is uncertain. Again, this year we have eight families, seven of whom are completely new to the program. And, again, there will be lots of children, 12 this year, ranging in age from 2- to 14-years old. Five children are 5 and under; there is one middle-schooler; and most are 8 to 11 years. The first meeting was originally planned for Wednesday, April 1, but all meetings in the Harvest Hall at Kinder Farm have been cancelled. The paperwork normally completed at the Introductory meeting will be sent to the families, including the UMD photo release form to ensure all photos taken are cleared for publishing. Plans for

sharing the rest of the orientation-to-the-project information is to be deter-mined, but one-on-one meetings at the garden, with lots of “distance” is being considered. This information in-cludes the garden rules and how to plan each family’s 8’ by 42” space. The garden signs, usually painted by the children to identify their families’ personal plot will be provided, but painted at home. At a March work party, MG volunteers accomplished almost all the clean-up needed for opening the garden. We cleaned up all the planting and perennial beds along

the outside of the fence, including cutting back the grey golden rod and transplanting Black-eyed Susans that volunteered inside the fence. We also weeded the common planting areas for the herbs, strawberries, spring and summer vegetables, and planted the early spring potatoes, three kinds of lettuces, kale, spinach and Swiss chard. In addition, MGs built a bean teepee using bamboo poles, and started work repairing and getting the kiosk ready for new paint. The compost bin, used to collect all last year’s debris, was emptied of com-post which was added, and worked into, the beds on the outside of the fence, and all the interior common planting areas as well. Deb and I extend special thanks to Wendy Boardman, Carol Herbermann, Lourdes Hergenroeder, Cindy Wells and Anne Wintermute – you were amazing! Depending on coronavirus limitations, a workshop will be conducted in April to demonstrate seed-starting techniques. Families will start seeds for their gardens and for the common spaces. April and May will be busy as the families complete their plans and plant seeds and sets in their plots and the common areas. The KFP community garden plot, #4, will again be used to expand the possi-bilities for the Apprentice Garden. Highbush blueberries were transplanted to that garden in the fall, and all are pushing leaves. The rest of the garden will be planted in vines, primarily melons, pumpkins and winter squash –

(Continued on page 3)

Apprentice Garden Janet Clauson, MG, and Deb Fritz, MG, Project Co-Chairs

options are being considered to foil the groundhogs. We sincerely thank all the Master Gardeners who signed up to volunteer in the garden. Your help is appreciated to work with the parents and children, to help maintain the common planting areas, the outside edges of our community garden plots, and to provide extra garden checks. Your participation can be on your own schedule. Your children, and grandchildren, are welcome to accompany volunteers. If you signed up at the February meeting, or contact(ed) me directly, you will receive weekly notices with regard to the plans for the project to keep you informed. Chaired by Janet Clauson and Deb Fritz Janet: janetclauson301@gmail.com and 410.987.2027 Deb: debfritzdesign@gmail.com and 410.279.1077

The Compost and Native Gardens Project at Quiet Waters Park had an early cleanup on March 12th. After their hard work, the native beds have never looked this good. Many thanks to Kathleen Cornell, Lisa Thompson, Carol Herberman, Claire Blaine, Anne Muecke, Sally Morris, Diane Lewis, Sue Owens, Anne Wintermute, Anneliese Greksa and Susie Blackwell for their enthusiasm and diligence.

Many thanks to the 15 or so MG’s who turned out for our first work par-

ty. This was before we were all told to stay home. We maintained an

acceptable distance. Everyone pruned, clipped, raked and removed the

debris. The Gardens are now looking great. Many enjoyed the hot

mulled cider and gingersnaps.

Pat, Malcolm and Sue Owens came by today and worked alone for sever-

al hours to rake, weed, prune etc.

We got a lot done but there is still a lot to do.

We are cancelling official work parties until cleared by UMD. If you wish

to come on your own, please feel free to do so. It should be clear what

are weeds around the Fire House and Pavilion. Also a lot of raking. De-

bris can be put in the dumpster located in the back driveway. Thank you

so much to those willing to continue to help.

The Teaching Garden classes are also in limbo right now. This has been a

great effort from a lot of people, so we hope we can just postpone for a bit. (Continued on page 4)

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Apprentice Garden (continued) Janet Clauson, MG, and Deb Fritz, MG, Project Co-Chairs

Composting & Native Gardens at Quiet Waters Park Pam Dennison, MG, Project Chair

Dairy Farm Pat Shema, MG

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The veggie gardens have been planted with Spring crops and are good to go.

Our scheduled work sessions are the second Saturday and fourth Thursday of each month.

NOTE: WE ARE RETURNING TO OUR WINTER HOURS: 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM.

Our next work sessions, if it is deemed safe, will be Easter Saturday, April 11, and Thursday, April 23.

We have tools, but please bring your favorites along with gloves and water.

If you are unsure what to do or have any questions contact Malcolm Doying or Pat Shema at old-celt100@aol.com or pshema@aol.com or call 410-721-7610 BE SAFE, STAY HEALTHY, THIS WILL END AND WE WILL ALL ENJOY THE GARDENS AGAIN!!

Current members want to extend a warm welcome to our newest members, we are just sorry we can’t do it in person. We know many of you have already penciled in your calendars the 4th Wednesday of every month from 1- 3 pm, so please stay tuned when we will be meeting again. Our hope is that we can employ technolo-gy, and meet remotely using a video conferencing application. We will pass along those details once they be-come available. Currently, Steps/Guidelines for Creating a Presentation are being developed and will be the framework for members to use when creating concise and complete presentations on a chosen topic. We plan to send the Steps/Guidelines to you along with a topic list so that you can pick a topic, do research and get started. With all of us practicing social distancing, and spending much of our time at home, this is the perfect time. We look forward to getting together something soon. In the meantime, look for our emails with those details beginning in April.

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Garden Presentations Sharon V. Smith, MG, Project Co-Chair

Dairy Farm (continued) Pat Shema, MG

I hope you are safe and well. As you are all aware, we are in a very dynamic situation. At this point:

The University of Maryland Extension (UME) Offices are closed to the public and staff are teleworking.

UME has formed a Rapid Response Team to formulate ways for us to stay engaged with our clientele. Stay tuned.

Master Gardener volunteers should adhere to state directives. Per Governor Larry Hogan’s 3/23/2020 press conference: “Unless you have an essential reason to leave your house, you should stay home.”

We have no guess as to when normal activities might resume. I am working from home, responding to emails, providing resources to homeowners gardening questions and am available to you. The EAB meets on Wednesday, March 25, using Zoom meetings and I am attending Zoom training on April 1. Zoom is a reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, collaboration, chat, and webinars across mobile devices, desktops, and telephones. For now, this is the new normal. If you have an interest in conducting a Zoom meeting/training with your project committee members, let me know if I can assist. Many of you have expressed concern about getting required volunteer and education hours due to cancelled project workdays, meetings and delays. It is still too early to say, but should the quarantine period extend, I feel certain that accommodations will be made. The most important thing that we can do at this point is to stay healthy, positive and busy. Here are just a few suggestions:

Join a discussion group - I recently joined via Facebook Maryland Native Plant Society Discussion Group and Maryland Bird Watchers and Identification Group.

Work on a gardening presentation. Pick a subject that interests you, make an outline, research content and reach out to other MGs for ideas and graphics.

Take an online horticulture course.

Follow a gardening blog or submit an article to the HGIC’s Maryland Grows Blog (I can help facilitate.)

Catch up on yardwork, tool maintenance and shed decluttering.

Keep a journal to document wildlife visits and vegetative growth in your landscape.

Call another Master Gardener to touch base, support and share ideas for staying occupied.

Make a plan to celebrate once the crisis is over.

Stay rested, well-nourished and reach out to others if in need.

Nancy Allred Interim Master Gardener Coordinator

NAllred@umd.edu 410-952-9554 mobile

Coordinator’s Corner Nancy Allred, MG, Interim Master Gardener Coordinator

A Message from the Executive Advisory Board (EAB): Dear Anne Arundel Master Gardeners, On behalf of your Executive Advisory Board (EAB), we hope everyone is safe, secure, healthy and adhering to the State of Maryland and Uni-versity of Maryland COVID 19 directives. Nancy Allred, our Master Gardener Coordinator (MGC), is the point person for communications from the University of Maryland Extension (UME) to all master gardeners. Effective March 1, 2020, the newly elected 2020-2021 EAB is comprised of Betsy Beck (Chair), Marilyn Kinkel (Vice-Chair), Elaine Heilman

(Finance), Margaret Perry (Secretary), Virgil Davis, Pam Hanna, Sophie Sterling, Lajauna Smouse and Susan Smouse. Nancy Allred is the MGC staff member serving the EAB. The EAB had its first virtual Zoom meeting on March 25, 2020, but prior to that we met on March 4, 2020, in-person at the Dairy Farm. We are here should you need to contact us! A few highlights; this year the EAB will focus on:

Building the board (EAB). We encourage interested MGs to attend our meetings as guests. Please contact Nancy Allred or myself in advance, so we can get appropriate materials to you.

Continue to improve AAMG communications, especially about pub-lic outreach and education.

Deep dive into important matters, either for better understanding or to address solutions.

Vice-chair Marilyn Kinkel is heading up our first task on a complete review of the University of Maryland Extension Master Gardener Volun-teer Manual, updated January 2020. Please read her article this month.

Finally, we send our appreciation to Joni Miller, who previously chaired the EAB, with outstanding leadership and organization. Besides con-tinuing to be an active master gardener, Joni is the Executive Director of Unity Gardens! Thank you, Joni and lots of success in your relatively new role! Please keep up-to-date through the Newsletters (Erin Lassen), weekly Flashes (Pam Hanna) and periodic communications (Nancy Allred). En-joy this issue and happy “at home” gardening. Respectfully submitted, Betsy Beck

Anne Arundel County Master Gardener Program

Anne Arundel County Extension 97 Dairy Lane

Gambrills, MD 21054

phone: 410 222 3906

fax: 410 222 3909

The University of Maryland Extension (UME) conducts the Maryland Master Gardener Program.

The Master Gardener Program’s mission is to educate Mary-land residents about safe, effective, and sustainable horticul-

tural practices that build healthy gardens, landscapes, and communities.

It is the policy of the University of Maryland, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Maryland

Agricultural Experiment Station, and University of Maryland Extension that all persons have equal

opportunity and access to programs and facilities without regard to race, color, gender, religion,

national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital or parental status, or disability.

We’re on the web! Visit us at - http://extension.umd.edu/anne-arundel-

county/master-gardener-program

MG Volunteer Manual Review Marilyn Kinkel, MG, EAB Vice-Chair

At this time, while we were all ‘hunkered down’, Betsy Beck and I decided to read and reread the University of Maryland Extension Master Gardener Volunteer Manual. It wasn’t that difficult or time consuming. While taking a few pages at a time, we decided we learned and understood more than we knew! Personally, I couldn’t remember the last time I actually pulled it out of its cobwebs! In the coming months, we thought it would be good to share and pinpoint a few sentences from the manual with you. Most of these you probably already know and adhere to but some of you don’t or maybe have forgotten. These are gentle reminders but important to stress.

Always wear your name badge

Do not endorse brand name products or recommend a particular company. Additionally, do not criticize the work of a lawn care, pest management or other horticulture-related company. Do not debase a company or product.

Be prepared to refer clients to appropriate resources, UME professionals or to other agencies or organizations. If you are unsure of the answer, you can take down the pertinent info, research the question, talk to other MG’s or Extension professionals, and then email the client back with the answer. You can also refer people to HGIC’s Ask an Expert service. They can submit their questions to https://extension.umd.edu/learn/ask-gardening

Here is the link to the UME Master Gardener Volunteer Manual: https://extension.umd.edu/sites/extension.umd.edu/files/_docs/programs/master_gardeners/Volunteer%20Manual%20January%202020%20(1).pdf .