at the garden gate - iowa state university...february 21 6:30 pm year round indoor salad gardening...

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At the Garden Gate February March April 2019

Mahaska County Extension Horticulture Newsletter

Master Gardener Webcasts Each year the Iowa State University Extension and

Outreach Master Gardeners staff on campus creates

webcasts for county extension offices to utilize as

options for continuing education for local Master

Gardeners in the winter and summer. After six

months, the webcasts are then available to the public on the Iowa

Master Gardener YouTube channel. (Check out past offerings—there

are some great presentations!) This winter’s offerings will be shown at

the Mahaska County Extension Office in February on Tuesdays at 6:30

pm. The webcasts are approximately one hour , open to the public

and free to attend. The dates, speakers and presentation topics are:

February 12 Engaging New Audiences; Elin (Meliska) Filbey, Director of Programming and Community Engagement at

Allen Centennial Garden; Madison, Wisconsin

February 19 Limited Space Gardening; Ed Lyon, Director Reiman Gardens; Ames, Iowa

February 26 Managing Vegetable Pests; Dan Fillus, Food Safety Specialist, Iowa State University Extension

and Outreach; Ames, Iowa

Prior registration is NOT required, but appreciated.

Garden Basics Come learn about basic general garden topics at monthly classes held

on (normally 3rd) Thursday evenings at 6:30 pm at the

Mahaska County Extension office.

(Continued on page 2)

At the Garden Gate

Garden Basics classes are local Master Gardeners presenting on a

variety of gardening topics. Each one is an independent topic

presented as a family friendly presentation. These programs are

open to the public and there is no cost to attend. Anyone

interested in the topic is welcome. Prior registration is NOT

required, but appreciated.

Upcoming garden basics topics are:

February 21 Year Round

Indoor Salad Gardening Come learn from Master Gardener Intern

Krysta Wendelboe, about how you can

grow salad—year round—indoors. It is easier than you think!

April 4 Garden Prep Most Iowa soil is well suited for vegetable gardening, but some

need amendments. Come learn about how to prepare your soil for

the gardening season.

Rain Barrel Workshop

An average home with a roof size of 1,000 square feet will

generate approximately 600 gallons of water from a one inch

rainfall. By collecting and using this water to water plants in

their landscape, rain barrel users help reduce the demand on water

supplies, and reduce storm water runoff.

(Continued from page 1)


Iowa State University Extension and Outreach does not discriminate on the basis

of age, disability, ethnicity, gender identity, genetic information, marital status,

national origin, pregnancy, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, socioeconomic

status, or status as a U.S. veteran. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all pro-

grams.) Inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies may be directed to the

Diversity Officer, 2150 Beardshear Hall, 515 Morrill Road, Ames, Iowa 50011,

515-294-1482, [email protected]. All other inquiries may be directed to

800-262-3804. The fees for service will be used to offset direct expenses and to

support the Agriculture and Natural Resources County Extension Program.

At the Garden Gate page 11

Upcoming Events

February 12 6:30 pm Engaging New Audiences

ISUEO MG Winter Webcast

February 19 6:30 pm Limited Space Gardening


February 21 6:30 pm Year Round Indoor Salad Gardening

February 26 6:30 pm Managing Vegetable Pests


March 5 6:30 pm Rain Barrel Workshop

March 12 6:30 pm Growing Small Fruits

March 26 6:30 pm Butterfly House Workshop

April 2 6 pm Seed Swap

April 2 7 pm Ready Set Garden

April 4 6:30 pm Garden Prep

April 9 6:30 pm Gardening with Conifers

April 12 7 pm Planting for Pollinators

April 25 5:30 pm Tree Planting and Care

at Edmundson Park

To register and/or for more information about any of these or other

horticulture programs, call the MCEO at 641-673-5841 or email

Suzette Striegel, Mahaska County Extension Horticulturist at

[email protected].

Additional Events Mahaska County Master Gardeners and

ISU Extension and Outreach may schedule additional events in

horticulture and other program areas (which may be of interest to

gardeners) this winter. They will be publicized in local media,

email, facebook pages as well as our website.

Mahaska County

Master Gardener Plant Sale—May 18*, 2019 8-11 am

*This is a different

weekend than Plant Sale

has traditionally been

held.

mailto:[email protected]

At the Garden Gate

ISU Extension and Outreach

Publications Of Interest

HORT 3087 Cole Crops

PM 834 Planting and Harvesting Times for Garden

Vegetables

PM 607 Suggested Vegetable Varieties for the Home

Garden

PM 717 Growing Strawberries in the Home Garden

PM 719 Rhubarb in the Home Garden

PM 819 Planting a Home Vegetable Garden

PM 820 Garden Soil Management

PM 870b Container Vegetable Gardening

PM 874 Starting Garden Transplants

PM 944 Asparagus in the Home Garden

PM 1072 Establishing a Lawn from Seed

PM 1204 Morels, False Morels, and Other Cup Fungi

PM 1706 Growing Raspberries in the Home Garden

PM 1707 Growing Grapes in the Home Garden

RG 319 When to Divide Perennials

RG 503 Growing Blueberries in Iowa

RG 702 Guidelines for Selecting Trees

RG 704 Growing Rhododendrons and Azaleas in Iowa

RG 705 Viburnums: Ideal Shrubs for Iowa Landscapes

These publications (as well as many others) are available to purchase

or download at any county Extension office or at the ISUE online store

https://store.extension.iastate.edu/


The Mahaska County Master Gardeners will offer a workshop on

making rain barrels Tuesday, March 5 at 6:30 pm at the Mahaska

County Extension Office.

We will be installing plumbing on recycled plastic barrels for use

in collecting and using rainwater for our landscapes. Cost of the

barrel and plumbing supplies is $25. Observers are welcome to

attend this workshop. Registration and payment are due for this

workshop by Friday, March 1.

Growing Small Fruits Here is your invitation to learn about

growing small fruits (strawberries,

raspberries, and blueberries) from Patrick

OMalley. Examine control methods for insects, weeds and other

pests, the value (or not) of soil amendments and cultural

practices in their production. Patrick has been an ISUEO

Commercial Horticulture Specialist since 1994.

Presentation will be at the Mahaska County Extension office

Auditorium Tuesday, March 12 at 6:30 pm. This program is



required, but appreciated.

Butterfly House Workshop Butterflies need protection at times, invite

butterflies to seek refuge in your backyard

with a butterfly house made by you! Master

Gardener Intern Wayne VanMersbergen will

guide you as you build yours at this workshop.

The house features a hinge and latch to allow

you to maintain roosting materials inside the

house for the visitors. Participants will paint/

protect the house on their own after the

workshop. (Continued on page 4)

At the Garden Gate


The workshop will be held at the Mahaska County Extension

Office Auditorium Tuesday, March 26; 6:30-8:30 pm and is

open to the public. Younger participants who register for this

workshop are asked to have an adult along to help them. Observers are welcome to attend the workshop. Registration and

payment are required by March 12. Cost is $10.

Attendees with access to a cordless drill are asked to bring it to

the workshop.

Gardening with Conifers Come and explore the world of conifers with Gary

Wittenbaugh. The Conifer story is fascinating and

unique. See how the color, texture and form of

conifers add year round beauty and contrast to

garden and landscapes. Fast growers screen your

space, tiny buns add unusual shape and textures,

and distinctive forms make living sculptures.

Gary is an Iowa native, well known in the Midwest for his many

presentations on gardening subjects, particularly the use of

conifers and companion plants in the garden. He’s been gardening

for over 40 years with emphasis on dwarf, slow growing and

unusual conifers plus trough and rock gardening. He became an

Iowa Master Gardener in 1998 and received the Lifetime Master

Gardner award in 2005. He is member of the American Conifer

Society and the North American Rock Garden Society.

Presentation will be at the Mahaska County Extension office

Auditorium Tuesday, April 9 at 6:30 pm. This program is open to

the public and there is no cost to attend. Anyone interested in the

topic is welcome. Prior registration is NOT required, but

appreciated.


The branches should then be set in tall containers of water in a

dimly lit cool location until blooming. The branches will need

sprayed or misted to keep from drying out. Time until bloom

varies upon the plant species and collection date.

For more information, see Horticulture and Homes Pest News

February 6, 1998. www.ipm.iastate.edu/hortnews/1998/2-6-1998/

forcebr.html.

Pruning Resources It is recommend to prune shade and fruit trees during the dormant

season. This timing allows the best view of the tree's structure &

helps control some insect spread diseases. Winter is also the time

to prune many fruit crops. The timing for pruning ornamental

shrubs depends on growth habit and time of flowering.

Our office has copies of the ISUEO publications on pruning:

PM 780 Pruning and Training Fruit Trees

PM 1958 Pruning Ornamental Shrubs

SUL 5 Pruning Trees: Shade, Flowering and

Conifer

RG 501 Pruning Raspberries

RG 502 Pruning Grapevines

You may also access them on the ISUEO online

store https://store.extension.iastate.edu/.

Printing and Postage costs are

increasing… ...and our office would

like to insure all recipients of the newsletter

want to receive it.

-If you no longer want to receive this newsletter

(and be notified of horticulture programming in Mahaska &

surrounding counties), please indicate this to our office.

-If you receive the mailed version, and would prefer to be notified

of the online version being posted to our website, please let us

know your email address.

At the Garden Gate

Onions - Plant onion seeds, sets, and plants as soon as the ground

can be worked in the spring (late March or early April in central

Iowa). Long-day varieties are the best choice for Iowa gardeners.

Peas - Garden, snow and snap peas should be planted as soon as

the ground can be worked in spring. The crop should be mature in

approximately 60 to 70 days.

Carrots - Carrots can be sown from early spring to early August.

For an early crop, sow seeds in early to mid-April.

Potatoes - Plant certified disease-free potatoes as soon as the

ground can be worked in spring. Large potato tubers should be

cut into pieces, each containing 1 or 2 growing points or "eyes".

Small potatoes may be planted whole.

Beets and Swiss Chard - These are other vegetables to plant

early through August 1.

For more information on planting vegetables, see Extension

publications PM 534, Planting and Harvesting Times for Garden

Vegetables or PM 819, Planting A Home Vegetable Garden.

This article is modified from an article prepared by James

Romer, former Iowa State University Extension Horticulturist. It

originally appeared in Horticulture and Home Pest News

(HHPN) March 21, 2003. More archived articles may be found at

www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/.

How-To: Forcing Spring Flowering Tree

and Shrub Branches On a warm winter day cut 12 inch or longer branches that contain

numerous buds. Species good for forcing include magnolias,

crabapple, forsythia and lilac. Other plants to try include cherry,

pussy willow, serviceberry, flowering quince redbud, and

honeysuckle.



Planting for Pollinators Presentation Mahaska County Master Gardener Susan Knox will be presenting

on Planting for Pollinators for the Back to Basics Bee Club

meeting on Friday, April 12 at 7 pm. Back to Basics Bee Club

meets at the Mahaska County Extension office. The presentation

is open to the public and prior registration is not required.

Seed Swap Mahaska County Master Gardeners will host a Seed Swap at the

Mahaska County Extension office Tuesday, April 2 at 6 pm. It is

open to all who are interested. We will provide the small

envelopes and pens.

We encourage you to buy a little extra for your tried-and-true

varieties; then share some with others. It may become

someone else’s favorite!

We encourage you to go ahead and select something new as

you peruse your seed buying sources; including those unique

heirloom and organic varieties from various seed

companies. Then share some of the extra seeds with others.

We encourage you to share your saved seed from your

heirloom varieties, if you have extra to share!

We also encourage you to bring along any undesired seed you

have in your inventory. They may find a new home!

Ready, Set, Garden! Community Garden Kick Off

Our local community gardens have gardening space for you!

Come meet our local community garden coordinators and fellow

gardeners on Tuesday, April 2 at 7 pm.

You can sign up for a plot, meet Master Gardener garden

mentors, and hear gardeners from the sites tell about their

experiences growing their favorite vegetable garden crops at the

sites. If you can not attend, you can still get a plot by contacting

the coordinators before and after the event. Contact information

available at Extension office and our website.

At the Garden Gate

Tree Planting and Care with Trees Forever Trees Forever is a regional and local organization which offers

unique programs for the environment; “... and promotes sound

environmental stewardship and science. Trees Forever is

committed to... planting a better tomorrow.” You are invited to

learn about tree planting and care from members of our local Tree

Forever on a tree walk at Edmundson on Thursday April 25 at

5:30 pm. Additionally, we will learn about the local and regional

organization and of some of the local planting projects.

Mahaska County Master Gardener are hosting this program. It is



required, but appreciated. Attendees are to park and meet at

parking area near the wooden playground.

Trees Forever began in 1989 in Marion Iowa. Oskaloosa has had

a local organization since the 1991. For decades, Trees Forever

has helped thousands of community volunteers, civic leaders,

government officials and landowners plant and care for many

trees, shrubs, and native grasses and plants.

What’s Up Wednesdays

The ISU Extension and Outreach—Mahaska County office is

hosting “What’s Up Wednesdays”; lunch and learn sessions

(bring your own lunch) with different Iowa State University

Extension and Outreach specialist or a Mahaska County

Extension staff each session. The lunch and learn will be

informal open discussion of the specialist or staff’s subject area.

They will be held on Wednesdays March-May with the specialist

or staff on the schedule from 11:45 am – 1:15 pm. The lunch and

learn is free, and open to the public. Attendees would not need to

attend the entire hour and half session. Current schedule will be

available at the office, on the website and facebook page.

Prior registration will not be required, but appreciated. Only

registered attendees will be contacted if the schedule changes.


Weather Announcements If the weather is inclement

or forecast to become inclement during the event, the event will

likely be postponed/canceled. To confirm if an event is being

held, please call our office (during office hours), check our

Facebook pages (Iowa State University Extension and Outreach-

Mahaska County and/or Mahaska County Master Gardeners) or

listen to KBOE 104.9 radio weather announcements.

Vegetables Suitable for Early Planting Early spring is the proper time for several vegetables. Cool season

vegetable crops, such as cabbage, lettuce, and peas grow best in

cool temperatures. Others, such as onion,

require a long growing season and should be

planted in early spring for maximum crop

yields. This listing is designed for central Iowa,

northern Iowa would be about one week later,

and about one week earlier for southern Iowa.

Radishes - Spring radishes are a cool season crop. They can be

planted as soon as the ground can be worked in late March or

early April. Most cultivars mature in 20 to 30 days. For a

continuous harvest, sow seeds every 7 to 10 days until late spring.

High temperatures cause bolting (flowering) and the roots

become soft.

Broccoli, Cauliflower and Cabbage - Broccoli, cauliflower and

cabbage are cool season vegetables, which grow best in

temperatures between 60 and 70 F. However, exposure to

prolonged periods of temperatures below 50 F may cause

premature head development or buttoning. In central Iowa, plant

broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower in mid-April.

Lettuce, Spinach, Collards, and Kale - Quality of these plants

are reduced with the onset of hot weather due to seed heads and

bitter taste.


at the garden gate - iowa state university...february 21 6:30 pm year round indoor salad gardening...

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