Officers President Ann Fergeson

Past President Ann Ross

Vice President Donna Tolewitzke

Secretary Ethel Cole

Treasurer Stephanie Neely

Projects Karen Massey

Programs Laura Bettis

Recruitment, Retention,

Recognition Peggy Lane

Historians Sharron & Bruce Schelin

Social Debbie Tate

Parliamentarian Mimi Cox

Executive Committee The Officers

Newsletter Editor

Donna Tolewitzke Members-at-Large Jan Dupwe Mary Jones

Erlene Wise Billy Woodruff

December 2017 Volume 12, Issue 12

Reflections This will be my last newsletter to you so before I say

anything else, I want you to know how special it has been

for me to be your President. I have loved being able to get to know you and working with you to achieve our goals.

Thank you for being such a great group.

You only had to experience any one of the Gardens to real-

ize how successful these projects were and how many long,

hot hours went into making them something to be proud of.

Our projects were all over the top. We set our goals and you made it happen. I love being a Master Gardener.

As Christmas approaches and we slip into Winter mode, enjoy your down time with

friends and family. Make it a fulfilling time. The weather is not always the best. Look

beyond that. Use the time to plan for next year. Plan to help out at the new member’s

class and get a jump start on getting to know our new members. We need to include them in our activities and make them feel a part of our group from the beginning.

Have a Blessed Christmas and a Joyous New Year. Stay safe.

Thank you for letting me be your President.

Ann

Potluck and Awards December 7th at 6:00pm

Bring your favorite dish and stretch pants!

WEEDER’S DIGEST CRAIGHEAD COUNTY MASTER GARDENERS

Standing Committee Chairs

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Mulching Leaves

Every year we have a discussion whether to rake or mulch our leaves. Below are some of

the benefits to mulching.

Mulching:

-Reduces the volume of leaves tenfold and prevents leaf piles from clogging drains and

causing floods.

-Feeds soil as leaves decompose and soak into the ground.

-Aerates soil, which allows spring seeds to germinate more easily.

-Soups-up the biological activity in your yard, feeding earthworms and other beneficial in-

sects.

-Makes lawns spongier and better able to soak up rainwater runoff.

-Saves time and money from having to bag and haul away. Saves city money from picking

them up and disposal.

More Mulching Tips:

-Don't waste time trying to mulch wet leaves, which are hard to shred and will likely clog

your mower. For the best result, wait until leaves are dry and crispy.

-Bag some mulched leaves to spread around garden beds and trees. Keep leaf mulch a few

inches from tree trucks to avoid wood rot.

-Store a few bags of leaf mulch in the corner of your yard. By spring,

it will be "leaf mold," a delicious, nutritious meal for your vegetable

and flower gardens; in a couple of years, the leaf bags will contain a

few shovels of compost.

-Don't be shy about asking your lawn service to mulch-in-place.

By Branon Thiesse BS, MS

County Extension Agent - Staff Chair

15th- Deadline for entering Master Gardener volunteer hours into the online reporting system

22nd– Jan. 1st- State Extension Office is closed for the holidays.

Nov. 18th - Dec. 31st:- Holiday Lights at Garvin Gardens. 5pm-9pm nightly. Closed Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.

Tickets available online at: http://www.garvangardens.org/purchase_tickets/default.aspx

December Events

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Minutes of the November Meeting

By Ethel Cole

The November 2, 2017 meeting of the Craighead County Master Gardeners was called to order at

6:32 pm by President Ann Fergeson.

Program – Laura Bettis, MG Program Chair was the speaker for the evening. Her program was “Fall

Fashion Show of Flowers.” Each flower arrangement “model” was given a descriptive name and each

featured a creative, unique holder. “Mrs. 24 Karat” was a small arrangement of

yellow miniature roses in a gold toothbrush holder. Laura also offered tips for

creating imaginative arrangements, such as considering the container when se-lecting the flowers and other items. Her presentation reflected her opening state-

ment that “flowers lend grace and happiness to any setting.”

Minutes – the minutes of the October meeting were approved as printed in the

monthly newsletter.

Treasurer’s Report – Stephanie Neely expressed her gratitude for Master Gar-

deners and being a member of CCMG. She gave the current balance reflecting

the payment of scholarships to two ASU horticulture students. She also an-

nounced that dues for 2018 were now payable, and would remain $10 until the

January 2018 meeting, at which time dues would increase to $15.

Getting to Know You – Val Price gave a delightful power-point presentation of

gardening cartoons which had appeared in Janet Carson’s weekly column in

the Arkansas Democrat –Gazette. Each cartoon had a question with multiple

choice answers about gardening.

Old Business – The nominating committee, consisting of Mike Thompson, Ditty

Mitts, and Barbara Pitcock presented the nominees for officers for 2018. By

unanimous vote, the new slate of officers are: President – Donna Tolewitzke;

Vice-president – Cindy Morris; Secretary – Karen Massey; and Assistant to the

Treasurer – Sandy Puryear.

Members were reminded to log their work and education hours. The current total is 9,258 which is 742 hours short of the goal of 10,000 hours for this

year. December 15 is the last day to record hours.

New Business – The Board recommended that the yearly scholarship awards be named the “Mimi

Cox Scholarship” in honor of long-time member Mimi Cox. The scholarship awards began in 1999, and to date a total of over $18,000 has been given to worthy ASU students. This year’s awards went

to Shauna Taylor and Aylia Puckett, who was not present at the meeting.

Announcements – The December meeting will be a Christmas potluck followed by an awards pro-

gram. Two new awards will be presented this year. Members are asked to give a $10 donation to the

Helping Neighbors Food Pantry, and to bring a dish for the potluck. The main dish will be ham. Members were reminded that the December meeting will be on the night of the Christmas parade

and to plan their route ahead of time.

The new MG class will begin January 20 and run each Saturday until February 17, 2018.

Birthdays – members with a November birthday were given a plant.

Meeting adjourned 7:31 pm.

Thank you Ethel

4

For list of Arkansas shows, meetings, etc. see statebystategardening.com/ar/calendar/

For Master Gardener events see http://www.uaex.edu/yard-garden/master-gardeners/events.aspx

For information on Memphis events see www.memphisareamastergardeners.org/events.htm

In January and February of the coming year, you will have the opportunity to acquire,

free of charge, one of the most precious gifts you could ever obtain. A BRAND NEW FRIEND!!

“How can I do that?” you ask! Just become a mentor to one of the members of the New Mas-

ter Gardener Class beginning in January. I had no idea what a great friend I would find in my ‘mentee’ this year, Joseph House. Believe me, I have found a new friend for life who has

inspired and encouraged me to look beyond my comfort zone to the rare and unusual, as well

as the tiny, miniature plants that interests him.

It would be great to have all mentors in place before the start of the new class. So, if

you’re one of those people who would like to have a new gardening friend, it would be my pleasure to fix you up with someone special! Just give me a call.

~Peggy Lane (935-7649)

Mentoring

Municipal Building:

Yesterday the Wysocki’s had a work afternoon to pull up the frost bitten Sweet Potato Vine. The photographs are the results of our efforts! We harvested!

5

Service Awards that were given during our

November meeting.

Branon presenting Jane Jamison with her 5 year Award Branon presenting Charlotte Grant with

her Lifetime Membership Award

Vickey Mullally was present-ed with her 5 year Award

Branon announced our Scholarship Award is now called the ‘Mimi Cox Scholarship’. Mimi is a Lifetime Member and has been dedicated to the Craighead County Master Gardener Program since the beginning. She is also a member of County 76.

Mimi Cox and Branon presenting this year’s Scholarship Award to Shauna Taylor. Aylia Puckett is also a recipient but was unable to attend our meeting.

Scholarships

6

Project Chairs

ASU Display Garden & Farmers’ Market

Susan Westbrook

On the Deck Jan Dupwe

ASU Greenhouse LaVeta Howerton

Butterfly Garden Barb Evans Pat Finch

Courthouse, Extension Office & City Hall

Nick, Marilyn & Katie Wysocki

NEA District Fair Ginger Adams-Seeds

Mike Wilbanks-MG Booth Erlene Wise-Floriculture

NEA FFA-CDE Stan Bachman

Native Plant Garden Ann Ross

Plant Sale Jason Mullins

Plants for Sunset Gardens Margaret Williams

Extension Office Work & 2017 Basic Training Class

Shenia Mullins

HWES Children’s Learning Garden

Melinda Smith

Our 2017 Goal is 10,000+ Volunteer Hours as of 4:30pm on November 19th

9585.75

Members that have completed their

working/learning hour requirement

as of November18th. * denotes New Members

~ denotes Members logging 100+ working hours

^ denotes Members logging 200+ working hours

Eileen Adams ~Ginger Adams Sandra Arwood Donna Bachman ~Stan Bachman Evelyn Baker Donna Bandy Laura Bettis *Bob Brashears*Tricia BrashearsEthel Cole ~Mimi Cox LaVera Davis

Ann Dent Glenda Drace Jan Dupwe *Martha EdmundsonElla Ellingson ^Barb Evans Ann Fergeson Brenda Ferralasco ^Pat Finch Kyoko Graham

Charlotte Grant Brenda Gray Debbi Hall *Monica HansenCharlotte Hemphill Carolyn Henry Mary Hosinski *Joseph HouseLaVeta Howerton Terri Inman Jane Jamison ~Lana Keyes ~Peggy Lane Linda Light *Karen LynchKaren Massey Sarita McCarty

Katherine McCracken

Bob McKeel Ditty Mitts Cindy Morris Vickey Mullally ~Jason Mullins Shenia Mullins Luci Murray ~Stephanie Neely *~Karen Pearce Becky Phillips Barbara Pitcock Val Price *Sandy Puryear

Carrie Ray ~Ann Ross Diane Sandberg Angie Schmidt Connie Seay ~Ralph Seay Susan Shelton Neva Shewmaker Pat Shirley Kelly Simmons

Paula Smith *Joe StaintonDebbie Tate Cleo Thomas Mike Thompson ^Donna Tolewitzke Anna Warren *Breana Watkins^Susan Westbrook ~Mike Wilbanks Margaret Williams Bobbie Wilson Erlene Wise Billy Woodruff Gary Woodward Katie Wysocki Marilyn Wysocki

Nick Wysocki

Logging your work and learning hours are essential to

keeping our Master Gardener Program ALIVE!

If you are having difficulty please feel free to contact Donna at: dtolewitzke@gmail.com

7

Logging in Hours: If you are having problems logging hours and/or would rather Donna log

them for you please email her at dtolewitzke@gmail.com. Please include where you worked, the

date and the amount of time you worked. And let's not forget, include your learning/education

hours!

Being Respectful: Just a reminder to be respectful of not only the speakers at meetings but

to your fellow MGs. You may think you are talking quietly but voices carry making it difficult for

others to hear what is going on during the meetings.

Sign In! As you arrive at the MG meeting each month, be sure to SIGN IN and pick up a ticket

for the door prize(s). The sign-in sheet will be on the table to the right as you come in the

door. At the end of each meeting, we will draw for a door prize!

Name Tags: Be sure to wear your MG name tag to each meeting and receive a KISS! Otherwise

put 50 cents in the jar.

Reminders

1st Stan Bachman 1st Nina Peeler 2nd Elizabeth Gersch 12th Elizabeth Spencer 13th Bob McKeel 15th LaVera Davis 19th Evelyn Baker 19th Nick Wysocki 20th Debbie Tate 22nd Angela Gary 25th Edward Pruett 28th Ross Ward 29th Bobbie Wilson

The December birth flowers

are Holly and Narcissus (specifically, the paperwhite).

December Birth Month Flower:

The Holly

The holly symbolizes your wish for do-

mestic happiness. Although some animals and birds enjoy

holly berries, they are semi-toxic

to humans.

The good news is that deer tend to avoid

eating holly.

December Birth Month Flower:

The Narcissus~Paperwhite

The narcissus conveys that you

want your beloved to stay just the

way they are. While there are many types of

narcissus, the paperwhite is the winter-growing variety

and the birth flower for December.

Source: https://www.almanac.com/content/december-birth-flowers

Garden Tricks

I used to watch a British gardening show regularly. One day the subject

was dealing with slugs and this was the most useful thing I every gleaned

from that show. After eating your morning grapefruit, take the rind out-

side and put it in the garden and leave it overnight. In the morning, turn

the rind over and stomp-voila-guaranteed to kill many slugs in one swift stomp! No poison required. ~Lana Keyes

8

New Pathways at the Native Plant Garden Photos by Diane Sandberg

Propagating at the ASU Greenhouse Photos by Diane Sandberg

Ending the Season at the Butterfly

Garden

9

Fun and Useful Links

Arkansas Master Gardener Program http://www.uaex.edu/yard-garden/master-gardeners

CCMG Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Craighead-County-Master-Gardeners/629232630461141?ref=hl

HWES School Gardens Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/HWESschoolgardens

Janet Carson's Blog - In the Garden

http://uofacesmg.wordpress.com/

Jim Long’s Blog http://jimlongsgarden.blogspot.com/

Public Horticulture Events

http://www.uaex.edu/yard-garden/master-gardeners/events.aspx

University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Research & Extension

http://www.uaex.edu/

Garvan Gardens with Janet Carson

http://www.garvangardens.org/photos-videos/gardeningwithjanet.aspx

The Arkansas Cooperative Extension

Service offers its programs to all eligi-

ble persons regardless of race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orienta-

tion, national origin, religion, age, dis-

ability, marital or veteran status,

Weeder’s Digest is the official news-

letter of the Craighead County AR

Master Gardener Program.

Please contact the newsletter editor at

dtolewitzke@gmail.com with your arti-

cles, ideas, photos and suggestions.

Newsletters are Adobe files and re-quire the latest

Adobe Reader to view. You may down-

load the latest Adobe Reader at

"http://get.adobe.com/reader/".

Craighead County Master Gardeners are trained volunteers

working with the University of Arkansas Cooperative Exten-sion Service and Craighead County officials to provide beau-tification projects and horticultural information to the resi-dents of the county. In 2016 Craighead County Master Gar-

deners reported more than 9366 hours of service and education to benefit Craighead County.

Branon Thiesse BS, MS

County Extension Agent - Staff Chair

Copyright 2012 -2017 Craighead County Master Gardeners. All rights reserved.

Our friend, Renee Shepherd, owner of Reneesgarden.com (Renee's Gar-

den Seeds), is making a wonderful offer for Health, Wellness and Envi-ronmental Studies Elementary School. If you go to her website and or-der seed, and use this code when you order: FR556A, she will donate 25% of the price of the seed you order, to the Health, Wellness and En-

vironmental Studies Elementary Kitchen/Garden Program. Isn't that great? So, go to her website and order some seed, being sure to use the FR556Acoupon code.

Trivia: According to “Champion Trees of Arkansas” by Linda Williams Palmer, the largest living

thing in Arkansas is the state’s champion bald cypress tree, located in Arkansas County. Its circum-ference is 516 inches and it is 120 feet tall. Though its exact age is unknown, comparable trees in

Florida have been estimated to be 2,000 years old.

Source: November Issue of Arkansas living