This page is arranged by county or MG chapter to make it easier for you to see what’s been going on in your community.
Chapters are encouraged to post their own news or email to your faithful webmaster (photos can be emailed, too. Please ID chapter, event, dates and people.) for posting. If you don’t blow your own horn, ain’t nobody else gonna!
Entries below are taken from the Fall, 2011 issue of The Scoop and are copyright their respective authors.
Coweta County Master Gardeners – Bonsai at the Backyard Association
Bonsai enthusiast Marianne Thomasson talked about miniature trees at the Backyard Association’s meeting Tuesday, August 9 at the Coweta County Fairgrounds. “While a tiny tree might look 100 years old, it’s probably not,” Thomasson said. “There are things to do to create the illusion of age.” These techniques were demonstrated and specimens were available for attendees to inspect.
“There are ‘rules’ in creating bonsai, but it’s okay to break them as long as you know them. It is rare that a tree adheres to all of the rules.” She said, “For example, one rule is that the top of the front of the tree should ‘bow’ to the viewer. That’s because the artist bows to the tree as it is being worked on.” Bonsai trees are about 95 percent horticulture and 5 percent art, she added.
The Backyard Association is an educational program sponsored by the Coweta County Extension Master Gardeners. The presentations are free to the public and are held on the second Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. at the Coweta County Fairgrounds’ Exhibit Building
located at 275 Pine Road, Newnan. Please call the Extension Office at (770) 254-2620 for reservations and to register for door prizes.
Submitted by Lana Jones, UGA Cooperative Extension
Fulton County Master Gardeners -Alpharetta Community Gardens at Wills Park
This season has been a challenge with the heat of the summer bringing the gardeners out daily to water and harvest the yummy vegetables they have grown. The compost bins that NFMG contributed to with a grant two years ago are producing usable compost daily and the gardeners take an active role in turning, watering, and adding to the bins to create crumbly black compost that they add to their garden plots. Along the perimeter of the gardens are community areas planted with potatoes, corn, sunflowers, raspberries and blueberries. The herb garden is flourishing, and the pollinator plants are bringing the beneficial insects in droves. The birds
play among the beds, creating a lively ecosystem.
The gardeners generously donate vegetables to North Fulton Community Charities, and at any time the donation bin is filled with tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and more. There is now a Facebook page for the Gardens where participants share their questions on fertilizing; how to distract critters; identifying insect or disease damage; and when someone needs help with harvesting or watering, they are able to contact a fellow gardener.
As the summer harvest comes to an end, folks are busy planning their fall gardens with dreams of cooler days. There was a Fall Gardening class on August 13 and a Composting class is scheduled for October 8. This group of dedicated Gardeners is a tribute to the Community Garden concept, and they have created a wonderful example of how to make it happen! If you have any questions or would like more information about these Gardens: contact Jan Waters, NFMG: janwaters@bellsouth.net Link to pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/JMW2125/AlpharettaCommunityGardens2011?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCKKMo8KBtKWtzQE&feat=directlink
Northeast Georgia Master Gardeners – Plant-a-Row Garden at the William Harris Homestead
Barrow-Jackson-Walton Counties
We are the The Three County Master Gardeners (Barrow-Jackson-Walton) and we’ve had a long, hot summer, but a very fruitful one. From having classes for the Boys and Girls Club in
Social Circle to helping fund a student field trip to the William Harris Homestead, where incidentally they had a plant-a-row for the hungry. “Every garden has an extra row” is the concept behind “Plant-A-Row,” a worldwide program to help feed the hungry. According to Three County Master Gardener Ed Novak, local coordinator for the “Plant-A-Row” effort this year, the idea that “you can keep one row to give,” has blossomed locally into a 10-row plot
of 70-foot rows full of delicious, soon-to-be-donated veggies at The William Harris Homestead.
Winder Master Gardener John Gladney, also a Three County Master Gardener, started the local effort five years ago on a much smaller plot off Double Bridges Road. The idea is to plant a garden, schedule Master Gardeners to tend it through the growing season, and as the vegetables ripen, give them to local shelters and food pantries.
“We donated over 10,000 pounds of food over three years, from our first “Plant-A-Row” garden,” Gladney said. When Dottie Zazworsky, one of William Harris’ great granddaughters and a curator of the Harris Homestead, contacted the Master Gardeners about possibly moving their “Plant-A-Row” garden to the homestead, Novak said the group was excited. “We had no idea she was going to give us a whole field,” he said. “We all laughed when she asked us if it was big enough. It’s the biggest garden we’ve ever had.”
Homeport Farm Mart, in Winder, donated the seeds and fertilizer. “Very generously donated!” Novak adds, and the William Harris Estate bought the tomato and pepper plants.
Novak and Gladney harvested the first tomatoes, green peppers, cucumbers and yellow squash from the garden on June 18 and, they agreed, the fruit of their “Plant-A-Row” garden will only become more bountiful as the long summer days unfold. To date we have harvested and donated over 700 pounds to the needy.
Submitted by Lorin Sinn-Clark, Barrow County Journal
Northeast Georgia Master Gardeners:Nannie’s Children’s Garden: Growing for the Community
Braselton, Georgia
The new Nannie’s Children’s Garden in the heart of Braselton, Georgia, had a successful first season of growing vegetables for the local community as the Braselton Junior Master Gardener class planted and harvested a variety of vegetables within the foundation of the hundred year-old mule barn located there.
A project of the Hall County Master Gardeners and Keep Jackson County Beautiful, with active support of the nearby Braselton West Jackson Library, this was the first year that a garden had been planted there. The JMG group began last March, and continued classes and gardening through mid-July. As the vegetables were ready for harvest, the students, ranging in age from 8 to 13, would display and sell the vegetables on the front porch of the library every Monday and Friday. The students raised several hundred dollars for their efforts.
These funds will be used to expand the gardens beyond the foundation walls with perennial beds, trees, shrubs, and pathways. Grants to support the garden have been received
from the Georgia Master Gardener Association, the Hall County Master Gardeners, and the Keep America Beautiful foundation, as well as from several private citizens.
Several adult volunteers have assisted in maintaining the garden and/or conducting the JMG
classes. A new class will begin this fall, beginning in September. A Youtube video of the JMG activities is available at www.youtube.com/watch?v=4evL2WBSAfI.
The garden is named in honor of the late Ottis Blanche McDonald Braselton.
Submitted by Dave Rusk, Hall County Master Gardeners
Northeast Georgia Master GardenersAnd More!
Barrow-Jackson-Walton Counties
The Master Gardeners were instrumental in organizing a community garden for the Barrow County housing Authority.
In Jackson County, the Master Gardeners took on a project for the West Jackson Primary School to do some preliminary planning to remake and transform a school courtyard into a garden and play area for the children.
Submitted by Ed Novak, Three County Master Gardeners