NORTHEAST

Chesterfield Report

Mentors for the seedlings provided a luncheon at their last class at Maymont Part. The mentors maintain contact until the seedlings graduate, and they provide refreshments at the graduation. The Chesterfield MGs continue to do the Grass Roots Program and now have expanded the Gardening for New Residence Program to include all county residents. The tight economy has impacted these programs. These programs were shared with Suffolk County and maybe implemented.

April 21 was the date of the Horticultural Horizons at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, sponsored by the Chesterfield Master Gardeners. The theme was Conserving the Commonwealth: Keeping Virginia Green and many MGs from around the state attended.

The Chesterfield MGs partnered with Hanover to have a joint plant clinic at the Great Big Greenhouse. Again the MGs are offering many plant clinics and free seminars to the public. Vegetable gardening has been a poplar seminar this year. Four rain barrel workshops were again offered with over 100 rain barrels made by the public.

Square foot gardens and water wise gardens were built and installed outside the extension office for educational purposes. Also rain barrels were installed for demonstration purposes.

Come visit us: www.chesterfield.gov/extension

Gloucester Report

The 23^rd Daffodil Festival has passed and we have put our booth away until next year.  Our booth theme this year was “Gloucester Master Gardeners Going Green” and featured worm bins, rain barrels and other eco saving landscaping tips.  The Festival is one of the highlights of our educational outreach every year and coupled with some great weather, we were able to make over 600 contacts throughout the weekend.  We also provided a host of Master Gardeners to give tours at Brent and Becky’s Bulb Farm.  But what made this Festival a little more exciting this year, was the selection of the Gloucester Master Gardeners as the Grand Marshals of the Festival Parade.  Sporting straw hats decorated with Daffodils and handing out business cards, we proudly led this year’s parade in mass along the Gloucester Main Street lined with over 40,000 blooming daffodils.  We all agreed this was a special weekend to remember for some time and a nice reward for the countless hours of service that we provided to our community over the past year.  Hope you can make it to next year’s Festival!  It’s great fun for the whole family.

Respectfully,

Bonnie Bernard

Gloucester Master Gardener Unit Representative

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Hanover

The first two sessions of the 2009 Home Gardening Series have been a success. These Saturday seminars are tailored for home owners and home owner association's have been well received.

 Hanover just completed out first organized trip and local education event growing Shitake Mushrooms, the trip and program was well organized and Master Gardener's loved the program.

The Spring Plant Sale was a success and rain barrels are still a huge interest item. We continue to have a waiting list. Members of the Board and committee chairs are in the process of writing SOP's for each job description.

33 Interns graduate May 8.

Christy Brennen

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Newport News

Master Gardeners working with the Boys and Girls Club are expanding their program to include several new raised beds that were constructed and will be cultivated this summer.  April classes at the Newport News Juvenile Detention Center concentrated on plant propagation so the students could grow plants for sale.  The Unit’s plant sale held at the end of April is the fund raiser for the scholarship we award annually to a Horticulture Major at Christopher Newport University.  The second annual Newport News Master Gardener “Go Green - $ave Green” Symposium is taking place on September 26, 2009 at the Brittingham Midtown Community Center on Jefferson Avenue.  We are very excited about the larger venue allowing us to have more speaker sessions,

more exhibitors and more participants.  This month the Newport News Unit lost one of its most talented members.  Yvonne Tung will be greatly missed.  www.nnmastergardeners.org

Anita Smith

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Northern Neck

 The annual Gardening in the Northern Neck Seminar was wildly successful.  On March 21, Dr. Andy Hankins keynoted the event entitled "Grow Local, Buy Local, Eat Local:  Food for Thought".  Coordinators included Northern Neck Master Gardeners, Sybil Mays on sustainable gardening, and a host of local vendors including MG displays of vermiculture and oyster gardening.  This is the NNMGs major fund raising effort for the year and was attended by over 200 interested people.

A generous donation of spring bulbs from Brent & Becky's allowed the NNMG to enhance the newly erected "Welcome to Northumberland" signage at key entry points on major roads.  Extra bulbs were used to spruce up the county's 4H and Extension Office grounds.

The NNMG is planning a large demonstration vegetable garden using youngsters from the 4H and High School at the new Northern Neck Farm Museum.  This teaching garden will utilize proper organic, IPM and rain barrel principles.

Ted Munns

www.nnmg.org

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York County

York County Jr. 4-H Camp: Applications are still being accepted for the York County Junior 4-H Camp, July 27-31, 2009. This camp is for boys and girls ages 9-13. It is a residential camp, 5 days and 4 nights at the Jamestown 4-H Center. Openings are still available for boys and a short wait list for girls. Cost is $160.00 For registration materials call 890-4940 or visit our website: http://www.yorkcounty.gov/vce/progareas/4-H/Jr%204H%20Camp_2009.htm 4-H Chrysanthemums Project: The award-winning 4-H Chrysanthemums Project combines the skills of growing plants with the knowledge of how to account for, market, and sell a "product." Youth ages 10 to 15 will receive materials to grow 20 chrysanthemums and will attend four educational sessions (one hour each) through the summer. The first meeting will be Wednesday, May 27, at 6:30 p.m. in the York County Grounds Maintenance Building on Wolftrap Road. Participants will pot their mums and take them home. These mums need to be grown in an area that is weed free and full sun for 8-10 hours. Space in this program is limited to 20 participants, with York County residents having first priority until May 8. Application and registration fee of $20 must be received by May 18. Registration forms are available by calling 890-4940 and can be found online at www.yorkcounty.gov/vce/upcomingevents. For more information on either of these events, feel free to contact the York Extension office at 890-4940. York County Extension Staff

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NORTHERN

Albemarle/Charlottesville Piedmont

Each early spring, we wet our gardening appetite at our annual “Spring Gardening Lecture Series.” Co-chaired by Marilyn Millard, Sally O’Neil and Sylvia Ward, this public education program covered topics as The Kitchen Garden with Mark Ragland, Bulbs, The Final Touch with Cathy Clary, Good Gardening Bones with Ian Robertson and Principles of Green Garden Design with Virginia Rockwell. This series began in 2003 and has consistently been a favorite for local gardeners. This year we had over 400 from our community attend. Fees for all programs were $25 or $8 each and our profits totaled $2,300.

In 2006, PMG and Monticello Associates partnered to develop a demonstration garden. M. Assoc. provided the land along with supplies such as mulch, large tools and ongoing leaf removal. It is located in downtown Charlottesville. A prominent bolder on the property has bestowed the name “The Rock” on this project. The garden promotes educating the public on native and non-native plants in both shady and sunny areas. All plants are labeled and brochures are available on plant care, composting, mulching and cultivation tips. “The Rock” has been used as the setting in several TV commercials regarding upgrading to digital converted boxes. Dorothy Tompkins, Jacki Vawter, Rosemary Connelly and Kristen Rembold are the backbone of this successful project. It is frequently the backdrop for a local TV station’s community announcements.

Saturday, May 9^th, from 9-Noon, we are having our plant sale at Meadowbrook Shopping Center across from Barracks Road Shopping Center. Look for the gorilla (yep, that’s me) on the corner holding the balloons!

We are proud to also share with you the following information. PMG has 142 dedicated active members that participate in 26 unit projects. In 2008 we gave 6,061 hours to our community, which translates to $118,250 in dollar volunteer time. You are invited to visit our website at www.PiedmontMasterGardeners.org

Joyce Grunewald

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Arlington/Alexandria

- On April 18, we had the graduation reception for our trainee class for 2009 along with our Spring General Meeting. The feature speaker was a member of the Arlington County Board, who assured us our efforts are known to the Board and other elected officials and who praised us for our

accomplishments. Also highlighted were the excellent class projects produced by this year's trainees and some of which are being considered for sharing via the brag board at MG College.

- We have an educational/informational presentation at Alexandria's Earth Day 2009 celebration April 25.

- Our 3 farmer's market clinics will begin operation May2 and continue each Saturday through fall.

- We had a very informative and practical April

continuing education event on "Gardening Without Pain."

- We have 4 sessions of public education events for families at local libraries in April and May on "Grow Your Own Pizza" with emphasis on such things as nutrition, vegetable gardening and container gardening.

 MGMV

Joe Kelly 

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Name:  George Graine

Unit:  Fairfax

Local Association:  Fairfax County Master Gardner Association

Program:

            A new Turf Nutrient Management Program is underway.  After a naming competition, the program is now called “Home Turf: Keep it Simple Keep it Green.”  The pilot group is limited to interested first year interns (at no cost).  Funds have been secured for necessary equipment.  Master Gardeners will work in teams of two.  They will measure the lawn area and take a soil sample.  A check list has been developed for the intern-homeowner visit in order to assess the overall condition of the lawn.  This information will be recorded on to a “landscape evaluation form.”  After the soil test results are returned from VaTech, the interns and turf team members will review the results of the test.  Once this data has been collected, a unique turf nutrient management program will spell out what needs to be accomplished in order to improve the lawn. 

Assuming this effort proves to be successful and a worthwhile effort, the plan is to open up the program, on a fee basis, to citizens of Fairfax County.

Unit Contacts:

            Extension Agent:  Adria Bordas, abordas@vt.edu, 12011 Government Center Parkway, Suite 1050, Fairfax, VA 22034.

            President:  Janet Barbee, janet_barbee@msn.com, 3234 Fox Mill Road, Oakton, VA 22124.

            Website/Master:  www.fairfaxmastergardeners.org, Amol Kaikini, amol.kaikini@gmail.com.

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Green Spring Unit

Green Spring Master Gardeners had an all-hands meeting on March 28 from 9 to 12.  A two- fold purpose was achieved with committee and section leaders providing up to date information on happens in the unit as well as clarifying active and inactive members.  Adria Bordas, County Agent, gave a presentation on Insects and Diseases including the Emerald Ash Borer and the White Nose fungus attacking Virginia’s bat population.

Ready, Set, Grow program has been completed.  Analysis of the program will be held Tuesday and Wednesday, April 28 and 29.  A volunteer is still needed for the 2010 program.

The Basic Gardening series of classes on Summer Bulbs and Container Gardening for Flower and Vegetables were held April 3 and 17.  Two more classes are scheduled for May.  Classes are held on Friday afternoons and attendance has been consistent.

Plant sales are held at the parking lot at Green Spring Gardens each Saturday from April 4 through May 9^th from 9 AM to 12Noon.  May 16 is the giant Garden Day sale with more than 45 vendors offering their wares and plants.  Master Gardeners present topics at each of the plant sales as well as hold question and answer sessions.  A bake sale is also held at the May 16 plant sale. 

February and March statistics:

Hours volunteered:  1123 hours

Contacts:  2363 people

Joan Richards

Unit Rep

www.fairfaxcounty.gov/PARKS/gsgp/

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Loudoun

 "The Loudoun County Master Gardeners turned out in force to the Board of Supervisors managed to triumphantly persuade them to not cut the funding for our unit. The BOS voted nearly unanimously to allow us to continue educating and supporting our communities with knowledge, encouragement and food donated to the food bank. We could not be happier. The unit also became a 501(c)3 charitable organization. We hope to benefit from this in the future.

This past weekend April 18 & 19th we participated in the annual Leesburg Flower & Garden Festival. We did quite well in both our pre-sales and our event sales. We also participated in the Arbor Day event held at Oatlands Estate. The weekend was beautiful and turn out was great.

On Tuesday, April 21st our unit was recognized by the County for being the "Outstanding Adult Volunteer Team" in a ceremony held by the Board of Supervisors. The unit received a nicely engraved award and a certificate of recognition. All the participants were given a write up in the local newspaper along with pictures."

Ingrid Fovargue

VMGA Rep

Loudoun County

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SOUTHEAST

Norfolk

Norfolk graduated 15 NMG interns from its training class in April 2009.  This is the smallest class in recent years, but the interns are dedicated and committed to making Norfolk a better place to live, horticulturally speaking.  Also, twenty interns became regular NMGs.

Tree stewards in recent years have been responsible for updating the street tree inventory in Norfolk and in 2009 will begin a new program of finding and identifying significant trees within the city.  They may be selected for their beauty, rarity, size, shape, location, history and anything else deemed appropriate.

Water stewards are finding themselves in demand with several projects proposed and/or underway.  Some of these will have regular NMGs and local citizens participating.

Our funding for the Norfolk VCE office and agent were not included in the 2009 fiscal year budget by the City of Norfolk, but verbally we have been told that the position and office will be added, that it was an oversight that thanks to our calls and letters was brought to the forefront.  So we are breathing a sigh of relief.  Still waiting for the figures though.

Don Snipes

drsnipes@cox.net

757-625-7143

www.nmgv.org

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Prince George

Spring Garden Basics classes went very well, most were at capacity. These are Saturday morning classes, 9-noon, are free and open to the public. Planning for the fall classes have already started.

MGs are continuing to help at the Richard Bland College Water Garden and also at the Weston Plantation; meeting every week to refurbish the gardens and answering the public’s questions.

The Scholarship Committee came up with explicit guidelines for a $500 scholarship to be given to one college bound high school student who will major in horticulture, forestry, conservation, or agriculture.

Greater Tomato Contest is an annual contest open to surrounding areas for the heaviest tomato. We have a category for youth and adults. The reward is notoriety as having grown the biggest tomato and a photo in the newspaper receiving the certificate.

The 7^th Annual Good Gardening Symposium’s title was: “Enrich the Environment--Go Native!”

This one day forum was filled with very informative subjects on natives and invasives.  As always the Symposium was at capacity with a waiting list.

The Spring Plant Sale/Clinic is Saturday May 16^th from 9 am-noon, in the parking lot of the Old Courthouse. Many perennials, some vegetables plants and herbs, shrubs and small trees will be available. www.pgmga.org

Cheryl Sebera

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Virginia Beach

            The Virginia Beach MGs will be hosting a Regional Education Program on April 24^th at the Central Library for the cities of Norfolk/Virginia Beach/Chesapeake/

Portsmouth/Suffolk and Isle of Wight.  The program is titled ‘Total Gardening  - Design, Ornamentals, Fruits, Vegetables, and Trees.’ 

.           Plant Selection – Where Design Becomes a Garden      Marie Butler          

            Fruit and Vegetables in the Landscape                 Sybil Mays

            Remarkable Trees of Virginia                                                Jeffrey Kirwan

            Also, Virginia Beach is preparing for their annual plant sale at the Farmers Market, Princess Anne and Dam Neck Roads on May 9^th (Mother’s Day weekend) and all are welcome. 

Va. Beach's Unit Report. 

Fran

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SOUTHWEST

The Blue Ridge (Carroll, Grayson, city of Galax)

Name: Charlie Whittle

Unit: Master Gardeners of the Blue Ridge

Local Association: Master Gardeners of the Blue Ridge (Carroll, Grayson, city of Galax), Southwest District, 54 active members, 4025 service hours in 2008.

Programs/Projects

 Agents from both counties with MG assistance conduced apple grafting sessions for the general public in March/April in Carroll and Grayson Counties. The unit will support Earth Day,  Heritage Day and Kids Day @ Matthews Farm Museum.

Unit Contacts:

            Extension Agent: Wythe Morris, wmorris@vt.edu, Carroll County VCE Office, 605 Pine Street, Hillsville, VA 24343.

            Coordinator: Dave Byrne, erlbyrne@aol.com, 2502 Coal Creek Road,        Galax, Va 24333

Unit rep:  Charlie Whittle,   cwhitjr@embarqmail.com, 78 Creekside Drive, Dugspur, VA 24325.

            Website/Manager: Site under development.

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