AMHERST , CAMPBELL and LYNCHBURG

Karen Sacasky

T      Master Gardener Training Classes have begun in Lynchburg . We have 23 enthusiastic, energetic students who have enjoyed their first week.

T      Our cookbook project is progressing nicely and a name for our book has been selected - Cooking with the Masters. The release date is set for the end of October 2004.  The book will contain original artwork by MG/Artist Terry Linton in addition to 600 recipes.  A portion of the money earned will help fund our horticulture programs in the Lynchburg Schools

T      Our President Ken Smith has been the driving force behind the establishment of an urban wildlife habitat demonstration garden at Perrymont Elementary School .  Many of our MGs been trained in Project WILD and the VA WILD School Site Habitat programs and will be assisting with this project.  Planning for spring VCE/HCMGA horticulture school programs is well underway.

T      Our members contributed 9,153.5 hours during 2003 in the name of VCE and HCMGA.

BEDFORD

Gail Augenreich

T      This spring will be our third annual seminar series for our community. On

       Saturday, March 20th, the topic will be on "Herbs, Saturday, March 27th the topic

       will be on "raised gardening beds" , and on Saturday, April 3rd, "container

       gardening with an emphasis on window boxes". Each year the participation of the

       community grows and many participants then attend our Master Gardener Training

       Program in the fall of each year.

BRUNSWICK

Larry Woyer

T      MG class currently underway with 15 members.

T      Working on a project about pH and its effect on how the garden grows.

CHARLOTTESVILLE

(Albermarle, Nelson, Fluvanna, Greene and Louisa)

Peter Warren

T      Fluvanna MGs are conducting a Landscaping seminar entitled "Flowers, Flowers, Flowers" on April 17. It is a daylong event including such topics as Daylilies and Edible Plants.

T      Louisa also known as Central Virginia MGs are presenting a Lecture Series starting February 1 and continuing on March 4, March 11, and April 1.

T      Albermarle MGs, also recognized as Piedmont MGs, are presenting a Lecture Series on Monday nights from February 9 until March 22.

CENTRAL RAPPAHANNOCK

Mike Holmes

T      I'm sorry to say that every Master Gardener in our area has come down with a very infectious disease -- CABIN FEVER!

T      Fall was busy with elections -- Don Saunders remains our President, and the
graduation of 34 new MG's.

T      January was again a very special month. We welcomed the Fall 2003 Class into our fold with our famous Potluck dinner and some very special awards.
One of our past presidents, Kay Graham, was award her 2000-hour certificate; Kay Kemmell achieved 436.20 total hours for 2003. A very special award was presented to Jean Johnson for a career total hours of 4,562.

T      The Historic Gardens in Stafford County and the City of Fredericksburg will
begin planning stages this month for our Period Gardens .

T      During 2003, Kenmore Gardens hosted a total 14,457 visitors with Ferry Farms hosting 12,396. The Rappahannock Area is looking forward to another successful garden year and a very busy tourist season.

Pauline Price

T      Training 30 new Interns in the current class.

T      The Tidewater Regional Advanced Master Gardener training will take place in Suffolk this spring.

T      Plant Sale is coming up.

T      Receipts from last year's Plant Sale has allowed us to offer 2 scholarships to students in the Hort program at Tidewater Community College .

FAIRFAX

George Graine

T      The training class for 2004 commenced on January 21.  Day and night

      sessions are held one day/week for ten weeks.  25 new interns as well as

      many active/certified MGs continue to attend classes.  Our annual meeting

      and class reception will take place on April 2.  Dr. Eric Grissell, Research

      Entomologist with USDA will be our guest speaker.

T      We will conduct plant clinics throughout Fairfax County at farmer’s markets, libraries, a regional park, and at special events including Mount Vernon Garden Days, Prince William County Spring Fling (propagation demonstration), Earth-Arbor Day, and Fairfax 4-H Fair.

T      We are in process of organizing Ready-Set-Grow program.75 classrooms (an increase of 9 classrooms over the 2003 program) and about 43 MGs will be involved in this program.  It is predicted that 1,850 4^th graders will participate.

T      Due to inclement weather in January, the NoVaMGCaucus will meet on April 2.  At that time we will continue a “sharing session” and consider the areas on outreach, diversity, and accountability in regard to recruiting MG volunteers as well as our dealing with citizens.

T      The VCE-Fairfax County 2003 Annual Report has been published.  It includes a variety of programs in a 14-page document designed to give the reader a better understanding of the vast array of work undertaken by VCE-Fairfax County .  Contact Extension on 703-324-5369 for further information.

FAUQUIER

Jim Scibek

Linda Pranke

T      Our "Masters of Taste" Cookbook sales have gone well, and we are now making a good profit from them. We still have a small inventory remaining, but we are confident they will sell out soon.

T      We've contacted the two Fauquier public high schools to inform them of the $500 scholarships (resulting from cookbook profits) we will offer again this year to graduating seniors who intend to pursue a career in horticulture-related fields and look forward to applications from some good candidates.

T      Interviews have been conducted for candidates to fill the position of Horticulture Extension Agent for Fauquier.

T      We plan to offer two public lectures/demonstrations in April for the public and interested Master Gardeners: one on "Spring Lawn Care," and a follow-up on "Alternatives to Lawns: Choosing Groundcovers."

T      For our #18 Schoolhouse (a one-room, late 19th century schoolhouse) Demonstration Gardens , we are planning and designing annual beds with heirloom flowers, which we will then accompany with explanatory information for visitors. Similarly, we are planning explanatory identification information for our demonstration gardens at Rady Park in Warrenton.

FOUR COUNTY MASTER GARDENERS

( Orange , Madison, Culpeper)

Reported by

Mildred & Ed Tyner

T      Tom Thornton, of Orange has been elected unit President.

T      A new agent has been hired and will arrive next month (based in Warrenton). Paige Thacker who succeeded Chuck Hoysa a year ago has moved to Prince William County .

T      Advanced training is being held in Culpeper on March 20th, rescheduled from last Sept. due to Isabel.

GLOUCESTER

Kathy Klein

T      We are organizing for Gloucester County 's annual Celebrate Families. Our booth's theme this year is "The Circle of Life," and Thanks To Isabel, we have the idea of handing out 1000 tree seedlings from the Forestry Department.

T      In addition, we have gone high-tech with a computerized version of Gardening Jeopardy.

T      We continue with Ready, Set, Grow; Hort Therapy; and the Hort Help Line.

GOOCHLAND

(GOOCHLAND/POWHATAN)

Joe Florino

Alexandria Haselman

T      Our Unit graduated 10 interns to Master Gardeners on January 8th. During the same ceremony, the Unit Officers for 2004 were installed. Most held the same office last year.

T      Our new Trainee class for 2004 has 19 Trainees, one of, which is officially blind. Virginia Tech has furnished her with training material on CDs, which permits her to participate with the other trainees. Her husband is also a trainee in the class.

T      Our Projects Administrator Coordinator has developed a list of 19 Projects for our unit for 2004.

T      Our Newsletter is mailed to Goochland and Powhatan County Officials, County Administrators as well as Members of the Board of Supervisors, and local county newspapers in both counties.

T      Field Trips are planned to The National Arboretum in Washington , DC and Norfolk 's Botanical Gardens.

T      Our membership at present consists of 51 Master Gardeners and 19 Trainees.

T      We along with The Powhatan Garden Club met with Powhatan's County Administrator to give her information on the projects implemented by both groups for use in approaching the Powhatan Board of Supervisors for additional funds for use in maintaining those projects and future ones.

T      On April 24, we will put on a program for the public entitled "The Return of the Native". The Program will consist of a, talk on the subject By Dr. Frank Delk followed by a walking tour of the Wild Flower Areas in Powhatan's Fighting Creek Park that were planted by our unit. The talk starts at 2:00PM at the Powhatan Public Library, which is located in Fighting Creek Park . For additional information, contact Lee Elam, Coordinator for the Project, at 304‑897‑4050.

(Southside Master Gardeners)

Bill McCaleb

T      The Southside Master Gardeners Association kicked off its MG class this year with 9 participants. Classes run every Tuesday 9:00am - 12:00pm.

T      We are looking forward to a busy spring with a public educational program on February 23 on "The Best of the Best". This program is designed to introduce clientele to the latest disease resistant vegetable seed varieties for Southside Virginia , along with a cross-reference guide to indicate local businesses that will have them in stock for the 2004 season. A lot of research work has gone into this program by several of our Master Gardeners who will also present the program.

T      The 2^nd public educational program of the year will be entitled “The Healthy Garden”, also at the AG Center on May 24^th, 6:30 – 8:30 PM. This program will concentrate on IPM methods used for a healthy garden.

T      Our annual fundraiser, our plant sale, will be held Saturday, May 1st. 

T      Working with 4-H and the Halifax County Improvement Council, Master Gardeners will be assisting in educating our youth about preserving our rural environment.

HANOVER

Pamela Armstrong

T      Rose Pruning clinic scheduled for February 22 at the Children's Hospital.

T      Scheduled to participate in the Spring Fling at Strange's Garden Center March 13-14. We will be sponsoring a Sunflower Growing Contest for Youth. We will supply the seed and they will bring back the sunflower head for judging at our Fall Plant Sale.

T      Plant Sale and Garden Fair will take place April 24.

T      Several members spoke before the General Assembly regarding the Critical Staffing Initiative on February 19.

JAMES CITY /

WILLIAMSBURG

Dale Firestone

Angela Cingale

T      Currently running a new class of 34 new master gardeners. These classes are organized by a committee of our current master gardeners and run by the same.

T      The Peninsula Tree Stewards-consisting of JCC/W, York Co. and Newport News MGs-are now training 20 new Tree Stewards.

T      On March 13, our MGA and Peninsula Tree Stewards, York MGs, James City County and New Kent Extension Offices, Soil and Water Conservation District , VA Dept. of Forestry Williamsburg land Conservancy and the James River Association are having a Community Reforestation Day. provided. In addition to providing seedling trees at minimal cost, the day will also have workshops on the proper tree planting and care.

T      On March 20, the MGA is having a Spring Into Gardening Day. A full day of workshops on Spring gardening and planting.

T      In April, we will have our Gardening with Children Workshop and annual Plant Sale .

Jinny Estell

Pat Rogers

T      We are organizing for the fall M.G. classes and for the seasonal farmers market (a plant clinic in each county).

T      We have created a meditation garden (after 911) with assistance from the Rappahannock Community College in their new side yard. This will be dedicated later in the spring. The garden is enhanced by holly trees donated by the Northern Neck Garden Club

T      We have a new series of lectures lined up for Spring which will present information to adults.

T      The children’s education programs have been enlarged to include soil programs, Sums, a program for the 3^rd graders on Shoreline Erosion and Arbor day activities for the schools

T      The Hort. therapy group has been going great at the retirement community and various planting are beginning to look great.

T      Our invitation for the entire VMGA representative to join us at the December meeting is on the board. Hope to see you all there.

NORTHERN SHENANDOAH VALLEY

( Frederick , Clarke, Page, Shenandoah, Warren )

CHUCK and SALLY WALTERS

T      Our MG training class began on February 3^rd and is being held at Lord Fairfax Community College in Middletown .  We have 25 prospective MG’s in the class, many from the Winchester area where interest is growing by leaps and bounds.

T      The Page County contingent is sponsoring three seminars…Pests Inside the Home and Out, February 23^rd, Herbs for Cooking and Medicine, February 26^th, and Landscaping, March 1.  For times and places contact George Hadeler, 540-743-2943.

T      Shenandoah County invites you to join us for an all day workshop on Backyard Wildlife Habitats on April 30^th presented by Carol Heiser, DGIF.  The cost is only $5.00 and the agenda includes inside and outside activities.  Contact Susie Howard at wdstairs@shentel.net to learn more.

PRINCE GEORGE

Cheryl Sebera

T      Training class has started with 12 participants. They come from Petersburg , Hopewell , Colonial Heights , Dinwiddie as well as Prince George .

T      Pruning Demonstration February 28.

T      Heritage Gardens Plant Sale on May 8^th with Master Gardeners available to answer questions.

T      Good Gardening Symposium on March 13^th with Peggy Singlemann and Brent Heath.

T      MGs helped Rowanty Vocational Technical School with their brochure to be handed out at the Maymont Flower and Garden Show.

T      New motto - "Gardening is therapy for a dirty mind".

PRINCE WILLIAM

Pat Reilly

T      A donation of nearly 1500 bulbs for our Teaching Garden has given us the idea of working toward an annual spring bulb event to market programs held there.

T      Registrations for 2 classes was so overwhelming, we had to turn people away. One is a gardening series for the public of 5 Saturday classes for $40 (33 participants); the other a free, 2-part landscape design class (50 participants). We’re unsure if it the ‘more-than-one’ idea or the marketing.

T      Seeking a new look to our ‘Spring Fling’ marketing, we have incorporated the ideas of (MG) business people. The name ‘Spring Fling’ will be de-emphasized as the term is nebulous, the emphasis on “lawn and garden” and “free” (MG advice and kids’ activities especially).

¨       Thanks to new MG guy Bart Posselt, we now have web-based hours submission. Judging by the increased numbers of hours submitted, it seems to be working great.

ROANOKE

( Roanoke and Craig and Botetourt )

Kathryn Debnar

Shelby Snider

T      Have established a Hort Therapy program at Ridgefield Nursing Home. This is the second facility where we are offering Hort Therapy.

T      Plant Sale is coming up in the near future.

T      We are gearing up to present 4-H programs in the elementary schools.

T      We are also planning a cookbook.

ROCKBRIDGE AREA

Ted Jenks

T      We are planning our 3^rd annual Master Gardener day trip for Tuesday, April 27, 2004.  This year we will travel by bus to the Virginia State Arboretum, located at the Blandy Experimental Farm at Boyce, a 726-acre teaching and research facility of the University of Virginia . We will drive a short distance to the elegant house and gardens of Glen Burnie in Winchester , built in 1737.  Twenty-five acres of formal gardens are divided into rooms, each with its own distinctive character.

T      The RAMGA Board prepared and sent a letter to our legislators expressing our support for the Virginia Cooperative Extension Critical Staffing Initiative. The letters were signed by over 100 MG’s and other community members.

T      One of our ongoing projects, the historic Jackson House, is undergoing extensive renovation, which has severely disrupted the surrounding gardens, which we maintain. The renovations are to be completed in late April so we requesting additional MG Volunteers to supplement the existing Jackson House Team to put the gardens back in shape. As a means of keeping the interest of the applicants for this year's class, which was cancelled, we are inviting them to help as well.

SUFFOLK

Betty Freedman

T      Suffolk MGs will host Spring Regional Advanced Training on April 24.

T      Suffolk MGs participated in the Suffolk peanut Festival, Heirloom Botanica Harvest Gala, Driver Days Festival and the regional MG Gardening Festival. The booth and display at the Peanut Festival won first place for presentation.

T      Training classes for 2004 are underway with 20 trainees.

VIRGINIA BEACH

Paul Campbell

T      Virginia Flower and Garden Show  January 2004. During the three days, Master Gardeners worked as speaker moderators, participated in Children activities, the VCE Booth and as Plant Doctors. The show was very successful and large crowds were present to view the displays, vendors, and listen to the speakers.

T      Mid-Atlantic Horticulture Short Course 19-22 January 2004. Several of our Master Gardeners participated as Moderators for speakers. This was very well attended and the presentations were excellent.

T      Master Gardener Class 3 February 2004.Our new class began on 3 February with 30 new trainees, five city employees and twenty-five citizens.

T      Green thumb Gardening Series Meetings .In association with the other area Master Gardeners, we will be providing the gardening series to the public beginning on 18 May and continuing once per week in the evening for 7 weeks.

T      In March, our folks will be participating in a variety of activities associated with the Arbor Day celebrations, tree wraps and sales.

WISE

( Southwest Virginia MGs)

Barbara Hayes

T      Apple Grafting Workshop on April 1 (no joke!) It will be presented by Harold Jerrell, Lee County Extension Agent.

T      Jim Willis, Russell County Extension Agent will be conducting numerous workshops for loggers and landowners in the next few months.

YORK

Jackie Lohr

T      We have completed our refresher pruning training prior to our holding general public clinics throughout the county.

T      We are in the planning stages of the 11^th annual Horticultural Extravaganza on March 6. We try to include topics of interest for both the novice and advanced gardener.

T      Our four Saturday mornings our Home Gardener Course will be held in March.

T      We are cooperating with James City County Master Gardeners, the Peninsula Tree Stewards, and several other volunteer groups to host a March 13 small tree sale. We are buying in bulk from the forest service, repackaging them in small packets of ten and are charging a nominal fee to help the general public replant some of the trees lost during Isabel.

T      The Peninsula Tree Stewards ( James City County and York) have also begun their third tree steward class which we are holding in York County this year. Our class has twenty-two students this year from James City County , Hampton , Newport News and York .

T      We will have five evening classes in March for our award winning 4-H Lawn Mowing Project. This is for students ten or older who want to learn about lawn care, lawnmower safety and care and the principles of running a small lawn mowing business.

T      In April, we conduct our on-site plant clinics. We conduct a public clinic that talks about all the plants in a homeowner’s yard but not the lawn.