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advanced training update

9/29/2018

Advanced Training Update

Thank you to Staff Chair Berni Kurz and the Washington County Master Gardeners for conducting the August 17th Advanced Training class, "Heirloom Gardening".

Sixty-three Master Gardeners from across the state, including eleven attending their first advanced class, now have a better understanding of what an heirloom plant is and why we should grow heirlooms. Many also enjoyed pre-training activities which included an Old-Fashioned Ice Cream Social, Shiloh Museum Tour and a special presentation by Susan Young on food from days of yore. This interesting and educational training also included seed saving techniques. Even 'not so nice' weather could dampen the enjoyment of the attendees nor the enthusiastic and outstanding hospitality of the Washington County Master Gardeners.

Congratulations to the following Master Gardeners who have attained a new advanced training level after completing this class:

                        Level I (5 classes):
                                    Joellen Beard, Pulaski County
                                    Beverly Hefley, Boone County
                                    Connie Whitman, Greene County

                        Level II (13 classes):
                                    David Anderson, Montgomery County
                                    Mary Emma Watts, Sebastian County

Congratulations, also, to:

Audrey Holt, Baxter County, and Deborah Zimmer, White County. Both Audrey and Deborah have completed 23 advanced classes.  To reach the Level III recognition, each must write an article for a county newsletter, the Garden Voice Newsletter, or other publication OR give a presentation at a regular Master Gardener meeting or public workshop.

Lucy Fry, River Valley; Mary Wells, Faulkner County, and Rosemary Wingfield, River Valley. Lucy and Mary have completed the 38 Advanced Training classes required for Level V. Rosemary has already completed 39 Advanced Training classes. To complete the final step to earn a Level V badge, each must complete an educational project that makes a significant contribution to a local community, school or Master Gardener program. The project must be on a preapproved horticulture topic.

Advanced Trainings are a product of County 76. Classes are offered to active Master Gardeners who have been in good standing in their county program for at least three years.

Notices of upcoming Advanced Training classes are provided via Constant Contact. Classes fill quickly, so don't delay when you see a topic that interests you.

Linda Soffer
County 76 President

pumpkin brownies

9/29/2018

PUMPKIN BROWNIES with cream cheese frosting

INGREDIENTS
1-15 oz can pumpkin
1 c vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 c sugar
2 c flour
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t salt

DIRECTIONS
Beat eggs, oil, pumpkin and sugar. Stir balance of ingredients until evenly mixed. Pour into greased and floured 9x13 pan (I used generic Pam and nothing sticks).

Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees or until outer springs back when touched.

Serve with whipped topping or a cream cheese frosting. Chopped nuts can be tossed on top of frosting.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

INGREDIENTS
1/2 c softened butter
8 oz cream cheese
4 cups confectioners sugar
2 t vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
Beat butter and cream cheese until smooth. Then add confectioners sugar and vanilla to mixture and beat until smooth. Nice consistency and tasty!

Source: allrecipes (https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/211165/pumpkin-brownies/)

sweet potato and pecan pie

9/29/2018

Ingredients

Pie dough for 2 single crusts
3 large (2 1/2 to 3 pounds total) sweet potatoes
1/2 stick (2 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 to 3 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
3 to 6 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 lemon (juice only)
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
4 cups pecan halves

Directions
Divide the dough in half. Roll each half into a circle and fit into a 9-inch pie pan, finishing the edge of each crust as desired. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Rinse the sweet potatoes and place in a large pot. Add enough water to cover them. Over medium-high heat, bring the water to a boil. Cook until the sweet potatoes are completely tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Remove the potatoes from the water.
Put the butter into the large bowl of a standing electric mixer. Carefully peel each potato (because they are hot), also removing any brown flesh. Add the hot potatoes to the butter and mash them until smooth.
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.
Beat the sweet-potato mixture with the white and brown sugars until smooth. Add the sweetened condensed milk, nutmeg and cinnamon to taste and the lemon juice. Mix on low until thoroughly combined, adding the eggs until they are just combined.
Divide the pecans between the two prepared crusts, reserving about 1/3 cup of the best-looking halves to garnish the pies. Pour the sweet potato filling over the nuts, dividing the batter between the two pies. Top each pie with the pecan halves, arranging them as desired.
Bake the pies for 1 hour. Raise the heat to 350 degrees and bake until the pies are firm, the crust has begun to brown and the pies have puffed a little, 25 to 30 minutes.

Servings: 20 Yield: Makes two 9-inch pies or 20 servings

Source: "Christine Taylor's Sweet Potato and Pecan Pie" http://www.washingtonpost.com/recipes/christine-taylors-sweet-potato-and-pecan-pie/7639/?utm_term=.219f377abb63

October 2018 Garden and Master Gardener Events

9/29/2018

October 2018 Garden and Master Gardener Events

6 - Pollinator Festival, River Valley MG Program, Fort Smith, AR.

7 thru 13 - Master Gardener Week

13 - 30th Birthday Celebraton for Arkansas MG Program, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., P. Allen Smith's Moss Mountain Farm, Roland, AR.  For active Arkansas Master Gardeners only.

17 - MG Basic Training Class via Zoom (for those counties that are participating). Class is held on Wednesdays 18, 24, 31 and Nov. 7, 14. Contact your county extension office for more information.

18 - 21 - Oklahoma MG Study Trip, For more information call 501-771-0987  Information    Registration Form

20 - Bulb Sale, Union County, El Dorado, AR.

23 - County 76 Quarterly Meeting, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Little Rock State Extension Office Auditorium, 2301 South University Ave. Email Linda Soffer if you plan to attend.  lfsoffer@gmail.com

join us at our next meeting

9/29/2018

The Baxter County Master Gardeners are a fun group of folks who enjoy sharing their love of gardening with any visitor.

At our meetings we have speakers, refreshments, & fun.

Come join us!

Next Meeting Date:
October 11th from 1:00 - 3:00 pm

Meeting Place:
The First Presbyterian Church
1106 Spring Street
Mountain Home, AR

September Speakers:
Tina Marie Wilcox, "Herbal Vinegars"
Horticulture Table: James Lovelace, "Dividing Houseplants and Winter Care"

Master Gardeners Monthly Radio Program:
Mountain Talk Radio October 17th on 97.1 7:15 a.m. - 8:am.
Master Gardener Hosts this month are Tommy Hagan and Ceil Gasiecki

Directions:
From Mountain Home
Take US Hwy. 62B East through Mountain Home until you come to Cardinal Street. Cardinal Street is the intersection just past Harp's Grocery. Turn right onto Cardinal Street and travel South until you come to the first stop sign which should be Spring Street. Turn left onto Spring Street and go down the hill past the bridge and the First Presbyterian Church will be on your right hand side.

From Gassville:
Take Hwy. 62/412 towards Mountain Home. Once you get to Mountain Home continue on into Mountain Home on US 62B. This will take you through town till you get to Harp's Grocery and you come to Cardinal Street. Cardinal Street is the intersection just past Harp's Grocery. Turn right onto Cardinal Street and travel South until you come to the first stop sign which should be Spring Street. Turn left onto Spring Street and go down the hill past the bridge and the First Presbyterian Church will be on your right hand side.

What's wrong with this picture?

9/29/2018

From: Bellamy Photostock

After the heat of summer, fall brings a needed temperature relief for both plants and their caretakers. Yet fall brings a different stress for these same entities: falling leaves. Some gardeners say leave the leaves where they fall; others hope for wind to remove them; others diligently fill numerous lawn and leaf bags. Perhaps more importantly, what does a layer of leaves do to your lawn?

According to our own Mark Keaton, University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Office, "The leaves should be collected as they fall. You don’t want a heavy covering of leaves entering the winter months. A dense layer can actually smother a lawn. People often leave leaves on the lawn until it turns cold and then rake them. If you have a covering of leaves on your lawn prior to the first frost, the leaves may prevent your lawn from going dormant. When you finally do rake up the leaves, you’ll expose actively growing grass to cold weather. Your lawn could suffer winter injury."

So there you have it! Get those rakes ready and probably some muscle liniment for afterwards.

For other fall gardening suggestions, see the October Garden Calendar in this issue.

2019 Spring Seminar

9/29/2018

Baxter County Master Gardeners are preparing for our 25th Anniversary on Saturday, March 23, 2019, with our 2019 Spring Seminar entitled, "Developing an Ozark Green Thumb -- Celebrating 25 Years of Master Gardeners in Baxter County".

We are excited to announce our featured speaker will be Dr. Doug Tallamy, Professor of Entomology at the University of Delaware, author of Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens and co-author with Rick Darke of The Living Landscape: Designing for Beauty and Biodiversity in the Home Garden. Dr. Tallamy will be speaking on “Bringing Nature Home”. You’ll find additional information on his website at www.bringingnaturehome.net/lecture.html.

Registration forms will be available in early December on our website, so please check as seating will be limited to the first 200 people. Tickets for the public are $30.

October garden calendar

9/29/2018

The following is a garden checklist for October:

Applications are being taken for the upcoming Master Gardener training to be held on October 17, 24 and 31, November 7 and 14 in Mountain Home. Space is limited and pre-registration is required. Cost of the program is $100. For more information call 425-2335.
If you didn’t seed your tall fescue lawn in September, do so by the middle of the month. Seed at a rate of 8-10 pounds per 1,000 square feet. For existing tall fescue lawns, overseed now to thicken them up at a rate of 4-5 pounds per 1,000 square feet. Tall fescue makes a wonderful lawn for the shade, but you still need to have 3-4 hours of sunlight. Be sure to water it well until it is established. Fertilize now as well with a complete fertilizer.
Planting trees and shrubs in the fall is ideal. Our ground temperature is still warm, so roots will begin to get established quickly. Rarely does our soil ever freeze solid, so the plants will continue to produce
Leaves should be collected as they fall. You don’t want a heavy covering of leaves entering the winter months. A dense layer can actually smother a lawn. People often leave leaves on the lawn until it turns cold and then rake them. If you have a covering of leaves on your lawn prior to the first frost, the leaves may prevent your lawn from going dormant. When you finally do rake up the leaves, you’ll expose actively growing grass to cold weather. Your lawn could suffer winter injury.
Even though the weather is cooler this month, don’t forget to water an inch of water per week if natural rainfall doesn’t occur. It is especially important around trees and shrubs that were planted this year. Don’t severely prune shrubs now because this will encourage rapid regrowth, and the new growth won’t have time to harden off before cold weather arrives.
In the garden plant a cover crop, such as wheat, rye, alfalfa or crimson clover and turn it under in the spring. Don’t let your cover crop go to seed. Cover crops hold the soil and organic matter in place, provide insulation and add nutrients to the soil. They also encourage continued activity of beneficial soil microorganisms.
Do NOT compost or leave any diseased plants or plant parts in the garden.
For you garlic lovers, it’s that time of the year to plant garlic for next years harvest. Grow garlic in a location that gets at least six hours of full sun each day, and plant in fertile, well drained soil from mid-October to mid-December. Before planting, separate the bulbs of culinary garlic into individual cloves. Set cloves right side up ½ to 1 inch deep and 3 to 5 inches apart in the row.
It's time to set out winter pansies, flowering kale, flowering cabbage and fall mums.
Have your soil tested and follow the test recommendations.
Plant spring bulbs, including tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, Siberian squill, bulbous irises, Anemone and crocus. Select healthy, disease-free bulbs. Add bone meal or bulb fertilizer into the planting hole, as you prepare the soil.
People become worried when their pine trees shed pine needles, but it is a natural process. As long as the needles that are dropping are not at the tip of the branches, everything is fine. Rake up the pine needles and use it as a mulch around your shrubs.
Clean up around your perennial plants. Any leaves that have fallen can harbor insects and diseases for next year. Scatter dry seed heads or store the seeds for later use. Cut back any plants that have lost most of their leaves or that look bad now.
Divide and transplant any perennials that typically bloom in the spring or summer. Plant new perennials. They too will get well established during the fall, winter and early spring. Fall planting can also give you blooms the first season after planting.
Recycle disease-free annual potted plants and potting medium by adding them to the compost pile or directly into the garden. Remember to break up root balls from the plants.
Clean up emptied pots with a 10 percent bleach solution to get rid of any plant pathogens.
Empty excess water out of hoses before storing. Water expands as it freezes and can burst hoses.
As you harvest your Halloween pumpkins, or when you purchase yours, pick one with a good solid rind, free of blemishes or wounds. Always make sure that at least an inch or two of stem is left attached. If they have no stem, they are more prone to rotting. Paint a face on your pumpkin as early as you want, but avoid carving your pumpkin until a day or two before Halloween. Once they are carved, they deteriorate rapidly.

For more information on any of the above points, contact the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension office at 425-2335.

HELP WANTED

9/29/2018

Bull Shoals White River State Park Project Leaders

There will be a leadership opportunity for 1, 2, or 3 people to be Project Leaders at Bull Shoals White River State Park beginning in the new year.

After a number of years, Betsy and Margareta have decided to retire at the end of this season. They have done an outstanding job at the park and would like to pass on this wonderful project to new leadership. They generally meet on the first Tuesday of the month, but of course that can change.

Please feel free to contact me if you are interested or have questions. Lets keep this picturesque project going.

Penny Wells, VP Garden Projects
pennywells321@hotmail.com