Get ready to Zoom for an event different from all others.

Join Master Gardeners from across Arkansas in a virtual MG Appreciation Day with Doug Tallamy, professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware, starting off the program. He will be speaking on a new approach to conservation that starts in your yard - "Nature's Best Hope". 

A live demonstration of using what's in your yard to make a wreath will be taught by Lee Witty, joining us from the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks.

You must preregister in order to attend this virtual event. Log in to Buddy Messages for the link.

​Grow Your Own Groceries: Winter Squash
Thursday, October 1, 2020
Noon - 1 p.m.
In this live Zoom presentation, University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture Extension Agents will teach you how to grow healthy, nutritious food in your own backyard and give tips for new ways to cook and prepare your harvest. This class will focus on growing and cooking with winter squash. See Buddy Messages for registration link.


Growing Your Own Groceries: Apples
Thursday, October 15, 2020
12 - 1 p.m.
In this live Zoom presentation, University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service professionals will teach you how to grow healthy, nutritious food in your own backyard and give tips for new ways to cook and prepare your harvest. This class will focus on growing and cooking with apples. (registration link will be sent out later)

Master Gardener Newsletter of the Year (50 or less) 
Compostings, Grazzie Warbritton, Editor, Montgomery County.  
Master Gardener Newsletter of the Year (51 or more) 
The Grapevine, Joyce Fiddler, Editor, Meredyth Levering, Co-editor - Faulkner County
Friend of Master Gardener (Individual)  
Jim Baker, Faulkner County
Friend of Master Gardener (Individual) 
Sue McGowan, Greene County
Friend of Master Gardener (Business) 
Mid-South Nursery & Greenhouses, The Seibert Family, Craighead County
Friend of Master Gardener (Business) 
Lowe's of Paragould, Rhonda Bottoms, Manager, Greene County
Master Gardener Rookie of the Year (50 or less)
Laura Bell, Crittenden County
Master Gardener Rookie of the Year (51 or more)   
Richard Boss,  Craighead County
Master Gardener of the Year (50 or less)
Mary Howard, Cleburne County
Master Gardener of the Year (51 or more) 
Ann Wood,  White County  
Master Gardener Project of the Year (50 or less)
St. Francis County Museum, Anita Vandiver, Chair - St. Francis County
Master Gardener Project of the Year (51 or more)
Garland County Master Gardener Plant Sale and Garden Show, Claudette Cooper and Paula Jackson, Chairs - Garland County
Excellence In Education Award (51 or more)
Garden Explorers Jr. Master Gardener 4-H, Joyce Mendenhall, Chair - Washington County


2020 Janet B. Carson County Scholarship Recipients
​
Drew County's Attracting Butterflies, Birds, and Bees in Monticello
Drew County Master Gardeners, in collaboration with four other organizations, established two sites as public demonstration projects.  The sites are used by Master Gardeners to share information on native plants with the general public as well as for learning opportunities for students in area schools.  Signage will include plant and insect identification and the pollinators attracted to the sites to create increased awareness of pollinators.  The project includes trees, shrubs, wildflowers, herbs, non-native nectar annuals, hardscapes, and signage.  

Greene County's Teaching Garden
Greene County Master Gardeners, in collaboration with two other organizations, are teaching local youth basic gardening principles about natural resources, plants, insects, pests, and composting with hands-on learning opportunities.    4-H students (ages 5-12) learn by participating in hands-on garden activities.  Students will develop a better understanding of natural resources and plants and animals and how they interact in the garden.  They will also develop a good understanding of the growth stages of plants and animals and learn about plant pollination.  The project includes a compost area, raised garden beds, grow light, garden supplies and materials.

2020 Janet B. Carson High School Scholarship Recipients

Tyler Casper is a Marion resident in Crittenden County and attended West Memphis Christian HIgh School.  Working for an agriculture consultant led him to the plant science industry where he was intrigued by the complexities of the field.  His career plans include working for a seed or chemical company and perhaps ultimately owning his own consulting business.  Tyler is known as a hard worker, a strong academic leader and a role model for his peers.  Tyler has been accepted at Arkansas State University - Jonesboro where he will pursue a degree in Plant and Soil Science with an emphasis in Agronomy.


Isabella Norsworthy is a West Fork resident in Washington County and attended Farmington High School.  Through her involvement with the Junior Master Gardener 4-H program and her work on her family's farm, she developed a love for horticulture.  An incredible work ethic, an exceptional student are all traits attributed to Isabella.  Her desire is to fulfill her passion to work with plants as well as communicate the importance of agriculture worldwide.  Isabella has been accepted at the University of Arkansas - Fayetteville where she will pursue a double major in Horticulture and Agriculture Communications with a concentration in Agriculture Leadership.

​Here’s your October gardening checklist!
 

• 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 roots, even though the tops aren’t growing.
• Leaves should be collected/mulched 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, contact the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension office at 425-2335.
 

 







September 2020
Baxter County Master Gardeners
Ozark Green Thumb
e-Newsletter