URI MGP Newsletter, April 13: We need YOU at the East Farm Festival

Help Wanted - URI Spring Festival

April13help This year, we celebrate our 16th anniversary inviting the community to learn with us on Saturday, May 6th from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. URI Cooperative Extension will hold the URI Spring Festival (formerly known as the East Farm Spring Festival) in the URI Botanical Gardens and the Fine Arts Commuter Parking Lot. This event is always a highlight of the spring season and an opportunity to show off the value of the URI Master Gardener Program.

Please join us as a festival educator this year! We are seeking festival greeters/docents, kiosk volunteers, educators in the family education tent and festival breakdown crew for May 6th. There will be two shifts. The first starting at 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and the second from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. You are welcome to sign up for one or both shifts. We are also recruiting a festival set up crew for Friday, May 5th. Snacks and refreshments will be provided to all festival volunteers. More details provided upon sign up.

To sign up for a shift: Log into Volgistics and click on the “My Schedule” tab. Click on May to see available shifts.”

The mission of the URI Spring Festival is twofold:

to provide a forum for education, information sharing and networking amongst URI, partner organizations and the general public; and
to highlight URI research, outreach and Extension efforts through demonstrations, workshops, exhibits and tours.

If you have any questions, please contact Shelby Weisenfeld, URI Spring Festival Coordinator at shelbyweisenfeld@gmail.com

City Dweller Builds Composting with Science and Art

April 05, 2017

Providence resident Stewart Martin’s passion for science and art have come in handy with his desire to promote urban gardening and composting. (Courtesy photo)

By ABBY BORA/ecoRI News contributor

Read the article from ecoRI.

Gardening with the Masters Tour

masterstour

You know you want to see more! So, buy your ticket online beginning May 1 or at the MG meeting on May 23rd. Then come visit on June 24 & 25.

Beginning Farmer Workshops – April 2017

Care for Soil, Respect for Water – in partnership with University of Rhode Island
SCLT office, 109 Somerset Street, Providence
Tues., Apr. 18, 4:30-6 pm

We will look at what is soil actually made of, what practices can maintain and improve soil, and how your plants make a living in the soil. All living things need water, so we will also think about how water behaves in the soil, how your plants respond to the water in the soil, and how you can use it efficiently. Taught by URI’s Andy Radin. Sign up by calling the SCLT office: 401-273-9419

Hot Topics from the URI Consumer Horticulture Educator

rosanne The following science-based articles may help you answer questions from the community. Rosanne Sherry, URI Consumer Horticulture Educator, recommends you read them to help sharpen your own gardening and educator skills! Please send comments or suggestions for articles to rsherry@uri.edu.

The latest Master Gardener Quick Tips is now available in the MG Gardening Resources Section under Documents. It is dated 4.11.17. Timely tips are now sorted by season. There is an index sheet listed as well so you can quickly find a topic. The newest pages are #10, #28, #29, and #30.
https://web.uri.edu/mastergardener/documents/

The latest fact sheets from UMASS fully explaining the Winter Moth cycle and management.
http://ag.umass.edu/landscape/fact-sheets/winter-moth-identification-management
http://ag.umass.edu/landscape/fact-sheets/winter-moth-in-massachusetts-history-biological-control

Timely Lead in Soil fact sheets from UCONN and EPA
http://www.soiltest.uconn.edu/factsheets/LeadGardenSoils.pdf
https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2014-03/documents/urban_gardening_fina_fact_sheet.pdf

From Xerces e newsletter March 2017
Videos Planting Flowering Habitat for Bees
Rosie’s Take: While these are aimed at farmers it’s good to see large scale protection too.
http://icpbees.org/new-video-series-planting-flowering-habitat-for-bees/

Latest from APHIS USDA (Animal and Plant Health inspection Service) about Emerald Ash Borer.
From Rosie: while the insect is not an epidemic in New England it is spreading elsewhere around the country. Keep this in mind if you travel around the country, especially camping. Only use wood products purchased locally and do not move firewood. Minnesota is the latest state to issue a quarantine in a county. http://www.aphis.usda.gov/planthealth/eab_quarantine

Check in to a live webinar by Kerry Mendez… From Rosie, Kerry has spoken to URI MG’s a few times in the past. Always entertaining and spot on for maintenance and design tips.

April 27 Jaw-Dropping Flowering Shrubs webinar. Folks DO NOT have the attend the live broadcast. All registrants receive a link within 72 hours of the broadcast so they can watch the 60-75 minute lecture at their convenience.

The presentation includes a handout (along with each shrub’s pruning requirements), the opportunity to ask questions during the webinar, door prizes and a CEU form for green industry professionals and Master Gardeners.

The live broadcast is scheduled for Thursday, April 27 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time.

Learn more about this online presentation and registration details by clicking here.