URI MGP Newsletter, April 28: Spring Fest, May Meeting and Classes, Plant Sale

May Master Gardener Meeting

May 23rd, 6:00-8:30 pm at Swan Hall

MaymeetingJoin us for our May MG Meeting! We’ll have pin awards and hear two phenomenal talks about pollinators and gardening oral histories from a local and national group. Come celebrate spring with your fellow MG’s and the newly graduated Intern class of 2017. Don’t miss out! Please log into Volgistics to register.

We will be collecting non-perishable food items to be delivered to food pantries around the state. Audrey Pincins will be collecting donated items.  We will be selling merchandise and Garden Tour booklets at this meeting (cash, check, credit). This is also your last chance to complete your renewal for the year.  There are quite a few books, tools, garden items and the Master Gardener Cookbook left in stock. There is still a need for someone to take the lead for merchandise sales to continue. Would you please consider being a part of the merchandise team? Email me at LeeMenard2582@gmail.com.

As always there will be refreshments. Consider finger type foods that are easy to serve and to eat. Please be sure to sign up with Carol Nagle (cnagle2@yahoo.com) so that we will know what you are contributing and to sign in at the refreshment table the night of our meeting. We need drinks as well as refreshments.

Looking forward to seeing you on the 23rd!

Be well,
Lee Menard and Vanessa Venturini
Volunteer Engagement Coordinator | State Program Leader

pollinator healthUnderstanding and Improving Pollinator Health: Recommendations from RI’s Pollinator Working Group Meg Kerr, RI Audubon and Shannon Brawley, RI Nursery and Landscape Association

Learn how URI Master Gardener public education can contribute to statewide efforts to protect pollinators! In 2016, the RI House of Representatives passed a resolution asking the RI Department of Environmental Management (DEM) to convene a working group to “make findings and recommendations with regard to maintaining, protecting and enhancing pollinator habitat and health in RI.” DEM Director Coit appointed a diverse group including environmental, agriculture, beekeeping and green industry representatives.  The group has been working hard since September 2016 and produced a report to the legislature in February. The workshop will review the group’s shared learning around local pollinator health, recommendations and next steps.

volgistics hoursCommunity of Gardens: Smithsonian’s Oral History Project with Kate Fox

Community of Gardens the Smithsonian’s digital home for preserving stories of gardens and the gardeners who make them grow. A project of Smithsonian Gardens in partnership with the Archives of American Gardens, Community of Gardens brings stories of gardening in the United States to life through text, photos, video, and audio. A new mobile companion for the website makes exploring stories of gardens on-the-go easier than ever. Learn how the Smithsonian is preserving garden history in the United States, and how to share your story.

Enter Hours in Volgistics ASAP

It’s time to order pins again in advance of our May Meeting. Please enter your volunteer and education hours as we will be pulling the pin list on Sunday, April 30th.  The order will be submitted May 1st. If you need a pin replacement, please fill out this form. Be sure to list your class year, the type of pin (blue or gold). Pins and hour strips will be awarded at the MG meeting on May 23rd.

Master Gardener/Intern Plant Sale on May 1

Intern Plant SaleOur annual Master Gardener plant sale will be held on Monday, May 1st from 3 to 6 pm at the East Farm Master Gardener greenhouses.  Bring your trays, strawberry boxes etc. and stock up on another outstanding display of veggies, ornamentals and herbs.  As in past years, this sale is for MGs and interns only, so please wear your pin when you come.  Your family and friends may buy their plants on Saturday May 6th (9-1pm) at the URIMG Spring Fest plant sale which will be held at the URI Main Campus in the Fine Arts Center parking lot off of Flagg Road.

Please bring, cash, check or credit card (Visa, Master Card or Discover only). No early birds and no exceptions to the date and time.  Questions regarding the MG sale may be directed to Dave Newton at davidj12657@verizon.net.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Other May Continuing Education Opportunities

Diagnostics Skill-Building Series: Trees, Shrubs Perennials
May 9, 6:00-8:00pm at URI East Farm

THIS CLASS IS COMPLETELY FULL.  Have fun and remember to bring a sample if you’re signed up!

From Trustees Gardens to Your Backyard: Lessons from a Seasoned Garden Designer
May 16, 6:00-8:00 pm at URI Swan Hall

Education opportunitiesThis fun, illustrated lecture will take critical lessons learned from The Trustees recent estate garden restoration projects and translate them into design lessons for your own backyard, including the 10 rules for getting your garden picture-perfect.  Featuring gardens from 165 acres to ¼ acre, this lecture offers something for everyone.  The Trustees is Massachusetts oldest conservation AND preservation organization.  Begun in 1891, The Trustees manage over 26,000 acres of special places of scenic, natural and cultural significance from the Berkshires to the Islands. Please log into Volgistics to register.

May 25, 9am-12pm at Canonchet Farm
Invasive Plant Management: Early Season Strategies and Methods for Restoring Habitat in a Range of Southern New England Ecosystems

Canonchet FarmJoin Thomas Fortier, Naturalist at the Canonchet Farm habitat restoration project on a guided field study.  We will be looking at early season plant species and habitats which have been invaded by common non-native species over the course of the past century.  We’ll look at the strategies and methods for restoring the native plant complexes.  Each participant will have the chance to try out a range of tools for invasive removal and sharpen their plant identification skills. Dress for field work.  A follow-up session in August will address later season control methods.Please log into Volgistics to register, space is limited.

Last Chance to Volunteer - URI Spring Festival

help wanted

Next week, we celebrate our 16th Spring Festival on Saturday, May 6th from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The URI Spring Festival (formerly known as the East Farm Spring Festival) will be held in the URI Botanical Gardens and the Fine Arts Commuter Parking Lot. This event is always a highlight of the spring season!

Please join us as a URI Spring Festival educator this year! We have a few open shifts for the following positions, please register by Sunday, 4/30:

  1. “Welcome to the URI Spring Festival” DOCENTS
  2. Square Foot Gardening and Garden to Table KIOSK VOLUNTEERS
  3. Supermarket Sleuth, Seed Potting Station, Watershed Model Demo YOUTH ACTIVITY EDUCATORS
  4. Mallon Center Volunteer Snack Zone VOLUNTEERS
  5. First Aid Volunteers
  6. Festival set-up VOLUNTEERS on 5/5

There will be two shifts this year – the first starting at 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and the second from 11:00 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.  Remember that greenhouse and other activities recruit their own 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.  If you have any questions, please contact Shelby Weisenfeld, URI Spring Festival Coordinator at shelbyweisenfeld@gmail.com

New Cooperative Extension Website, Social Media Offer

Dear Cooperative Extension colleagues,

New websiteAs some of you may know, we have recently formed a communications team composed of a group of staff and students dedicated to marketing URI Cooperative Extension’s (CoopExt) value to the people of Rhode Island. This team is led by staff at the Mallon Center building (formerly the Outreach Center), but seeks to assist all those engaged in CoopExt programming with publicity and marketing.

What We Can Do

Through old and new forms of media, the communications team works to elevate visibility of Cooperative Extension programs such as URI Master Gardener Program, events and projects through marketing. Utilizing social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube), we can post on your behalf to spread information to people who have an interest in Cooperative Extension. The communications team will also provide you with templates for flyers, email announcements, signage, digital slide presentations and more.

On the Web

The communications team has been working hard establishing uri.edu/CoopExt, our new URI Cooperative Extension webpage! This central “portal” is meant to connect our stakeholders to the myriad of programs and resources available to them. When you explore the site, you’ll notice that it is organized a few different ways in an effort to make it easy for visitors to find what they’re looking for. Programs are accessible via the strategic area of focus pages and below by stakeholder group. As you scroll through the site, please make note of where your programs are listed, and let us know if we need to make any changes.

Official Website Addresses and Hashtags

New E-Mail Address

Have questions? Please contact us through the Mallon Center at coopext@uri.edu.

Best,
Kate Venturini and Sejal Lanterman

Garden Tour Sneak Peak

masterstour

You know you want to see more! Tickets on sale at the URI Spring Fest May 6 and MG Plant Sale.  Online tickets go on sale at:

https://web.uri.edu/mastergardener/tour/ on May 1, then come visit on June 24 & 25.

Master Gardener Obituary

We have received information that Master Gardener Dorothy Read recently passed away. She and partner Carl Storm had moved to Maryland. Dorothy had been a regular on the hotline for several years and also helped with soil testing on the hotline and in numerous kiosk events. Dorothy had been a RI Master Gardener since 2005 until about 2 years ago.

Carl can be reached at 2600 Pearson Drive Frederick, Maryland 21702.

Please pass the word to other MG’s who may have known Dorothy.

Hot Topics from the URI Consumer Horticulture Educator

rosanneThe 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/

moth2moth1A new website for Gypsy Moths in RI
http://dem.ri.gov/programs/forestry/gypsy-moths/

40 Gallon Challenge
An interesting Cooperative Extension project started in North Carolina. Ways to save 40 gallons of water. Take the challenge. Give it a try on the map and select RI and fill in the info and make the pledge! And look for updated info from RI in the future.
http://www.40gallonchallenge.org/about.cfm

From UMASS Landscape Message 3.31.2017
Plant of the week: Ilex glabra, inkberry
Ilex glabra is native to the coastal plain of eastern North America. This broadleaved evergreen has a rounded, upright form but can become leggy with age. Inkberries are dioecious, meaning there are separate male and female plants. A male pollinator is needed for female plants to produce the berry-like drupes that give the plant its common name. Plants have green-white flowers in spring which are not ornamental. Leaves are elliptical, glossy dark green. Leaves usually have two notches near the apex. Cultivars, such as ‘Compacta’ and ‘Shamrock’, can have more compact, less leggy form than the species. Root suckers need pruned if spreading is not wanted. Ilex glabra is a good choice for shrub borders, foundation plantings, rain gardens, or in wet sites. Leaf burn can be a problem in exposed locations during winter. Plants can suffer from chlorosis in high pH soils. Plants are best grown in medium to wet soil in full sun to part shade with best performance in an acidic soil in full sun, but are also tolerant of shade.