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The Dirt for May 25: Leadership Opportunities, Native Plant Road Trip
Help Wanted: Educational Services Coordinator
Are you interested in taking on a leadership role? Are you passionate about public education? We are actively recruiting for a MGP Council level position of Educational Services Coordinator to assist the State Program Leader. We are seeking a creative individual who would like to implement themed environmental kiosks (e.g. pollinator, natives) and support our efforts to reach new audiences with our services.
The URIMGP Educational Services Coordinator (ESC):
Represents the public presentation, soil testing, information kiosk, hotline, and educational event committees at the MGP Council; serves as the point person to MG leaders who directly support the URIMGP educational services listed above, ensuring fluid intake of requests from the public, scheduling of educational events, volunteer recruitment and communication; coordinates among all these tasks and volunteers to ensure that the URIMGP’s educational services are accessible to the public.
Read a full position description and more about the URIMGP Council in the MGP Operating Guidelines.
Please consider sending a letter of interest to Vanessa Venturini at vanessa@uri.edu by Monday June 11. Questions about the position? Contact Bill Baddeley at wrbaddeley@gmail.com
Help Wanted: Smith Castle
The Master Gardeners crew at Smith Castle, 55 Richard Smith Drive, North Kingstown, is looking for additional MG volunteers on Wednesday, June 6th, at 4:00 pm to assist with unloading and spreading bags of compost and mulch. Join us and discover one of Rhode Island’s hidden treasures. For more information contact Ann Casey at pacnk@verizon.net or Cynthia Corbridge at ccorbridge@cox.net.
Help Wanted: Event Planning Team
Do you love to plan events? Is there something you’re interested in learning? Would you like to be involved in creating new learning opportunities for fellow gardeners? Join us at our MGP Event Planning Committee meeting! We are looking for motivated and creative individuals to help carry out the many events held by the Master Gardener Program.
The MGP Event Planning Committee’s mission is to plan our large MG events and continuing education calendar. Our goal this summer will be to plan the September recognition event in the URI Botanical Gardens and to begin filling our calendar of continuing education classes for 2019. This is a great way to contribute to the success of the program from home! We plan to hold (few) face-to-face meetings in the evenings to accommodate those who work.
Potential roles include:
- Plan and carry out the Volunteer Recognition Event;
- Add creative flair to the decorations at our Recognition Event;
- Prepare pins and certificates for award at MG meetings;
- Develop new continuing ed classes based on what you’d like to learn;
- More!
To find out more about the roles of the Event Planning Committee, attend our informational meeting at Panera Bread in East Greenwich. Please visit the the following link to indicate your availability by May 31:
https://doodle.com/poll/qdt5kc8d2i29y3az
Note: please check ALL the times that you are able to attend! We will contact you once a time and date based on general availability has been set. We hope you will consider joining our team! Questions? Please contact Christina DiCenzo at cdicenzo@my.uri.edu.
URIMG Road Trip: Garden in the Woods
By Jean Anderson, URIMG Class of 2005
On Thursday May 17, an overcast but perfect inland day in the low 70’s, a group of 25 URI Master Gardeners, including Coordinator Vanessa Venturini, went on the first field trip of 2018 to Framingham and the New England Wildflower Society property, Garden In The Woods. Founded by Mr. Will C. Curtis who purchased the property in 1931 to create a botanical garden set on 30 acres, Mr. Curtis deeded the property to the Wild Flower Society. The Garden has now grown to 45 acres, with a current mission to “conserve and promote the region’s native plants”.
As our volunteer guides explained, the Society also owns Nasami Farm in western MA and seven other sanctuaries open to visitors in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire. Saving seeds, controlling invasives, growing new plants, researching, and educating the public is accomplished with 25 employees and over 700 volunteers. What is called the largest retail store of native plants in New England is located near the entrance and gift shop.
The trails wander through the property up and down ridges and small valleys, with ponds complete with bullfrogs and snapping turtles and a babbling stream along the way. Under the towering pines, oaks, maples and other deciduous trees are an understory of dogwoods, redbuds, azalea and soon to bloom rhododendrons as well as a carpet of ephemeral flowers including trillium, jack-in-the pulpit, woodland and tall phlox, trout lilies, may flowers, ferns, heuchera and others of the 1,700 species found throughout the woodlands and meadows. Deer fence rings the outer perimeter and leaves left to mulch naturally minimize the weeds. A daily sign board with pictures sits at the entrance telling the visitor what might be seen in bloom that day. Stone and branch benches line the paths, encouraging visitors to slow down, sit, and enjoy the beauty and serenity. The garden is now surrounded by suburban homes so this truly is a sanctuary fortunately preserved.
Thank you to Gail Skidmore and the MG committee for organizing this perfect spring day adventure. Contact Gail at gskidmore@yahoo.com with ideas for continuing to revive the MG field trip tradition.
Save the Date: Friday, July 27 for our next field trip to Tranquil Lake Nursery in Rehoboth, MA look for more details in the Dirt early July.
Celebrate King Park Day on June 2
Reprinted Press Release courtesy of Friends of the Waterfront, Newport RI
Friends of the Waterfront (FOW), Friends of King Park, the City of Newport, and other environmental groups are joining forces Saturday, June 2, at King Park to shower the waterfront recreation area with some eco-friendly attention. The event will have activities for adults and kids alike.
Lauren Carson of RI Green Infrastructure Coalition will be onsite to offer a free rain barrel demonstration and giveaway. The free rain barrels are made available by the generous support of the van Beuren Foundation, and the King Park rain barrel, which will capture the rainwater from the park’s restroom roof, was painted by Roger’s High School students. A chat on the King Park rain garden given by URI Master Gardener Johanna Vietry will focus on the garden layout, plant selections, and how to harvest rainwater from the roof for watering using the downspout. Master Gardeners from the University of Rhode Island and King Park neighborhood volunteers will be handing out free seeds and free pollinator plants donated by the Master Gardeners program to participants at these two events.
Tanya Kelley, Principal of Place Studio Landscape Design and Project Manager of the City’s Open Space Plan, will conduct a “Stroll through the Park” to discuss the park’s cultural history and the challenges currently facing the park and harbor due to climate change and sea level rise.
Keeping with the environmental green theme, kids attending King Park Day can have their faces painted by art teacher Jeannine Bestoso. The face painting will focus on pollinators like birds and butterflies. Mary-Gail Smith of the Alliance Française will be speaking on “Saving Rochambeau,” and Rachael Whitworth will lead a yoga class on the lawn at 11:00.
At noontime Katherine Bowers and the Greenlove Foundation will dedicate the new park water server. The water station is complete with a dog watering bowl that was donated in support of the Greenlove Foundation by Friends of the Waterfront. A dog parade is scheduled along the Harbor Walk just prior to the dedication, so bring your canine pal (must be on leash).
Following the water filling station dedication, a new free King Park Waterfront Concert Series sponsored by the Isham Family Fund, kicks off with the Lois Vaughan Jazz Quintet at the gazebo (lawn seating so please bring a chair or blanket). FOW and Friends of King Park invite everyone to come out for the King Park Day in order to celebrate the waterfront access at this favorite Newport Park on Saturday, June 2nd, from 9:30-1:30. Bring a bag lunch and enjoy all the planned activities and the lunchtime concert. The event will be rain or shine. For more information please contact Info@NewportWaterfront.org.
An Invitation from Blithewold Mansions, Gardens & Arboretum and MG Program Perks
Dear Master Gardeners,
Blithewold’s Mission is to preserve New England’s finest garden estate through excellence in horticulture and historic preservation, and by our example to teach and inspire others. We are dedicated to preserving Blithewold’s unique and original history. We invite you, as a Master Gardener, to learn more about our efforts and encourage you to join us in preserving our historical grounds and buildings of architectural significance.
On behalf of Blithewold, we would like to extend to all Master Gardeners our special member discounted rate for all programs and admission to the Mansion and Gardens. We would like to also extend to all Master Gardeners volunteer credit for participating in one of our programs and workshops.
We hope that you will join us for a program, or to visit the garden! It is my hope that this will be the beginning of a blossoming relationship between Blithewold and the Master Gardener program!
Upcoming programs in June:
Do not miss!! These are spectacular opportunities to meet some top designers and horticulturists!
Monday, June 4, 2018, 2pm – 6pm, The Next Gen Horticultural Rock Stars
Tuesday, June 19, 2018, 3pm, An Evening with Sir Tim Smit: Eden and Beyond
See you then,
Julie Christina
Education Programs Manager, Blithewold Mansion, Gardens & Arboretum
Feast Your Eyes - Garden Open Days May 26 and 27
By Jean Frisbie, URIMG Class of 2008
If you like to peek through fence slats, over walls or down driveways to see what’s growing, you have a garden obsession. Indulge that green compulsion during the Garden Conservancy’s Open Days all summer long.
On May 26 and 27, Sakonnet Garden also throws open its gates to the public. Mossy woodlands, shade corners, bold foliage, strong axes, a tempting red Mughal pavilion, and a new, evolving native meadow draw you through interwoven garden rooms. Linger where you like and see if the owners find you at the end of the day! Sakonnet Farm is on Main Road, south of Little Compton. $20, but worth it for such a visual feast.
URI Tick Encounter Resource Center: Be Aware—Check Your Hair!
Ticks don’t just get this big overnight. Click the link to see how ticks change their appearance the longer that they’re attached. And IF they are infected, the longer they’re attached, the riskier they are. Read more: http://bit.ly/tickgrowth
May and June Continuing Education Opportunities
Schoolyard Gardens and Science Connections
Thursday, June 7 | 9 am (Coastal Institute Hazard Room A/B, URI Bay Campus, Narragansett)
This training will help School Garden Mentors connect what’s happening in the classroom to what goes on in the garden. Participate in K-8 hands-on lessons that can easily be taught in a garden setting. We’ll cover the best practices of Next Generation Science Standards teaching and increase your literacy of science education in Rhode Island. Space is limited. Please register in Volgistics by May 31.
Course Instructor: Kelly Shea is an Education Specialist in the Guiding Education and Math and Science Network (GEMS-Net). Kelly provides professional development in science education for K – 8 teachers throughout Rhode Island. GEMS-Net is a collaboration between the University of Rhode Island and 13 school districts in RI. The program ensures quality, relevant professional development for teachers, provides classroom and building support to schools, and partners formal educators with environmental educators in order to contextualize learning for students.
Managing Pests in the Garden
June 9 | 11 AM (1000 Elmwood Ave Providence, RI 02907)
The Produce Donation Program at Roger Williams Park has been connecting volunteers, gardeners and the public to each other and our local food system since 2011. The PDP grows food for donation to St Vincent de Paul and the Providence Rescue Mission totaling over 2600 pounds in 2016.
Master Gardeners working in this garden deliver presentations on a variety of relevant gardening topics to the public. Join us for their latest workshop on managing for insects and other pests in the garden! Talk with Master Gardeners and gain some practical experience to take back to your own garden! If interested, please remember to register in Volgistics.
Click here for more upcoming Continuing Education classes.
Rhode Island Bee Rally
June 19, 2018 | 2pm to 4pm (Rhode Island State House)
Upcoming Events
| June 23 9am-1pm |
Project Open House Project locations, statewide |
| August 25 Afternoon |
URI Farms Open House URI East Farm, Agronomy Farm, Peckham Farm |
| November 3 9am |
Master Gardener Meeting TBA |
| June 17-21, 2019 | International Master Gardener Conference Valley Forge, PA |
Have an idea for something you’d like to see in the Dirt?
Please email us at thedirtnewsletteruri@gmail.com. We’d love to hear from you!
Have a submission? Send it to us by Wednesday at 4pm for inclusion in that week’s newsletter.
Stay Connected with MGP
Follow @URICoopExt on Facebook and Instagram. Not into social media? Visit the MGP website for our event listing.
