10th Annual Buchanan County Master Gardener Symposium Please join the Buchanan County Master Gardeners for their annual

public gardening symposium, to be held on Saturday, February 27,

2016. This year’s symposium will be the 10th annual gardening

symposium offered by the Buchanan County Master Gardeners. The

event will take place from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at First Presbyterian

Church in Independence. Our annual symposium is a bright spot to

garden enthusiasts and anyone who is missing the spring and warm

weather! Cost for this is $30 if registered by February 1st, and $35

thereafter. Continental breakfast items, snacks, and a hot lunch

provided by the Presbyterian Women will be included in registration.

The day consists of four main speakers, vendor shopping, a variety of

breakout session, and silent auction shopping.

The main speakers for 2016 will be Helen Venemann: Creating Floral

Designs, Greg Schmitt: Backyard Wildlife, Doug Cheever: Right of Way

Plantings, and Sondra Cabell: Gardening for Pollinators. Topics for the

breakout sessions will be: Fun with Flowers, the Benefits of Local

Foods, Build a Bee House (hands-on), Photography Display and

Techniques and Hardy Street-Side Perennials. To register, please

send contact information and a check made payable to ‘Buchanan

County Extension’ to Buchanan County ISU Extension and Outreach,

2600 Swan Lake Blvd. Ste. A, Independence, IA 50644 or call Ashley

Sherrets, Master Gardener Coordinator 319.334.7161 for more

information! We look forward to having you come to our annual event!

OFF SHOOTSB U C H A N A N C O U N T Y M A S T E R G A R D E N E R

January 2016 Issue 1

E-V

-E-N

-T-S

January 19, 2016 Steering

Committee Meeting

7:00 p.m. Great Spaces @ Heartland Acres (Desserts at 6:45)

Meetings are open to all Master Gardeners and

general public

Submit articles to Buchanan County Extension by 1st

Wednesday of the month.

Buchanan County ISU Extension and Outreach

2600 Swan Lake Boulevard, Suite A

Independence IA 50644

Phone: (319) 334-7161 Fax: (319) 334-6641

E-mail: xbuchanan@iastate.edu

Office Hours Monday - Friday

8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

2016 - ISSUE 1 BUCHANAN COUNTY MASTER GARDENER OFF SHOOTS PAGE �2

Horticultural Programs This Horticulture & Home Pest News article was originally

published December 11, 2015, at <http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/2015/12-11/meetings.htm>

since edited to include new events and remove past events

Upcoming horticulture conferences/workshops of possible interest to HHPN readers are listed below.  Additional information on each program is available from the listed contacts.

January 25-27, 2016 Iowa Turfgrass Conference and Trade Show Marriott Hotel and Convention Center, Coralville, Iowa Program Information: Iowa Turfgrass Office (515) 635-0306 or www.iowaturfgrass.org

January 28-29, 2016 Iowa Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association Conference FFA Enrichment Center (DMACC campus), 1055 SW Prairie Trail Parkway, Ankeny, Iowa Program Information: www.ifvga.org

February 24-25, 2016 60th Annual Iowa State University Shade Tree Short Course Scheman Building, Iowa State Center, Ames, Iowa Program Information: Jeff Iles (515) 294-3718

February 27, 2016, 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Buchanan County Master Gardener 2016 Public Gardening Symposium First Presbyterian Church, 116 6th Ave NW, Independence Program Information: Ashley Sherrets (319) 334-7161

February 28-29, 2016 Iowa Wine Growers Association Annual Conference Prairie Meadows Conference Center, Altoona, Iowa Program Information: www.iowawinegrowers.org

March 5, 2016 Winter Gardening Fair Coe College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa Program Information: Linn County Extension Office (319) 377-9839

April 2, 2016 Dubuque County Spring Garden Seminar NICC Town Clock Center for Business, 608 Main St., Dubuque Program Information: http://www.extension.iastate.edu/dubuque/news/springseminarschedule2016

Next Buchanan County Master Gardener Meeting January 19, 2016 This is a Steering Committee Meeting to be held in Heartland Acres Great Spaces.

A dessert snack will be available at 6:45 p.m. The meeting will begin at 7:00. - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - *- * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * -

Buchanan County Master Gardeners in Action 2016

In November Jean Gillpatrick and Hazel Kout received recognition for their entries in the 2015 “Master Gardeners in Action Photo Contest.” Jean’s five photo entries received first place and Hazel’s four entries received fifth place.

Jean and Hazel are available for presentations on “Master Gardeners in Action” and photography. Most recently the had a successful presentation about the photography contest and about “Master Gardeners in Action in Buchanan County” for the Catholic Daughters of the Americas. The group was complimentary to their presentation. They asked questions and were pleased to receive the brochure of Buchanan County Master Gardener projects.

Jean and Hazel will be making the presentation again on June 30. If you know of a group who would enjoy such a presentation, talk with Jean and Hazel about the possibility of scheduling one.

Additional Educational Events Can Be Found at: http://www.mastergardener.iastate.edu/calendar.html

Currently events are listed from January 20 through May 8, 2016

2016 - ISSUE 1 BUCHANAN COUNTY MASTER GARDENER OFF SHOOTS PAGE �3

Buchanan County Master Gardener 2016 Public Gardening Symposium

February 27 - 9:00 a.m.- 3:30 p.m. First Presbyterian Church

116 6th Ave NW, Independence Speakers

Helen Venemann-Creating Floral Design Greg Schmitt-Backyard Wildlife

Doug Cheever-Right of Way Plantings Sondra Cabell-Gardening for Pollinators

Breakout Sessions Fun with Flowers

Benefits of Local Foods Build a Bee House (hands on)

Photography Display and Techniques Hardy Street-Side Perennials

Vendors/Door Prizes/Silent Auction

January 19th

February 16th

March 15th

April 19th

May 17th

June 21st

July 5-9

August 16th

September 20th

October 18th

November 15th

December

Great Spaces @ Heartland Acres Desert 6:45/Meeting 7:00 p.m.

Steering Committee Meeting Review plans for Symposium

Sign up for committees Open to all Master Gardeners and general public

@ St. James Episcopal Church 202 2nd Ave NE,

Independence Desert 6:45/Program 7:00

Open to all Master Gardeners and general public

@ St. James Episcopal Church 202 2nd Ave NE,

Independence Desert 6:45/Program 7:00

Open to all Master Gardeners and general public

@ St. James Episcopal Church 202 2nd Ave NE,

Independence Desert 6:45/Program 7:00

Open to all Master Gardeners and general public

Great Spaces @ Heartland Acres Plant Exchange 6:00

Desert 6:45/Meeting 7:00 p.m. Steering Committee Meeting Open to all Master Gardeners and general public

@ St. James Episcopal Church 202 2nd Ave NE,

Independence Desert 6:45/Program 7:00

Open to all Master Gardeners and general public

Buchanan County Fair Join us in the

Master Gardener booth in the Garden Gate Building

Great Spaces @ Heartland Acres Desert 6:45/Meeting 7:00 p.m.

Steering Committee Meeting Open to all Master Gardeners and general public

@ St. James Episcopal Church 202 2nd Ave NE,

Independence Desert 6:45/Program 7:00

Open to all Master Gardeners and general public

@ St. James Episcopal Church 202 2nd Ave NE,

Desert 6:45/Program 7:00

Open to all Master Gardeners and general public

No Regular Meeting

Happy Holidays See you in 2017

Master Gardener Calendar 2016

Great Spaces @ Heartland Acres Desert 6:45/Meeting 7:00 p.m.

Steering Committee Meeting and Elections

Open to all Master Gardeners and general public

Online Gardening Articles from ISU Extension

Site addresses verified December 13, 2015 Many articles are now indexed in the Yard & Garden

FAQs Database <https://expert-hort.sws.iastate.edu/> Horticulture & Home Pest News Archives by topic

(also listed by author or date) <http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/archive/topic>

Reiman’s Pick (No archives - now published as one of four blogs. Others are Nathan's Notes, Plant Particulars, and Intern's Perspective) <http://www.reimangardens.com/education-ideas/blogs/>

Gardening Publications from ISU Extension

Available from the ISU Extension Online Store: <https://store.extension.iastate.edu/ProductArea?

TopicID=10> Many of these publications are free to download.

2016 - ISSUE 1 BUCHANAN COUNTY MASTER GARDENER OFF SHOOTS PAGE �4

Winter Webinar Series on Food Security This article was originally published January 10, 2016, at

<http://www.extension.iastate.edu/buchanan/news/winter-webinar-series-food-security>

The Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Master Gardener program will host a winter webinar series. The three FREE webinars will be held at the Buchanan County ISU Extension and Outreach office (2600 Swan Lake Blvd. – Independence). While these webinars are targeted towards Master Gardeners; the group invites anyone interested to attend.

 This webinar series is part of collaborative project between the Master Gardener program in Iowa and the USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education. This collaboration aims to improve the food environment for Iowans with low income, develop a strategic plan for planting food bank donations in gardens across Iowa, and increase the amount of food donated to food banks by Iowa Master Gardeners. Any Master Gardener wishing to apply for a mini grant to support a food security project is required to register and take part in the webinar series. Mini grant applications for up to $500 are due on March 1, 2016. (Information on the Food Security Mini Grant can be found here: <http://www.extension.iastate.edu/buchanan/sites/www.extension.iastate.edu/files/buchanan/FoodSecurityMiniGrant.pdf>)

 To register, contact Ashley Sherrets, Master Gardener Coordinator, at sherrets@iastate.edu or 319-334-7161. The webinars are free of charge and open to anyone who may be interested.  Webinars also count towards annual continuing education credits for Iowa Master Gardener volunteers. 

Winter webinar topics include:  January 21, 6:00-8:00 pm - Hunger in Iowa

Learn the realities of hunger and teaching methods to use when working with food-insecure adults. Presented by Christine Hradek, food and nutrition educator for ISU Extension and Outreach as well as Susan DeBlieck, Master Gardener program assistant for ISU Extension and Outreach. 

February 4, 6:00-8:00 pm - Working with Food Banks Find out how Master Gardeners can work with food banks to donate garden produce. Presented by Sara Bonefas, interim director of the Food Bank of Iowa as well as Susan DeBlieck, Master Gardener program assistant for ISU Extension and Outreach. 

February 18, 6:00-8:00 pm - Best Practices for Food Safety Get information on the best practices for handling garden produce going to food banks and the importance

of food safety procedures. Presented by Shannon Coleman, assistant professor in food science and human nutrition and ISU Extension and Outreach specialist as well as Susan DeBlieck, Master Gardener program assistant for ISU Extension and Outreach.

The Winter Webinar Flier can be found here: <http://www.extension.iastate.edu/buchanan/sites/www.extension.iastate.edu/files/buchanan/MG0078%202016WinterWebinarsFlier_ReaderVersion%20FINAL.pdf>

Education and volunteer hours for 2016 may be recorded at: http://mastergardenerhours.hort.iastate.edu

Remember: It’s easier to record them as you go than to try to remember everything at the end of the year.

2016 - ISSUE 1 BUCHANAN COUNTY MASTER GARDENER OFF SHOOTS PAGE �5

2015 Master Gardener Officers and Project & Committee Membership

A Note from Anita. our Steering Committee Chair

Happy New Year to All Well the days are getting longer and the temperature is getting colder. Welcome to January I was looking at a list of Iowa Winter birds to talk to my Nature Club at West Village and to my

surprise there was a visitor from Canada that I had never heard of before. IT is the Pine Siskin. It has the same colors as the American Goldfinch and will travel with them.  I am going to have to really look at the Goldfinches at my feeders and see if I can tell the difference. Speaking of bird feeders, is trying to keep up with the empty feeders and cranky birds looking in the window at you grounds for bankruptcy? I think I am buying more birdseed than food for us.

Congrats for coming in 9th in volunteer hours. We are amazing master gardeners. Now is the time to start looking thru the catalogs and getting ready for spring. Don’t forget your

grants for this year. We will be start asking for them in a few months. Did you get the notice for the symposium?  Can’t believe we have been having them for 10 years.

Time is flying by. Stay warm and think gardening. We are going to have a plant exchange in May and a wish list to help you get free plants for your

Master Gardener projects.

If you are interested in joining any of these committees contact: Anita Miller, anitapcelec@netins.net or Ashley Sherrets, sherrets@iastate.edu

Steering Committee Officers, 2015 Anita Miller, Chair

Gean Cummings, Vice Chair Jean Gillpatrick, Secretary

Hort-line Jean Gillpatrick

OffShoots newsletter Ruth Brandt, editor

OffShoots articles/interviews Jean Gillpatrick Nancy Weber Anita Miller

Rowley Community Center Welcome Sign & Park

JoAnn Crain Jakway Heirloom Garden

Mary Davis Hospice Garden

Diane Dave Mary Lou Weepie Jean Gillpatrick Kim Hansen

Wapsipinicon Mill Prairie Garden Shirley Rozendaal Anita Miller Leanne Harrison

Public Education Committee Jean Gillpatrick Gean Cummings

Cedar Rock Anita Miller Lois Delagardelle Mary Lou Weepie Larry Kress

Darrell E. Davis Adult Day Center Jean Gillpatrick Anita Miller

First Presbyterian Community Gardens

Shirley Rozendaal Farmers Markets

Cindy Walton Jean Gillpatrick

Winding Creek Meadows - Jesup Nancy Weber Joellen Yeager

Master Gardener Scrapbook Jean Gillpatrick

Project Photographer Jean Gillpatrick

Educational Gardening Programs Jean Gillpatrick Mary Lou Weepie

Lee Mansion Denise Hawker Shelley Schafer Kim Hansen JoAnn Crain Jean Gillpatrick Cindy Walton

Independence Library (planters & butterfly garden)

Ashley Sherrets (planters) JoAnn Crain Jean Gillpatrick (butterfly

garden) Nursing Home Projects

Cindy Walton Anita Miller

City of Independence Main Street planters

Jean Gillpatrick Ashley Sherrets

Green Thumb Garden Camp) Jean Gillpatrick Kim Hansen

Fair - Flower & Garden Show Lynda Fiester Nancy Weber Cindy Walton Mary Lou Weepie JoAnn Crain

Fair - Master Gardeners Booth Cindy Walton Jean Gillpatrick Ruth Brandt Nancy Weber JoAnne Van Cleave JoAnn Crain

Hazleton Veterans/City Park Hazel Kout Mary Davis JoAnne Van Cleave

2015 Master Gardener Symposium

Denise Harker Shelley Shafer Kim Hansen Cindy Walton Rosalind Gibbs Dave Higgins Lynda Fiester Hazel Kout Nancy Weber Mary Davis JoAnne VanCleave Ashley Sherrets

Projects postponed for 2015

Amish Garden Planting (with students at Prairie Grove Elementary)

Buchanan County Health Care Center Vegetable Garden (produce will go to SPARK program, hospital cafeteria, staff, residents of long-term

Horticulture & Home Pest News <http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/> is published 19 times a year (monthly, October through February and biweekly during gardening season, March through September). Articles in the December 11, 2015, issue include: Plant and Insect Diagnostic Clinic Update - December 11, 2015 / What’s with These Things Growing on My House Plant Soil / Horticultural Programs / Kissing Bugs and Chagas Disease in Iowa? Not Likely / Seed Catalogs - 2016 / New Initiative Aims to Increase Access to Garden Grown Food / Caring for Poinsettias

Watch for New Project Sign-

Up Sheets for 2016.

Or contact: Anita M

iller,

anitapcelec@netins.net or

Ashley Sherrets,

sherrets@iastate.edu

2016 - ISSUE 1 BUCHANAN COUNTY MASTER GARDENER OFF SHOOTS PAGE �6

Buchanan County ISU Extension & Outreach

2600 Swan Lake Boulevard, Suite A Independence, IA 50644

Q.  What is green and goes to a summer camp? A.  A Brussels’ scout.

~ from <http://www.gardendigest.com/humor.htm>

Mission Statement

The mission of the Iowa State University Extension Master

Gardener Program is to provide current, research-based, home

horticulture information and education to the citizens of Iowa

through programs and projects. Through their participation in

educational activities, Master Gardeners also increase their

own personal knowledge in horticulture. Master Gardeners

extend Iowa State University Extension’s consumer horticulture

education programs through volunteer activity.

Save the Date! Buchanan County Master Gardener 2016 Public Gardening Symposium

Saturday, February 27, 2015 - 1st Presbyterian Church, Indee