_________________________________1 _________________________________

The Guadalupe GardenerJuly 2010

A monthly publication of the Guadalupe County Master Gardeners in cooperation with the Texas AgriLIFE Extension, Guadalupe County

July MeetingNotes from the Garden -

of Linda Bruno, President

July in Texas – hot and hotter. Timefor fall gardens. That’s the interesting part of being a gar-dener – if you aren’t a full season ahead then you’re be-hind.

The same thing applies to what we as a group have com-ing up in events. The County Fair, the start of the newclass, the children’s tours at the Agricultural Heritage Cen-ter, to name three of the big ones. We still need someoneto coordinate the County Fair for acceptance of field cropsand information booth setup. We are also looking for avolunteer to help with the test grading for the class. Andthere are on-going workdays at the Schertz CommunityGarden. Please try to fit some of these events into yourvolunteer schedules. There is plenty of information in thenewsletter about who to contact. And you should be get-ting updates by email. If not, please let me know.

Officer elections will also be coming up soon. If you arethinking about running for an office, we would love to haveyou sit in on the Board meetings.

Thanks to all of you who were able to attend the IceCream Social in June. The flower bingo was fun, the icecream was wonderful and the desert table was a work ofart. Please thank the ladies who made it possible whenyou see them.

As always, if you have any questions or comments,please let me know.

Linda Bruno jlbruno@gvec.net or 210-363-8380

In This IssuePage 2 - Ice Cream SocialPage 3 - New MGs, Community GardenPage 4 - Class 22Page 5 - Springs Hill Demo GardenPage 6 - Festival of Flowers, Beware Snakes!Page 7 - Compost Specialist TrainingPage 8 - Education - Classes - SeminarsPage 11 - Volunteer OpportunitiesPage 12 - Gardening EventsPage 13 - Calendar

July 15, 2010

Greg Collum will present wildlife management ofproperty; how increasing the habitat for wildlifecan result in property tax reduction.

Jan Quello, Marilyn Anderson, & Georgia Speirhave graciously agreed to provide refreshments.

Don’t forget to bring your plants for the plant ex-change table.

July Newsletter Deadline - July 24th

Please help with this earlier deadline. I will be go-ing on a trip to Alaska, leaving July 28th. Won’tleave much time for the Newsletter. Thanks.Elaine

_________________________________2 _________________________________

Association NewsAssociation NewsAssociation NewsAssociation News

JUNE ICE CREAM SOCIAL

The June Ice Cream Social had a great turn out of Master Gardeners and guests; 57 in all. There was a won-derful selection of Ice Cream and Goodies. We sampled gourmet ice cream flavors such as the LavendarLemon from the Teweles; Virginia Biggs’ famous Peppermint Ice Cream, Yummy Mango from Martha Edwards,Homegrown Peaches-N-Cream, Chocolate-Chocolate Chip, Poteet Strawberry, Vanilla and the list goes on.There were so many cookies, pies and cakes, we barely made a dent. Debra Elia brought enough papergoods to last us for months. Thank you to everyone that provided the great treats and ice cream toppings.The cheerful decorations were made by Peggy Jones, Pat Schultze and Iris Seale. A special thanks to PatSchultze for calling the Flower Bingo. What fun! There were about 35 bingo prizes thanks to Betty Hughes.We viewed the award winning video from Nueces County Master Gardeners on their Junior Master Gardenerprogram “Learning to Grow”. I hope it will inspire us to do something similar. Oh and most important of all – wecertified 3 new Master Gardeners: Nancy Cude, and the Johnstons, Eddie and Joyce.

Again many thanks to all for coming and participating. Ice Cream Social Chair, Peggy Jones

Thank to Linda Bruno for the camera and Nancy Stuhl & Linda Bruno for taking the pictures.

Pat

Schultze

calls

Flower

Bingo

What a Spread!

Quite a Crowd!

Starting young

_________________________________3 _________________________________

Update on the Schertz Community Garden

Even from the small number of plants we have growing in the Garden, we have been able to take three offer-ings of tomatoes, squash and cucumbers to RACAP. Not a lot, but they did seem pleased with what we pro-vided. The plants are suffering with the heat now and the cukes are pretty much finished. We are starting toprepare for fall planting.

We have set Tuesday mornings as a standing workday; weekends will be scheduled as needed. Unless it israining, we will be there Tuesday mornings at 8:00 a.m. starting on June 29

th. If you want to join us, just

show up. If you email me at jlbruno@gvec.net , I’ll put in extra water for you or will be happy to let you knowwhat we are doing.

Again, if you have extra tools, a wheelbarrow or wagon, that is taking up space in your garden or shed, wewould love to have those items to leave at the Garden. Hauling everything we need to work takes up a lot oftime.

Contact me if you can help. Linda Bruno jlbruno@gvec.net or 210-363-8380.

The Master Gardener Association

is a volunteer organization

We need YOU

to help with our projects.

Newly Certified Master Gardeners

Linda Bruno presents new Guadalupe County Master Gardeners their certificates and name tags.

Nancy Cude Joyce and Eddie Johnston

_________________________________4 _________________________________

CLASS 22 - CLASS 22 - CLASS 22

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU – for promoting Master Gardener Class #22!! As of Monday,June 21

st, we have 14 paid applications! Many of the new students want to take the course due to the

encouragement of their Master Gardener friends and positive experiences with our community activities.Our new students are enthusiastic about the course and the Master Gardener Program.

The size of our classes is nominally 20, to cover expenses; but, we will accept up to 30 students, all thatour classroom can hold. We shouldn’t have any problem filling the 20 spaces, but it would be nice tohave more prospective Master Gardener Interns. The next critical class date is July 15

th when the 10%

registration discount expires. The deadline for student applications is July 30th.

The Master Gardener class will be held on Wednesday evenings from 6 to 9 PM in Seguin at the Agri-Life Extension building. Full details on the class, class registration can easily be found on our websitehttp://www.guadalupecountymastergardeners.org/

Class ScheduleAug 11 ORIENTATION – Travis Franke, Guadalupe County Extension Agent; Linda Bruno, Presi

dent, Guadalupe County Master GardenersAug 18 - Plant Growth & Development – Liz Palfini, Texas Parks and Wildlife Park Ranger, Botany

Instructor at Northeast Lake View Community College, MS degree in Botany, University of FloridaAug 25 - Soils, Water & Plant Nutrients - Malcolm Beck, founder of Gardenville, author of “The

Garden-Ville Method – Lessons in Nature” & “The Secret Life of Compost”. Co-author with HowardGarrett of “Texas Organic Vegetable Gardening” & “The Texas Bug Book”

Sep 1 - Lawn Care – Dennis Hale, Wilson County Extension AgentSep 8 - Firewise & Wildfire Preparedness in Landscaping - Jan Fulkerson, Texas Forest Service,

Urban Wildland Interface Specialist focusing on Neighborhood & Community Planning; Oak Wilt – Mark Duff, Staff Forester II with the Texas Forest Service responsible for implementa-

tion of Oak Wilt Suppression & Forest Stewardship programsSep 15 - Home Fruit & Nut Production - Dr. Larry Stein, Professor & Extension Horticulturist, Texas

A&M. Emphasis on production horticulture working with pecans, fruits, grapes & vegetable crops.Sep 18 - Saturday Class – 12 Noon – 4 PM – Plant Propagation - Susan Jung & Tommy Clayton

Travis County Master Gardeners, assisted by Sandy Foss and Kathy Carroll, GCMGs, all arePropagation Specialists

Sep 22 - Backyard Vegetable Growing - Patty Leander, Travis County Master Gardener and contrib-utor on vegetable gardening to the Master Gardener newsletter as well as Texas Gardener maga-zine. She has a BS degree in Nutrition from Texas.

Sep 29 - “Botanically Speaking”, Wildflower, Weed Identification and More – Flo Oxley, Director ofConservation & Education, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center; BS – Botany & MS – Mycology.Staff member of the LBJ Wildflower Center for fifteen years; oversees the seed bank and herbariumprograms.

Oct 2 - Saturday Field Trip – 8 AM to Noon, Visit “My Father’s Farm”, a Certified Organic Farm,

presentation by Pedro Schambon Jr.; and Green Gate Nursery in

Seguin with tour by Joe Tocquigney, owner. Meet at My Father’s Farmat 8 AM.

(Continued on following page)

_________________________________5 _________________________________

(CLASS 22 - Continued from preceding page)

Oct 6 - Landscape Horticulture and Design – Mike Pecen, Landscape Architect and Instructor, Palo Alto Col-lege.

Oct 13 Entomology 101 and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) – Molly Keck, IPM Program Specialist, Agri-Life Extension, Bexar County. BS – Biology; MS – Entomology.

Oct 20 - Herbs - Mary Dunford, Owner of Natures Herb FarmOct 23 Saturday Class 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM Rainwater Harvesting - Liz & Fred Romero and George Ammer-

mann, GCMGs, Certified Rainwater Harvesting SpecialistsOct 27 Native and Adapted Plants/Xeriscaping – Deedy Wright, GCMG, President, Guadalupe Co. Native

Plant Society of Texas.Nov 3 - Diagnosing & Managing Plant Problems - Dr. Mark Black, Professor & Extension Plant Pathologist,

Texas A&M.Nov 10 - Tree Care - Nancy Masterson, Certified Arborist, GCMGNov 17 - Organic Gardening - John Dromgoole, “The Natural Gardener”, has oldest continuous organic garden-

ing radio show on KLBJ, Owner of The Natural Gardener Inc., manufacturer of Lady Bug products.Nov 24 - NO CLASS – Thanksgiving EveningDec 1 Graduation and “The Texas Master Gardener Program” – Jayla Fry, Extension Assistant and Master Gar-

dener, Co-Editor of the Texas Master Gardener Handbook; Travis Franke, Guadalupe County ExtensionAgent

This is the Water Wise Garden at Springs Hill Water Company that the Master Gardeners did. It looks prettygreat, doesn't it? Photos taken by Clara Mae Marcotte on June 23rd.

_________________________________6 _________________________________

FESTIVAL OF FLOWERS

Betty Hughes manning the NativePlant Society Booth,;George Am-mermann and Pat Schultze andPeggy Jones enjoying the exhibits;Barbara McIntyre, Elaine McIntyreand Pat Schultze at the VegetableSeminar.

Photos courtesy ofPeggy Jones.

BEWARE!

Keep your eyes open and watch where you step.

Shown with big game hunter Joe Bruno, thislovely rattlesnake was coiled up on a shelf onLinda Bruno’s mom’s back porch. It was ratherslow since it had just eaten. The snake is minusit’s head in the picture but is about 5 feet plus.

_________________________________7 _________________________________

Composter Specialist Training

Elaine McIntyre and Linda Bruno attended the Specialist Compost Training class which started June 9th. The first

two days we were at the San Antonio Botanical Center listening to a group of excellent speakers. We also had theopportunity to assist in construction of a demonstration compost bin and there is nothing worse than a group of Mas-ter Gardeners critiquing construction of anything done for the garden. Of the twenty plus students, we all had twentyplus different ideas about how the bin should go together and how it could be improved. We sure had fun!

The third day we spent the morning at the New Earth facility with the owner, Clayton Leonard, who gave us anamazing tour. He takes “playing in the dirt” to a new level. To see what he starts with and the wonderful compostthat results gave us hope that we could duplicate some of those efforts in our own gardens.

We are still digesting all the information and the research sources that were provided. Lots of credit to Lou Kelloggand David Rodriguez of Bexar County for putting together an awesome program. Are Elaine and Linda ready topass on all the information we learned? Not yet, but we are working on it. We’ll get back with you once the internaltemperatures have heated up, the microbes have really started working to break everything down and we havesome good potent compost created.

Clayton Leonard

with heavy duty

temperature meter

Linda Bruno in awe of

monster row turner

Class views lots of compost

New Earth compost operation

_________________________________8 _________________________________

Master Gardener Specialist Training Update

Citriculture Specialist Training - July 29-30 Fort Bend County Ag/Extension Center, Rosenburg

Plant Propagation Specialist Training - Aug 26 - 28 in Taylor County

Citriculture Specialist Training - September 2-3, The Neighborhood Place, 3014 Rivas St, San Antonio

Entomology Specialist Training – Sep 27 – Oct 1 in San Antonio

Irrigation Efficiency Training - October 27-29 in Dallas County

For more information see listings on the TMGA website http://www.texasmastergardeners.com/

Junior Master Gardener Class 5

July 26, 2010 (Mon) Junior Master Gardener Class 5 will be held at the San Antonio Botanical Gardenfrom 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. The JMG program is a new and innovative 4-H youth gardening program. This classoffers horticultural and environmental science education, and leadership and life skills developmentthough fun and creative activities. This program is committed to helping children become good gardenersand good citizens so they can make a positive contribution to their community, school, and family. If thereis anyone from Guadalupe County who wants to take the class, they would be most welcome. It’s closeand it’s reasonable in price. Contact Jeremy Stavinoha at 467-6575 for more information.

Classes at San Antonio Botanical Garden

“Tomatoes, Peppers and More” (Earth-Kind® Landscape Series)Saturday, August 14 - 1-3 p.m.

Want to have the first tomatoes on the block? Like hot or sweet peppers? Well, come visit with Exten-sion Horticulturist David Rodriguez of the Texas AgriLife Extension Service to learn about improving yourspring vegetable garden production and a whole lot more. Limit 30. Fees: $20.00 per session. Pleasemake your check payable to Bexar County Master Gardeners. To register, please contact Sasha Kodetat 210-207-3270 or sasha.kodet@sanantonio.gov. Participants must register by noon on Friday, August13.

_________________________________9 _________________________________

NEW - Earth-Kind® DROUGHT PREPAREDNESS Website

Providing relevant, high quality Extension educational information on DROUGHT PREPAREDNESS is animportant Earth-Kind® objective for 2010. To meet this objective we have assembled a variety of differenteducational resources on a NEW website http://EarthKind.tamu.edu/drought/

Earth-Kind® EvaluationEvaluation is one of the key strengths of the Earth-Kind® program. We encourage you to use the scan-able evaluation forms and cover sheet as part of any Landscape Water Conservation programs you pre-sent. ALSO - be sure to encourage the use of the on-line evaluation form where/when possible.REMEMBER - you can access your County evaluation data using our Earth-Kind® On-line EvaluationDatabase. Available on the Agent Only Section of Aggie Horticulture (see instructions above for access).If you have questions or comments please contact Extension Horticulture at your convenience.

What is Earth-Kind Landscaping?Earth-Kind Landscaping uses research-proven techniques to provide maximum garden and landscapeenjoyment while preserving and protecting the environment.The objective of Earth-Kind® Landscaping is to combine the best of organic and traditional gardeningand landscaping principles to create a horticultural system based on real world effectiveness and envi-ronmental responsibility. Earth-Kind Landscaping Encourages:

• Landscape Water conservation• Reduction of fertilizer and pesticide use• Landscaping for energy conservation• Reduction of landscape wastes entering landfills

Individuals using Earth-Kind® landscaping principles and practices can create beautiful, easy-care land-scapes, while conserving and protecting natural resources and the environment.For more info visit our website at: http://EarthKind.tamu.edu

2010 Plant Propagation Classes at San Antonio Botanical Garden:

Thursday, September 9, 9 am - 11 am, San Antonio Botanical Garden

Learn the techniques our horticulturists and volunteers use to propagate plants in the Garden. Partici-pants will make their own cuttings to take home and have the opportunity to explore the greenhouse andpurchase some of the beautiful plants expertly cultivated by the San Antonio Botanical Society Plant SaleVolunteers (exact cash or check only). Most plants are $8/gallon. Limit 20 participants. Fee: $20/class.To register, please contact Sasha Kodet at (210) 207-3270 or sasha.kodet@sanantonio.gov

_________________________________10 _________________________________

Guadalupe County (Schertz/Seguin) Chapter

Native Plant Society of Texas

We will hold a meeting in July and take just one month's summer "break" in August.Trees are a major investment in any landscape, in money, water and time, so selectingthe right trees is critical. On Tuesday, July 13th, the Guadalupe County (Schertz/Seguin) Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas will learn from Nancy Masterson,Certified Arborist, about selecting, planting and caring for native trees. Nancy is a re-tired public relations executive who has been a Certified Arborist since 1993. She waspreviously employed by American Forests, a national non-profit organization that pro-motes tree planting and care.

The Society meets on the second Tuesday at their new location , The Library, 500

Bulldog, Marion. There is a plant exchange and “getting to know you” at 6.30 pm fol-lowed by the program at 7pm. We welcome all visitors.

For more information or an application to join NPSOT contact: www.npsot.org/ GuadalupeCounty/

FUTURE PROGRAMS

Aug 19 -- Liz Palfini, Texas Parks and Wildlife - Plants and Human Affairs

Sep 16 -- JoNelle Zager - IrisesOct 21 -- Flo Oxley - Seeds of Success

Members in Service

Texas Master Gardener Board of DirectorsDeedy Wright – Two Year TermKay Wolverton – One Year Term

Pat Schultze - Alternate, Two Year TermSandy Foss - Alternate, One Year Term

Herbs for the Garden, Kitchen, and Bath

July 24th - 9:30 a.m.

Savor the joys of an edible and useful landscape! Herbalist and horticulturalist Diane Lewis will present aPowerPoint with great herb pictures and discuss the herbs best suited to this area and how to blend theminto everyday life. Learn how to cultivate, harvest, and store herbs and save money! Have fun learninghow to make a relaxing tea blend and bath salts with samples to take home. Enjoy lunch (recipes will beprovided) and a guided tour of the herb garden at the Botanical Garden. Fee: $43. A supply fee of $10 ispayable to the instructor and covers materials, herbal tea, bath salts and an herbal-based lunch. Admis-sion to the gardens included in the cost of the class.

_________________________________11 _________________________________

Volunteer OpportunitiesVolunteer OpportunitiesVolunteer OpportunitiesVolunteer Opportunities

MORE VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

There are a number of volunteer opportunities available for Master Gardeners. First of all, there are sev-eral projects where a coordinator is needed. This, of course, does not mean you do all the work. Itmeans you find volunteers or set workdays.

Christmas socialPecan Festival in OctoberGuadalupe County Fair in October (need coordinator and lots of volunteers)Ag Fair ( need three weeks worth of volunteers)

Anyone who needs hours or who feels like doing a good deed should go on over to the extension office.There are weeds (and baby pecan trees) growing in the flower beds and in the walkway. Also, the wild-flower seeds need harvesting out of the wildflower area.

Contact Clara Mae Marcotte at rcm.marcotte@gmail.com or call 830-379-3485.

Molly Keck needs bugs!

She is hosting an Entomology Camp in July and would like to start collecting bugs to give to the kids tocomplete their collections. If you guys are finding the dead katydids, millipedes, walking sticks, and what-ever else we are being plagued with right now, she would LOVE to have them! Just stick them in thefreezer or rubbing alcohol to keep them preserved until you get a chance to come by the Bexar CountyExtension Office.

_________________________________12 _________________________________

Third Annual

Gourmet Chili Pepper & Salsa Festival

July 23 & 24, 2010

Join us and "Spice It Up!" at the Gourmet Chili Pepper & Salsa Festival, held on the grounds of WildseedFarms, 7 miles outside of Fredericksburg! Festival includes: Guest Chefs & Speakers (topics will includecooking with peppers and spices),.Specialty food booths, Entertainment, Hot Air Balloons, Wildflower &pepper fields, Butterfly Haus, and Food Court

Hours: FRIDAY - 3 PM - 10 PM SATURDAY - 10 AM - 11 PM

Admission: Adults - 12 & over are $10 each. 2-day passes are $16. Kids - 12 & younger are $5 each. 2-day passes are $8.

Gardening Events

San Antonio Cactus & Xerophyte Society

21 July 2010

Meeting is at the San Antonio Garden Center. The program will be Overcoming the Odds--An Island Cactus Garden near Rainy Vancouver BC, city of the winter Olympics, by Bjorn Steffenson a member ofour club. Social starts 6:30 pm food, drinks. There will be a show & tell so bring a couple plants Plantsshould have at least the common name. This would be a good time for you to get them named properlyfor the April show. There will be a plant or things (plants, pots, planting mix) auction. Program starts at7:30 pm. For more information call or email Claude at 210-655-8959 or ctownsend@satx.rr.com.

_________________________________13 _________________________________

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 2` 3KWED Radio

1580 AMLawn & GardenShow 9:05 a.m..

4 5Master Gardener

Office/LibraryOpen8:30-NOON

6 7 8

GCMG BoardMeeting -6:30 p.m.(tentative)

9 10KWED Radio

1580 AMLawn & GardenShow 9:05 a.m.

11

���� New Moon

12Master GardenerOffice/LibraryOpen8:30-NOON

13 14 15

GCMGMeeting7 p.m.

16 17KWED Radio

1580 AMLawn & GardenShow 9:05 a.m.

18 19Master GardenerOffice/LibraryOpen8:30-NOON

20 21 22 23 24 KWED Radio

1580 AMLawn & GardenShow 9:05 a.m.

NewsletterDeadline

25 26Master GardenerOffice/LibraryOpen8:30-NOON

O Full Moon

27 28 29 30 31

_________________________________14 _________________________________

Guadalupe County Master Gardeners http://www.guadalupecountymastergardeners.org

830-379-1972 Ext 210

Guadalupe County Extension Office http://www.guadalupe-tx.tamu.edu/ 830-379-1972

Texas Master Gardeners http://www.aggie-horticulure.tamu.edu/mastergardener

Guadalupe County Master Gardeners, Inc.

210 East Live Oak St.

Seguin, TX 78155

July MeetingThursday, July 15, 2010

Time – 7 PMAgriLife Extension Building

210 E. Live Oak, Seguin, Tx

Reference to commercial products or trade names is made withthe understanding that no discrimination by the Master Garden-ers is implied, and no endorsement by the Master Gardeners isimplied. Educational programs conducted by the GuadalupeCounty Master Gardeners serve people of all ages, regardless ofsocioeconomic level, color, sex, religion, handicap, or nationalorigin.

Elaine McIntyre, Editor (elaine@tindomorgans.com)Marilyn Moltz, The Wandering Gardener

Marcia Richardson, Reporter

GCMG Officers & Board of Directors

Linda Bruno PresidentGeorge Ammermann President ElectDoug Biggs Vice PresidentDale Odvody SecretaryBetty Hughes TreasurerOpen Education ChairmanPeggy Jones Publication ChairmanClara Mae Marcotte Volunteer ChairmanSandy Foss New Member SupportBob Teweles Class 22 CoordinatorRandee Malmsten Web MasterTravis Franke AgriLIFE Agent

Master Gardener Coordinator