Johnson County Master Gardener

Thymes

September 2018 MG Steering Committee Meeting

Wednesday, September 12, 7:00 P.M. Johnson County Extension Office. All are invited to attend! Fall Potluck- Save the Date! The MG Fall Potluck will be held Sunday, September 23 at the extension office. Set-up at 3:30 P.M. (everyone welcome to help), social hour at 4 P.M., dinner served at 5 P.M., and Education program at 6 P.M. This is a great time to get to know your fellow Mas-ter Gardeners, enjoy some excellent food, and get an hour of education time. Please bring your own dishware and a dish to share with the group. Please contact Beth Fisher, scrabblegirl2@gmail.com with any questions. Butterfly House at the Johnson County Fair by Carolyn & Mike Murphy

The 2018 But-terfly House was on display at the Fair from Saturday evening, July 21st’ through Wednes-day, July 25th. Forty-six MGs

covering 10 hour days hosted over 6,300 visitors through the house. The weather was great and visi-tors enjoyed hanging out around the Butterfly House watching the monarchs from inside and out-side and looking at the many exhibits we displayed (Tussock tiger moths and cocoons, Horn worms, Swallowtail caterpillars, baby Monarch caterpillars & chrysalis). At least one and most day’s two mon-archs hatched while visitors watched!

Families enjoyed our newest addition— ‘Mil-lie The Monarch’ caterpillar tunnel. The new “But-terfly Friendly Garden” sign (illustration of a butter-fly life cycle and how to attract butterflies) dis-

played near the caterpil-lar tunnel during the fair has been relocated post-fair near the dill bed

in the Demo Gardens. As is our tradition, the Mon-archs were re-leased on Wednes-day even-ing.

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Thank you to all the MGs that came to the training and helped during the fair! Many thanks to Lucy Hershberger and her Forever Green crew for the gorgeous butterfly/pollinator garden displays. Lucy’s knowledge, presence, and displays are very much appreciated. The Butterfly House is spon-sored by the Johnson County Agricultural Fair Committee, Lucy Hershberger, Forever Green, JC MGs, and Kathleen Zeimer, Buttrfliz of Iowa.

Our goal is keep the butterfly house free of charge to all. In addition to items purchased by the Fair Committee that we sell each year to help pur-chase butterflies, other items were donated and sold. Thank you to Angela Murphy and the other MGs that helped with putting on 100’s of temporary tat-toos, and the sale of “Got Milkweed” buttons and stickers. It was a success and will now help buy four of the 10 to 12 dozen butterflies purchased each year for the exhibit. We also want to thank the Plant Sale and Flea Market committee for selecting the Butterfly House recipient of the proceeds from the silent auction this year. A check for $400 was given to JC Butterfly House Fund for the purchase of butterflies. This will buy approximately four dozen butterflies for next year’s exhibit.

Demonstration Garden Project Produces Successful Results

By Sharon Jeter & Linda Schreiber

Hard work and generous contributions of oth-ers have produced wonderful results. The last two years (2017-18) have been very, very busy in the demo garden. Although the county fair is over, the gardening season hasn’t ended.

From turning the first shovel of soil in the new location to a celebration of the Master Gardeners “Agricultural Area” and donating produce to serve those who are food insecure or live in food deserts, JCMG volunteers have worked hard. By mid-Au-gust, 17 JCMG volunteers worked 240.45 hours to plant and make improvements to the garden. To date, 150 pounds of produce has been donated to community pantries and Table to Table and the growing season isn’t over!

Many will recall in 2017 when the garden moved from a location north of one of the livestock barns to a larger, visually-prominent space adjacent to the Butterfly House at the JC Fairgrounds at the Johnson County Agricultural Association’s (JCAA—also known as the Fair Board) request. The move, at the very beginning of the gardening season, necessitated leaving a garden space and soil that had been lovingly tended for more than two decades.

The new front-and-center location, while un-broken ground, created fresh opportunities to rear-range the garden, enhance and add produce selec-tion and structural interests. JCMGs added an en-trance arch, repurposed cattle panels into trellises and added colorful steel posts to cordon off the area. Broomcorn and cannas marked the north and west sides of the new garden. Dill and colorful flowers mark the garden’s south end. Tomatoes were grown in straw bales to demonstrate gardening in small spaces.

The Pat Johnson family, of rural Oxford, offer to donate a corn crib in memory of Earl Johnson for the demo garden area, completed JCAA’s vision for the area. JCAA had suggested an antique corn crib would add visual interest and visibility to the demo garden.

In fall 2017, charitable gifts from local busi-nesses, Foundations Unlimited (Kalona) and Iowa City Ready Mix, provided the labor, materials and concrete to create a foundation in anticipation of re-locating the corn crib.

Efforts to move the crib to the fairgrounds be-fore the 2018 Fair became a priority and centered

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on locating a mover with the skills, certification and equipment. The 2018 fair represented the 25th anni-versary of the JCMG demonstration garden service project (JCMG Bob Opplinger launched the original project).

In 2018, JCMGs received two grants to en-hance the gardening project: Theisen’s awarded $1,000 and the Washington County Riverboat Foundation (WCRF) provided $2,000. The WCRF financial support paid to move the corn bin, cut an accessible door and reinforce the crib. The Theisen’s grant funded multiple raised beds, plants, and numerous gardening supplies including a kitchen herb garden, mulch and soil.

To celebrate the culmination of efforts to move the garden and relocate the corn bin, a ribbon-cut-ting and dedication recognizing the JCMG “Agri-cultural Area” was held Sunday, July 22, with more than 50 people attending including representatives of JCMG, JC Extension, JCAA and three genera-tions of the Earl Johnson family. The corncrib hosted children’s activities during the annual fair.

Thank you Master Gardeners! So many of you stepped up to the challenge this year and last, shar-ing resources, working Tuesday evenings and wa-tering regularly to enhance our demo garden pro-ject. Hundreds of fair-goers shared praise and com-pliments for all your hard work. Thank you, every-one!

Plum Grove Taste of the Heritage Garden by Joanne Leach & Carolyn Murphy

Thank you to everyone who worked on the Plum Grove Taste of the Heritage Garden on July 11th! It takes an army of volunteers to pull this event off. Some-how everyone follows through and it is always fun for workers and guests. We had a beautiful night—the weather warm but with a nice breeze. The gardens looked great. The food was outstanding.

The atmosphere with the music from the New Horizon Band, flower arrangements, cordial servers and the ice cream was magical. Many families came on foot or bicycle form nearby neighborhoods. Our attendance was down but it was still a successfully pleasant evening.

Thank you to the Solon Boy Scout Troop #120 for hauling the tables and chairs from the fair-grounds to Plum Grove. We appreciate their help

with the set-up and tear down of the tables.

The Tasting has become a tra-dition at Plum Grove. Thank you volunteers, it

couldn't be done without you! We are open to suggestions for improvements

or new activities for future years. Please direct any comments you may have to Joanne Leach (jleach@jlgardens.net) or Carolyn Murphy (candmmurphy@aol.com).

Lucas Farms History Days at Plum Grove by Carolyn Murphy

Lucas Farms History Days at Plum Grove was held June 24, 2018 from 1 to 4 p.m. Master Garden-ers were on hand at the Attended Display table and to give guided tours throughout the three gardens. Thank you to the MG’s that helped with this event!

A tour bus came to Plum Grove on one of its many stops. Judy Nyren, member of the Lucas Farms Associa-tion, dressed in period clothing, guided us back in times by pointing out former homes of IC’s famous residents and providing interesting stories about the unique neighborhoods.

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At Plum Grove, Civil War re-enactors from Washington County, showed their outstanding med-ical displays and Dave and Michelle Rhaim family shared musical gifts and sang songs from the 1800s. They also brought along their geese, ducks, and

chickens. I would highly rec-

ommend taking this tour next year or if you can’t wait, pick up the “Tour de Farm” neighborhood bike ride brochure at the Plum Grove house. I will show more pictures of the Frank Lloyd Wright

houses and their famous owners; such as David Morrell, author of Rambo and the home of Samuel Kirkwood, Iowa’s Civil War Governor during the social hour at the fall potluck.

Muscatine Master Gardeners by Carolyn Murphy

A delightful (although small) group of Muscat-ine MGs visited Plum Grove on July 15th came to hear the story of how the Johnson County MGs be-came involved in heirloom gardening at Plum Grove. Betty Kelly ex-plained the challenges she faced getting ap-proval from the state historical society to start the vegetable gar-den and time spent re-searching the heirloom vegetable and flowers they would have grown during the late 1800s to early 1900s.

After touring Friendly’s Vegetable Garden, Carolyn guided the group through Grandma’s Flower and Rose Garden. Lavon lead the group through the Wildflower Garden. While touring the house, Betty, a member of the Plum Grove Questors (the organization which helps furnish the house), was able to add many interesting facts. Before the group left, we enjoyed hearing about projects they

are involved with in their county while sampling our famous Rhubarb Punch, lemonade, cookies and bars.

Thank you to the JCMG volunteers who showed to host the MGs from Muscatine! You made a very fa-vorable impression on the group.

Eastern Iowa Orchid Society (EIOS) Or-chid Show and Sale

From Linda Schreiber

EIOS returns for their show in a new location! After a year off, we are proud to announce the EIOS will hold our annual Orchid Show and Sale Sat-urday, Oct. 27, 10 A.M. to

5 P.M. and Sunday, Oct. 28, from 10 A.M. to 4 p.M. in a NEW VENUE: the Elks Lodge at 801 33rd Ave. SW, Cedar Rapids, IA 52404.

The feature of the show will be more than 500 blooming orchid plants displayed by orchid socie-ties from Iowa and surrounding states in breathtak-ing exhibits.

This is an American Orchid Society judged show and in addition to the Society exhibitors, any-one—yes, ANYONE—who wishes to present a blooming orchid for display and judging can do so by bringing it to the show site on Friday, Oct. 26, by 5 P.M.

Top vendors from the Midwest will offer hun-dreds of plants available for purchase. Everything from Phalaenopsis to the most obscure species will be waiting to make your home THEIR home.

Daily lectures are scheduled on Repotting, Basic Orchid Culture, and Reblooming at 1 P.M.

Join EIOS for a family-friendly weekend with the opportunity to get an “up close and personal” view of some of nature’s most exotic blooming plants.

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Iowa City Party in the Park Event by Carolyn Murphy

Iowa City Parks & Recreation Division and Backyard Abundance invited JC Master Gardeners to join them for the IC Party in the Park at Chadek Park on June 14th. Attended Display greeted visi-tors with informational brochures and Carolyn & Mike Murphy brought their butterfly display for the evening. We gave out milkweed seed and talked to attendees about butterfly gardening and raising but-terflies. Baby caterpillars and adult monarchs were on display.

Fred Myer, Backyard Abundance, gave a tour thru the gardens, the Eulenspiegel Puppet Theater group performed and a young lady sang and played guitar during the evening. It was a very pleasant evening in the park.

MG Hortline

The Master Gardener Hortline is in need of ad-ditional volunteers! Through October Hortline hours are Monday and Friday 9:00-11:00 A.M. and Wednesday 1:00-3:00 P.M. November through March the hours are Thursdays 9:00-11:00 A.M. Anyone from the general public can call, email or stop by with questions. It is not necessary for volun-teers to provide an immediate answer; you can call them back.

Volunteers will be trained AND work with someone else until you feel comfortable fielding and answering questions. Initially, the expectation that you are an expert on the questions asked feels threatening, however, as you work with a partner, share ideas, and research our large on site library or .edu online, you will become very comfortable and excited about sharing information. If interested con-tact Esther Retish at eretish@mchsi.com or Joy Te-nEick at jteneick@gmail.com.

Fall Master Gardener Training Classes Need volunteer or education hours? Proctors

and treats are needed for the Fall Master Gardener Training Classes. Classes are at 6 pm, Tuesdays and Thursdays, September 20 through November 15 and held at the Johnson County Extension Office. Please email Shannon if you would like to proctor a class, bring treats, or attend for volunteer hours. Please note what date you will be attending so we have a head count and enough space. It is also nice to have current master gardeners present to get to know the students. Contact Shannon Bielicke, bielicke@iastate.edu 319-337-32145. Please see attached schedule. Master Gardener Growing Together Grant

The Johnson County Master Gardeners are once again proud recipients of the Growing To-gether 2018 Food Security Grant. We are asking for your continued participation.

Additional help is needed at Grow Johnson County, at the JC Poor Farm, 4811 Melrose Ave. Please sign up to volunteer at www.growjohn-soncounty.org. under the calendar.

It is that time of year when excess produce har-vested from the garden needs to go to a good home. As part of this grant Johnson County Master Gar-deners are asked to please donate that produce to lo-cal food security organizations.

I am sure many of you already do and in that case we are asking you to keep up the good work and document it as part of the grant reporting.

We have created the webpage below with im-portant grant information. This page includes a worksheet for you to use to keep track of donated produce and a flyer with locations and times when donations are excepted. A drop down option has been added to the Online hours reporting system for you to document your time spent towards this grant. Up to 6 hours has been approved to count towards your core volunteer hours requirement.

Growing Together 2018 Food Security Mini Grant webpage: (also linked to the MG Members Only webpage) www.extension.iastate.edu/john-son/content/growing-together-2018-food-security-mini-grant

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Master Gardener Growing Together Grant Please watch for emails for picking up apples

at Wilson’s Orchard, which will be delivered to Ta-ble to Tables, Coralville or North Liberty Food Pan-tries. If you would like to help with apple donation please contact Linda Schreiber or Lavon Yeggy. Oaknoll

One additional person is needed to help a very elderly woman who has a small flower garden and can’t lower herself to get weeds out of the beds.

Again, this is a fun chance to work one-on -one with a retired resident, set your own schedule, and share your knowledge and love of garden-ing! You’ll find that these folks are also very gar-den savvy and truly appreciate your time with them. Oaknoll is a core project.

I encourage anyone interested in an Oaknoll Volunteer Opportunity to contact either Marilou Gay or Vicki Siefers for more information about how you can have fun while making a difference for a retired person in our community. Marilou Gay 466-3047, rmlgay@aol.com & Vicki Siefers 331-1798, vicki.siefers@gmail.com. Thymes Deadline

Information/articles for the Thymes should be sent to Chris Sedrel at oscarsgram@aol.com or Doug Geraets at dougrph@aol.com Please send news, volunteer opportunities, stories, pictures, etc., for the October issue by Monday, September 24.

MG Birthdays ♦ September ♦

1 ...................... Cynthia Pickett 4 ...................... Dorothy Fowles 5 ...................... Gwen Eling 7 ...................... Doug Parsons 7 ...................... Amy Blessings 8 ...................... Marilou Gay 8 ...................... Toni Zenishek 8 ...................... Sue Kloos 9 ...................... Sherlyn Flesher 14 ..................... Beth Cook 20 ..................... Tracy Hufford 20 ..................... Jane Zukin 21 ..................... Ester Retish 22 ..................... Holly Hotchkins 22 ..................... Karen Lamer 28 ..................... Cindy Parsons

Mystery Plant Contest & Education

Rules: 1. The 1st person to correctly identify the plant,

wins $10 prize credit at our Johnson County Ex-tension. You can choose from variety of book-lets.

2. Anyone wanting education credit, can earn one hour by researching accepted resources (i.e. ISU Web site), writing 1-2 paragraphs, & citing sources used. Send to lavon.yeggy@outlook.com

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MG Committee Chairs If you are interested in learning more about or helping with a project listed below, contact

one of the chairpersons listed for that project. Thank you!

Committee Core Project? Work Schedule Chair/Contact Information

Attended Displays þ On request Sharon Rude momrude@gmail.com 319-331-3042

Butterfly House at Fairgrounds þ Third or fourth week of July for 4.5 days; contact Carolyn Mur-phy for other work days

Carolyn Murphy; Mike Murphy candmmuphy@aol.com 319-541-7079 (Carolyn) 319-351-6345 (Mike)

Coralville Historical School House

þ Saturday A.M. once monthly; contact Cindy Parsons for spe-cifics

Cindy Parsons cparsons@icialaw.com 319-400-7179

Ecumenical Towers þ Jane Zukin janezukin@aol.com 319-339-9127

Demo Garden

þ Tuesday P.M. during the growing season (starting mid-April)

Sharon Jeter 319-631-2148 sharonjeter@gmail.com

Downtown City Gardens

þ Usually Sunday 9:20-11:30 A.M. but also flexible

Linda Schreiber lnschreiber@gmail.com 319-936-8600

Fair Grounds Beautification; Rain Garden

þ Tuesday starting at 6 P.M. and flexible schedule

Lavon Yeggy lavon.yeggy@outlook.com 319-330-0952, Marge Jensen mjensen59.mj@gmail.com 319-330-2926

Fair Grounds Flower Beds

þ Flexible April-October (during growing sea-son); contact Joan for specifics

Joan Dinnel jdinel@aol.com 319- 338-2434 Barb Krug bkmg2004@yahoo.com 319-857-4569

Firefighters’ Memorial

þ One planting date in early May—watch Thymes for specifics

Barb Schintler barbjschintler@hotmail.com 319-351- 5174

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MG Committee Chairs If you are interested in learning more about or helping with a project listed below, contact

one of the chairpersons listed for that project. Thank you!

Committee Core Project? Work Schedule Chair/Contact Information

Fundraising/Plant Sale & Flea Market

þ Occurs mid-May; sev-eral planning meetings with duties assigned

Janice Hining janni.h@att.net 319-351- 6304

Hortline

þ Spring season: 9-11 A.M. Monday & Friday; 1-3 P.M. Wednesday Fall season:

Esther Retish eretish@mchsi.com 319-351-5011 Joy TenEick jteneick@gmail.com 319-626-2080

Hospice Garden at Willow Creek Park

þ April-October: Thurs-days 9 A.M.

Melanie Haupert melaniehaupert@gmail.com 319-351-1149

Intern Class/Training

þ September-November: Tuesday & Thursday P.M.

Nicole Pearson nicole-pearson@uiowa.edu 507-251- 0902

Johnson County Fair/4-H Buck-ets of Flowers, Scarecrow

þ Lavon Yeggy lavon.yeggy@outlook.com 319-330-0952

Oaknoll Garden Project

þ Flexible hours: MG paired with resident

Marilou Gay rmlgay@aol.com 319-466- 3047 Vicki Siefers vicki.siefers@gmail.com 319-331-1798

Plum Grove

þ Mid-April-October: Saturdays 9 A.M. to 12 Noon

Betty Kelly 319-351-4903, Joanne Leach Jleach@Jlgardens.net 319-351-4722 Lavon Yeggy lavon.yeggy@outlook.com 319-330-0952 Carolyn Murphy candmmurphy@aol.com 319-541-7079

Raptor Center Gardens

þ May planting session; April cleanup session; contact Alice

Alice Linhart mikeandalice@southslope.net 319-621- 8073

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MG Committee Chairs If you are interested in learning more about or helping with a project listed below, contact

one of the chairpersons listed for that project. Thank you!

Committee Core Project? Work Schedule Chair/Contact Information

Speakers Bureau

þ On request Jackie Wellborn jackiewe@mchsi.com 319-512-8382

Social Events

¨ Fall potluck in Sep-tember; Winter pot-luck in March; dates to be announced

Beth Fischer scrabblegirl2@gmail.com 319-321-8378 Lavon Yeggy lavon.yeggy@outlook.com 319-330-0952

Solon High School

þ This core project dis-continued for MGs; continue to report past volunteer hours for 2018

Tracy Hufford TraceHuff@aol.com 319-624-3342

Steering Committee Chairs

¨ Monthly on 2nd Wednesday 7 P.M. (ex-cept July & December)

Lavon Yeggy lavon.yeggy@outlook.com 319-330- 0952 Sharon Jeter sharonjeter@gmail.com 319- 631-2148

Thymes Newsletter

þ Articles encouraged; contact Doug or Chris if you want more in-volvement

Chris Sedrel, contact oscarsgram@aol.com 319-330-8416 Doug Geraets dougrph@aol.com 319-541-6324

Treasurer

¨ Not applicable Jean Holzhammer ichawks.jh@gmail.com 319-325-6530

Volunteer Hours/Secretary

¨ Not applicable Shannon Bielicke bielicke@iastate.edu 319-337-2145

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MG Upcoming Events/Volunteer Opportunities September 2018

Backyard Abundance http://backyardabundance.org/ Sunday, Septamber 9, 2018 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Healthful Gardens: College Green Party in the Park, 600 East College Street, Iowa City. Bring your questions about creating gardens; butterflies and birds; vegetables, herbs and fruits; managing rainwater. Children’s activities and learning, library’s Bookmobile, and entertain-ment from “Mike and Brian.” Everyone welcome. Bur Oak Land Trust info@BurOakLandTrust.org Sunday, September 16, 2018 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Family Day at Belgum Grove, 3261 500th St SW, Iowa City. Fun free learning activi-ties will include raptors, interactive stream table, and other outdoor activities. Experience Dirty Face Creek and the pond and learn about different prairie, trees and plants. All youth in attendance take home a new shirt featuring local artwork. Snacks and beverages will be provided. Tuesday, September 25, 2018 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Chipotle Eat for Change at Chipoltle Mexican Grill, 201 South Clinton, Suite 112, Iowa City. Make dinner a selfless act by joining Bur Oak Land Trust for a fundraiser to support their mission: To protect and conserve natural areas to enrich and engage current and future generations. Bring in a version of the flyer from https://www.buroaklandtrust.org/wp-content/up-loads/2018/08/ChipoltleFlyer.pdf, show it on your smartphone, or tell the cashier you’re supporting the cause to make sure that 33% of the proceeds will be donated to BurOak Land Trust. Eastern Iowa Bird Watchers/IC Birds http://icbirds.org/newsletter.html Wednesday, September 10, 2018 8 a.m. Kent Park Bird Walk with leader Rick Hollis. Meet at the Conservation Education Center, Kent Park. Sunday, September 9, 2018 Annual Pelican Festival at Hawkeye Wildlife Management Area, 2564 Amana Rd. NW, Swisher. For information email info@icbirds.org. Johnson County Conservation http://www.johnson-county.com/conservation mailto: salgreen@co.johnson.ia.us Saturday, September 15, 2018 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Iowa River Clean Up, Sturgis Ferry Park, S. Riverside Dr.,Iowa City. Register at http://www.iarvcp.org/

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Linn County-ISU Extension http://www.extension.iastate.edu/calendar/ShowList.asp?County=Linn&CountiesScope Tuesday, September 11, 2018 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Insect Update and Tree Care, Linn County Extension, 383 Collins Road NE, Suite 201, Cedar Rapids. Receive the latest details about invasive garden pests, including Japanese Beetle, Emerald Ash Borer and spotted wing drosophilia from Donald Lewis, professor and extension entomologist at Iowa State. Then learn about how to maintain the health of trees from Jesse Randall, associate professor and extension forester at Iowa State. Please register so there will be enough handouts. Popcorn and drink available. Johanna Rahbusch, 319-377-9839. Monday, September 17, 2018 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Just Keep Growing, Growing,Growing at Old MacDonald’s Farm, 2700 Bever Ave SE, Cedar Rapids. The Linn County Master Gardeners have partnered with Old MacDonald’s Farm in inviting you to the new Growing Classroom. Hands on workshops for all ages. Snacks from the gardens. Individuals $2, Families $5, age 2 and under free. https://www.cedar-rap-ids.info/webtrac/wbwsc/webtrac.wsc/wbsplash.html?wbp=1. Info Johanna Rahbusch 319-337-9839 or Jorah@iastate.edu. Saturday, September 22, 2018 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Look What’s Sprouting Up! Harvesting and Using Produce at Old MacDon-ald’s Farm, 2700 Bever Ave SE, Cedar Rapids. The Linn County Master Gardeners have partnered with Old MacDonald’s Farm in inviting you to the new Growing Classroom. Hands on workshops for all ages. Snacks from the gardens. Individuals $2, Families $5, age 2 and under free. https://www.ce-dar-rapids.info/webtrac/wbwsc/webtrac.wsc/wbsplash.html?wbp=1. Info Johanna Rahbusch 319-337-9839 or jorah@iastate.edu. Tuesday, September 25, 2018 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Local Bees and Organic Vegetables at Linn County Extension, 383 Collins Road NE, Suite 201, Cedar Rapids. Find out how to attract native bees and other pollinators to the garden from Randall Cass, entomologist with ISU Extension and Outreach. Then learn how to organ-ically maintain a vegetable garden from Kathleen Delate, professor and extension organic specialist in horticulture and agronomy at Iowa State. Please register to be sure there are enough handouts at Jo-hanna Rahbusch, 319-377-9839. Seed Savers http://www.seedsavers.org/Education/ Saturday, September 1, 2018 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. Seed Savers Exchange Tomato Tasting at Heritage Farm in Decorah. Sample doz-ens of open pollinated heirloom tomatoes and rare varieties from SSE’s seed bank. Attend demon-strations, enter the salsa contest, go on hayrides and celebrate fall in beautiful gardens. Free. Infor-mation and registration at http://www.seedsavers.org/Education/ or call at 563-382-5990. Trees Forever http://www.treesforever.org/Events Sunday, September 16, 2018 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., vendors and registration at 12 p.m. Linn Landowners Forum—Bring more Nature to your Land. Talk personally with experts about how to restore natural areas on your land. Learn how

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to prepare land to plant a prairie, learn basics on planting a pollinator prairie and learn about Wood-land health and removing invasive plants. Clearwater Farms, 4970 Lakeside Rd., Marion. Free. Please rsvp. Rsvp form and information at http://www.treesforever.org/Events. 100_Grannies http://100grannies.org/ Sunday, September 9, 2018 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Outreach with St.Patricks Church, 4330 St Patricks Dr, Iowa City. 1) Good Neighbor, and 2) Diet and Climate Change table. The Pope is calling for everyone to move towards an “ecological conversion” in which we can listen to the “cry of the earth and cry of the poor.” Con-tact 100granniesiowacity@gmail.com if you would like to help with this event. Wednesday, September 12, 2018 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monthly Activism Committee, Big White House, 12th Ave, Coralville. Monday, September 17, 2018 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Good Neighbor Committee Meeting, Iowa City Public Library, Room E. This new committee meets the third Monday of the month. Please join our group or just come check us out. Prior sign up not necessary. We’re working on this campaign goodneighborsiowa.org/ and partnering with Backyard Abundance, New Pioneer Coop and AmeriCorps. Contact Linda Quinn at 319-330-3328. Tuesday, September 25, 2018 4:30 p.m.to 5:30 p.m. Monthly Activism Committee, Trinity Episcopol Church, 320 E College,Iowa City Tuesday, September 25, 2018 5:30 p.m.to 7:00 p.m. Regular Monthly Meeting of 100grannies.org., Trinity Episcopal Church, 320 E College St, Iowa City. Information at 100granniesiowacity@gmail.com.

Additional Resources/Event Opportunities Backyard Abundance http://backyardabundance.org/ Nothing scheduled at press time Blue Zones www.bluezones.com https://iowa.bluezonesproject.com/activities ECO_Iowa City http://www.icgov.org/?id=2256 Check website for events.

Iowa State Extension http://www.extension.iastate.edu/calendar/ https://www.facebook.com/iowa.city.stormwater.volunteers?sk=wall Nothing scheduled at press time

New Pioneer Coop http://www.newpi.coop/new-pi-classes-and-community/2015-02/ Check the website for events and activities.

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Project Green http://www.projectgreen.org/ and https://www.facebook.com/www.projectgreen.org Nothing at press time Iowa Water https://www.facebook.com/iowa.city.stormwater.volunteers?sk=wall Nothing at press time

The Johnson County Master Gardener Thymes is published monthly, except January and August. It is distributed under the auspices of Iowa State University.

Mail can be sent to: Johnson County Extension Service Attn: Master Gardener Newsletter 3109 Old Highway 218 S. Iowa City, IA 52246 Iowa State University Extension and Outreach does not discriminate on the basis of age, disabil-ity, ethnicity, gender identity, genetic infor-mation, marital status, national origin, pregnancy, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, socioeco-nomic status, or status as a U.S. veteran. Direct inquiries to the Diversity Officer, 515-294-1482, extdiversity@iastate.edu. Send email to: bielicke@iastate.edu