The Lowdown

Dr. Jeremy Cowan 477-2145

Regional Horticulture Specialist

jeremy.cowan.@wsu.edu

Tim Kohlhauff 477-2172

Horticulture Program Coordinator

tkohlhauff@spokanecounty.org

Anna Kestell 477-2195

Education/Clinic Coordinator

akestell@spokanecounty.org

Master Gardener County Site

http://www.spokane-county.wsu.edu/

spokane/eastside

Master Gardener Foundation of Spo-

kane County

http://www.mgfsc.org/

WSU Master Gardener Site

http://mastergardener.wsu.edu

HortSense Fact Sheets

http://pep.wsu.edu/hortsense

On Line Timelog Reporting:

http://ext.wsu.edu/Volunteer/logon

WSU Spokane County Extension Master Gardeners

July 2015

Inside this issue:

Foundation News 2

Armchair Gardener 4

Fact Sheet Update 7

More Soils Article 8

Continuing Education 10

Upcoming Events 12

Extension Information

Living Soils and Climate Change (We had to edit Kathy’s column to fit in the Lowdown. To read the full article,

find it on our website, next to the Lowdown link, under “Callum Column”)

By Kathleen E. Callum

USDA conservation agronomist Ray Archuleta observes that the planet is “naked, hungry, thirsty, and running a fever”. Agriculture is part of the planet’s climate change problem and part of the solution. Global climate change, of course, brings consequences for our economy, food security, social justice, environmental justice, and catastrophic natural disasters that wreak havoc far beyond sea level rise, raging wildfires and ecosystem extinctions. We have already had to adjust our garden climate zones. WSU’s Chad Kruger ob-served that the “new normal” lack of snowpack means we will have to choose between fisheries and agriculture in the Inland Northwest. The American An-thropological Association, U.S. Department of Defense, the United Nations and organizations around the world are struggling with one of “the most pressing issues of our time”. The scope of the problem seems almost too big and intractable to face. Perhaps that is why many even deny the existence of global climate change or that anthropogenic inputs like industrial agriculture have driven us toward the brink of disaster.

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2015 INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF SOILS

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Foundation News

By Claudia Myers

Garden Fair

At the May Master Gardener meeting Tim Stiess gave a detailed report on Garden Fair 2015 and introduced the teams for each component.

Julie McElroy will take lead of the Plant Sale. Marilyn Wadsworth will coordinate the outside vendors who donate 20% of their sales to the Foundation. Marilyn Lloyd will coordinate exhibits for other community organizations.

Sue Malm and her team are continuing with the very productive Herb Booth. Clarice Garcia, Karen Parks and Janice Sather had another fantastic year with Natives. Our relationship with Plants of the Wild let them return a few plants that didn’t sell so we have 100% SOLD OUT. A big thanks to POW for working with us. If you would like to work Natives next year, contact any person mentioned in this article.

Karen Whitehead’s unique recycled, repurposed finds are a continuing success. Karen and her Creativity Team, including hubby Jake, donate all their ‘finds’, time and crafty materials to Garden Fair. If you want to be part of an artsy group, contact Ka-ren.

Karen Feyk and her team lead the clinic and make sure that we have goodies in the break room. (The most important thing!) Carol McKenny had a really good year for the Yard Sale. This ‘little secret’ of Garden Fair is growing a reputation for having nice and unique items. Let’s keep it up!!!

Jane Beaven organized the Meeters, Greeters and Parking Guides. The first year I participated, I was put on this list and felt a bit underwhelmed. To tell you the truth it is one of the most fun, positive and interactive jobs of Garden Fair. If you’re a people-person and would like to work Garden Fair at a social level, Jane is a per-son you should contact.

Vi Tiegs and David Yarbrough are working on a Berry Booth next year, which in-cludes growing stock for the sale. Contact either one for more information.

Then there is the Decoration Theme Team. We tend to take it for granted that some-one will put up decorations or signs. This TEAM goes to the extreme. Julie Levine, Marge Swenson, Jackie Sykes and Ellen Jones come up with great creative ideas every year. They would appreciate help with materials. If you have some crafty-stuff in need of use, contact them.

Moving forward, Jennifer Wengeler is now developing a Pollinators Exhibit for Gar-den Fair 2016 including the sale of hand-made abodes.

This is not a complete list of everyone who makes Garden Fair happen. The Master Gar-

deners, wonderful spouses, family members and Friends working together make this

event happen. ALL are volunteers. You divide plants to donate, you give to the Yard Sale,

you help set up and tear down and you’re there when and where you’re needed. 99% of

the profit from Garden Fair is earmarked to be filtered back into the Program as the Foun-

dation operates with the lowest overhead costs possible. This year the net profit for Gar-

den Fair was just over $17,000.

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Vi Tiegs 6-Jul

Dee Johnson 7-Jul

Rhonda Elliott 7-Jul

Mia Marcum-McCoy 8-Jul

Jane Beaven 10-Jul

Merilee Dinneen 10-Jul

Jackie Sykes 12-Jul

Carol Williams 13-Jul

Lynette Rich 15-Jul

Marilyn Carothers 17-Jul

Cathi Lamoreux 18-Jul

Mark Stiltz 19-Jul

Karen Whitehead 21-Jul

Susan Malm 23-Jul

Rose Jacobus 28-Jul

Steve Nokes 29-Jul

We are so glad you are with us!

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Cabin Fever

At the Master Gardener May meeting, there was some interest in Cabin Fever topics. Session topics require coordination between the Program classes and Cabin Fever, working together. Program classes may be labeled 101: single session, topic specific, low cost registration and convenient timing. We are envisioning Cabin Fever as accredited level classes for all Master Gardeners and garden professionals--a bit more advanced to give each gardener more infor-mation and continuing education credit. Tim K and Jeremy will review all speakers and classes to make sure that they meet WSU vetting.

Here is a general list of topics from participant survey results from Cabin Fever 2015.

Plants & Design for Pollinators Berries Pruning Ornamentals Succulents Lawn Alternatives Tomatoes from Seed to Harvest (Tomatoes 201) Garden Styles Tree Pruning Attracting Wildlife & Keeping Unwanteds Out Lake Effects: Landscaping by the Water Ideal Plants to Screen Unattractive Views Dealing with Swales: Between a Rock and a Hardscape

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ON THE ROAD TO CHECK OUT WILDFLOWERS

By Eva Lusk

In early June, I abandoned my garden for a week of wandering around Montana. It’s one of my favorite

places to go and look at beautiful mountainous scenery and wildflowers. Going-to-the-Sun road at Glacier

National Park was only open for about 15 miles heading east, so we took a less traveled road that headed

north on the west side of the park.

A few years ago, a major fire roared through this area leaving only blackened tree stumps behind. With tree

canopies missing, we had a clear view of the stunning snow-covered rocky peaks that are part of the park.

The views were absolutely breathtaking and the traffic was minimal.

Tent caterpillars, however, were everywhere and had badly reduced the deciduous shrubs to bare branches in

much of the area. Let’s hope they’re tough enough to recover. The pussy toes (Antennaria spp.), Indian

paintbrush (Castilleja spp.) and shrubby penstemon (Penstemon fruticosus) that grew beneath, however,

were alive and healthy.

Another day, heading south through the Swan River State Forest, we explored various gravel roads and kept

seeing numerous clumps of mountain lady’s slippers (Cyprepedium montanum) along the forest edges. I’d

never seen so many of them in one place. Back a little farther into the trees, the rough-fruited fairy bells

(Prosartes trachycarpum) also grew profusely, although they were past the flowering stage.

Not far from Helena we found the Gates of the Mountains Wilderness and decided to explore it, too. The

only way to do so is to take a boat tour or hike in through very rough terrain. We opted for the boat ride of a

dammed up part of the Missouri River.

At one point, the limestone rock formations create an optical illusion that makes them look like gates that

can open and close. Meriwether Lewis, of the Lewis and Clark expedition, saw this phenomenon and named

the place Gates of the Mountains.

The cliffs are home to a variety of warblers, swallows, bald eagles, ospreys and per-

egrine falcons. And there’s some rare plant life as well—a plant I’d never seen be-

fore, Kelseya uniflora, a member of the Rose Family (Rosaceae), and the only spe-

cies in its genus. It’s a tiny evergreen shrub that’s only about one and a half to a lit-

tle over three inches tall and almost completely covered with flowers in early spring.

Unfortunately, we were too late to see it in flower. Next time we’ll have to plan on

an earlier visit.

Leaving the Gates of the Mountains Wilderness, we stopped at a small enclosure that

explained the history of the area and I discovered another plant that I hadn’t seen be-

fore—the scarlet globemallow (Sphaeralcea coccinea). It has a bright reddish-orange

flower and is extremely drought tolerant, preferring dry soil and a sunny location. It

only grows to about four to eight inches and its leaves are deeply cut, yellowish green

on top and hairy, as well as grayish underneath.

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Kelseya uniflora

Sphaeralcea coccinia

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Just a few miles south of Helena, we discovered the Tizer Botanic Gardens and Arboretum. Located along a stream

not too far from the main road to Butte, it’s a wonderful place to visit on a hot day, since the many trees provide

enough shade to wander comfortably through the garden.

There was a small group of children helping to clean up the ‘Fairy Garden’ area and learning about the plants while

they were at work. Of course, a garden like this just cries out to show off the native fairy bells and, sure enough,

there were several large clumps of rough-fruited fairy bells (Prosartes trachycarpa) growing in the shade.

They grow here in our area, too, and look a lot like Hooker’s fairy bells (Prosartes hookeri), except that the seed

pods are different. The rough-fruited version has felt-like dark orange pods and the Hooker’s version sports shiny,

bright orange ones.

As I meandered further down the shady paths, I also noticed a number of plants that looked

like fairy bells with flowers still intact. But the flowers were a bit smaller and daintier and the

petals curved slightly upward. I wondered if these might be twisted stalks (Streptopus amplex-

ifolius), which I’d never seen in bloom.

And that’s what they turned out to be. The leaves are alternate and clasp the stem, which is

slightly kinked. But the most obvious kinks and twists show up on the flower stems and really help to identify this

plant.

Our last stop was in Butte, where we wandered through a reconstructed mining town and looked at all of the gem-

stones in the museum. It was fascinating to see the various necessary buildings providing services to miners. But

there was a major gap in services provided.

While there was at least one “Boardinghouse” with charming young women leaning out the window, there didn’t

seem to be a single saloon. I can’t remember seeing any other ghost or reconstructed western town without at least

one, and usually more than one, saloon. The miners of Butte must have been a very sober lot.

Plant life here was of the volunteer variety—consisting of a number of native plants in full bloom throughout the

area. Most conspicuous were the fuzzy-tongue penstemons (Penstemon eriantherus) and also the yellow ones (P.

confertus), as well as silverleaf phacelia (Phacelia hastate). They all looked healthy and beautiful in the blazing hot

sun where they obviously were not being watered.

Returning to an even hotter Spokane summer, I was glad to see the many hardy natives in my own garden had con-

tinued to flourish in my absence.

Streptopus amplexifolius

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The Wonderful October Banquet

This year, An Evening in Autumn, features local author Jack Nesbit. Mark your calendar for October 8, with doors open at 4:00 pm. Lynn Meyers, Yvonne Snell and Roberta Smith, along with Mollie McDonald (Auction Queen) are coordinating this event. They hope to add a few new and exciting elements. If you have something to donate to the auction, please let these gals know.

Tickets will be available at MGFSC.org or through the Plant Clinic beginning August 1. The cost is $35.00. Jake Whitehead has created another exceptional door prize: a hand-made, rustic wheelbarrow.

Huckleberry update from the north Deer Park area: Not great pickin’s here! Vic and I were checking out plants in one area and I said it looked like the bears had been working the patch. Not 30 seconds later a young black bear popped out on the other side of the road, six feet in front of us. Yes, we left what few berries were there for him (or Mom)!!!!!

7/28/15 10:00—noon

http://breeze.wsu.

edu/masterg/

The webinar is FREE

and there is no pre-

registration.

Space is limited to the first

100 participants to log on

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Update from our Fact Sheet Project!

By Tim Kohlhauff

Thank you to our dedicated committee of volunteers who are working on fact sheet up-dates! This is

an ongoing project, so anyone who finds they have time to help out, let me know and I’ll put you to

work. Thank you to everyone on the committee who has done so much work! Here are the latest

additions and changes:

C050 Gloxinias has been eliminated for lack of use

C066 Lawn Fertilizers has been replaced by EB0482.

C169 Cover Crops has been replaced by Cover Crops for Home Gardens East of the Cascades

FS117E on the WSU website

Natural Insecticides PNW649 has replaced the following fact sheets of ours:

C178 Bacillius thurengiensis

C183 Insecticidal Soaps

C184 Horticultural oils

C180 Organic Fertilzers has been replaced by Soil Fertility in Organic Systems PNW646

C150 Drying Walnuts has been eliminated because it deals with food preservation which is out-

side our scope.

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How can we ameliorate climate change? It’s partly as simple as the food we choose for our table. More and more people are buying into a grassroots movement toward sustainable agriculture that is defined by how we take care of our planet’s soil. Call it the “Buy Local” move-ment. Label yourself a “Locavore” and pick a favorite celebrity chef.

Sport a new bumper sticker that says “I Heart Organic Farming”. Practice no till and cover crop-ping on your medium sized farm or in your garden. Broadcast compost or have your cattle spread their manure over greening pastures. Join a biodynamics working group. Take up “wildcrafting”. Grow basil and other herbs in a pot on the steps. Support community gardens, permaculture, food forests and urban farming initiatives. Rely on older Native Americans to separate out the good camas from the death camas, or learn yet another valuable piece of traditional knowledge about local food plants. Set up hugelkultur beds in your forest. These are the many diverse faces shown by a vibrant, sustainable, local, food system often called “regenerative agriculture”, “agroecology” or “traditional knowledge.” Some argue that regenerative agriculture has the po-tential to sequester 100% of the world’s annual carbon emissions. In the words of a meme gener-ated by Fair World Project, “Small-Scale Farmers Cool the Planet.”

Global climate change will impact nearly everyone, with the greatest impact already being felt by farmers and anyone who eats food. Industrial agriculture is a key driver in the generation of greenhouse gases. Synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, heavy machinery, monocultures, land change, deforestation, refrigeration, waste and transportation are all part of a [global] food system that generates significant [industrial agriculture] emissions and contributes greatly to global climate change. Small-scale farms, in direct contrast, are more resilient in the face of severe climatic events. More importantly, “regenerative agriculture” or “agroecology” farming can sequester up-wards of 7,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per acre per year, even while boosting crop yields. In-dustrial agriculture uses 70% of the world’s agricultural resources to produce just 30% of the global food supply, while small-scale farmers provide 70% of the global food supply while using 30% of agricultural resources. We don’t need to seek further proof that all of the world’s food can be grown sustainably and more resiliently on small farms.

The globalization of food has dramatically increased the amount of carbon emissions in our meals, particularly in America. Some scientists claim that almost half of the carbon emissions that contribute to anthropogenic global warming are linked to our industrial global food system. The average meal has traveled 4,200 miles just to get to the table. The total includes include car-bon emissions from agricultural production, pesticide manufacture and application, refrigeration and transportation, storage, restaurant, retail and home processing. Our mistreatment of soil is preventing nature from doing what she does naturally and cycling carbon back from the atmos-phere. We are literally disrupting the process of photosynthesis, where plants break carbon diox-ide molecules apart, release the oxygen and take the carbon underground, by killing the life that should exist in soil that needs that carbon. We do this by spraying it with chemicals, tilling and killing the latticework of fungi and growing one plant in a field when nature needs variety.

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Anthropologist Susan Crate writes in “Gone the Bull of Winter?,” that “there is nothing positive about our planetary emergency… Perhaps it is time to admit that we need to be alarmist.” She quotes, “ironically, climate change offers humanity an opportunity for a quantum leap in sustainable develop-ment and peacemaking.” How did we come to the brink of disaster? During a crucial point in our na-tion’s history, we faced a choice between agriculturalists that sought to improve the soil versus emi-grants that moved on after exhausting the soil or looked for the quick fix. Modern agricultural science diverged from the disciplines of natural resources and ecology by the time of the “green revolution”. The goal of the green revolution was to produce more food by relying on chemical inputs and bioengi-neering. Unfortunately, advocates of soil improvement on small farms and indigenous traditional knowledge became marginalized and the people still went hungry. Today, there is growing recognition that the living food web is a critical factor in global carbon cycling and the soil can act as a carbon “sink” that can take this element out of the atmosphere and store or “sequester” it in the ground. Why aren’t we already tackling global climate change by supporting small-scale farms world-wide?

As anthropologist Crate demonstrates, addressing climate change is much more of a social and political challenge than a mere technological one. In fact, regenerative agriculture or agroecology methods are remarkably inexpensive and simple. After all, these methods have been honed for millennia by indige-nous farmers throughout the world following traditional wisdom closely adapted for their soils. For ex-ample, a study conducted following Hurricane Mitch in 1998 in Nicaragua compared plots in 180 com-munities on small-scale farms versus conventional agriculture. The agroecological plots lost 18% less arable land to landslides and experienced 60% less erosion, had on average 40% more topsoil, higher field moisture and fewer economic losses than control plots on conventional farms. The tools of agroecology are: rock bunds or dikes, green manure, crop rotation, terraces, mulch, legumes and trees, plowing parallel to the slope, live fences and zero-tillage. An agroecological soil is covered 24/7, diverse, and it is a place where animals play an integral role. Small-scale farms are thriving reservoirs of biodiversity that markedly contrast with the barren monocultures of industrial agriculture. Unfortu-nately, as the size of industrial farms burgeons, we are fast losing the traditional knowledge of small-scale famers who are so critical for maintaining the soil and feeding their local communities.

That’s where the grassroots, sustainable, local food movement comes in, healthy soils, healthy plants, leading to healthy bodies. Local food makes economic and political sense as well as being good for the environment. Over 80% of us now live in urban areas, many of which are “food deserts”. Did you know that every dollar invested in a community garden provides $6 worth of vegetables? Plus, there’s a “local multiplier effect”, which means that every $1 spent buying local goods or services circulates, generating a net of $8 within a local economy. Can you imagine the positive impact that 1 million dol-lars spent in our local community would have and the shopkeepers, hairdressers, schoolteachers and artists that a recirculated 8 million dollars would keep in business? Significantly, buying healthy food locally means that a coffee grower or strawberry farmer on the other side of the world won’t be bought out or forced to convert to an industrial monoculture. That small farmer can continue to grow diverse crops to feed his/her own family and rather than triggering a transaction that will emit carbon, their soils will instead se-quester carbon. The food on your table is your choice. Perhaps climate change can be better addressed by the living soil food web on an incalculable number of fronts?

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June 2015

Since you have had extra time to digest the June Lowdown, this quiz will not offer you multiple choice

answers … you can always refer back to that issue to find the answers!

1. What is one of the primary messages of 2015 International Year of Soils?

2. Nature takes how long to accumulate the amount of compost found in one generous

dose of our compost?

3. What are the genus and species names for Red Wiggler worms?

4. How many pounds of worms are required to process a pound of food scraps in one

day?

5. How can worms detoxify pesticides and kill pathogenic bacteria?

6. Which book, recommended by Susan Mulvihill, can help you master botanical

terms?

7. ‘Rootstock’ has several related terms listed in the above-referenced book. What are

they?

8. Which fact sheet has been eliminated for lack of use? Where can you find infor-

mation covering the other topics that have had the fact sheets eliminated?

9. What assumption did Eva Lusk discover was not correct about ‘Constance’ and

‘Willy’?

10. Clematis flowers do not have which part that is present in most other flowers?

11. Are all nectaries (now you need Susan’s book!) spurred?

EXTRA CREDIT: Who is responsible for finding a replacement for you if you cannot fulfill

one of your MG Clinic commitments?

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JULY 2015

1. Global climate change is bringing consequences for the economy, food security, social &

environmental justice and what else?

2. If you would like to work in the Native Plants area of the 2016 Garden Fair, you should

talk to Karen Parks, Clarice Garcia, or who else?

3. Is it too late to suggest topics to be taught at next year’s Cabin Fever?

4. Which tiny evergreen shrub that only grows to a maximum of three inches tall did Eva

Lusk see on her Montana trip?

5. To which plant family does that shrub belong?

6. Which fairy bells-type plant has twisted flower stems to help identify it?

7. Which PNW replaces our fact sheets C178, C183 and C184?

8. A vibrant, sustainable, local, food system can be called “regenerative agriculture”,

“traditional knowledge” or what other term, according to Kathleen Callum?

9. After Hurricane Mitch in 1998, did small scale farms or conventional agriculture farms

suffer more damage?

10. A new publication replaces fact sheet C180 Organic Fertilizers. Is it a C___ publication

or a PNW?

11. What is this new publication’s title?

Persons with a disability requiring special accommodation while participating in our programs may call the WSU

Extension at 477-2048. If accommodation is not requested at least three weeks in advance, we cannot guarantee

the availability of accommodation on site. Extension programs and policies are consistent with federal and state

laws and regulations on non-discrimination regarding race, color, gender, national origin, religion, age, disability, and

sexual orientation. Evidence of noncompliance may be reported through your local Extension office.

Calendar of Events

JULY

Wednesday 1 MG Garden Tour: Peggy Jeremiah’s house 6pm

Tuesday 7 KHQ Connect Center 5am-7am

Monday 13 MG Foundation Board Meeting 1 pm

Saturday 18 Info Booth: Davenport Pioneer Days 9am-4pm

Saturday 25 KHQ Connect Center 7am-10am

Monday 27 Clinic ID 3:30 pm—5 pm

PCS Training 5:30 pm

AUGUST

Tuesday 10 MG Foundation Board Meeting 1 pm

Saturday 15 Tree School WSU/Spokane 8am-5pm

Thursday 27 MG Quarterly Meeting 6 pm—9 pm

Monday 31 Clinic ID 3:30 pm

PCS Training 5:30 pm