Volunteer Opportunity: DC Smith Greenhouse and Allen Centennial Gardens

Dear WI Master Gardeners,

 

Family Horticulture Day has changed! Due to the recent retirement of Judy Reith-Rozelle from the West Madison Field Station, the Department of Horticulture is working with the UW Science Alliance to ensure the success of this eight year-old event.

 

On Saturday, May 12th, The DC Smith Greenhouse and Allen Centennial Gardens are hosting Family Gardening Day on the UW Madison Campus. The emphasis will still be on family gardening and these are great facilities to share what UW faculty, staff and students are doing for horticulture in general. Some of the highlights include a display of alternative pest controls used in the greenhouse (natural enemies and pest-eating fungi), researchers talking about flavor and cultivars of cranberry, biotech staff doing wheat germ DNA extraction and a season extension trial at Allen Gardens using mulches and row covers.

 

We are looking for volunteers to help us share information, answer gardening questions and hand out free vegetable transplants to visitors. More information will be available soon at www.science.wisc.edu

 

If you are interested in joining this effort please contact me at jmooster@wisc.edu

 

thanks,

Johanna Oosterwyk

 

--

Johanna Oosterwyk
DC Smith Greenhouse Manager
College of Agricultural and Life Sciences
University of Wisconsin

http://dcsmithgreenhouse.cals.wisc.edu

 

 

Volunteer Opportunity: Rotary Botanical Gardens

• Name of Opportunity: Saturday Work Day
• Organization: Rotary Gardens
• Date(s): May 19th & 26th / June 2nd, 9th & 16th.
• Time(s): 8:00 – 12:00.
• Brief description: Bring your own gloves, tools will be provided. This is an informal gathering on designated Saturdays to work on predetermined projects. The Garden’s staff will be there to answer questions and give you instructions.
• Mid morning coffee break with treats provided.
• Contact phone: 752-3885 Ext. 20
• Contact e-mail: Lori.ebneter@rotarygardens.org www.rotarybotanicalgardens.org 

We will have an Orientation Saturday Work Day for new volunteers on April 28th from 8:00 am -12:00 pm. Please wear work clothes and come prepared to get dirty! Mark will conduct a tour of the Gardens and give a short introduction to volunteering at the Gardens and answer any questions.

Volunteer Opportunity: Community Action

Community Action will be hosting our every-other-week volunteer gig this coming Saturday, 5/21, from 9-2pm at the Porter Avenue Sharing Garden at 1328 Porter Avenue in Beloit. A simple lunch will be provided. You can work some or all of it or just come visit and see what we are up to.

Our next gig after that will be Saturday, May 5th 9-2pm.  Our big spring garden celebration will be Saturday, May 19th with transplanting/planting from 9-noon, free picnic lunching from 11:30-1:30 and activities for neighborhood kids from 1-3pm.  Stop in and enjoy a bit of our chaos.

If you are looking for a special project that you can work on your own time schedule, consider the following:
1)  Build a 3' wide by 6' long by 18" deep growing table (surface height at 30" or so) so that some of our seniors can grow stuff without having to get down on their knees.  We will provide the cedar/materials.
2)  Paint a 4'x6' mural/sign for our new El Jardin where we will be growing food for our Hispanic/Latino neighbors.

If you have any questions, let me know.

John




John Ramstad
Director of Housing and Energy
Community Action Pathways Center
20 Eclipse Center
Beloit, WI  53511
P. (608) 313-1335
C. (608) 201-6869
F. (608) 364-0513
jramstad@community-action.org
www.community-action.org

Volunteer Opportunity: Rock County Parks

Name of Opportunity: Lead invasive species removal in Rock County Parks

Organization: Rock County Parks

Date(s): Friday, April 27; Friday, May 4; Tuesday, May 8; Friday May 11; and Friday May 25

Time(s): 7 AM - 3 PM

Brief description: Lead the workenders and other volunteers during these scheduled workdays in a variety of Rock County Parks.  Educate volunteers about invasive species and why it is important to remove them.  Rock County Parks Community Coordinator will be on-site to assist with any questions and provide all equipment needed.

Contact phone: 608-757-5473 office, 608-295-3144 cell (Joleen Stinson, Rock Co Parks Community Coordinator)

Contact e-mail: stinson@co.rock.wi.us

Website for more information: www.co.rock.wi.us and follow the menu to the Parks Department

Volunteer Opportunity: Welty Environmental Center

Program: Habitats

Organization:  The Welty Environmental Center at Beckman Mill Co. Park

Date: Mon. May 7, 2012 12:30-2:30 PM and May 18, 9-11:30AM  

Description: Two volunteers are needed each day as three nature exploration stations are set up and elementary school children rotate through each learning center. The schools attending are Consolidated Elementary and Wilson.  Master Gardeners would staff the soil or plant station.  Lena, the director would teach you everything you need to know about the program.  No experience necessary except a general knowledge of plants and soil.  The other station is water and Lena mans that station.  


If interested or for more info, call 1-608-361-1377 or e-mail info@weltycenter.org. As this is a school program, this information is not posted on our website.   

Volunteer Opportunity: Community Action

Community Action will be hosting a sharing garden volunteer event this coming Saturday, April 7^th from 9am – 2pm at the Porter Avenue Sharing Garden at 1328 Porter Avenue – Beloit.   The tasks for this event include: installing and prepping 3 new raised beds, transplanting/dividing in the perennial garden, fencing, bed preparation, and continued development of our “key-hole” garden.  Our Beloit College Sustainability Fellow/intern will be doing a demonstration of bed preparation using the layered/lasagna approach at 11am.  If you want some volunteer hours, join us.  If you are just curious, stop by and say hi. 

Thanks,

John Ramstad

Program Director

John Ramstad

Director of Housing and Energy

Community Action Pathways Center

20 Eclipse Center

Beloit, WI  53511

P. (608) 313-1335

C. (608) 201-6869

F. (608) 364-0513

jramstad@community-action.org

www.community-action.org

Community Action Volunteer Opportunities

The Perennial Donation Program: This will be a second year for this effort. We ask gardeners to take divisions or whole perennial plants and donate them to our garden. We plant those in our sharing garden, then continue to divide them with the long term goal of being able to give away a reasonable number of plants each year to our neighbors to help spruce up their yards.

Seeds Available: We have seeds for anyone supporting a food pantry, community, school, or other public good garden.

Volunteer Opportunities: We have projects that folks can take and run with
and dates for work days. Just contact John if interested.

Contact:

• John Ramstad, Director of Housing and Energy
  Community Action Pathways Center, 20 Eclipse Center, Beloit, WI 53511
  P. (608) 313-1335
  C. (608) 201-6869
  F. (608) 364-0513
  jramstad@community-action.org
  www.community-action.org

Volunteer Opportunity at Beckman Mill County Park

Dave Konowal, a volunteer at Beckman Mill County Park, puts in a wonderful heritage garden (flowers, veggies, herbs) each year here on the park grounds. He uses it as a teaching tool for the public and donates the food to a local pantry. He has just turned the soil and asked me if I knew of any volunteers that may want to help plant, maintain, and harvest.

Here is his direct phone number in case any Master Gardeners are interested in this project: 608-365-4767

From:
Kelly Washburn, Volunteer Coordinator
Welty Environmental Center, 8606 W. County Rd. H, Beloit, WI 53511
(608) 361-1377; www.weltycenter.org; volunteer@weltycenter.org

Plant Health Advisor Training and Volunteer Opportunity

MGVs interested in enrolling in the Plant Health Advisor (PHA) program may now do so via Kenosha County UW-Extension.

In Rock County, PHA’s may volunteer:

• In the Rock County UWEX office
• At the local farm market
• At special events

I’m also looking into ways for us to communicate incoming questions via Google Docs if you want to answer questions from home.

Enroll! Contact Mike Maddox if you are interested in becoming a PHA

Volunteer Opportunity at Edison Middle School

April 21st is Global Youth Service Day, and the first day students and volunteers will begin planting and preparing our Edison Garden. Activities will include moving soil, assembling a hoop house, constructing compost bins, constructing raised beds or mounds, planting seeds, and painting pots. It will also be an instructional time for students and their families.

We would like Rock Prairie Master Gardeners to use their gardening expertise to guide our students and volunteers in this project.

Project duration:
The project will kick off on April 21, 9am-3pm (volunteers could come for any portion of this time) and will continue throughout the summer

Looking for Donations:

• Garden tools (they can be gently used large shovels, trowels, hoes, etc.)
• 200 aluminum 1 1/2” pipe clamps
• 30 2”x6”x8’ boards
• 30 2”x6”x10’ boards
• 24 4”x4”x4’ boards
  
• Garden hose
• Sprayer head for the hose
• Wheelbarrow or dump cart
  
• Potting soil
• Fencing (for compost piles and raised mounds/beds)

Edison Garden at Edison Middle School
1649 S Chatham St, Janesville, WI 53546

Please Contact Sarah Abbey with questions or for more information:
608-743-5869
sabbey@janesville.k12.wi.us

Rotary Plant Program needs volunteers

The Rotary Botanical Gardens Youth Education team is seeking volunteers for the Plant Program which will begin on May 8 and continue through the first week of June.

First and second graders from all over the area (Beloit, Delavan, Footville, Janesville, Marshall, Milton, Montessori,etc) will come to the gardens on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday for a two hour program. There is a 9-11am morning session and a 12:30-2:30pm afternoon session.

The program is presented in three components:

• We present information on the parts of plants, what plants need to stay healthy, and the growth cycle from seed to mature plant.
• The nutritional part of the program discusses the parts of a plant that we eat and their nutritional value.
• A walking tour takes the children through part of the gardens and reinforces the needs of plants.

Volunteers are given informational handouts on the program, training sessions are offered and new volunteers can shadow the experienced volunteers if they wish.

If anyone is interested in joining us, please contact lori.ebneter@rotarygardens.org so we know to expect you and can have enough program materials on hand for you.