July is coming in with a BANG!

July is coming in with a BANG!  This month's Master Gardener Update will offer all kinds of exciting projects, day trips, and educational opportunities.  Take a few minutes and scroll through all the choices available to you.  

Oh - and Ruth and I would like to apologize for the lateness of today's newsletter.  We ran into a couple technical issues that made things run a little late.

Hope you will enjoy this edition of the newsletter.  There are so many exciting things happening.  Looking forward to seeing you out there at some of these events.

Enjoy!!

Master Gardener Update for June, 2022

 

June promises to be a very special month for Master Gardeners all around the state.  Pollinator Week will bring sharp focus to the tiny insects that mean so much to gardeners.  Plan on getting involved in the festivities!  

One of perhaps the most important documents to come out of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) in recent years is the Wisconsin Pollinator Protection Plan.  This isn't light reading.  It's a serious document filled with science-based information aimed at protecting pollinators.  If you have become involved in pollinator protection, or are just interested in learning more, this should be required reading.  Give it a try.  Follow the link below to a downloadable .pdf copy of the Plan.

Wisconsin Pollinator Protection Plan

May Flowers - Master Gardener Update

If the old adage is to believed, last month's rains should be bringing us all sorts of spring blossoms this month.

Remember that May is the month that numerous communities around Wisconsin, and even in other states, are choosing to participate in No Mow May.  Consider putting away your lawnmower, and instead of whacking your lawn into submission, work on projects that will protect our essential friends - pollinators.

Farmer's Markets start this month, and plant sales are everywhere.  

This month's newsletter is filled with Continuing Education events, as well as volunteer opportunities.  Take a little time to read through your newsletter.  It has a lot to offer!!

And remember, June is not far away.  Pollinator Week will be part of the offerings for June.  Make plans to be part of the action!!

April Master Gardener Update

April showers have been raining down on the area, mixed with snow and ice, making early spring an interesting weather experience for gardeners.  Despite all the precipitation, early spring blooms have begun to make their appearances here and there. 

This month brings an important decision for all of us - the update to our bylaws.  Expect a copy of the proposed updates in your inbox within days.  Pour yourself a cup of coffee, or brew a pot of tea, then sit down and read the entire annotated version of the bylaws.  This is your opportunity to make a real difference in the RPMGA rules and regulations by sharing your opinions as part of this critical process.

March Master Gardener Update

 

Yesterday while cruising through my newsfeed on Facebook I ran across one of those little "Looking Back" or whatever they call it thingies where they show posts from exactly a year ago.  In that post from a year ago at almost the end of February I had posted that during what was sure to be the last snowstorm of the winter, I had errands to run and when I pulled up in front of my house I saw three or four robins had made their way home and were sitting in my crabapple tree, their feathers covered with snowflakes, shivering with cold.  Here we are, a year later and with almost perfect precision the orange-breasted little birds have done it again - made it back to Wisconsin while the residents of our fair city were still wearing winter coats.  Can we trust their weather prediction and trust their instincts that spring is really on the horizon?  

Remember that we will be having a meeting this coming Thrusday evening, via Zoom.  Log on a few minutes early to get your bearings and get settled. Remember that we now have our very own subscription to Zoom so we can have meetings that are longer than those offered under the free version.  I'll be sending out a reminder complete with the link to the meeting so you don't have to hunt through your old emails to find it.  Please join us on Thursday.  It should be fun.

  

R

Master Gardener Update, February, 2022

It's already February!  Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and for those of us who start our own sets, it's time to dig out the heating mats and the trays for sets..  Winter sowing is something many of us considering, and seed catalogs are stuffing our mailboxes.

We are always looking for project ideas and suggestions.  If you have a project and need some help, ask.  If you need tools the shed is bursting at the seams with all kinds of good tools gifted to us by Bev Feltz when she left Wisconsin.  You're welcome to use them.  If you have ideas on how to improve the newsletter, if you have a field trip you'd like to take, if you have an idea for a project, share your thoughts and ideas. No matter what else you do, stay well and stay safe.  Like you, we're looking forward to a new year in the garden.  Think thoughts of spring!!

Happy New Year - January, 2022

 

It's a New Year.  We hope you had a wonderful holiday season.  We're looking forward to spring, but in the meantime, there is plenty to do. Share your holiday photos with us, collect the materials necessary to do a little winter sowing, check out online seed catalogs, write lists of seeds you want to try this year, draw a diagram of your garden, start a garden journal.

If you want, sent me some of your favorite holiday photos and I'll forward them to everyone on our email list.  If you have a project idea let us know and we'll put it in the newsletter.  Share your thoughts and ideas for new plants and new methods. No matter what else you do, stay well and stay safe.  Like you, we're ooking forward to a new year in the garden.  Think thoughts of spring!!