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THE COMPOST

Published quarterly by the Charles County Master Gardeners

University of Maryland Extension, Charles County Office, 9375

Chesapeake Street, Suite 119, La Plata, MD 20646

Phone: 301-934-5403—301-753-8195

Cindi Barnhart ... Editor Jessica Milstead .. Copy Editor Betsy Parbuoni ... PDF Editor Jessi Thibault .... Art, Mail Carol Teets Writer, Mail

Cover: Janet Cooney is demonstrating overgrown shrub removal at the Charles County Detention Center.

Janet McGrane ... ...... Calendar Elaine Miller ............. Mail Anna Haugh .............. Mail Larry Martin ............. Mail Karol Dyson .............. Advisor

WINTER 2011

Master Gardener Plant Sale

May 7, 2011

We’ll be looking for nicely potted healthy plants, labeled with their

names.

New this year; staging will be in Barbie Walter’s yard, with overflow

in Janet Cooney’s yard. Sue Brewer has been working on her property

and we want to give her yard a rest so she can reseed and renovate.

Good news: the time you spend digging and potting counts as volun-

teer hours; in fact, everything you do for the plant sale counts as

volunteer hours.

A second plant sale site is in the planning stage. Gale Kladitis and

Terry Thir will be our plant sale chairpersons this year.

Join us for the Plant Sale meeting January 22, 2011 at The Towne

Mouse in La Plata.

This is our major fundraiser for the year so everyone's participation is

important!

Photo by Cindi Barnhart

23

INSIDE THIS ISSUE OF THE COMPOST

Submit articles, photos, reports, and other items to Cindi Barnhart by March 1, 2011

for publication in the Spring 2011 newsletter. Submit calendar items to Janet

McGrane by March 1, 2011. Articles and pictures may also be submitted at any time

for future publication.

Winter 2011

Compost: A collection of unattractive materials that,

when mixed together and properly treated, becomes

something useful and enriching.

From Karol’s Desk 3 Rail Trail: Non-Flowering Plants Show Off 4 What are Fern Allies and Mosses and Lichens Anyway? 5 Projects A Ribbon Was Won at the Charles County Fair 6 An Artful Presentation was Arranged 7 La Plata Library Outreach 7 Sunchokes Are Quite Tasty, Prolific and Tall 8 Protecting My Sweets Garnered A Small Crop 9 Camp Merrick - So Many Weeds - But We Will Conquer 10 Them The Healing Garden is Taking a Step Forward 11 Spring Planting at J C Parks to Go Forward 11 Fall Session: A Stupendous Growing Success 12 Project Briefs 13 Fall / Winter Events 14 Mentoring Is Planned For the New MG Class 15 2011 Master Gardener Training 17 Steering Committee Is Revving Up For 2011 17 Coming to A Pomfret Garden in the Spring 18 Holiday Party Was Very Tasty and Informative 19 Southern Maryland Beekeepers Training 2011 20 Introducing Extension Educator Brian Clark 21 A Lovely Retirement Ceremony for Pam King 22

22

A Lovely Retirement Ceremony for Pam King

Hodge, Reuben Collins, and Sam

Graves were among those who

attended and shared in the re-

marks and presentations that cel-

ebrated the success of

Pam's career. Pam was also sur-

rounded by co-workers, family,

and volunteers who with mixed

emotions, wished her well.

After dinner and dessert, in Pam

King fashion, she took the oppor-

tunity to thank everyone and to

do a little teaching...YES one last

time!!! Pam reminded us of our

need to "Go Green" and to chal-

lenge ourselves, as she has chal-

lenged herself in retirement, to

ask ourselves each day "What will

I do today to make a difference?”

What a great reminder of the dif-

ference Pam King has made in

Charles County and the Master

Gardener Program. Thank you

again Pam!

From the State MG office: MG ANNUAL TRAINING DAY 2011

Tuesday, May 17, 2011 Stamp Student Union

University of Maryland College Park

All classes (except for labs) will be in the same building – no need to walk between buildings! We’ll be in a larger space this year – no crowding during the keynote address!

Please note this carefully on your 2011 calendar. This year’s training is more than a week earlier than usual and on a different day of the week than usual.

Registration will begin in April

By Carol Teets

On November 9, 2010, 93 people

gathered at La Plata Methodist

Church to celebrate the retire-

ment of Pam King, the Charles

County Extension Agent. Pam

served as an Extension Agent for

31 years and it was a pleasure for

the Master Gardeners to be in-

volved in this celebration. Jessica

Milstead was the Mistress of Cere-

monies, and volunteers Marty El-

dridge, Maggie Tieger, Carol

Teets, and Danielle Weber were

in attendance.

The retirement program was or-

ganized and executed by the Ex-

tension Office staff and was well

attended by representatives from

our community. A representative

from Senator Mac Middleton's of-

fice; Associate Dean Dr. Nick

Place of the University of Mary-

land; and Charles County Commis-

sioners Edith Patterson, Gary

3

There is always a sense of antici-

pation at the beginning of a new

year; we are past the winter sol-

stice, the shortest day of the year

and some of us can already sense

spring in the air! Although there

are still months of winter left, I

know that many of you are plan-

ning your early spring plantings

already with great delight!

You will find in this issue of The

Compost an introduction to Brian

Clark, the Extension Educator

from Prince George’s County who

has graciously offered to provide

educational programs to the

Charles County Master Gardeners

as needed in the absence of an Ag

Educator assigned to Charles

County. UME is actively working

on a new staffing plan for Exten-

sion programming throughout the

state, hopefully to be shared later

this spring after working its’ way

up through the administrative

channels for final approval. We

will certainly keep you posted as

we learn more about what is in

store for our county. For now, any

administrative concerns or needs

should be directed to me as the

County Extension Director.

I also wanted to share with you

that we have had the opportunity

to meet Dr. Wallace Loh, the new

president of the University of Mar-

yland. In his

meeting with

the College of

Agriculture and

Natural Re-

sources faculty

and staff, Dr.

Loh expressed strong support for

UM Extension and indicated that

he would like to visit some of the

counties to learn about our pro-

grams. It would certainly be great

to get him here in Charles County

to learn about many of the excit-

ing cutting edge programs you are

involved with.

As a new class gets ready to start

their journey to become master

gardeners, I want to thank each of

you for the part you have played

in making CCMG a vibrant and ex-

citing partner with UME. Please

let me know what I can do to fur-

ther support your efforts.

Warm regards,

Karol Dyson

County Extension Director

Happy New Year to the Charles County MGs

Editor’s note:

Brian Clark’s introduction is found

on page 21.

4

On October 9, on a brilliant au-

tumn day, a group of MGs took a

walk to look for autumn plants on

the White Plains to Middletown

Road segment of the Indian Head

Rail trail. At this time of year

there are fewer flowers than in

high season, but to compensate,

the ferns and other non-flowering

plants stand out better than

when there are flowers every-

where. Not that there weren’t

flowers -- we saw Downy Lobelia

(Lobelia puberula), as well as

Ragworts (Senecio sp.), Joe-Pye

Weed (Eupatorium sp.), and

Boneset (another Eupatorium

sp.).

The tree foliage was also begin-

ning to color up, especially the

reds, but also some purples and

yellows. Our autumn colors may

not be as brilliant as those of

New England, but they have a

charm of their own.

A special treat was the ferns and

other non-flowering plants.

Bracken (Pteridium) covers sev-

eral banks at the White Plains

end of the trail. Elsewhere we

saw a lot of New York Fern

(Thelypteris noveboracensis) and

Hay-Scented Fern (Dennstaedtia

punctiloba). At the bottom of a

bank there was a beautiful stand

Rail Trail: Non-Flowering Plants Show Off By Jessica Milstead

of one of the large wetland ferns

that we couldn’t get close

enough to identify. It may have

been Ostrich Fern (Matteucia

struthiopteris). Grape Fern

(Botrychium dissectum) is a little

jewel that I have recently

learned to identify. I thought it

was rare until I found it in six

different places in my own

woods! The Running Cedar (a

clubmoss, with name-changing

going on at a confusing pace) and

mosses and lichens were other

treats.

After this expedition we had a

special treat – which may have

had something to do with the

great participation in the walk

itself. Gale Kladitis and Cindi

Barnhart threw a weenie roast

for us at Gale’s house. Husbands

roasted the weenies and we had

an abundance of good food, put-

(Continued on page 5)

Identifying a downy lobe-lia (Lobelia puberula) using New-comb’s Wildflower Guide.

21

incorporate the green industry

into the classroom. The project

presently involves two high

schools in Prince George’s County

and one in Charles County. He is

also doing research on high tun-

nels on asphalt at two sites in

Prince George’s County. The goal

is to determine how late in the

season summer vegetables can

remain viable, using soilless media

and the radiant heat from the as-

phalt.

Brian Clark on Bug Day, October 26.

Introducing Extension Educator Brian Clark

Title: Agent-Agriculture and Natu-

ral Resources, Commercial Horti-

culture

Bio: Brian has a B.S. in Entomolo-

gy from the University of Wiscon-

sin-Madison and an M.S. in Ento-

mology from the University of

Nebraska-Lincoln. He has worked

at the O.J. Noer Turfgrass re-

search facility in Middleton, WI;

as a plant pathogen diagnostician

at the University of Nebraska’s

Diagnostic clinic; as a plant care

technician for an arboriculture

firm; and as a Landscape Crew

Foreman and Pest Control Spe-

cialist at the University of Mary-

land-College Park. From 2005-

2007, Brian coordinated the tree

inventory and hazardous tree as-

sessment on the University of

Maryland campus. He has been

employed by the University of

Maryland Extension since 2007.

His primary duties as an Extension

Educator are to assist commercial

fruit and vegetable producers,

commercial nurserymen, and

landscapers; and to plan and im-

plement applied research.

He has offered to provide some

support to Charles County in the

absence of an Ag Educator.

Currently, he is working on Pro-

ject Community Grow, a way to

Photo

by C

indi Barn

hart

Editor’s note:

In the Spring issue of

The Compost will be

pictures and a story on

Bug Day where Brian educated our

group at the lovely home of Marty

Eldridge.

By Barbie Walter and yes, we go into the hives

looking for eggs, queen, diseases,

stores of food, anything showing

if we have a strong hive or

not. There is no way of guessing

at an approximate date yet. It all

depends on when the bees arrive,

when the packages are installed,

what the weather is like and how

strong the nectar flow is. The

date will be determined a week

or so before the class in the

Spring.

The charge for the course is $40

for one person or $50 for two

people in the same family who

can share course materials.

To check on class availability or

for other questions, call Karen

Cooksey, President of Southern

Maryland Beekeepers, 301-705-

7611.

If St. Mary’s County libraries are

closed for snow, the class cannot

be held.

Editor’s note:

If the February 2011 class is too

full to accommodate MGs, Karen

has made an offer to arrange

training for us as a day course of

Advanced Training.

Southern Maryland Beekeepers Training 2011

The Association of Southern Mary-

land Beekeepers announced their

annual beekeeping short course.

Trade a few winter Saturdays for

years of adventure while you give

Mother Nature a helping hand.

One of the most beneficial insects

is also one of the most fascinat-

ing, but the stresses of modern

agriculture are making life diffi-

cult for the honey bee. By start-

ing a hive or two of your own, you

can improve the environment

while having the time of your life.

Topics to be covered are bee be-

havior, beekeeping equipment,

installing a package of bees or a

nucleus hive, year-round

management, nectar sources,

honey production, and diseases.

2011 Classes will be held on Sat-

urdays from 9:00 - 12:00 at:

Charlotte Hall Library

37600 New Market Road

Charlotte Hall, MD 20622

February 5 February 12 February 19 February 26 March 12 (March 19 Snow day if needed)

To be followed by one or two

field days. Field days are outside,

20

RAIL TRAIL

5

Grape fern, Botrychium dissectum

Put them on your calendar if

you’re interested, and if you

know of a special place, prefera-

bly local, for a plant walk, let me

know.

What are Fern Allies – and Mosses – and Lichens -- Anyway?

Fern allies, mosses, and lichens –

as well as the ferns themselves –

are often called “lower” plants,

as distinguished from the

“higher” plants we know and

love, in which pollen fertilizes an

ovule. The lower plants repro-

duce by means of spores. (They

have a stage of sexual reproduc-

tion, but that’s ‘way more com-

plicated than we need to get into

here.)

Mosses and lichens are really low

in the plant hierarchy, because

they are non-vascular. They do

not have “veins” to transport

fluids throughout the plant. They

also do not have true roots,

though mosses usually have struc-

tures called “rhizoids” to anchor

them to the surface on which

they are growing. Most mosses

are limited to damp environ-

ments that never dry out.

Lichens are not actually plants,

though in lay terms they are of-

ten lumped together. A lichen

consists of an alga and a fungus,

neither of which is a true plant,

growing together in symbiosis.

These organisms can colonize

bare rock, gaining most of their

water by absorbing atmospheric

moisture. On the other hand they

grow very slowly. When repro-

duction time comes, pieces of

the lichen may break off and fly

away in the wind, or a complicat-

ed set of changes may occur to

produce a reproductive body

combining both alga and fungus.

(Continued on page 16)

ting back all the calories we had

just walked off. Not incidentally,

we toured Gale’s garden, which

is an eye-opener for anyone who

thinks you can’t grow a lot of

good food in a smallish space.

This walk was a return to the

plant walks that I had to put on

hiatus for most of the season

while I recovered from surgery.

Elsewhere in this issue you’ll see

that tentative dates have already

been set for next year’s season.

(Continued from page 4)

6

total of 13 MG volunteers during

all the open fair hours. Volunteers

had an opportunity to talk to visi-

tors about Masters Gardener pro-

grams and services, as well as dis-

tributing information on compost-

ing , soil test sample bags, and a

new “How to Become a Master

Gardener” brochure, along with

bookmarks and HGIC magnets.

Thank you to the volunteers:

Teresa Ambol Nancy Maude

Cindi Barnhart Debbie Sindt

Carolyn Chlosta Jessi Thibault

Mary Cocke Terry Thir

Rosemary Ewing Carol Washeleski

Ann Gillespie Sandra Womack

Planning for the 2011 Fair will

begin in March. A call for volun-

teers will be made at the end of

the annual training class.

Speakers Bureau

Ongoing

Contact: Barbie Walter

Photo

by C

hery

l Kasu

nic

h

The Charles County Master Gar-

deners were active participants

in the 2010 County Fair, and we

received a second place ribbon

for our efforts. Our exhibit was

presented in the Flower Building

at the invitation of the Charles

County Garden Club. This year’s

display focused on the “Grow It

Eat It” campaign. A growing salad

box supplied by Gale Kladitis was

displayed along with a Grow It

Eat It poster and brochures on

how to build one at home.

We had a new banner for the dis-

play, made with digital art work

supplied by the University of Mar-

yland. The state and county of-

fices provided key help in gather-

ing and producing materials for

the exhibit. Since education dis-

plays must follow published

guidelines to be eligible for judg-

ing, we were glad to meet with a

representative of the Charles

County Garden Club prior to plan-

ning our display.

Rosemary Ewing and I set up the

exhibit, and it was staffed by a

A Ribbon Was Won at the Charles County Fair By Cheryl Kasunich

Grow It Eat It was the topic of the display awarded a red ribbon.

19

Holiday Party Was Very Tasty and Informative

I must admit I was hesitant about

going to the Christmas party. The

potluck thing makes me a little

nervous, but the program would

give me needed training hours.

All fears dissolved when I saw the

Hampshire Community Center. It

was framed in lights with a beau-

tiful big Christmas tree in the re-

ception area. The room was deco-

rated, green tablecloths and place

settings with poinsettias as cen-

terpieces.

I met new people and talked to

familiar people. There were over

thirty people in attendance. The

myriad of foods was great!

After dessert, Carol Teets intro-

duced members who work with

the steering committee, admin-

istration of the MGs, and The

Compost. It was great to see the

faces of those who do so much

work in the Master Gardeners

group. Linda Lockhart and Elaine

Miller received cyclamen plants

for all their years of dedicated

work on the Steering Committee.

Carol introduced our speaker Bri-

an Clark, the PG County Extension

Educator. Brian spoke on “high

tunnels”. These are used to ex-

tend the growing season. They are

an enlarged new take on the old

idea of a cold frame. When asked

why this was such a new exciting

thing (since cold frames have

been around for a long time) Brian

responded “it’s old made new

again”. This season his group built

a 20’ x 40’ high tunnel and grew

vegetables. The season was ex-

tended from mid-March through

mid-December. He is building an-

other one on a blacktop to bring

gardens into cities. Brian wrapped

up his talk by answering ques-

tions.

A Christmas gift drawing was held

and Poinsettia door prizes were

awarded to the lucky people sit-

ting in randomly marked chairs. It

was time to clean up and go

home.

What a wonderful Christmas gift –

being with all these wonderful

people! It was a great way to start

the holidays and end the year.

Editor’s note:

Thank you to

all the mem-

bers who con-

tributed gifts

for our draw-

ing. Over

twenty MGs

went home with gardening gear,

food, books and other lovely and

useful items.

By Teresa Ambol

18

CAMP MERRICK

Coming to A Pomfret Garden in the Spring

cones. Its flavor is somewhat more

delicate than that of regular cau-

liflower. Romanesco is available

only briefly-from September

through November. Choose a firm

head with crisp leaves. Store in a

plastic bag in the refrigerator for

up to 1 week. Romanesco can be

cooked in any fashion suitable for

regular cauliflower. It makes

beautiful crudités, and is stunning

cooked whole.

Gale has ordered seeds for next

year and we will see if it grows

well in Southern Maryland.

Gale Kladitis and I made a trip to

the new Wegman’s in Prince

Georges County. Among the boun-

tiful produce was a strange look-

ing vegetable, a Romanesco cauli-

flower. The produce man working

on the aisle said it was a cross

between a cauliflower and broc-

coli.

According to Answers.com, though

classified as (and also called) a

summer cauliflower, this vegeta-

ble's appearance is so uniquely

striking that it deserves its own

listing. Like regular cauliflower,

Romanesco has a tightly compact

head of florets attached by clus-

ters of stalks-but there the simi-

larity in appearance ends. The

Romanesco, which hails from

northern Italy, is a beautiful pale

lime green color; its florets, ra-

ther than being rounded, rise in a

pyramid of pointed, spiraling

One day we were treated to a

lovely home-cooked lunch of beef

barley soup by the father of camp

Director Melissa Lynch.

We spent a total of five days

there, we and will regroup and go

down in the spring to replant and

probably weed the beds again.

(Continued from page 10) Please join us, as many hands

make light work, and we need

volunteers to tend the beds next

year on a schedule. We need to

use volunteers to attend to the

watering and weeding because no

one is there to take care of the

beds. However, we hope to find

an interested community group

that we can train to work with us.

Photo from Wikipedia

By Cindi Barnhart

7

An Artful Flower Presentation Was Arranged

Mary is an artist with flowers and her audience was impressed with her knack of composition and form.

This request for a presentation

took the form of flower arranging

for Mary Sims, at the private

home of a member in the Mt. Airy

Claybreakers Garden Club, in Up-

per Marlboro on October 14.The

focus was on utilizing unusual

natural plant materials found in

members’ gardens as well as

fruits and vegetables.

By Barbie Walter

Speakers Bureau

Ongoing

Contact: Barbie Walter

Photo by Gale Kladitis

Terry Thir shows off our display and red ribbon won at the Charles County Fair in September in the Educational Award category.

La Plata Library Outreach

Janet McGrane has secured the dis-play window, inside the main door, for February 2011 in the La Plata li-brary branch on Garrett Avenue. She will need some volunteers to plan, set up and tear down by March 1.

Photo from The Compost Spring 2008

8

Photo

by C

indi Barn

hart

the roots to make them larger.

When the stems die back cover

the roots with 4+ inches of mulch,

and then cover the mulch with

plastic (or whatever) to keep the

ground from freezing and make it

easy to dig up the chokes through-

out the winter as you need them.

This beats harvesting and then

storing them. It will also leave

some in the ground to root next

year. Keep harvesting into next

year until they began to sprout.”

Grow It Eat It

Ongoing

Contact: Carol Teets

Sunchokes Are Quite Tasty, Prolific and Tall

In June Alberta Carson gave me

Sunchoke plants for my garden.

The Sunchoke, Helianthus tu-

berosus, is an underground vege-

table, sort of a cross between a

rutabaga, potato, and water

chestnut, and looks like a tall

branched sunflower, with smaller

bright yellow flowers. Also called

a Jerusalem artichoke, it is one

of the few native tubers of North

America, is related to the sun-

flower, and makes a delicious

addition to salad, salsa, mari-

nade, and soup. They're so easy

to grow throughout North Ameri-

ca that many gardeners consider

them invasive weeds.

I have not harvested mine but

Gale Kladitis gave me some of

her crop and I used them in a

salad. When I harvest mine I plan

to make a butternut and sun-

choke soup.

According to Alberta, “Sunchokes

should be harvested after the

frost which will make them

sweeter. I cut the sunflower

blooms off so all energy will go to

Photo

s by G

ale

Kla

dit

is

Golf ball size and smaller tubers dug up 12/3.

Eight foot sunchoke in flower on 9/3.

By Cindi Barnhart

17

STEERING COMMITTEE IS REVVING UP FOR 2011

CHARLES COUNTY MASTER GARDENER TRAINING CLASS

2011

Classes will be held at the University of Maryland Extension Charles

County Office, 9375 Chesapeake Street, Suite 119, La Plata, MD.

Prospective Master Gardeners will explore topics such as diagnosing

plant problems and organic vegetable gardening each Tuesday and

Thursday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., from February 15 to March 10.

Graduation and a spring potluck will be held at Hampshire Neighbor-

hood Community Center in Waldorf.

The fee for this 40-hour training is $165, which includes the new Mar-

yland Master Gardener Handbook. For more details on becoming a

Master Gardener, click on "How to Become a CCMG", on the website:

http://mastergardener.umd.edu/local/Charles/index.cfm or contact

the University of Maryland Extension Charles County Office (301-934-

5403 or 301-753-8195) for more information or to enroll.

As acting Master Gardener Chairperson I would like to revitalize our

Steering Committee to lead the Charles County Master Gardeners in

2011. A member of the Steering Committee is expected to attend

Committee meetings regularly and to participate in governance

decisions and activities. If you are interested in being a part of this

committee please let me, Carol Teets, know. If you have served on

this Committee in the past and want to continue please let me know

as well.

Currently the following people have committed to serve:

Ann Gillespie Marty Eldridge Janet McGrane Barbie Walter Jessica Milstead Gale Kladitis Maggie Tieger Cindi Barnhart

16

RAIL TRAIL changed drastically, and is still

not settled, so for our purposes

it’s not critical to try to get those

names right.

All these plants are considered

more primitive than the flower-

ing plants. They originated earli-

er, by many millions of years. In

their heyday they, along with the

ferns, dominated terrestrial plant

life, but the flowering plants

were able to take advantage of a

wider range of environments,

reproduce faster, and grow larg-

er. These primitive plants ended

up relegated to much smaller

niches. They aren’t as showy as

the flowering plants but they

have their interest nonetheless.

Now the fern-allies. These aren’t

ferns but, like ferns, they are

vascular plants that reproduce by

means of spores rather than

seeds. The most common ones

are generally called Lycopodi-

ums. These are small plants

that trail along the ground in the

woods. Their leaves tend to be

needle-like. This is the reason for

common names like Running Ce-

dar and Princess Pine. These

common names vary all over the

map. My “Running Cedar” may be

your “Princess Pine,” and all we

can do is acknowledge that com-

mon names aren’t standardized.

The scientific names and classifi-

cation of these plants has

(Continued from page 5)

Running cedar (and various other common names), a clubmoss, which is also not a moss.

Reindeer moss, which is really a lichen, Cladina, on a bed of a true moss.

All Photos in this article by Cindi Barnhart

Editor’s note:

We have approached Heidi Fick, Indian Head Rail Trail Manager at

Charles County Parks and Recreation, to see if we can partner with

them to plant ferns and other native plants along the trail. Possibly

we (MGs) can maintain an area to be devoted to natives.

9

As an experiment, in September I

cut up and planted a sweet potato

which had sprouted in my kitchen.

I wanted the foliage but hoped for

a few edible potatoes. I cut the

bottom out of a laundry basket,

lined the bottom and three-

quarters up the sides of the basket

with newspaper and filled with

compost (so I could lift the plant

out of a loose medium and avoid

having to dig and injure the pota-

toes).

Deer are a problem in my area and

so I hid my basket and prayed they

would not find it. My potatoes

were in the ground, in a protected

area, for over twelve weeks. After

the beautiful foliage was killed by

frost I harvested my basket. I had

fingerling potatoes, not full size.

Next year I will plant Beauregard

sweet potatoes so I can have a full

size harvest.

Please remember to buy an edible

variety and not ornamental ones if

you plan on a harvest.

Grow It Eat It

Ongoing

Contact: Carol Teets

By Cindi Barnhart

Protecting My Sweets Garnered A Small Crop

Photos by Cindi Barnhart

Top to bottom photos; Foliage on the sweet potato basket hidden from the deer at my house on 9/3; fingerling size potatoes pulled from the basket on 11/28 and potatoes in a colander ready to be washed and cooked.

10

Camp Merrick

Ongoing

Contact: TBD

So Many Weeds - But We Will Conquer Them By Janet Cooney & Jan Lakey-Waters

Photo

by J

im W

ate

rs

The square raised bed as Janet and Jan found it on October 13.

After weeding, the raised beds are more presentable. The square bed is on the left.

Photo

by J

anet

Cooney

When we went to Camp Merrick in

October we were not prepared for

the weeds we encountered. The

beds were overflowing with weeds

of every kind.

Jan Lakey-Waters brought her

husband Jim and Malcolm, her

grandson. They spent the day pull-

ing and hauling away six foot long

Japanese knotweed and other

weeds. Janet Cooney and her son

John worked tirelessly on the

weeding, hauling top soil and

brush back to the existing com-

post pile in hopes of using it next

year. We shored up a bed that

was bulging and tried to remove

the soil we thought was causing

the bulge, but plants will have to

be removed and the raised bed

repaired in the spring.

A pleasant surprise was finding

Wild Poinsettia (Euphorbia heter-

ophylla), also known as Painted

Leaf and Fire on the Mountain. in

the beds. Although this plant is

considered a weed according to

Wildflowers in the USA, it is

spreading into our region and we

consider it a new native.

(Continued on page 18)

Euphorbia heterophylla as shown in a photo from the North Carolina Native Plant Society website.

15

2011 MASTER GARDENER TRAINING CLASS

Tuesday, February 15 to Thursday, March 10. See page 17

18 Wednesday, Native Plant Walk, walk dedicated to learning and

practice in plant identification, using the keys in Newcomb's Wild-

flower Guide. Time & Location TBD, contact Jessica Milstead

24 Tuesday, 10:00 a.m.; Membership Meeting, Extension Office,

Open to all MGs

June

4 Saturday, Native Plant Walk, Time & Location TBD, contact Jessica

Milstead

11 Saturday, River Art Fest, Indian Head, booths for Bay-Wise and

MG's, more information to follow

28 Tuesday, 10:00 a.m.; Membership Meeting, Extension Office, Open

to all MGs

(Continued from page 14)

This year we are beginning a new practice that I hope will help new

trainees to feel more comfortable as they start their MG work. The

idea is that the new trainee will have someone to answer questions,

help with time sheets, and invite them to take part in activities and

projects so they can get their hours. Some of the new trainees are not

comfortable just showing up to do things, and we all remember the

confusion with time sheets the first few times we did it.

So, any of you who want to be a "buddy" to, or partner with a new

trainee please let me know. Also, it will be an easy way to get volun-

teer time throughout the next year. This help in getting oriented

should make interns’ first year as MGs easier and more successful.

Mentoring Is Planned For the New MG Class By Barbie Walter

14

Winter/ Spring 2011 Events

January

22 Saturday, 10:00 a.m.; Plant Sale Committee Meeting, Towne

Mouse, La Plata

25 Tuesday, 10:00 a.m.; Membership Meeting, Panera in La Plata,

Open to all MGs

February

15-24 Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.; Master Gardener

Training Class, Extension office, contact Barbie Walter for more

information

22 Tuesday, 10:00 a.m.; Membership Meeting, location TBD, Open to

all MGs

March

1-8 Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.; Master Gardener

Training Class continues, Extension office, contact Barbie Walter

for more information

10 Thursday, 9 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.; Intern Graduation and MG Potluck,

Hampshire Neighborhood Center, Waldorf

22 Tuesday, 10:00 a.m.; Project Day, Project leaders share information

on current projects with new 2011 interns and all MGs, Extension

office

April

13 Wednesday, Native Plant Walk, Time and Location TBD, contact

Jessica Milstead

26 Tuesday, 10:00 a.m.; Membership Meeting, Extension Office,

Open to all MGs

30 Saturday, Christmas in April, contact Carol Teets

May

7 Saturday, MG Plant sale, more information to follow

17 Tuesday, MG Annual Training Day, Stamp Student Union,

University of Maryland, College Park, See page 15

(Continued on page 15)

11

By Gale Kladitis

For much of the past year the

Master Gardeners have been

working with the Charles County

Garden Club (CCGC) on a project

to develop a Healing Garden in

the central atrium of the Charles

County Detention Center (DC).

The CCGC took responsibility for

finding funding, and in the first

week of December Mary Pat Ber-

ry, President of the CCGC, sub-

mitted an application for a grant

from the Chesapeake Bay Trust.

While Mary Pat took primary re-

sponsibility for preparation of the

application, she had numerous

helpers. Jessica Milstead and Di-

ane Kramer prepared the re-

Healing Garden

Ongoing

Contact: Gale Kladitis

The Healing Garden is Taking a Step Forward quired list of native plants to be

included in the application. Karol

Dyson, County Extension Director,

gave her enthusiastic support and

supplied a letter of support on

behalf of the MGs. The Detention

Center signified its support and

its commitment to maintenance

with a letter from Director Pam

Dottellis. If the grant is approved

the first phase of the Healing

Garden can move forward, with

construction of beds and plant-

ings. At this stage the Healing

Garden will be usable, and later

phases will make it an even more

welcoming place for inmate and

staff meditation and renewal.

Bay-Wise

Ongoing

Contact: Ronda Goldman

Spring Planting at J C Parks to Go Forward

Bay-Wise is really slow right now.

Literally, we have been waiting

months for one permit to go

through for the JC Parks school

project and it has finally been

approved. The project will re-

sume in the spring with the plant-

ing. Hopefully, all will go well

and there will be more to report

then. There is an opportunity for

a volunteer to help with commu-

nications and updating the mem-

bership and the public on our Bay

-Wise program. Please contact me

for more information.

By Ronda Goldman

12

raised bed on the corner. We had

a terrific celebration after the

certificates were awarded on

October 19, when we discussed

the plans for the spring sessions.

The Detention Center Master Gar-

dener volunteers will have a

meeting prior to the spring ses-

sions in order to put in place a

comprehensive plan for the

maintenance of the vegetable

garden and distribution of the

produce. Any Master Gardener –

including interns - interested in

joining our wonderful volunteers

can contact me anytime by email

or phone.

The Fall session for the Detention

Center was fantastic. We had sev-

en sessions, starting on Tuesday

September 7 and ending on Octo-

ber 19. We missed having Pam

King’s introduction to plant life

but we were lucky enough to get

Brian Clark, Prince Georges Coun-

ty Extension Educator, to speak

on lawn maintenance. The vege-

table garden was composted and

planted in fall greens such as let-

tuce, spinach, collards, kale and

radishes. It was growing nicely

when our classes ended. The ma-

jor project for the class was a

request from the Director, Pam

Dottellis, to remove all of the

overgrown junipers in the parking

lot at the Main Building. Our clas-

ses had been trimming the juni-

pers for years and it had become

too difficult to control the growth

and keep the plants from inter-

fering with the parked cars. Next

spring we plan to plant small

trees along the walkway. The stu-

dents also planted 140 daffodil

bulbs at the Annex and removed a

dead dogwood tree from the

Charles County Detention Center

Horticultural Education

Contact: Gale Kladitis

Fall Session: A Stupendous Growing Success By Gale Kladitis

Photo by Cindi Barnhart

Radishes harvested from the garden on October 19 by a class member.

13

Christmas In April

Ongoing

Contact: Carol Teets

This valuable community effort

provides a wonderful opportunity

for earning volunteer hours.

Assess assigned Christmas In April

properties before April 30 or join

us for the actual day of service,

on Saturday April 30, 2011.

Nature Walks with Jessica

Ongoing

Contact: Jessica Milstead

These are ongoing walks as the

seasons allow. The walks count

as Advanced Training for Master

Gardeners and are also open to

Interns. See Calendar for dates.

Speakers Bureau

Ongoing

Contact: Barbie Walter

Use your knowledge to inform

the public or your fellow Master

Gardeners.

Charles County Detention Center

Healing Garden

Ongoing

Contact: Gale Kladitis

A contemplation garden within

the walls of the Detention Center

is proceeding at its own pace

with the Charles County Garden

Club seeking funds through

grants. See page 11.

Mount Zion United Methodist

Church Gardens

Ongoing

Contact: Nardine Daniels

Site Visits

Ongoing

Contact: Jessica Milstead

When someone calls or visits the

Extension office with a question

about problems with their

plantings, or for advice on

landscaping, the call is referred

to me. Mary Beth Chandler and I

share the task of putting to-

gether a team to go out to look

and give advice.

Dr. Samuel Mudd House

Ongoing

Contact: Beth Bonifant

You may want to join the team

of MGs who maintain the herb

garden and surrounding land-

scape at the Dr. Samuel Mudd

House in Waldorf, April through

October.

Contact the project leader by referring to your Membership Directory.