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The Tollgate Farm News Volume 20 Issue 1 January 2014

Tollgate Garden Volunteer Important Dates and EventsTollgate Garden Volunteer Important Dates and EventsTollgate Garden Volunteer Important Dates and Events JAN MEETINGS MAR Meetings

16 TGAC Meeting 7:00 PM 4 TGAC Meeting 7:00 PM

FEB MEETINGS 20

TGV General Meeting This meeting is in Activity Center

7:00 PM 4 TGAC Meeting 7:00 PM

20 TGV General Meeting This meeting is in Activity Center

7:00 PM

MAR ACTIVITIES

15 Mulch Nursery Paths 9:00 AM

FEB ACTIVITIES 22 Mulch Demo Garden 9:00 AM

22 Maple Syrup Tapping 10:00 AM 29 Pruning 9:00 AM

HAPPY GARDENING NEW YEAR!

MSU Tollgate Gardens Volunteer General Meeting in the Conference Center Thursday, January 16, 7:00 PM

Horticultural Therapy On Thursday, January 16, 2014, join Tollgate volunteers in the conference center to begin the year with a presentation on Horticultural Therapy. One of the few practicing registered horticultural ther-apists in Michigan, Cathy Flinton, HTR, CBIS, will provide an introduction to the topic in probably its first presentation at Tollgate.

Cathy Flinton is a registered horticultural therapist (HTR) and a Certified Brain Injury Specialist (CBIS). At Hope Network's neuro-rehabilitation facility in East Lansing, she works in a barrier-free greenhouse providing therapy designed to help individuals reach specific goals. Article at http://hopenetwork.org/About-Hope-Network/cake/cathy-flinton.aspx.

Cathy is an active member of both the American and Michigan Horticultural Therapy Associations (AHTA and MHTA). She is a past president of MHTA and the long-time coordinator of their annual conference as part of MSU's Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR) Week (Friday and/or Satur-day, March 7 and/or 8, 2014, in East Lansing, info at http://www.michiganhta.org/index.php/36th-annual-conference).

Horticultural therapy is defined by the American Horticultural Therapy Association (AHTA) as the engagement of a person in gardening and plant-based activities, facilitated by a trained therapist, to achieve specific therapeutic treatment goals.

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GREETINGS

Greetings All, What an action packed winter season we have had! Big snows, frigid weather and winning football teams, what an exciting time!

Visions of sunshine: The gray days of January getting you down? Longing for the rejuvenation of the growing season? Spring will be here before you know it! Now is a great time to consider getting more involved in Tollgate in 2014. Many of our volunteers have decided to take on the stewardship of one of the gardens on the farm, becoming an Area Garden Leader. Having each of the gardens on the farm cared for by an AGL keeps our gardens looking their best throughout the season. Being an AGL is easy and really makes a difference for the farm. Please contact Renee or myself if you are ready to take on a bit more commitment. Our goal for the gardens is to have an Area Garden Leader for each garden on the farm.

Label Maker Needed: I am looking for someone to help make plant labels for the gardens. I have a sign making machine and several folks to help a new sign maker learn his or her craft. If you are ready to get started on the gardening season by helping to make our gardens more fun and educational, please contact me. I would be happy to help you learn the arcane art of label craftsmanship.

I am also looking for plant lists for labels that need to be made. If you would like to have some of our snazzy labels made for the plants in your Tollgate garden, please send me a list. Labels make our gardens much more accessible and user friendly for our visitors. Act now – it’s so easy, and fun too!

Maple Syrup News: The maple syrup making project is starting to get in gear for 2014. Our big tapping day is set for the last Saturday in February, the 22nd, beginning at 10:00 AM. Collecting and boiling sap once the tapping complete is very weather dependent. If you are interested in being “in the know” about maple syrup happenings, let me know. I will make sure that you are added to our maple syrup e-mail information list. Being involved in the maple syrup project is a fun way to get out of the house and enjoy the farm early in the season.

Spring will be here before you know it. Think green!

from the Tol lgate Farm Manager

Roy Prentice

Photos by Cindy Prentice

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Remembering Jack Canfield Recently, the Tollgate community lost long-time Tollgate volunteer, Jack Canfield. Before coming to Tollgate, Jack served in the Navy in WWII, was a private pilot and had one of the first scuba diver cards in Michigan. Beginning in the early 1990’s and continuing for nearly twenty years, Jack was a fixture in the Tollgate shop, the maple sugar house and elsewhere on the farm. He arrived at the farm at 9:00 AM each day and did not leave until 3:00 PM. He worked on many pro-jects including the benches that adorn many of our gardens and the arched trellis in front of the confer-ence center. Jack stopped coming to the property after suffering from health problems about five years ago. He was a great guy and will be missed.

Roy

Location Change for General Meetings Beginning later this month, the winter session of the Oakland County Master Gardener class will be held at Tollgate. This will be a great opportunity to showcase the gardens to a new group of enthusiastic gardeners. Once they see just how beautiful the grounds are, I am sure that many will want to join our volunteer group. The MG class will be meeting Thursday eve-nings in February, March and April. This means that our general meetings held on the third Thursday of each month will be held in the Activity Center rather than the Conference Center for these months. Not sure where the Activity Center is? No worries. On meeting nights there will be signs directing you to it.

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NNNotesotesotes from the President

Happy New Year to you and yours! The snow lays heavy on the ground protecting the plants as these arctic chills sweep across the garden. I hope everyone is staying warm.

“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.”— Albert Camus

Your re-elected TGAC has been planning the season calendar and Ar-ea Garden Teams are starting their planning process for 2014. The Janu-

ary volunteer meeting kicks off another great year of gardening, socializing and learning together with a special opportunity to hear an expert speaker on Horticultural Therapy.

If you missed the opportunity to meet with Area Garden Teams/Leaders and have an interest in a particular garden or assigned area please see me after the member-ship meetings, call or e-mail me for more information. We have a PowerPoint presentation on the garden highlights to help new members decide on their areas of interest. All inter-ested members are invited to be more involved in a specific garden as we continue to form teams to help manage the gar-den areas.

Thank you for being a Tollgate Gardens Volunteer.

Renee Cottrell, President rmcottrell4@att.net 248-398-2562

Renee Narrates a PowerPoint Presentation Highlighting the Tollgate Gardens at the AGL Meeting this Past Saturday

Judy Poole, Charlotte Jones, Linda Bolam and Marilyn Alimpich Work on their Garden Budget and Plant Activity Schedule

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2014 Tollgate Quilt in Prog ess The Tollgate Quilt Bees have been “sew” busy working on the 2014 Tollgate Quilt. This year’s quilt has garden colors and theme. It is going to be gorgeous and every-one will want to own it.

This year’s Quilt Bees include: Charlotte Jones, Kathy Coleman, Kay Pratt, Judy Poole, Nancy Roggers, Susan Bremer, Sandy Rosa, Lynn Strong and Darretta Ferasin. Below are photos of the Quilt Bees in action. Of course, we are only giving you a hint of the beauty to come.

Kay Pratt, Nancy Roggers, Charlotte Jones and Susan Bremer Discuss Piecing and Corners

Fabric Ready for Sewing Susan Bremer, Lyn Strong and Sandy Rosa Set-up their Sewing Machines

Kathy Coleman and Lyn Strong Work on Piecing the Quilt Blocks Together

Desserts to Share Start the New Year by coming to our first meeting and bring a dessert to share. No time to bake? Bring your favorite store bought dessert. Send me an e-mail to let me know what you are bringing.

Yvonne, mainwoods@gmail.com

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Photos for 2015 Calendar Please submit photos to me no later than March 17th (St. Patty's Day).

I am in need of photos for all seasons with a heavy emphasis on fall and winter, but all seasons are needed

Photo format - landscape - on a memory stick Can be given to directly to me or to Roy If you have any questions you can contact me at tollgatemembership@gmail.com

Nancy Roggers

Membership We have received many membership renewals, thank you all for sending in your forms already!!

The rest of us, myself included, need to remember to get those forms into the office. I would like to ask you all to fill out forms even if you made one out last year. Sometimes, in the process of changing over from last year to the new year old forms get over looked and not added to the list Roy keeps in his office. It is important that we have these on file since they have your contact person’s name and phone number on them, which we need in case of an emergency. Questions about membership or changes in your info (phone #, ad-dress, emergency contact person)? You can contact me at: tollgatemembership@gmail.com.

Nancy Roggers

Note: Membership form can be found at: http://tollgate.msu.edu/uploads/files/Tollgate_Membership_Form_2014.pdf, attached to this Farm News and available at Tollgate General Meetings.

Photos by Cindy Prentice

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Volunteer Activity Day and Meetings Information

248-347-3860 ext. 400

● The Tollgate Gardens Advisory Council next meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 4, 2014 at 7:00 PM in the Tollgate Office Building. All Tollgate Gardens Volunteer members are welcome to attend.

● Listings to contact individual Council Members and Area Garden Leaders are available at all general meetings and in the Volunteer Communication Center.

● Tollgate Volunteer Membership is renewed annually. The 2014 Tollgate Garden Volunteers membership is from December 1, 2013 to November 30, 2014.

Farm Manager Roy Prentice - 248 347-3860 ext. 251 e-mail - prentic1@msu.edu

President ........................... Renee Cottrell Vice President… ............... Peg Palmer Secretary… ........................ Dave Komraus Treasurer ........................... Sue Janczarek Membership ...................... Nancy Roggers PR ....................................... Yvonne DeMattos Fall Fair .............................. Dennis Roggers Programs ........................... Jackie Stengel Hospitality ......................... Yvonne DeMattos Farm News Editor ............. Darretta Ferasin

For membership questions or to update your current membership information send e-mail to:

tollgatemembership@gmail.com

MSU Tollgate Gardens Volunteers For general information and questions

Contact Roy Prentice

Tollgate Garden Advisory Council

Activity Days Activity day hours are 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM unless otherwise noted on the Tollgate Garden Volunteer Important Dates and Events listed on the first page of the Tollgate Farm News or by the Area Garden Leader (AGL).

Lunch will be provided - veggie alternatives are available upon request.

This schedule does not exclude you from working independently on the site. However, on non-scheduled days, your efforts will need to be self-directed with guidance from the garden area clipboards located in the Volunteer Communication Center.

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Tollgate Volunteer Information

THE TOLLGATE FARM NEWS

Tollgate Gardens Volunteer Office 28115 Meadowbrook Novi, MI, 48377-3128 www.tollgate.msu.edu

Trowel Hand Pruners Loppers Garden Scissors Your Favorite

Weeding Implement Hand Saw

Plant Division Forks Shrub Rake Sun Screen Gloves Knee Pads Insect Repellant

List of Suggested Gardening Implements to Bring

from Home as Needed

Spades

Garden Rakes

Brooms

Wheel Barrels

Weed Buckets

Leaf Rakes

Garden Hoe

Long Handled

Garden Forks

Garden Tools Available for Use at Tollgate

In the event of an emergency please notify:

____________________________________________ __________ - _____________________________ Name Phone

Were you a Tollgate volunteer member last year? Yes ( ) No ( )

If yes, do you need a new Tollgate Garden Volunteer badge? Yes ( ) No ( )

Are you interested in: Serving on a committee or garden project? Yes ( ) No ( )

If yes, please note below if you have a particular area of interest, e.g., rose garden, children’s garden, hospitality, public relations, computer skills, etc

__________________________________________________________

Are you a MSU Master Gardener? ( ) certified ( ) candidate County ___________

(It is not necessary that you be a MSU Master Gardener to volunteer with Tollgate Garden Volunteers. An interest in gardening is all that is required.)

A donation to offset costs would be greatly appreciated. ($15 suggested amount) Make checks payable to Michigan State University. Thank you.

Return to: Tollgate Gardens Volunteer Office 28115 Meadowbrook,

Novi, MI. 48377-3128 Phone: 248-347-3860 ext. 212

Note: Membership is renewed annually. 2014membership is from Dec. 1, 2013 to Nov. 30, 2014 Members receive a newsletter, the Tollgate Farm News, once a month (No News in Dec.). Would you prefer to receive the newsletter by mail_______ or E-mail_______

Name:______________________________________________ Address____________________________________________ City:_______________________________________, MI. Zip:______________ - _________

________________________________ Name you would like on badge.

Telephone number: Day _______ - _____________________________

Evening ______ - ___________________________

Email:___________________________________

Has previous year’s info changed? _______

Date Submitted: _________________________

2014 Please print all entries. Thank you.

MSU Tollgate Garden Volunteers Membership Form