Meeting dates, times and locations

Salt Lake Master Gardener Association

Upcoming Meeting Dates

September General Meeting:

Putting Your Garden to Rest

-Ron Jones

Date: Thursday, September 19^th,2013

Time: 6:30 pm Social / 7:00 pm Meeting

Place: USU Extension Classroom (Room S1008)

SL County Building, 2100 S. State

Think your growing season is ending? Maybe it has just begun! Join us for an informative discussion on fall gardening and share your own tips with fellow master gardeners.

October General Meeting:

Greenhouse Gardening

-Schmidt's Farm and Greenhouse

Date: Thursday, October 17^th,2013

Time: 6:30 pm Social / 7:00 pm Meeting

Place: Room N4017 (due to elections, our meeting will be in the North building)

SL County Building, 2100 S. State

Meet one of the few urban farmers in the Salt Lake Valley and find out how Grandpa Schmidt took a backyard hobby to a full time farm and greenhouse. The Schmidt's grow most of their stock from seed... perhaps they will share some of their growing secrets with us!

November General Meeting:

Holiday Celebration

- All Master Gardener's

Date: Friday, November 22^nd,2013

Time: 6:30 pm

Place: Stake Center

9000 South 2901 West

It's time to celebrate another season of gardening. Come reflect on the year and share your gardening stories with other Master Gardeners. Main course, drinks and surprises provided by SLMGA.

December General Meeting:

No meeting or activities scheduled this month. We look forward to seeing you in the new year! Meetings will resume the third Thursday of the month in January.

We hope to see you at an upcoming event!

SLMGA Board

In Loving Memory Bev Sudbury

It is with sad hearts we bid farewell to Beverly Sudbury.  Her easy smile, her warm embrace and her love of gardening.

Bev passed away Friday, May 31st, 2013.

Services will be held Thursday June 6, 2013 at 2:00 p.m. at Larkin
sunset Gardens, 1950 East, 10600 South, Sandy, Utah.

A viewing will be Wednesday evening from 6:00 to 8:00 at Larkin
Mortuary, 260 East South Temple, Salt Lake City, Utah and one
hour prior to services at Larkin Sunset Gardens.



Gilgal Gardens won't be the same without her.

Neither will the Master Gardener parties.

She touched all our lives and will be greatly missed.
      - Salt Lake Master Gardeners

May & June SLMGA Meeting Dates

General Meeting Thursday May 16^th2013 at 7:00 pm

A Tour of the Roof Garden on the LDS Conference Center.

Location: 60 West North Temple, Salt Lake City.
 ** We will meet at the LDS Conference Center door #15 which faces North Temple Street**

Master Gardener Christena Gates will give us a guided tour of this unique three acre rooftop garden which incorporates waterfalls, native flowers and grasses. She wrote the script for the public tours given there and has some interesting stories to tell about the history of the garden.

Christena was a previous Director of garden tours at Temple Square and was involved in some of the garden bed designs. She has also given lectures on and is quite knowledgeable about Shade Ornamentals.

Come join us on this spring evening for an enjoyable and informative outdoor event.

General Meeting Thursday June 20th, 2013 (6:30 social time, 7:00 meeting)

A Night of Orchids

Location: USU Ext Classroom (2100 S State, Rm S1008)

Clinton Lewis, owner of Orchid Dynasty, will share his passion for orchids.  Join us to find the orchid for you!

Annual Plant Exchange, Thursday April 25th

We spent a lovely evening at Murray Park for our annual plant exchange. It was fun to see what's growing in everyone's garden. Thanks for the tomatoes, grasses, daffodils, geraniums and more! For those of you who missed it, here are the items we discussed during our meeting.

• Judi Short gave an update on the Gilgal Garden Sale. Over $300 was raised that will go to maintain the garden. Thanks to everyone that donated plants or time!
• Terry Curling asked for volunteers to help at Murray Park. In exchange for the use of their pavilion for our Summer Party, Master Gardeners will be doing a cleanup project at the Murray City Park. This will take place on Monday May 6th beginning at 9:00 am. We will meet with Becky Hansen at the parks office which is just to the south of the pavilion and work until around noon. Please bring your own tools… shovels, loppers, rakes etc. If you can’t volunteer for the whole time just stay as long as you can. Hope to see you there. No need to RSVP but direct questions to Terry Curling (terryc@digis.net)
• The Utah County Hidden Gardens Tour is coming north to Sandy/Draper.
  Utah County Master Gardener's invite you to join us in discovering some of Utah's most beautiful private gardens. This year's tour will include 12 “hidden” gardens from Sandy to Draper, gardening workshops and a mystery plant contest with special prize drawings!
  17^th Annual Hidden Garden Tour
  June 7-8^th, 2013
  Tickets $13 (advance), $16 (at garden)
  All proceeds support the Larry Sagers Endowment Fund
  For more information, call (801) 851-8460 or hiddengarden.org 

April and May SLMGA Meeting Dates

Don't miss our upcoming SLMGA Meetings, they should be fun!

General Meeting Thursday April 25^th 2013 at 6:30 pm (Note this is the 4^th Thursday)

Annual Master Gardener Plant Exchange

Location: Murray Park Pavilion # 5 /5200 So. State

Please plan to bring your extra plants and starts to exchange with fellow Master Gardeners. Come and share your vegetables, flowers, bulbs, day lilies or anything else you would like to trade or donate. Please make sure the plants are labeled and include any special care or planting instructions, also remember to bring something to transport your plants in such as boxes or tray.

This is always a fun event to find out what everyone in growing in their gardens and maybe take home some interesting new plants. We will start the exchange promptly at 6:30 so please don’t be late!

General Meeting Thursday May 16^th2013 at 7:00 pm

A Tour of the Roof Garden on the LDS Conference Center.

Location: 60 West North Temple, Salt Lake City.

Master Gardener Christena Gates will give us a guided tour of this unique three acre rooftop garden which incorporates waterfalls, native flowers and grasses. She wrote the script for the public tours given there and has some interesting stories to tell about the history of the garden.

Christena was a previous Director of garden tours at Temple Square and was involved in some of the garden bed designs. She has also given lectures on and is quite knowledgeable about Shade Ornamentals.

Come join us on this spring evening for an enjoyable and informative outdoor event.

Monthly Meeting Review February 22, 2013, 7pm

SLMGA Monthly Meeting Review

The SLMGA Monthly Meeting was held Thursday, February 22^nd, 7pm in the extension classroom. This was primarily a business meeting where we discussed SLMGA vs the USU Ext Master Gardener program, reviewed projects for the upcoming year and discussed seed saving.

SLMGA vs USU Ext Master Gardeners

SLMGA and USU Master Gardeners have similar missions to educate the community. The USU Ext will handle the initial Master Gardener training and certification while SLMGA will handle continuing education. JayDee Gunnell is our county horticulture agent and responsible for overseeing the entire master gardener program. He has set up an advisory board to provide feedback on the master gardener program. Ron Jones, president of SLMGA, sits on the advisory board. The board is on track to do great things this year. Watch for more details outlining the two programs similarities and differences.

Any master gardener that is interested in teaching a public outreach class must attend a teachers workshop. The first workshop is Monday, March 11^th from 2:00-3:00pm in the extension classroom (2100 S State, Room S1008). Additional classes will be offered.

Important dates:

March 8^th Home and Garden Show

March 11^th Teacher workshop (add'l classes will be offered)

2:00 – 3:00pm

USU Ext classroom (2100 S State, Room S1008)

March 21^st Monthly Meeting

Slow The Flow

6:30pm social time, 7:00pm meeting

USU Ext classroom (2100 S State, Room S1008)

Project Overviews

The goal of the master gardener program is to teach the community. Approved projects should be educational rather than maintenance projects. All projects will be approved by the advisory board. Proposed projects include:

Demonstration Project at Wheeler Farm (Katie Jenkins)

Planned to be a demonstration garden for Salt Lake County.

Christmas Box House (Peggy)

Teaching gardening skills to children at a residential facility.

Gilgal Gardens (Judi Short)

Maintenance of public sculpture garden.

Farmers Market (Marilyn Jesperson)

Booth at Pioneer Park and Wheeler Farm markets. Distribute MG info, answer questions.

Speaker requests (Sharlyn Hanley)

Coordinate requests from public for master gardener speakers.

Wheeler Farm Herb Garden (Sandy Burgess)

Maintain the herb and flower gardens around the farm house.

County Fair Booth (Sara Anderson)

Booth to hand out master gardener info, answer general public questions.

Seed Saving

We wrapped up the meeting with Golden Reeves sharing his seed saving tips for heirloom tomatoes.

• Save seeds from open pollinated, heirloom tomatoes. Hybrids will disappoint.
• Cut the tomato in half and squeeze out seeds, including pulp around seeds.
• Put in jar with a little warm water and let ferment a few days.
• Add more water and let sit a few more days.
• Wash with cold water.
• Dry completely over the course of a few days.
• Keep in envelop and don't forget to write down seed and year.
• Follow seed planting directions when ready to start.

Until next month, Grow – Learn – Teach !!

Golden's Garden January 2013

Golden’s Garden

By Wm. Golden Reeves

A new growing season is ahead of us and we can tell by the new seed catalogs that are starting to arrive. Most of us receive our first catalogs the first part of December mainly the catalogs we ordered from last year. This year has been no exception for me and I have already sent in my orders and received them back with only a few items back ordered. Most of the catalogs that come from now on will be the ones that my name was sold to see if they can entice me to order from them.

The fall harvest this last year was the best ever. From my Granny Smith apple tree I was able to pick 35 five 5 gallon buckets full of apples. I also was able to pick Calvile Blanch, York type H, Sperry Pippin, Arkansas Black apples. My Golden Delicious apple tree was loaded as well and with the amount of thinning I had done earlier in the year the apples were larger than I had harvested any other year. With the long fall weather we had I was able to leave the Granny Smith apples on the tree until they were ripe.

I was able to get my garden and the lot ready for winter and had time to re think what I could do to make thing better or easier for me when spring comes. Each year I clean out the sheet composting material from the walk ways in the garden and place it on top of the planting beds. Then I fill them with yard waste and then till the tops of the beds by doing this I have been able to not only build up the beds but enrich the soil. This is a system I have been using for the past 20 years. If I do not have enough debris from my yard then I look for bags of leaves to make up the difference in filling the walkways. Some times in the fall as it was this year I had a pile of compost that was starting to stink because of all of the green material I had placed in it. So that was placed in the walk ways as well.

I over wintered some petunias last year in the green house with out any heat other than what the sun provided. I am trying some of my larger plants this year to see if I can have the same success. My Rosemary plant was too large to invite in to the house this year but fits in the green house. I took a number of cuttings just in case it would not survive and all of the cuttings have taken root. I have been saving run off water from the house to keep the plants watered but need to make sure when the buckets are full I get them in to the green house before they freeze solid.

I have tried cuttings from verbena again this year and no mater how I try it seams as though they all ways end up having aphids on them. I sprayed for them and then moved them from the basement into the green house as well to see if I can get rid of the aphids with out affecting the other starts. With new tomato plants started on the same rack it is difficult to try to control an out break of aphid.

A friend brought a new kind of Impatiens plant from back east and wanted me to try and start some new plants for her. They have a green white striped leaf and a bright hot pink blossom. From the mother plant I have taken most all of the starts I can and hoped it would sprout more starts but so far that has not happened. I have five of the new starts from that plant that are growing very well.

Last fall I started a number of Pepper Mint Patties geranium then transplanted them in to gallon containers. I have them wintering in the basement window where they can get some sun. I will be able to start taking cuttings from the in mid January I want to increase there numbers quite a bit more before spring comes. I took cuttings of all of the other geranium I have and left the old mother plants in the beds to freeze. Other years I have brought at least one each of the mother plants in to the house to over winter.

With the snow coming down I think I need to go clear the drive way again at least with the planting area in the basement I can see what will be when spring comes.

Thanks from Diane Sagers

We received a kind note from Diane Sagers:

Upcoming Meeting Dates

Make plans to attend SLMGA's monthly meetings:

  Thursday, February 21st

  Business Meeting / Projects / Seed Exchange
  6:30pm Social, 7:00pm Meeting

  2100 S State, Salt Lake County Complex USU Extension training room S1008

 The agenda for the February will include an introduction from our new Board President, Ron Jones. He will talk briefly about the annual budget and plans for the association during the coming year. Our project leaders will present information about each SLMGA project to help you determine where you would like to volunteer during the upcoming gardening season. We will also update members about upcoming volunteer opportunities with the USU Extension. Golden Reeves will then give a short presentation on seed propagation, collection and storage.

The Annual Seed Exchange will also take place. Please bring your extra seeds to share with your MG friends. 

Thursday, March 21st

  Slow The Flow In Your Backyard
  6:30pm Social, 7:00pm Meeting

  2100 S State, Salt Lake County Complex USU Extension training room S1008

Molly Waters, Utah State University Water Check Program Manager will be our guest speaker. She will talk about general water conservation, “The USU Residential Landscape Water Check Program” and low water use landscaping.

Come and learn more about efficient irrigation practices and how we can conserve those precious water resources in our own gardens. 

Thursday, April 25th

 Annual Plant Exchange 
 time and location TBD

Share your extra starts and pick up something new at our annual plant exchange.  The date has been moved to the 4th Thursday this month to take advantage of warmer weather (hopefully!).

Thursday, January 17th 2013 General Meeting Overview

Thursday, January 17th, 2013

  We spent a delightful evening with gardening enthusiast Joy Bossi, known for her radio program Joy In The Garden and more recently as author of 2 new garden books.  Ron Jones opened our meeting with an update on the relationship between SLMGA and USU Ext Master Gardener program.  The two organizations committed to work closely with each other and combine projects so all approved project hours will count toward your Master Gardener hours.  Ron will sit on the advisory council for the USU Ext Master Gardener program.  We also welcomed a number of new SLMGA members from the last graduated Master Gardener class.  Ron encouraged us to adopt the motto: Learn - Grow - Teach.

  Joy then entertained us with gardening stories and antics that are included in her book, The Incredible Edible Landscape.  Do you plant herbs among your annual flowers?  You should, they are both beautiful and delicious!  Don't know how to cook with a particular herb?  Plant it, try it and you will learn.  Joy challenged everyone to plant an edible plant that they have never grown before.

Ron Jones & Joy Bossi

Joy and her book

Good friends 

and 

yummy snacks!

SLMGA Board 2013

Introducing the SLMGA 2013 Board Members

(L-R) Jan Konold-Secretary, Terry Curling-Vice President, Ron Jones-President, Cheri Schulzke-Treasurer, LeeAnn Ehrhart-Historian, Diane Curtz-Past President.

Learn - Grow - Teach