HELP Garden Training

Recognizing the Master Gardener Volunteers

I would like to take a moment to recognize the Master Gardener Volunteers who work so hard to help me answer the gardening questions that we receive in Onslow County.  These volunteers support a variety of projects including manning the Plant Clinic and Ask-A-Master Gardener booths at community events, providing educational classes to the public, and working to plant and grow the Discovery Gardens of Onslow. 

In 2014, the Onslow County Master Gardener Volunteers provided over 5577 hours of service to our community.  This brings the program to a lifetime total of 41525 hours donated to Onslow County over the last twenty years.  This group contains many wonderful volunteers and each year I struggle to select one outstanding member to recognize as Master Gardener Volunteer of the Year.  This year, I want to recognize Tom Nicoll as Master Gardener Volunteer of the Year and give a special mention to his dedicated committee – the Discovery Garden Workday Crew.   

Tom Nicoll has been an active Master Gardener Volunteer for many years taking on a variety of leadership and support roles.  He has served in many capacities from President to volunteer coordinator, from supporting and mentoring new volunteers to organizing workdays in the Discovery Gardens.  Tom is always willing to step in and help whether he is applying his logistical mind to a project or process, helping clients and volunteers, or helping me wrangle all of the “to-do” lists of the organization.  Tom has volunteered 657 hours this year alone and 2154 hours over his years with the program.  Thank you, Tom!

I also want to mention a very dedicated group of men that has helped us accomplish so much in the Discovery Gardens this year.  The Discovery Garden Workday Crew was led by Tom Nicoll but would not have been possible without the combined efforts of our most regular members – Gary Gerard, Paul Leslie, Billy Spencer, Jay Schrader, and Tom Parker.  These men have done everything we asked of them and more.  They have cleared brush, cut down trees, pulled weeds, tilled, planted, dug holes, mulched, pruned and then some. 

If you see these guys in the Plant Clinic, the Discovery Gardens or at classes this year, please thank them for their hard work and efforts on behalf of Onslow County’s gardeners and the Discovery Gardens.  Thank you gentlemen! 

If you are interested in becoming a Master Gardener Volunteer, we will be holding our next Master Gardener Volunteer Training Course June 8 through August 10.  Contact the extension office at 910.455.5873 for more details or for an application form.   

New Year Resolutions for Gardeners

The New Year is a time for looking back on the past, and even more importantly, forward to the coming year. It's a time to reflect on the changes we want or need to make and resolve to follow through on those changes.  As gardeners, there are steps that we can take to improve the ecology and sustainability of our landscapes.  Consider adopting one or more of these resolutions for your garden in the New Year:

Commit to eating more seasonally and locally.

·      Buy produce during its peak season.  This is when a crop is at its freshest and most delicious and also when you can buy it from a local grower. 

·      Support your local farmers market, CSA (community supported agriculture) or farm stand.

·      Plan your vegetable garden for year round production.  In Onslow County, you can grow some sort of vegetable almost year round.  Nothing is more local than your backyard. 

·      Incorporate fruit crops into your landscape.  Fruit trees and blueberry bushes can be beautiful additions to the yard while also producing fruit.

·      Choose plants and varieties that are low maintenance and easy to grow in our area - figs, muscadine grapes, rabbiteye blueberries, strawberries, and blackberries grow well in Onslow County. 

A selection of spring produce at the Onslow County Farmers Market.

Find dates and locations for the Onslow County Farmers Market on their website at http://onslowncfarmersmarket.com or follow them on Facebook.  The Farmers Market will reopen for the 2015 season in April. 

Find local farms, farm stands and pick-your-own operations at http://www.ncfarmfresh.com.

Be pollinator friendly.  Protect honeybees, native bees and other pollinators by taking the following steps:   

·      Plant flowers that serve as pollen and nectar sources throughout the season.  Check out this publication from the Xerces Society for a list of pollinator-friendly plants for the Southeast:

http://www.xerces.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/plants-fact-sheet_southeast.pdf

·      Use pesticides only when needed.  Ensure that cultural (examples include crop rotation, early or late planting dates to avoid pests), mechanical (examples include hand pulling weeds or handpicking insect pests, row covers) and biological control options (promoting insects and predators that prey on pests) are your first line of defense.

·      Avoid planting crops that will require a lot of pesticide sprays (such as apples or non-muscadine grapes) to produce a quality crop.

·      When pesticides are needed:

o   Never apply pesticides to plants that are flowering.

o   Choose liquid formulations over dusts. 

o   Apply late in the day when pollinators are no longer foraging. 

o   Ensure that pesticide sprays do not drift to nearby flowering weeds or water puddles. 

 

A bumblebee forages the flowers of Clethra alnifolia 'Ruby Spice' in the Discovery Gardens.

Reduce your water footprint – and water bill!:

·      Build your soil’s ability to hold water and nutrients by adding compost each year.  Aim for 2-3 inches of compost tilled in to each new bed that you bring into production and a topdressing of 1 inch of compost to established beds. 

·      Harvest rainwater through the use of rainbarrels or cisterns.  Use this water first to irrigate new plantings, the vegetable garden, container plantings or lawn. 

·      Choose plants that are a good fit for the location.  Use moisture-loving plants in low damp areas and choose plants that are drought tolerant for drier areas.  Remember that drought tolerant plants need regular watering after planting to get established. 

New plantings in the Discovery Gardens are irrigated with rainwater collected in our cisterns.

Whichever resolution you choose, I want to wish you and your garden a Happy New Year!

Recycling Your Christmas Tree

As the holiday season comes to a close, plan on giving your Christmas tree back to the earth by recycling it.  In order to recycle a Christmas tree make sure to remove all ornaments, tinsel, lights, hardware and stand.  Christmas trees that have been sprayed with artificial snow are not a good option for recycling.   There are many ways to recycle your cut Christmas tree:

-         Some coastal communities use natural Christmas trees for dune restorations.  Trees are lined up along the toe (base) of the dune to collect and hold sand.  Building the dunes over time.  The town of Topsail Beach does this each year.  Trees can be dropped off at Town Park at the intersection of Davis Avenue and South Anderson Boulevard.  For more information, contact Topsail Beach Town Hall at 910.328.5841.

-         If you live further in land, consider submerge tree into a private fishpond.  The tree creates “structure” in the pond and becomes a fish feeding refuge.

-         Place in the back of the garden to use as a bird feeder and refuge.  Eventually the tree will become brittle and then can be taken apart and chipped into mulch.

-         If you have a chipper, chip small limbs and add to the compost pile or use as mulch. 

-         If you don’t, cut branches off and place on top of landscaped beds for mulch.  In the spring, the needles will have fallen off and the larger twigs can be removed and added to the brush or compost pile.  

Many municipalities have Christmas tree collection programs to shred the tree and using them for mulch.  Avoid placing Christmas trees in the garbage with the rest of the trash.  Instead, place on the curbside for recycling.  Look in your local papers for collection dates and/or drop off locations.  The Onslow County Solid Waste Department accepts real Christmas trees (lights and ornaments removed) at the following sites:

·      Folkstone Convenience Center Site at 320 Old Folkstone Rd, Holly Ridge (Sneads Ferry area just down the street from the Food Lion).  Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from 8am - 5:30pm ($1.00 per tree).

·      Swansboro Convenience Center Site at 698 Swansboro Loop Rd, Swansboro.  Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from 8am - 5:30pm ($1.00 per tree).

·      Onslow County Landfill (Tree and Wood Pallet Recycle Area) $49.00 per ton.  Monday-Saturday from 6:30am – 5pm. 

Onslow County Solid Waste also recycles string lights, plastic containers, aluminum (cans, pie plates, foil), metal and glass containers, all paper and boxes for free.  Electronics such as television monitors and microwaves can be recycled for $3.  For more information, contact the Onslow County Landfill at 910.989.2107.

Recycling your Christmas tree will help to improve the soil and environment, provide wonderful smelling mulch, and substantially reduce the amount of waste entering the landfill.

We all want a greener environment.  This is just one way to have a greener 2015.