Master Gardeners of Rutherford County Volume VIII Issue 12 THE SCOOP DECEMBER 2012 Vegetable Gardeners Corner 2 MGRC Gardens 3 Recipe of the Month 4 Awards & Christmas Dinner Details 4 Calendar & Events & Announcements 5 MGRC Officers & 2013 Officers Elect 6 About MGRC Inside this issue: T his time of the year everyone is excited about decorating their homes to celebrate the holiday season. Many of us turn to their gardens and/or their neighbors for natural greenery and traditional plants. Natural plants are wonderful décor. The Tree: The fir tree is the variety of most trees sold for Christmas trees. What fun it is to hunt for the “perfect” tree. The fir’s natural aroma is one reason we use the fir in our homes during the holidays. Should you opt for a live tree, please be sure to care for it properly. Have the “tree merchant” make a fresh cut on the trunk before bringing home your beautiful tree. This fresh cut should not be exposed to the air any longer than 3-6 hours. If you cannot set up your tree immediately, put it in a bucket of water located outside. Trim the lower branches off your tree so that it fits the stand. Before inserting your tree in the stand, be sure to scrub the stand with soap and water then rinse with 10% bleach water. Be sure you keep an adequate supply of water in your stand (as full of water as possible) and keep the temperature around your tree cool. Now your tree is ready to decorate and become the center of attention. If you do not want a “live” tree, just gather/purchase fir boughs and tuck them on your mantels, in center pieces, in vases, etc. to give your home “the aroma of Christmas” throughout the holiday season. The Flower: The poinsettia has been referred to as “The Flower of the Holy Night”. There is so much you can do with this plant as far a décor goes. You can tuck the plants around your Christmas tree, group them on a mantle or dining table, etc. You can cut the individual “blossoms” and tuck them into your green- ery or make a Poinsettia tree. If you cut the blossoms be sure to sear the stem ends. Most of us purchase our poinsettias each year because they are reasonably priced and readily available. You can keep your poinsettia to see if you can make it bloom the following Christ- mas, however they are “touchy”. Be sure to fertilize the plant with an all -purpose plant food around January First and around the first of each month following. Keep the plant in a place where it will receive indirect sunlight for about six hours each day. Poinsettias must have darkness to “bloom”. Begin in mid-September to give your Poinsettia eight hours of dark- ness each day. Any light whatsoever during the dark night will prevent your plant from blooming. During the day move the plant the sunlight. Decreased length of days is the trig- ger for blooms. Whether you buy new plants each year or save them from the previous year, enjoy their beauty on winter days. (Continued on page 3) See Our New Website: www.mastergardeners-rc.org Newsletter Editor: Katherine Smith, CMG USING TRADITIONAL HOLIDAY PLANTS By: Katherine Smith, CMG, Editor Fraser Fir Poinsettia See Pg. 4 for Details on Dec. Meeting!
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DECEMBER 2012 THE SCOOP€¦ · greenery and traditional plants. Natural plants are wonderful décor. The Tree: The fir tree is the variety of most trees sold for Christmas trees.
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M a s t e r G a r d e n e r s o f R u t h e r f o r d C o u n t y Volume VIII Issue 12
THE SCOOP DECEMBER 2012
Vegetable Gardeners
Corner
2
MGRC Gardens 3
Recipe of the Month 4
Awards & Christmas
Dinner Details
4
Calendar & Events &
Announcements
5
MGRC Officers &
2013 Officers Elect
6
About MGRC
Inside this issue: T his time of the year everyone is excited about decorating their homes to celebrate the
holiday season. Many of us turn to their gardens and/or their neighbors for natural greenery and traditional plants. Natural plants are wonderful décor.
The Tree: The fir tree is the variety of most trees sold for Christmas trees. What
fun it is to hunt for the “perfect” tree. The fir’s natural aroma is one reason we use the fir in our homes during the holidays. Should you opt for a live tree, please be sure to care for it properly. Have the “tree merchant” make a fresh cut on the
trunk before bringing home your beautiful tree. This fresh cut should not be exposed to the air any longer than 3-6 hours. If you cannot set up your tree immediately, put it in a bucket of water located outside. Trim the lower branches off your tree so that it fits the stand. Before inserting your tree in the stand, be sure to scrub the stand with soap and water then rinse with 10% bleach water. Be sure you keep an adequate supply of water in your stand (as full of water as possible) and keep the temperature around your tree cool. Now your tree is ready to decorate and become the center of attention. If you do not want a “live” tree, just gather/purchase fir boughs and tuck them on your mantels, in center pieces, in vases, etc. to give your home “the aroma of Christmas” throughout the holiday season.
The Flower: The poinsettia has been referred to as “The Flower of the Holy
Night”. There is so much you can do with this plant as far a décor goes. You can tuck the plants around your Christmas tree, group them on a mantle or dining table, etc. You can cut the individual “blossoms” and tuck them into your green-
ery or make a Poinsettia tree. If you cut the blossoms be sure to sear the stem ends. Most of us purchase our poinsettias each year because they are reasonably priced and readily available. You can keep your poinsettia to see if you can make it bloom the following Christ-mas, however they are “touchy”. Be sure to fertilize the plant with an all-purpose plant food around January First and around the first of each month following. Keep the plant in a place where it will receive indirect sunlight for about six hours each day. Poinsettias must have darkness to “bloom”. Begin in mid-September to give your Poinsettia eight hours of dark-ness each day. Any light whatsoever during the dark night will prevent your plant from blooming. During the day move the plant the sunlight. Decreased length of days is the trig-ger for blooms. Whether you buy new plants each year or save them from the previous year, enjoy their beauty on winter days.
(Continued on page 3)
See Our New Website:
www.mastergardeners-rc.org
Newsletter Editor: Katherine Smith, CMG
USING TRADITIONAL HOLIDAY PLANTS By: Katherine Smith, CMG, Editor
Checklist for Preparing Your Garden Now for Spring Planting:
Once temperatures reach winter lows, most plants go dormant until temperatures become ideal again for grow-ing. When a freeze is predicted, watering plants helps to protect them. If temperatures reach below freezing, the leaves may become damaged; therefore, this technique doesn’t provide much for winter harvests. It does, how-ever, provide a head start for spring plants.
If you haven’t already, it is not too late to clean the rows in your garden to help prevent insects and diseases.
Spread manure, rotted sawdust and leaves over the garden and plow them under; you’ll be surprised at the dif-ference this organic matter will make in the fertility, physical structure and water-holding capacity of the soil.
Save your leaves for the compost heap.
Test your soil. Now is a good time to add lime if it is necessary. Why not get started early for next year?
Start planning next year’s garden. Think about which crops did well and which didn’t so that you can order better varieties. Think about the quantity of each crop and whether it was enough or too much.
Before sending in your seed order, draw a map of the garden area and decide the direction and length of the rows, how much row spacing is needed for each vegetable, whether or not to plant on raised beds, and other details. That way, you won’t order too many seeds.
This same advice applied to the flower garden. Try new cultivars, add more color, change the color scheme, layer the colors by having taller and shorter plants – don’t do it the same way year after year.
You may have seeds left over from last year. Check their viability by placing some in damp paper towels and ob-serving the germination percentage. If the percentage is low, order new ones.
You would be wise to order flower and vegetable seeds in December or January, while the supply is plentiful.
Review the results of last year’s garden and order the more successful varieties.
Now is a good time to look around for garden tools and supplies that you are missing and add them to your holi-day gift list! Find garden gifts for others too. ᴥ
THE VEGETABLE GARDENERS’ CORNER
By: Jack Smith, CMG, TAB
Master Gardeners of Rutherford County Page 3
THE SCOOP Volume VIII Issue 12
In the Butterfly Garden
THE MGRC GARDENS By: Nancy Nelson, CMG
(Continued from page 1)
HOLIDAY PLANTS IN YOUR DÉCOR
Use a fir on your porch or at the base of your front steps to welcome guests. After the season, you will have a beau-tiful tree to nurture and use again for years to come.
Use pine cones and magnolia leaves for arrangement for your mantle or tables.
Instead of the usual tree skirt, use poinsettias under your tree.
Use greenery around arrange-ments throughout your home to take advantage of its aroma.
Use small evergreen trees or the now available rosemary trees in a container for an eye-catching arrangement. Be sure to use foil to cover the inside of the container.
Freeze fruit in sections to put in your birdbath for the birds. Use a solar light to highlight it for your party guests.
Sources: BHG.com garden; A Brief Guide To Selecting and Caring for Poinsettias, by Kelsey Savage Hays; Various Miscellaneous Sources.
1. One 7-pound, bone-in, spiral-cut smoked ham 2. 1 cup chicken stock or low-sodium broth 3. 20 whole cloves 4. One 10-ounce jar jalapeño jelly (1 cup) 5. 1 cup sweetened pomegranate juice 6. 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 7. 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard 8. 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 9. 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
Instructions: 1. Preheat the oven to 325°. Place the ham in a large roasting pan and add the chicken stock. Stud the ham all over with the cloves. 2. In a medium saucepan, bring the jalapeño jelly, pomegranate juice and lemon juice to a boil. Simmer over moderate heat until slightly thickened, 10 minutes. Whisk in the mustard, cinnamon and ginger and simmer until reduced to about 1 1/4 cups, about 5 minutes. 3. Drizzle half of the glaze over the ham and cover with foil. Roast for 1 1/2 hours, basting frequently, until a thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the ham registers 125°. Remove the foil and brush the ham with any remaining glaze. Roast for 30 minutes longer, until the top is lightly caramelized. Transfer to a platter. Discard the cloves. Pour the pan juices into a bowl and serve with the ham.
MGRC ANNUAL AWARDS & CHRISTMAS DINNER
At the December 17th meeting, MGRC will host the annual awards and Christmas din-
ner at the Lane Agri-Center at the regular meeting time. The Association will furnish
the main meat entre and members are asked to bring side dishes and desserts.
Spouses of members are invited to attend. This meeting is one of the highlights of the
year, and I am sure we will see all of our members in attendance.
ACTIVE: 30 MIN TOTAL TIME: 2 HRS 30 MIN SERVINGS:12