Happy 4 th of July to everyone! It is so hard to believe we are halfway through the year. As I am wring this the first day of summer is just a few days away (June 21) but it already feels like we are well into the hot, humid weather that the south is so famous for. What great memories I have of summer as a child. I am parcularly fond of the memories of running barefoot behind my father as he cut the grass in random paerns, eang watermelon and seeing how far we could spit the seeds (obviously that was before there was even such a thing as “seedless watermelon”), and playing under the sprinkler. Those lazy, carefree days are long gone and have been replaced with too many responsibilies that make it hard to even take the me to relax during the summer months. I have decided that this year I am going to make sure I take some me to read at least one good book (a novel perhaps), pack a picnic lunch and go to a park, and go to the beach and lay in the sun. It’s important that I keep my list short so as not to feel like I have added to my list of responsibilies and was unable to do all that I planned to do during these few months. In the meanme I also have my gardens to keep up with. Seems like just as I finish weeding one area it is overgrown again. Why can’t my vegetables be just as prolific? Since moving to Mobile in 2009 I have tried to grow zucchini and have been unsuccessful, except for the year I actually harvested two zucchini from my plants. I felt like I had had a bumper crop that year! Tomatoes have been challenging as well. Last year I did not have enough to even try canning them. Makes me really appreciate how hard the farmers work to produce enough food to feed not only their family but also all of us, especially organic growers. Along with the bugs they have to combat there is also the heat they have to contend with. And any of you who grow your own food know how important it is to get out early in the morning or you might die of heat exhauson. That is when playing under the sprinkler really comes to my mind. I love to hold the hose sprayer up and let the water fall on me like rain. I am sure some of you do the same thing! Most of you will be traveling to exoc places this summer – like Florida or Louisiana. Tim and I will be spending our summer vacaon at “the swamp house”. It sll feels like a vacaon home as we sit on the back porch watching the fish jump and other wildlife flit about. We have taken the boat out on spur of the moment cruises and have oſten mes been the only ones out on the river. Our evening excursions are my favorite. The air is a lile on the cool side (believe it or not) and the water is like glass. Sure we get an occasional bug in the face but it is so worth it. Make sure you take some me to relax and enjoy the lazy days of summer. And most important – DO NOT feel guilty about it! Blessings, Penny President’s Message by Penny Claiborne Dates To Remember July 7- Lunch and Learn July 9- Wonderful Wednesdays July 20-24- NACAA Conference Mobile County Master Gardeners July 2014 Inside this issue: Chronicles 2 MGOM 3 Lunch and Learn Southern Region Conference 4 Farm To Table 5 All American Fruits 6 Wonderful Wednesdays 7 Mission Statement Officers 8
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President’s Message - Alabama Master Gardener …...as our Master Gardener of the Month for her work to prepare her garden for this year’s Gallery of Gardens tour. Not only did
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Happy 4th of July to everyone! It is so hard to believe we are halfway through the year.
As I am writing this the first day of summer is just a few days away (June 21) but it
already feels like we are well into the hot, humid weather that the south is so famous
for. What great memories I have of summer as a child. I am particularly fond of the
memories of running barefoot behind my father as he cut the grass in random patterns,
eating watermelon and seeing how far we could spit the seeds (obviously that was
before there was even such a thing as “seedless watermelon”), and playing under the
sprinkler. Those lazy, carefree days are long gone and have been replaced with too
many responsibilities that make it hard to even take the time to relax during the
summer months. I have decided that this year I am going to make sure I take some time
to read at least one good book (a novel perhaps), pack a picnic lunch and go to a park,
and go to the beach and lay in the sun. It’s important that I keep my list short so as not
to feel like I have added to my list of responsibilities and was unable to do all that I
planned to do during these few months.
In the meantime I also have my gardens to keep up with. Seems like just as I finish
weeding one area it is overgrown again. Why can’t my vegetables be just as prolific?
Since moving to Mobile in 2009 I have tried to grow zucchini and have been
unsuccessful, except for the year I actually harvested two zucchini from my plants. I felt
like I had had a bumper crop that year! Tomatoes have been challenging as well. Last
year I did not have enough to even try canning them. Makes me really appreciate how
hard the farmers work to produce enough food to feed not only their family but also all
of us, especially organic growers. Along with the bugs they have to combat there is also
the heat they have to contend with. And any of you who grow your own food know
how important it is to get out early in the morning or you might die of heat exhaustion.
That is when playing under the sprinkler really comes to my mind. I love to hold the
hose sprayer up and let the water fall on me like rain. I am sure some of you do the
same thing!
Most of you will be traveling to exotic places this summer – like Florida or Louisiana.
Tim and I will be spending our summer vacation at “the swamp house”. It still feels like
a vacation home as we sit on the back porch watching the fish jump and other wildlife
flit about. We have taken the boat out on spur of the moment cruises and have often
times been the only ones out on the river. Our evening excursions are my favorite. The
air is a little on the cool side (believe it or not) and the water is like glass. Sure we get an
occasional bug in the face but it is so worth it.
Make sure you take some time to relax and enjoy the lazy days of summer. And most
important – DO NOT feel guilty about it!
Blessings,
Penny
President’s Message by Penny Claiborne
Dates To Remember
July 7- Lunch and
Learn
July 9- Wonderful
Wednesdays
July 20-24- NACAA
Conference
Mobile County Master Gardeners July 2014
Inside this issue:
Chronicles 2
MGOM 3
Lunch and Learn
Southern Region
Conference
4
Farm To Table 5
All American Fruits 6
Wonderful
Wednesdays
7
Mission Statement
Officers
8
Well over 100 people
attended the third Farm to
Table Tasting Event, held
June 9 at Five Rivers on the
Causeway. This local event
has earned a reputation for
delivering a superb evening
of unique and delicious food,
wine, and entertainment in a
serene and beautiful place.
The chefs developed a lively
competition among
themselves to create unusual
and delicious foods, including
gazpacho, blackened catfish
with cheese grits, goat
cheese ice cream, pecan pie
cheesecake, fried green
tomatoes with a fabulous
sauce, roasted pig, and much
more.
Nina Ward and her
decorating team did a great
job of using driftwood, herbs,
and plants with a coastal feel
to complement the coastal
food. The saxophone player
set the mood with his jazz
selections as the sun set over
the water and a light breeze
flowed while the guests,
chefs, and growers mingled
to share their stories. And
the growers seemed
genuinely pleased to see the
fabulous creations made
from their harvests. We are
blessed to have Master
Gardeners like Regina Gunn
and all who pulled together
to make this – some say – the
best Farm to Table Tasting
Event so far. And we are
assured that plans are under
way for the next one to be
held on the second Monday
in June 2015.
For the June Lunch & Learn
program, C.P. Winters, who
loves flowers and specializes
in daylilies, shared
information about her
garden. She is president of
the Mississippi Gulf Coast
Daylily Society and maintains
a display garden composed of
around 1000 cultivars at her
home in Hurley, MS. Her
garden received official
recognition in 2009 by the
American Hemerocallis
Society. Tours are available
from late April through July.
She said daylilies basic needs
are simply sun, water, and
food.
Maggie Lacey, Manager of
Windmill Market in
Fairhope, works with local
farmers to bring fresh and
local items to her customers.
The market is open seven
days a week, has music and
art, and uses solar and
windmill power for its
electricity. Her topic for the
program at the June general
meeting was CSA –
Community Supported
Agriculture, a concept that
emphasizes the importance
of supporting community
markets and local products.
A subscription to a CSA
(Produce Club) for three
months can provide a healthy
box of food sourced from
Mobile or Baldwin County
farms each week. As a
bonus, farmer Michelle
Forland set up a small
farmers market and sold
fresh vegetables to members.
Some three thousand people
are expected to attend the
National Association of
Extension Agents Conference
on July 19-24 in Mobile. Ellen
Huckabay, Betsy Yager and
Jane Trawick are responsible
for decorations. If you are
able to help, please contact
Ellen, Jane, or Betsy.
At its regular June meeting, our
Board of Directors voted to
award the annual horticulture
scholarship to Dillon Turk, a
Mary G. Montgomery graduate
who is majoring in horticulture
at Auburn University.
Phone line time for MG
volunteers has gone back to
four-hour shifts. More help is
needed for this very important
service to the community.
Chronicles by Nancy Adams Page 2
Michelle Forland,
daughter of Alescia
Forland of the Loxley
Farm Market, is a 21
-year-old farmer. She
grows fruits and
vegetables full time
and supplies much
of the produce for
the Loxley Farm
Market and Windmill
Market's Produce
Club.
Brenda Hayslett-Funk
pictured with Ellen Huckabay
received her certification at
the June meeting.
Congratulations Brenda!
Dianne Miller is a Master Gardener with a passion for flowers, and her garden is an
exuberant display of perennials, annuals, and flowering shrubs. We have selected Dianne
as our Master Gardener of the Month for her work to prepare her garden for this year’s
Gallery of Gardens tour. Not only did Dianne have to do all the things that any gardener
would do to get ready for the tour…but she also had to re-do most of it the week of the tour
following one of unpredictable Mobile’s weather “events” – a flood combined with powerful
hail that tattered months of her work. That the tour guests could see only rare remnants of
that storm is a testament to the work Dianne did that week. And those of us who enjoyed
her garden on the tour are so glad she didn’t let the weather have the last word, because
her garden was a floral celebration of the first order. From the roses that greeted us at the
mailbox to the front flower island, the kitchen garden that led us to the intimate back yard--
once a swimming pool, now a quiet spot to sit and enjoy, this gardener’s love of flowers is obvious.
And speaking of the swimming pool-turned-flower garden in her back yard, that is a project worthy of some explanation.
When Dianne tired of maintaining the pool, she took a summer to convert it, and the conversion went something like this:
Knowing that drainage would be critical, she drained the pool and then cut out the liner by hand with scissors, before
taking a hand hammer and hammering out the thin concrete base below. Then came the several tons of fill dirt (which she
did have a crew bring in, thank goodness) followed by the planting top soil which she then began to amend with mulch over
time. The result is beautiful and stands as proof that no one is stuck with a pool they no longer want. All it takes is the
quiet determination of a Dianne Miller!
Dianne and her husband are both from Pensacola (where they met in the
charter class at the University of West Florida) and they followed his career as
a systems analyst to Homestead, Tampa, and then Mobile where they settled
in 1979. Diane retired in 2004 from a career as a teacher, ending at
Allentown Elementary.
Dianne became a Master Gardener in 2005 and has had an active career,
serving on the Board of Directors, mentoring interns on many years, and
participating in everything from the Greenery Sale to the Master Gardener
booth at Festival of Flowers. She also enjoys volunteering her time to others in
landscaping projects, and has helped both family members and neighbors
landscape their own gardens.
When asked what she likes best about being a Master Gardener, her answer
was “being surrounded by people who share a love of gardening” and also
having the chance to help other people with their gardens. And when asked
what she would like to see for the future of Master Gardeners, she said she
would like for us to find a way to reduce the loss by attrition of our membership following the intern year.
Dianne was raised on 5 acres in Pensacola where the family always had a vegetable garden, but she is not certain where
her love of ornamentals and flowering plants originated. She remembers going into the woods and pulling up wild flowers
and planting them in her yard as a child, and she shared a story that one of her elementary teachers gave each student in
the class an old-fashioned Four O’Clocks to take home, and Dianne nurtured hers along to maturity – and still includes
Four O’Clocks in her own garden. Though she claims to not know where her love of flowers began, I’m sure the
accumulation of small experiences such as this contributed.
Beyond that, I suspect that some are fortunate enough to recognize the role played by the beautiful in life, and Dianne is
one of those people. Not everything must serve a utilitarian purpose or have a specified function. Dianne intuitively knows
this truth. In her quiet and unassuming way, she goes into her garden armed with the tools of the garden artist, and she
creates. Sometimes, Beauty is enough.
Page 3 Master Gardener of the Month-May 2014-Dianne Miller by Brenda Bolton
Brenda Bolton with Dianne Miller
Lunch and Learn
Page 4
A “First Mondays” program presented by Mobile County Master Gardeners,
a program of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System
Monday, July 7, 2014
Noon to 1 pm
Where: Jon Archer Center, 1070 Schillinger
Road N., Mobile, AL 36608
Bring a friend and a lunch. Free. Drinks are
provided.
Presenter: Amelia J. McGrew, Regional Extension Agent
Specializing in Food Safety, Preparation and Preservation.
Topic: “Canning and Preserving”
For more information: 251-574-8445 or www.aces.edu/Mobile/mg
Amelia McGrew
The East Baton Rouge Master Gardener Association of the LSU AgCenter's MG Program is proud to host the
2014 Southern Region Master Gardener Conference. When gardening enthusiasts from Texas to Virginia
converge on Louisiana's capital city, they will be greeted with riveting speakers, entertaining tours and a
trade show that promises to offer those 'one-of-a-kind' items.
This event will bring together master gardeners, vendors, horticulture professionals and others with a
common interest in all aspects of gardening, the environment and plant sciences. The 2014 Conference
Committee is grateful to all who have made this conference possible through sponsorships, in-kind gifts
and hundreds of volunteer hours from our members.
Please join us in beautiful Baton Rouge from October 21st through October 24th at the Crowne Plaza
Hotel. Check back often for updates! Hope to see you there! Www.southernregionMGconf2014.com