THE GREENERY

MARION COUNTY MASTER GARDENER ASSOCIATION THE GREENERY

WHEN: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2014

TIME: 9:15 TO 11:30 A.M.

MEET LOCATION:

INDIANA STATE FAIRGROUNDS

DISCOVERY HALL, Third Floor

12022 E. 38th ST., IND’PLS, IN 46205

Our meeting will be held on the 3rd floor of Discovery Hall. An elevator will

take you directly there.

PROGRAM:

“Rooftop Vegetable Gardens at Eskenazi Health”

Rachel White of Growing Places Indy and current Sky Farmer for

Eskenazi Health in Indianapolis will tell us about the new 5,000 square foot

rooftop vegetable gardens located 7 stories up that educate the public about

healthy eating and other outreach gardens sponsored by Eskenazi Health.

NOTE: If you would like to participate in this program and have special needs,

please contact Steve Mayer prior to the beginning of the program, (317) 275-9290

or E-MAIL: MAYERSL@purdue.edu

SEPTEMBER MEETING

SEPTEMBER 2014 VOLUME 25, ISSUE 9

Thank you to everyone who volunteered to work in the Tomato Juice

Stand during the 2014 Indiana State Fair. More than 200 volunteer spots were

filled by Marion County Master Gardener Assn. members. Your participation in

this project makes it possible for our organization to make monetary contribu-

tions to garden projects throughout Marion County.

This year we have surplus Red Gold Tomato Juice (46 oz. cans) that we

will be selling to our members at the September 8th meeting for $1 per can. This

is your chance to purchase delicious Red Gold Tomato Juice at a deeply dis-

counted price.

Pat Brummer

TOMATO JUICE STAND UPDATE

Inside this issue:

PRESIDENT’S MUSINGS

VOLUNTEER OPPS.

MG ITEMS FOR SALE AT

SEPTEMBER MEETING

UPCOMING EVENTS

EXTENSION

HORTICULTURE HINTS

by Steve Mayer

THE QUESTION BOX by

Steve Mayer

PUBLICATION &

PURDUE EXTENSION

CONTACT

INFORMATION

THE FEARS AND JOYS OF BEING A MASTER GARDENER

I always have a flash of ambivalent feelings when someone says to me, “Oh, you’re a Master Garden-

er!” You never know where the conversation will lead. Sometimes, a person will think of you as a comrade in

arms and chatter on and on about their own garden. Sometimes they will ask you about a disease or insect that

is plaguing their plants and you have no clue for an answer. Sometimes they are in need of grunt work help

because they have let their gardens go unmanaged too long. At other times, I become engaged in an interest-

ing conversation about some of the things people have tried to make their gardens better, or can give advice to

a novice gardener on ideas to improve their garden or choose appropriate plants.

One never knows when the “Oh, you’re a Master Gardener” effect will come about. Once, when I

went with my husband for one of his check-ups, he made the mistake of mentioning the dreaded phrase, and I

spent the next half hour talking gardening with his doctor! My husband turned into a wall flower!

In spite of being put on the spot occasionally, I find that it is truly a joy to be called a “Master Garden-

er.” After all, helping people learn and find pleasure in nature is really what it is all about.

Your president, Linda

PRESIDENT’S MUSINGS — Linda Furuness

Page 2 THE GREENERY SEPTEMBER 2014

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES— Linda Furuness We are in need of new volunteers to take over some of the responsibilities in our Association. Below is

a list of openings with a brief description of what the duties entail. If you have any questions or would be will-

ing to help out for any of these, just let Linda Furuness or Karen Kennedy know.

Sunshine Chair – Send out cards to members who are ill or have lost a close relative; let the president

and newsletter editor know about them. Cost of cards and stamps is reimbursed. Approximately 1

volunteer hour per month.

Historian/photographer – Take photos at the meetings or if absent, have someone take them for you; put

them on the web site when available, put together a slide show of them for the December meeting.

Approximately 2 volunteer hours per month.

Hospitality Committee — At each meeting come early to Discovery Hall to set up food tables, make cof-

fee, arrange the food and clean up afterwards. Approximately 2 volunteer hours per month.

MG ITEMS ON SALE AT SEPTEMBER MEETING The following items will be offered to members at a reduced price at the next meeting.

1- Conference T-Shirt $12

1- Green MG Logo Apron $18

9- Off-white Conference Logo Aprons $18 each

Gloves - Small and Large $ 7 each

(Sorry, no price break on gloves)

The Indianapolis Hosta Society (IHS)

Program: “When Perennials Bloom”

Dr. Tomasz Anisko, Longwood Gardens

Free and open to the public

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Time: Reception 1:15 p.m.

Lecture: 2 p.m.

Holliday Park Nature Center

6363 Spring Mill Road, Indianapolis

Dr. Tomasz Anisko is curator of plants at Longwood Gardens, where he oversees proper naming and identifi-

cation of plants, coordinates plant trials and plant distribution programs and leads plant exploration efforts.

His book “When Perennials Bloom: An almanac for Planning and Planting” will be the basis for his lecture,

covering topics of grouping, reliable blooming, seasonal development and response to weather conditions.

Pat Brummer, IHS, Publicity

indianapolishostasociety.org

UPCOMING EVENTS — Pat Brummer

Page 3 THE GREENERY SEPTEMBER 2014

EXTENSION HORTICULTURE HINTS by Steve Mayer

September Garden Calendar Tips

Note: Letters and numbers following the tip refer to Purdue publications on the topic. Other reference

links may also be supplied.

First Week: Reduce nuisance wildlife problems by sealing off places wildlife can enter like chimneys and

under porches. (PPP-56)

Second Week: Apply a high nitrogen fertilizer to the lawn this month. September is the best time to fertilize

cool season grasses like Kentucky bluegrass. (AY-22)

Third Week: Seasonal needle drop occurs on evergreens such as pine, spruce and arborvitae. This normal

discoloration and shedding of the older, inner needles requires no control. <http://learningstore.uwex.edu/

assets/pdfs/A2614.pdf>

Fourth Week: You can plant garlic cloves this fall for harvest next July or August. Try to finish planting by

mid-October. http://www.hort.purdue.edu/ext/garlic-fall.html

For more timely tips, follow me on Twitter @purduehortindy (or go to the following to view:

http://twitter.com/purduehortindy). You don’t have to be on Twitter to simply view my comments.

(continued on next page)

State Fair a Success

Many thanks to everyone who helped make the 2014 State Fair a success! This includes people

who helped with the demonstration garden/tent, the state Master Gardener booth, the tomato juice stand, the

greenhouse activities for youth, judging, etc. Many volunteer hours were spent at the Fair.

Demonstration Garden Update

Thanks again to all of the volunteers who helped with the demo garden this year and/or helped

during State Fair. Purdue Extension-Marion County staff, Extension board members, Master Gardeners and

other Extension volunteers staffed our tent from 9:00am to 9:00pm throughout the State Fair.

The first year of the demonstration garden on the State Fairgrounds (2012) there were 6,542 people

who took a look during State Fair. Last year 13,778 people visited during the Fair. This year we had 15,567

visitors during the 17-day Indiana State Fair. This was 1,789 more than last year’s record total, almost a 13

percent increase. We also set a new one-day record total of 1,506 people on Saturday, August 9. That is about

125 people every hour the garden was open or about 2 people every minute. That kept some tent workers

busy!

During the State Fair the most popular NEW 2014 AAS winner in the garden was NuMex Easter ornamental

pepper (Photo Credit: Steve Mayer, 8/18/2014)

EXTENSION HORTICULTURE HINTS, continued

Page 4 THE GREENERY SEPTEMBER 2014

A plant list/map of the garden is online.

Go to http://IndyMG.org and click on

the demonstration garden link.

Many people enjoyed the Purdue Extension-

Marion County Demonstration Garden during

State Fair (Photo Credit: Steve Mayer,

8/16/2014)

Facebook Pages Established

On August 5, a public Facebook page was established on the demonstration garden. The Purdue Exten-

sion-Marion County Demonstration Garden page is located at: <https://www.facebook.com/

PurdueIndyDemoGarden>. You don’t have to belong to Facebook to simply view the page. I have taken all of

the photos and made the postings. You can learn more about some specific details of the garden by looking at

this page. Thanks everyone for all of your likes and comments. I couldn’t have started the page without some

help from my office colleague Urban Agriculture Educator Emily (Eggleston) Toner.

Emily established a public Facebook page for our office to periodically promote office events. The

Purdue Extension-Marion County page is at: <https://www.facebook.com/

purdueextensionmarioncounty>. I have recently posted several items on this page (information also placed on

our website).

EXTENSION HORTICULTURE HINTS by Steve Mayer

Page 5 THE GREENERY SEPTEMBER 2014

THE QUESTION BOX by Steve Mayer

Q. What fertilizer did you use to get the tomatoes to grow so tall

on the arch? Can you tell me or is it a secret?

A. The tomato arch was produced from two tomato plants. We

planted normal size transplants on May 8 and the two plants grew

together by July 27. The sides of the structure were just over 8 feet

and the horizontal span was just over 9 feet. Some people think it is

simply due to fertilizer. This is not the case.

Here is the secret to growing a good tomato arch:

1. Pick a strong vigorous growing variety. Jasper is at the top of my

list for that. It’s also a nice nickel-size tomato that can be picked by

cluster rather than individually (wait until the entire cluster is red be-

fore harvesting).

2. Improve the soil well before planting with plenty of organic matter

like compost. We added a 1:1 ratio of soil and compost to the beds in 2012 and 2013. This year we added

Sphagnum peat moss and sulfur because our pH was high (7.9-8.0).

3. Take a soil test to determine the best fertilizer to use before planting. We were very high in phos-

phorus and potassium so we didn’t use any pre-plant fertilizer like normally recommended.

4. Follow up with some side dressings of a high nitrogen fertilizer (like urea) or use a water soluble fer-

tilizer (like MiracleGro or a similar product). We used a water soluble fertilizer about five times this year on

the Jasper tomatoes (less on some of the other vegetables and flowers). (continued next page)

Tomato Arch in the Demonstration Garden

(Photo Credit: Steve Mayer, 8/20/2014)

THE GREENERY

PURDUE EXTENSION

MARION COUNTY, PUBLISHER

STEVE MAYER —

Extension Educator-Horticulture

Purdue Extension-Marion County

1202 E. 38th Street, Discovery Hall, Suite 201

Indianapolis, IN 46205-2857

Phone: (317) 275-9290

Fax: (317) 275-9309

E-mail: MayerSL@purdue.edu

Marion County Consumer Horticulture:

http://IndyHorticulture.org Marion County Master Gardener Program:

http://IndyMG.org

Mail/e-mail your information by 20th of

EVERY MONTH for INCLUSION next

issue.

Judy Armstrong, Editor

My mailing and E-mail address is in the

Master Gardener directory.

5. Prune out most of the suckers to direct the growth upward on the vertical and across on the

horizontal. We left just one main stem coming out of the ground on each side.

6. Use some form of plant ties to direct the growth (especially on the horizontal). We chose to use the

Adj-A-Tye Chain Lock (cut in 12-inch lengths)

(http://www.amleo.com/a+m+-leonard-adj-a-tye-chain-lock/p/VP-X105) but other similar

materials are available locally.

New State Master Gardener Volunteer Guidelines

Watch your e-mail (or postal mail if you don’t have e-mail) sometime in mid- to late September for

information on some state-wide changes in the Purdue Master Gardener volunteer program.

THE QUESTION BOX, continued

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