Issue Highlights!

• EMG Annual Picnic Details

• Welcome New EMG Class!

• Nominating Committee Needs You!

• Bluegrass Flower & Vegetable Show

Of all the paths you take in life, Make sure a few of them are dirt. John Muir

Newsletter Fall 2018

Fayette County Master Gardener Association

A Frustrated Master Gardener

Standing in my garden in 90°- plus heat Watering my tomatoes, I‘d just like some to eat

Bad time to water, I don’t care if it’s night

My entire yard is infested with fungus and blight

I wave to the squirrels waiting to eat my corn And the chipmunks scurrying by, sure to soon return

Turning to the Japanese beetles I grab my can of Raid The heck with what Jamie says, I lost it and sprayed

We move on to the storm and no power for two days I empty my two refrigerators and clean them in a daze

It has been a beast of a summer

Worst since I moved here, a bummer

BUT, looking at my garden, perhaps it’s not so bad after all . . . I dig out my catalogs to see what I can plant this fall

Debbie Johnson

The Prez Sez:

Newsletter Committee: Susan Miller - Chair Mary Miller - Co-Chair Susan Daole Donna Jackson

It’s that time again for the

Master Gardener Picnic!

Sunday, September 9th

4:00 PM

Anne Lowe’s home

3714 Pinas Bay Drive, Lexington

“Share Table” for veggies from your garden and gardening tools and books

Picnic Fix-ns Chicken entrée provided

Based on what letter your last name starts with - please bring . . .

A – G Bring Salad H – M Bring Vegetable Dish

N – Z Bring Dessert

Plates & utensils provided but . . .

“Please bring your own chairs!”

Spouses & Guests Welcome

Please RSVP to Anne Lowe 859-273-1120 loweimpact@twc.com

~ Picnic is on rain or shine ~

Directions: From Tates Creek Road, turn onto Dove Run Road, turn right onto

Montavesta Road, at the 4-way stop turn right onto Pepperhill, turn left onto Tishoff

and right onto Pinas Bay. 3714 is the 4th house on the right.

~ Please try to carpool ~

Your Association Needs YOU!

Yes, we’re talking to you, dear member. The Nominating Committee is searching for people to serve on next year’s Executive Committee. There will be at least two spots to fill and now is the time for you to start thinking about serving this great organization. Please don’t be shy! Raise your hand if you have any questions or would like to serve in any way. Be a leader! Or, have you been

working with a fabulous volunteer that has leadership potential? Let us know and we’ll reach out to them. Please contact Christine Parsons at cparsonslex@gmail.com or 859-227-3364.

Demonstration Vegetable Garden Report

By Ellyn Katen

The Demonstration Vegetable Garden at the Arboretum received a face lift this spring when we amended our raised beds with 50 bags of soil donated last winter by Home Depot. This was a much-needed boost for our veggies and resulted in a lush lettuce crop. Our cabbages were perhaps the best ever, despite the fact that we didn’t protect them with row cover (as is our standard recommendation). On one workday we harvested 14 large heads, which netted almost 100 pounds of produce! However, our asparagus bed didn’t choose to participate in the party and gave us just a few spindly stalks.

Hot, wet weather last month seemed to have slowed the ripening of our tomatoes, but our squash, especially the impressive zuchetta, and the peppers seem to be thriving. We fight bean and cucumber beetles on a regular basis, and sometimes we delude ourselves into thinking we’re winning. However, bouquets of Benary zinnias lift our spirits and let us leave with smiles on our faces!

We sadly bid farewell to long-time veggie gardener, Joan Werner, who is moving out of state. She will be missed.

EMG Members with our guide, Mac Stone

An Enlightening Tour of Elmwood Stock Farm

By Pat Petro

On May 15th we ventured out to Elmwood Stock Farms and were greeted by Mac Stone. In presenting a history of the family farm, Mac shared that the Bell family has farmed on this land in Scott County for six generations, always adapting to the changing agricultural climate. Mac, who joined the family when he married Ann Bell, has taken on a huge role in the family business.

We began our walking tour in the greenhouses and seeding area where thousands of organic seeds are planted by a mostly mechanical process. Flats are then moved to the proper environment for germination, and nurtured for weeks. Some plants require a greenhouse environment, while others benefit from the cooler hoop houses. Chickens, cattle and turkeys are rotated from pasture to pasture to avoid overgrazing and to spread their fertilizer to enrich the soil. Mac explained cultural practices they use for pest control, such as beneficial insects, but stresses that constant attention to keeping the soil healthy is the key to successful organic farming. At the conclusion of the tour, Mac shared details about the retail side of Elmwood. The farm has summer, fall and winter CSA shares, as well as booths at farmers markets in Lexington, Georgetown, Louisville and Cincinnati most days of the week, even through the winter months. We left with much respect for this family because it takes a phenomenal amount of time and energy to provide the very best organic products. Thank you for a delightful learning experience Mac Stone, family and staff at Elmwood Stock Farm. We are grateful that you do what you do.

Welcome New EMG Class Members!

After interviewing applicants, Jamie will begin the 2018 Extension Master Gardener training with twenty-eight students. Classes will be held on Tuesday and Thursday from 9:00 AM –

noon beginning on September 6th at the extension office.

Please give our new trainees a warm welcome and wish them good luck!

Lessons I've Learned this Summer By Donna Jackson

My twin granddaughters have taught me many lessons this summer. Three-year-olds certainly have a unique perspective on life. Here is some of the wisdom I've gained: 1) Dandelions are "bootiful," and the puff-balls must be blown into the air right away. 2) Life must come to a halt if there is a June bug on its back on the porch. Not another step can be taken until it's in its full, upright position. 3) A pile of pea gravel, along with a bucket and shovel, trumps a new playset (regardless of the fact that it took their granddaddy a day and a half to assemble it). 4) Squirt guns are quite handy to water tomato plants. Which brings me to the topic at hand. We decided to introduce the girls to gardening using the straw bale method. Many of you have tried this already, but I especially recommend it to those who have little ones around. We assembled the bales and chose small size fruits and vegetables, all of which could be picked with little fingers and eaten on site. Among them were cherry tomatoes, lunchbox size peppers, strawberries, and short carrots. I'll have to admit that we rushed things a little, and didn't quite wait until the straw had "cooked" enough (follow the directions closely). A few failures there. The bales should have been closer to the house, rather than behind the barn. We also didn't plant enough. That was the most important lesson from the girls. There were a few squabbles when there weren't enough ripe strawberries. Then a full blown melt-down recently over the tomatoes. A blissful morning it was until I heard a rapid-fire shrieking "nuther matoe, nuther matoe, nuther matoe!!!!!!!!" from one child, with her sister running toward the back fence stuffing her mouth with (hopefully) ripe cherry tomatoes. It sort of reminds me how some of us feel when the tomato season is over. Overall it has been a great experience for them. The bales are just the right height for them to inspect, and the weeds are not an issue. Next year they will be old enough to do some of the planting. Perhaps we will add flowers to the mix, not only for picking but also for explaining how they keep bugs away. But there's one thing for sure...There will definitely be more "matoes".

Temperance (l) Peyton (r)

Brief Meditation on August

By Mary Miller

August has always been my month of gardening fatigue. Too many bugs, a proliferation of weeds, and this year plenty of rain, encouraging the weeds to multiply even faster! My squash plants falter under a barrage of insects and disease but produce a few last tributes before withering away. I’m secretly glad to let them go – too many friends blanch when I try to convince them that I have the perfect recipe for zucchini bread and the foot-long specimen which I’m offering is a real prize. Tomato blight creeps ever upward, but the bright yellow Sunsugar tomatoes are still delicious. I always pop a few in my mouth while I’m picking and relish the warm sweet flavor.

The zinnias are blooming in defiance of the heat –I have bouquets all over the house. The inevitable leaf spot has arrived, but at least no powdery mildew yet.

The vibrant colors can’t be matched– red, yellow, orange, pink and purple – enjoyed by the bees and butterflies and an occasional saucy yellow finch, a burst of gold.

In August, I always pledge to plant for the fall – perhaps some spinach, radishes, what about cilantro? My mind races with possibilities. Then I do a little weeding in 85-degree heat, and as the sweat gradually accumulates on every inch of skin, I find myself retreating inside for a cold drink, wondering if perhaps tomorrow might be a better day to utilize those leftover seeds from last spring.

That’s the essence of gardening – always looking forward, always hoping for better weather or fewer bugs, or that the energy to water and weed more consistently will prevail despite the summer heat. Gardeners are the ultimate optimists, with a belief that the tiny seeds or lumpy bulbs that we hopefully put into the ground will yield fabulous results. Not even August can stifle the gardener’s dream of next year’s perfect garden.

Some of the winners from the 2018 BFG Show

Bluegrass Flower and Vegetable Show by Jane Peters

The Lions’ Club Bluegrass Fair Flower & Vegetable Show, a shared effort by both the Extension Master Gardeners and the Lexington Council Garden Clubs, was held on July 14th-15th. The 53 exhibitors--16 of them first-timers--submitted 332 entries and took home 268 ribbons. The judges were again very complimentary about the quality of the show this year, which is considered the best in the state. We congratulate Brenda Bennett who won this year’s Sweepstakes Award in Horticulture with the highest number of blue ribbons (12). We would like to highlight our two youngest exhibitors, David (6 yrs) and his sister, Esmalda (3 yrs), for their submissions in the Youth Division. They were delighted with their prize money!

David Esmalda