April 2018

Issue 2

Class Activities 2

Strawberries 3

Watermelon 3

Cucumbers 4

Carrots 4

Bean Report 5,6

Master Gardening 6

Soils 7

Fun With Soils 8

Inside this issue:

HoNoR Intermediate School

Dodge County Master Gardener Association

Digging in Dodge

The Dodge County

Youth Master

Gardeners at HoNoR

intermediate school

is the newest group

to join Youth Master

Gardeners. Our first

meeting was at the beginning of October

2017.

The HoNoR school district was formed in

July of 2016 by the merger of three small

rural districts along the eastern edge of

Dodge county; Herman #22, Neosho J3

and Rubicon J6. All three were K8 dis-

tricts feeding into the Hartford Union

High School district. The intermediate

school occupies the former Rubicon

school building located on County Road

P, about a half mile south of State Road

60. Younger students from the elemen-

tary school in Neosho ride a transfer bus

arriving just as classes are dismissed at

the Intermediate school. School staff has

been enthusiastically supportive. This

includes the janitorial staff that has had

to deal with the inevitable spills of soil

samples and potting mix as we study soil

structure and plant propagation.

We have been given

access to space for a

vegetable garden to

the south of the build-

ing and will also be

taking ownership of

some of the foundation plantings nearby

for a pollinator garden. Last fall we laid

out the vegetable garden and killed the

sod. Hopefully this will give us a head

start on any perennial weeds. The gar-

den will be tilled with planting beginning

mid-April, weather permitting. Seedlings

of early season crops were started

March 21st.

Weeds had overgrown the foundation

plantings and we removed them and

weed barrier that was no longer function-

al from around fifty linear feet of beds.

There remains considerable more of that

to be done this spring and summer. We

will be planting a selection of pollinator

friendly plants, such as milkweeds for

Monarch Butterflies and parsley, dill and

fennel for Swallowtails. The goal is to

provide a season long supply of pollen

and nectar.

As may be fitting for the newest group it

is also the youngest. Of eight active

members we have four kindergarten

students, two first grade and one each in

5th and 6th grade. It has been a pleasure

to see the amount of mentoring the older

kids give the younger ones. I look for-

ward to watching these young gardeners

grow along with the gardens they are

building. I want to thank master garden-

er volunteers Dennis Loomis, Joan

Loomis, Lynn Stanton and Thuy Tong for

their hard work and help with this

project.

John Schellinger, MGV

Photo by Carol Shirk

Page 2 Digging in Dodge Issue 2

Class Activities

Making color wheels to illustrate the

concepts of how colors work together.

Painting pots in preparation

for a project on vegetative

propagation.

Identifying flower parts.

Liz Herzmann, DNR

Specialist, showing

students how bats use

echolocation to find their

food.

Fruits and Vegetables

Page 3 Digging in Dodge Issue 2

Watermelon

There are a lot of kinds of watermelon. Watermelons

are green, red, orange and yellow. Watermelon is a

tender warm season vegetable. Watermelon can be

grown in all parts of the country, but the warmer

temperatures and longer growing season of the

southern areas especially favor this vegetable.

Gardeners in northern areas should choose early

varieties or use transplants.

By: Luke Ehmke

How to Grow Strawberries

Strawberries appear to grow on vines but

they actually grow on runners. Runners

help strawberries spread across the

garden. In one year a strawberry can pro-

duce up to fifty runners. The green leaves

on the top of the strawberry is the crown.

The crown is on the top of the soil surface.

By: Skyler Schmidt

S t r a w b e r r i e s

B y : S t e p h a n i e W a l l a c e

M y f a v o r i t e p l a n t i s s t r a w b e r r i e s a n d t h e l i t t l e d o t s o n a r e

s e e d s . S t r a w b e r r i e s c a n b e b l u e a n d p u r p l e ! I s n ’ t t h a t a m a z -

i n g !

S t r a w b e r r i e s a r e t e c h n i c a l l y o n l y t h e t h i c k e n e d p a r t o f t h e

s t e m a n d n o t r e a l l y b e r r i e s . S t r a w b e r r i e s a r e b r i g h t r e d

w h e n t h e y a r e r e a d y t o e a t a n d c o n t a i n l o t s o f v i t a m i n C

a n d t a s t e r e a l l y s w e e t .

S t r a w b e r r i e s d o n o t c o n t i n u e t o r i p e n a f t e r t h e y

a r e p i c k e d . S t r a w b e r r i e s g r o w o n s t e m s . S t r a w -

b e r r i e s h a v e 2 0 0 s e e d s o n t h e m . S t r a w b e r r i e s c a n

a l s o b e y e l l o w b l a c k a n d w h i t e . S t r a w b e r r i e s a r e

t h e o n l y f r u i t w i t h s e e d s o n t h e o u t s i d e o f t h e m .

S o m e s t r a w b e r r i e s a r e w h i t e w i t h r e d s e e d s o n

t h e o u t s i d e .

Why were the strawberries so upset?

Because they were in a jam!

Page 4 Digging in Dodge Issue 2

Fruits and Vegetables

.

Carrots

I like carrots because they taste good. The carrot is the root of the plant. You plant carrots seeds in the

garden in spring. They need to be planted one half inch deep and one half inch apart in rows. They then

need to be thinned to three inches apart, Carrots need fifty to seventy-five days to grow before harvest.

You can eat carrots raw or cooked. They contain lots of vitamin A. I like to eat them raw best.

By: Grace Ehmke

Cut the top off a carrot leaving about ½ an inch of the orange part and ½ an inch of the green stem and

leaves. Press the carrot piece into damp sand or soil in a saucer or a bowl. If sand and soil are not availa-

ble, you can just use water! Place the dish on a windowsill or another place the carrot will be exposed to

sunlight. Soon, new leaves will emerge and you will have a plant! The root will not regenerate, but it is

possible to grow new foliage. (Fun Activity: Oregon Harvest for Schools)

Fun Activity

Page 5 Digging in Dodge Issue 2

Fruits and Vegetables BEAN REPORT BY: ETHAN GROH

_____________________________________

TIPS

______________________________________

Before you start planting here are some tips:

-they need full sun,

-they need soil with organic matter (compost) well drained.

-they need half an inch of water per day,

-it prefers temperatures of 70-80 degrees f.

______________________________________________________________________

COMPOST

_______________________________________________________________________

BROWN AND GREEN MATERIALS

Brown materials and green materials make up compost.

Compost is a mix of food scraps and leaves and grass clippings etc.

BROWN MATERIAL GREEN MATERIAL

- dried leaves and grass clippings - alive leaves and grass clippings

- sticks and logs - food scraps (not meat or dairy)

- sawdust (not too much) - pine tree needles

brown material has carbon - chicken poop

Green material has nitrogen

What not to put in compost: dairy, kitty litter, meat, and poop of animals that eat meat

________________________________________________________________________

WHAT WILL YOU SEE IN SAND?

________________________________________________________________________

- the beans should be about 1 centimeter in one week based on my assignment growth sheet.

- in two weeks you should see leaves and little pods on a 21 cm plant.

- in three weeks you should see the same things on a 32 ½ cm plant but they might be bigger.

_______________________________________________________________________

WHAT WILL YOU SEE IN CLAY?

________________________________________________________________________

- after one week you should see little sprouts at least 3 cm tall based on my assignment.

- after two weeks you should see 32 cm stems with leaves and little pods on them.

- after three weeks you should see 39 ½ cm stems with the same things on them but they might be big-

ger.

Page 6 Digging in Dodge Issue 2

________________________________________________________________________

WHAT YOU SHOULD SEE IN POTTING MIX

________________________________________________________________________

- in one week you should see 2 cm stem sprouts.

- in two weeks you should see 25 cm stems with leaves and pods

- in three weeks you should see 30 cm stems with the same things on them, but they might be bigger.

________________________________________________________________________

WHAT YOU SHOULD SEE IN A MIX OF EQUAL AMOUNTS OF ALL THREE THINGS

________________________________________________________________________

- after one week you should see ½ centimeter sprouts.

- after two weeks you should see 28 cm tall stems with leaves and little pods

- after three weeks you should see 39 cm tall stems with the same things on them, but they may be big-

ger.

________________________________________________________________________

LET’S GET PLANTING!

________________________________________________________________________

Find your sunniest spot then dig a hole about two inches deep in sand ½ to ¾ deep in clay.

_______________________________________________________________________

MASTER GARDENING

_______________________________________________________________________

What is it?

It is a class for kids to learn about gardening, work in community gardens, plant their own garden and

do experiments on plants. I think all kids who like gardening should be in this club. Thanks for

reading.

Master Gardening

My favorite thing about this class is that we are always doing something cool like planting plants like

the beans.

The pumpkin is famous because they can be used for many things like making jack-o-lanterns

for Halloween. Pumpkins can be used for foods like pumpkin pie and pumpkin seeds. But

enough about pumpkins, lets go back to master gardening.

You learn stuff about gardening like how to remove prickers properly and you get to go outside and

make a garden if you didn’t already. Wait until the soil is 70 degrees F or more before sowing seeds.

Fact = Plant seeds in a row.

By: Shane Joeckel

Page 7 Digging in Dodge Issue 2

Soils Your Soil

By: Bella Ridley

Have you ever wondered how much silt, sand, and clay is in your garden? In our garden we have more

clay than silt or sand. Do you know how to find out if how much silt, sand, and clay you have? First, go

out to your garden and get some soil. Once you have dug that up, get some newspaper so you don’t

make a mess on your table. Then, you need a spray bottle full of water and spray your soil until it is

nice and moist, remembering you do not want mud. Next, take your soil and

form it into the shape of a ball, ribbon it through your hand and let it hang. If it

hangs and doesn’t break you have more clay than sand or silt, but if it does

break you have more sand or silt than clay. Judging by if your ribbon breaks or

doesn’t break give an idea on what you have in your garden. Finally, take a

plastic soda bottle and fill it halfway full with soil and the rest with water, put

the cap on and shake it. All of the sediments will settle show you how much of

what you have in your garden. The amount of silt, sand, and clay you have in

your garden is important to know because that will help you know what will

grow well and what will not.

I liked the activity in gardening class where we brought soil from our home and

we put it into bottles with water and shook them up. After we let the soil sit for

a week, it separated into sand, silt and clay. I found out that the soil from my

house has a lot of clay.

By: Timmy Cameron

Tristan's Soil

By: Tristan Tornow,

My family and I live in Portage, WI out in the country. We

have very sandy soil at our house. In our garden, my Dad

brought in back dirt to grow our vegetables. However,

behind our house we grow asparagus. Asparagus loves sandy

soil! It also loves the ashes from our woodstove. I love

helping my Dad in the garden and watching the deer eat

from our food plot.

Page 8 Digging in Dodge Issue 2

Working with soil is FUN !

Chris Miller, soil scientist, taught

the kids about soil particle size.

They ran soil through a series of

sieves to show how soil is made up of

various sizes.

Hand texturing

to determine

clay, sand, or

silt soil.