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Minutes of the Master Gardeners of Union County
Education Hours: 1 Hour
Volunteer Hours Earned: .5 HourVice President, Chris Burnard, called the meeting to order in Marsha's absence.
Secretary Report: Last month's (March 2007) minutes are on the web. One correction was noted that the Barbi Conaway and Faye Cox had given a talk to a garden club not a 4-H Club. With that correction, the minutes were approved.
Treasurer's Report: Audrey Hall reported income for the month of $45.00 for Adopt a Pot, $32.50 for the Bus Tour. The balance stands at $9581.17.
Old Business: The State Fee was tabled again, to be addressed at the next meeting.
CYOC - Al Burnard gave an update on this project. The group had held several meetings and had attended orientation meetings at the CYOC. A donation for 18-yd of leaf compost had been secured. A dump truck is needed to haul it for either free, for hire, or just for fuel costs. If anyone know someone with a dump truck or could provide this service, please let Al or Eunice Hornsby know. A backup for handling this hauling would be have a caravan of Master Gardeners with pickup trucks provide the hauling. If anyone is interested please let Al or Eunice know. The group is also looking for any extra plant donations or seeds that MG might have. A sheet was passed out for donating.
Vets Memorial - Karen Long shared that the Vets Committee had approved the plan. They are in the process of securing the plants and had been able to find all but one and were looking to substitute a carpet rose in the design. The County Commissioners had approved the budget and would be paying for the plant material. May 7 would be the plant delivery date with May 8 and May 9 as the planting dates with the planting being done during the working hours as county employees would also be involved. Please mark your calendar. The dedication ceremony will be on Saturday, May 19, at 11 AM.
McCloud Park - Patsy Bushdorf gave the update. The greenhouse plants are doing excellent. She and Karen had completed some transplanting. Patsy provided a list of the plants that will be used in the Park this year. The next workday would be Saturday, April 28, from 8 - 11 am with plans to move hostas and ornamental grasses. They had planned on moving a dwarf lilac to the spot where the tree had been destroyed by an accident but had found that the city had already replaced it with a honey locust tree. If any McCloud Park workers are missing any tools, please see Patsy as she has a collection of tools/items left on the workdays. She is also looking for someone to prepare an article on McCloud Park for the newspaper.
Plant Sale - Nancy Mead indicated that she had brought in pots for anyone needing them for starting plants. The soil donated from Scotts is out in the shed at the Ag Center. Please take 3 bags at first until everyone has some and then you are welcome to take more. Please see George for a key to the shed, if you want to do a pick up during the week.
Project Review Committee: Roberta Gordon gave an update on two projects, which had been reviewed. One was our participation in the Union County Farmer's Market Festival on August 11 from 8:30 am -3 pm. The group had found the project to be an opportunity for providing education and it had received 85 out of 100 points in the review scoring. A group of volunteers would be needed to participate. There was some discussion on the length of time needed since the market is usually over by 12 p.m. but maybe it will be longer due to the special festival day.
The second project is regarding the installation of a Rain Garden at the Ag Center. The Soil and Water Conservation was doing the installation and they want Master Gardener's help in selecting and installing and maintaining the plants. The project had scored a 100 on the review process because they felt it was a great project for continuing education, for using it for plant identification, and for providing possible workshops to the public on rain gardens. The planting was scheduled for the first Saturday in June. Jerome Shapiro asked about whether the installation would be done during the week or if it could be done on the weekend. He voiced a concern about how we could expect to hold workshops about building rain gardens if we are not involved during the construction phase of the garden. As Master Gardeners, we know about planting plants, the new learning opportunity would be in the layout and construction of the garden. George confirmed that the installation was going to be done by the county workers and with county equipment so it would be done during the work week. Roberta and George both indicated that the installation process was minimal and that tonight's speaker on the topic would provide better explanation of the installation process. Someone suggested taking a vacation day if you wanted to witness the installation process.
Garden Party: Chris Burnard indicated that planning would need to be started for the upcoming Garden Party, which was planned to take the place of the tour this year. The tentative date was the second Sunday in July, July 8. Amber Haynes had agreed to chair this event.
Coordinators Report. George reminded everyone that volunteer packets had been available to everyone and only 13 had returned them. The Garden Party would be example of how this would be valuable by identifying those interested in helping with that project. Please send them or email your responses to George. The listing is also available on the website.
Mary McDonald gave a brief update on the Bus tour. We had 24 members signed up including spouses. 35 are needed as a minimum with a maximum of 47. The tour will be open to the public. Jerome asked about children attending. It was confirmed that it would be opened to the adult public. It will be June 16. Mary asked that we recruit friends and neighbors who might be interested.
George reminded members that hours both education and volunteer need to be turned in by the fiscal year end, April 30, 2007. Presently, we have 76 members but only 42 had turned in the required 10 volunteer and 6 education hours, so far.
George also indicated that the Soil and Water Conservation tree and shrub sale was going on and had discounted prices were now available. There was limited number of most items so act fast!
Education: Christina Burri, who is a Bokes Creek and Milcreek Watershed Coordinator for Soil and Water Conservation, gave a PowerPoint presentation and provided handouts on Rain Gardens and their plant selection. She indicated that there was an excellent manual available for downloading from the Cuyahoga and Geauga County Soil and Water Conservation websites called the Rain Garden Manual for Homeowners.
Rain Gardens work to improve water quality by providing a filter for runoff water that occur during rainstorms. They are landscaped gardens located in a low spot designed with Native Ohio plants that are deep rooted and will tolerate both rain and drought periods. The deep roots provide spaces for the water to percolate through the ground after a rain. They are not a wetland because they are designed to drain out during a 24 hours period and should not stay wet more than 24 hours. Their advantages include reducing runoff, improving water quality, low cost best management practice for conservation, simple installation, can start small and then expand, and due to their quick draining, can actually reduce mosquito population.
The site assessment includes looking for a low-lying area with close proximity to drain spouts (10-20 feet from foundations) or run off areas from parking lots. The soil investigation involves digging a test hole, 8 inch by 8 inch, and seeing how many inches drain per hour. The rate should be total draining in 24 hours. Excavation involves removing the soil not more than 8 inches deep. The bed can be amended with soil and with sand before planting. She had applied and received a $500 grant to cover the cost of installation. It will be located at the Ag Center at a point of runoff from the parking lot. The planned garden is to be 10 x 10 and the county ditch maintenance supervisor has the equipment to quickly take off the small amount off the top of the garden. The planting of the garden will be June 2.
She had pictures of similar gardens at Bolton Field and Hilliard's Homestead Park. She indicated that she would confirm the date and time of an upcoming tour of Homestead Park that we could participate in if desired. There was some questions regarding the use of French drains to speed up drainage and whether the drain from a sump pump could be used to generate the water for a rain garden. Christina will follow-up on these and get answers back to the group.
It was a very interesting topic and presentation.
Leaping Frog: Mary McCord presented the Leaping Frog to Carolyn Gibeaut for being patient and a good teacher.
The next meeting will be May 23 at the Ag Center.
Members in attendance:
| Kathy Altizer |
Kristine Kinzer |
| Al Burnard |
Susan Kinzer |
| Christine Burnard |
Marcia Lee |
| Patsy Bushdorf |
Karen Long |
| Barbi Conaway |
Mary McCord |
| Charita Cooper |
Mary McDonald |
| Faye Cox |
Kim Main |
| Ellen Evans |
George McVey |
| Kristi Garner |
Karen Mikols |
| Carolyn Gibeaut |
John Miller |
| Roberta Gordon |
Nancy Mead |
| Scheral Grieder |
Deena Newell |
| Joan Griffin |
Ian Pasco |
| Audrey Hall |
Gloria Richardson |
| Mary Ann Haynes |
Sheila Sands |
| Maria Huber |
Jerome Shapiro |
| Joe Johnson |
Anna Swackhammer |
| Dilu Juvarkar |
Beth Wible |
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