minutes_april2000

Vice President Chris Burnard called the meeting to order. The meeting began with the Education portion. Hank Berbee shared his expertise of bulbs, corms and tubers. Some interesting facts he shared:

Bulbs shrink about 40% in size after blooming.
Tulips have a more difficult time replenishing their size because our weather gets too warm too soon after blooming. That is why tulips often only last a few years.
Daffodils can continue to replenish their bulb size as our temperature rise so they do better here. Excellent varieties for naturalizing are Mt Hood and Ice Follies.
Combination plantings to help deal with the foliage after blooming would be Daylilies with Daffodils and Hosta with Tulips.
To stop paperwhites from getting too tall and falling over when forcing bulbs in the house, try letting them grow until there is about 2 inches of roots and then water with a solution containing 10% rubbing alcohol. This stops the roots from growing and will limit the stalk growth and also tone down the scent slightly.
Amaryllis bulbs should be planted outside during the summer months in a partial shade area and well fed until around Oct 1. Bring in the bulbs and create a stress period with no watering and 55 degrees. When you are ready to force bulb, place in a western or northern window and begin watering. The stress period triggers the bulb to send up a seed stalk (i.e. bloom) for survival.

Hank also had a variety of bulbs for sale for forcing and some education handouts. Thank you, Hank, for an informative presentation.

The meeting began with a roll call to help members learn each other's names. This month was sharing your favorite bulb.

Secretary Report: The last minutes were from the October meeting and are out on the web. No corrections were mentioned.

Treasurer Report: Sheila Sands went over the budget, which had been developed at the Finance Committee Meeting held earlier in January. The cash on hand at the time of the budget was $6,102.05. The decision was made to set aside $3,000 for next year since we are not having a Garden Tour again and we want to be sure there are funds for next year. The planned income for the year is $5,800 including $2,000 from the plant sale. The expenses listed for the year totaled $7,375, leaving a reduction in the assets of $1,575. Expenses this year include a series of Educational Public Workshops, CYOC, and the state fees. As discussed last year, the state fee will be covered for everyone and will be come from the plant sale proceeds. One change in this year's budget was the treasury will no longer pay for the Recognition Banquet Meal for the Master Gardeners. That will save about $1,500 in expense.

One comment was made regarding the budget that supported the change in the banquet, indicating that paying for the banquet really did not go toward our purpose of education and community service. The budget was accepted as it was presented. Chris Burnard indicated that if anyone has questions or concerns, they could contact her.

During the month of January, there had been a couple residual bills and income items come in, Income of $87.86 and Expense of $84.10, leaving a current balance $6105.81. Becky Rowe was also recognized for auditing the treasurer's books at the end of each of the past few years. This year's audit has been completed and no discrepancies were found.

Chris pointed out that the backside of each meeting's agenda would contain an education piece on a different plant. Roberta Gordon will be supplying these references each month. This month's plant was Bloodroot.

Old Business:

Time Sheets - Chris introduced a new excel spreadsheet that we can use to track our education and volunteer hours. The Master Gardener Website is still not working so we will need to either track via paper or through the electronic spreadsheet. Time sheets need to be turned into Debbie Brown, the Timekeeper. If you use the electronic sheet, she will be able to cut /paste into a master sheet which will then total the hours by project. Tracking time is important for individual awards but also for project analysis and for future grant proposals.

Salute to Leaders Award - Union County Master Gardeners received the Environmental Award at the Chamber of Commerce Salute to Leaders Awards Banquet in December.

Leeping Frog Award- Marcia Lee gave the frog to this year's leadership team. Chris indicated that she was considering reworking the Leaping Frog Award to better fit our expanding group and is looking for suggestions. One suggestion is to send her email before a meeting if you want to get recognize someone for an extraordinary effort. She could then share those kudos at the next meeting.

Coordinator's Report - George shared information on two upcoming activities. One is Art of Gardening being held in Lima. Cost is $40 for the all day event. An email is to be sent out on this event. Also, on Feb 2 and 3 at Franklin Park Conservatory, a Gourd Show is being sponsored by the Ohio Gourd Society. Master Gardeners can get in free by showing their nametags. Also, we have 12 new members signed up for classes. George is need of assistance at each class. A sign up sheet was passed around or contact George to sign up to assist. That time can count for volunteer or educational hours.

New Business:

Chris shared that the 2008 Calendar is almost complete and will be sent out shortly. Roberta Gordon has arranged many interesting speakers and activities for the upcoming year. Next month's speaker will be Jay Burton, a beekeeper. Roberta indicated that he is a knowledgeable and entertaining speaker. Reminder: Next month's meeting is February 20 (3rd Weds) and will again be at the Union County Services Building (old K-Mart).

Educational Workshops: Carolyn Gibeaut reported that we are planning a series of educational workshop, Grow Locally- Eat from your Own Backyard. Sat., April 5, 12, and 19. A cooking demo workshop is scheduled for Sat. July 12, and a Food Preservation Demo is on Sat., August 9. All workshops are planned from 10:00-12:30. Presenters and volunteers to answer questions at an open panel discussion are needed. A sign-up sheet was available. The next meeting is Monday, Feb. 11 at 7:00 p.m. at the AG Center Scarlet Room. Contact Carolyn with questions or to volunteer.

Project Review Committee- The Project Review Committee will be meeting from 6:30-7:00 on the Weds before each MG Meeting. (Next month Feb 13) at the Ag Center. Volunteers are needed for this committee. If interested, please contact Chris or attend the next meeting. The Project Review Committee did meet in January. Three projects were reviewed. The projects are scored on 1. Being worthwhile for the community 2. Scope of the project 3. A committee or chairman has accepted it. 4. County Educator is on board with the project. A score of 70% is considered passing. One project was for the building of raise beds at the Ag Center. It scored 58. Another project consisted of planting the raised beds at the Richwood Civic Center and doing a talk on square foot gardening. It scored 38. Both of these projects could be reviewed, retooled and resubmitted for future review. The third project was Love and Learn Gardens, which scored 88. Harvey Goertz presented an outline of this project for discussion by the group. The title of the project, Love and Learn Gardens, is composed of "Love", for the aspect that the food and flowers grown in the gardens would be donated local food pantries and nursing homes, and "Learn", for the aspect that the gardens would be way to share knowledge of gardening with the community through demonstration gardens and public field days. The project would consist of developing a garden site at the Ag Center. We have received permission to use the Ag Center land and water. All production would go to charity and the labor would come from Master Gardeners. Harvey has agreed to chair this project and had listed committees for planning/advertising, projection, distribution and education. Comments from the members at the meeting included a concern that if an established project such a McCloud Park has had decline in getting people to help with it maintenance, how can we take on another maintenance project or would a choice need to be made among projects. Several members supported the idea behind the gardens but felt a planning committee needs to be formed to shape the project and its size/scope and develop a working plan. Members, Marcia Lee, Karen Mikols and Anna Swackhammer volunteered to help Harvey with the exploratory committee.

Next Meeting: (Third Weds) February 20 at the Union County Services Building (Old Kmart) at 7:00 p.m.