Racine/Kenosha Master Gardener Association Meeting
December 12, 2011 at Kenosha County Center
PROGRAM: Annual meeting and election of officers, followed
by holiday entertainment, white elephant gift exchange and awarding of Master Gardener Volunteer certificates, name badges and recognition of hours of volunteer service
AGENDA – Voting: 5:30-7:00 p.m.; Potluck: 6:00 p.m.; Business Meeting; 6:30-7:15 p.m.

Bountiful Harvest at Garden of Giving

More than three tons of vegetables were harvested from the Garden of Giving this fall and donated to the Racine County Food Bank. The organically raised vegetables were distributed to needy families throughout the county.
The final harvest on Oct. 22 was organized by Maggie Larsen and Kathi Villarreal, Master Gardener Volunteer co-coordinators, with about 10 MGVs and a few spouses.
The event was called "Make a Difference Day,’’ said MGV Hugh Weisensel. "But the surprise that made a difference, was the appearance of about 20 young people from the UW-Parkside Asian Students group, who showed up willing to assist with any and all tasks."
With the help of the students, 16 crates of tomatoes were harvested and all tomato vines and cages were cleared. All beds were cleared, said Weisensel, including 29 raised beds and four large in-ground beds, for a total of about 7,000 square feet. The above ground irrigation system was also cleared, cleaned and stored for the winter.
With the final harvest, Weisensel said the total for the season was 6,589 pounds of food donated to the hungry. "Our thanks to all the regulars who volunteer at the Garden of Giving from spring through summer and fall, putting in countless hours, as gardens don’t wait."

Do you need a replacement Master Gardener Volunteer name badge?
If yes, notify Barb Larson by Friday, November 4th.

RKMGA June 27th Tour

Racine/Kenosha Master Gardener Association Field Trip & Education Program (tour may be counted as continuing education hours)

Our first field trip/tour is scheduled for June 27th at the Sustainable Living Center of Gateway Technical College, 3520 30th Ave., Kenosha at 6:00 PM.

Parking is available in front of the Madrigrano Center - where tour guides will direct you to the barn up the slight inclined driveway where we will hear about their wonderful work.  According to Julie Whyte there is also an electric cart that will be available for those needing assistance getting to the site.

We will be hearing about their project from Stephanie Sklba and Julie Whyte who will then be giving us a tour of the facility and gardens.

Hope to see you all there.   Thank you. 

Alice Linders-Olson, 2011 Program Committee
262-694-3112 (H)
262-455-5436 (C)

Flower Pot on display

The amazing flower pot creation, done by Master Gardeners Julie Ellis and Jim Kairis and artist Crystal Villwock, is on display at Uncorkt, 240 Main Street, Racine.
The pot sponsored by Racine Kenosha Master Gardener Association is titled "Heard It Through the Grapevine." Our entry will compete with others from numerous area organizations.
On September 10, the pots will be auctioned to the highest bidder, with proceeds to benefit the Downtown Racine Association.
Pots are on display during normal business hours and taken inside at night.

Flower pot project

Congratulations to RKMGA members Jim Kairis and Julie Ellis and artist Crystal Villwock for the great job on the Flower Pot project. The pot, titled "Heard It Through The Grapevine," is RKMGA's entry in the Downtown Racine 10th Annual Art Project. The pots will be placed in front of stores in Racine for the summer. A beautiful design and sure to be a winner!

To find out more about the 2011 Public Art event visit:

http://www.racinedowntown.com/flowerpots.html

Monday meeting

I'm thrilled that we have a RKMGA blog up and running. I expect it to be extremely helpful spreading the word about our organization and staying connected.
For starters, there is a Monday, May 23 meeting at CATI in Sturtevant.
Our program is "Conservation in Residential Landscapes," presented by Robert Livingston from Creative Edge Landscaping.
And please remember to bring a non-perishable item to be donated to the Racine food pantry.

Volunteer Opportunity - Racine Friendship Clubhouse

This volunteer opportunity is for adult education, and counts as volunteer hours along with prep, travel and teaching time.

JoAnn at the Racine Friendship Club (Website: www.racineclubhouse.org)

Is requesting MGV assistance to teach their day participants about gardening practices. They have two large raised beds, containers and some areas for flowers and landscaping. The participants will do the work, JoAnn would like the MGVs to act as trainers and consider this a teaching opportunity; you could consider it pre-vocational skill building. There is one participant who is a very good gardener, but he needs assistance in teaching the others. The days and times are flexible, but they are currently looking at Monday and Wednesday mornings from 9 to 11:30 as prime gardening times.

If you are interested in this volunteer activity, please email Patti Nagai with your interest level and I will coordinate the initial meeting.  Thanks!

Volunteer Opportunity

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY – this counts as MGV hours under the youth education column. Prep time, travel time and time with the children all counts.

It will be every day June 13^th – June 17^th from 9:30 to 10:30, and from her letter below I would assume that 2 or 3 MGVs would be very welcome!

If you are interested you can contact Michelle for more information at 496-6088 or at michellehedrick8@yahoo.com

Here is a note from Michelle:

“Hi  this is Michelle Schoen.  I spoke with you yesterday about having a master gardener coming to our daycare.  Our daycare is called Little Champions Learning Center.  It is located on 10127 Northwestern Avenue Franksville, WI 53132.  Our phone number is 262-884-4226 but the best way to contact me is 262-496-6088. 

Basically we are trying to set up our summer program.  The week of June 13-17 we have dedicated to gardening.  We do have small areas in our playground designated for gardening and we would like some help with teaching the kids how to garden.  We were thinking of container gardening.  We would need someone to come in from 930-1030 everyday that week if possible to help us start our garden.  My classroom will have between 20-30 4-8 year olds.  Please feel free to call me or email me anytime with anymore questions.”

MGV help requested

Imagine Kenosha, which is located in Bristol, provides afterschool and summer programming for elementary and middle school youth. They would like a MGV (or MGV intern) to meet once or twice with the middle-schoolers and staff to advise them on planning and caring for a flower/butterfly garden. This meeting would probably take place in June.

Please let Barb Larson know if you are interested or need more information.

Spring Into Gardening

Space is still available at Spring into Gardening on March 12th. Late fee applies for registrations received after February 25th.