Growing Good Kids: Junior Master Gardener Program NOTE: schedule for spring 2019 (february?)

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Dig In! Let's get Growin'
Level I Mascot

Fun and educational gardening activities for Kids!

What is the Junior Master Gardener Program?

"The Junior Master Gardener program is an international youth gardening program of the University Cooperative Extension network. JMG engages children in novel, “hands-on” group and individual learning experiences that provide a love of gardening, develop an appreciation for the environment, and cultivate the mind."  (jmgkids.us)  The curriculum is designed to facilitate teaching life skills, math skills, observation skills and social skills through ecology, gardening, reading, and leadership.

How does the program work?

The curriculum offers two levels: elementary (Level I) and middle school (Level II).Level 1 (elementary children) Level 2 (middle/jr. high students) http://jmgkids.us for curriculum and website. Because the JMG materials are creative, well-researched, horticulturally robust and readily available through the Texas A&M University Extension, the materials have been used by a wide range of people and organizations. They are considered a treasure trove of experiential gardening activities, its applications seem limitless. (Fleming)

In Level I, The Literature in the Garden Module features award winning books!
The 2018 Growing Good Kids Excellence in Children’s Literature Award Winners were announced at the National Children & Youth Garden Symposium on July 13, 2018 at Cornell University. http://jmgkids.us/bookawards/

Always a favorite among all age groups: Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens on you tube

Who can participate? Any children's activity groups: 4-H, after school, in school (the curriculum is approved for state standards), nature field studies, gardening clubs, home-schooled children, library programs, wildlife centers, faith-based groups groups. The possibilities really are limitless!

Decorated Potted Grasses

Community Garden Activity

In 2008, the Canyon County Extension Master Gardeners sponsored events at the Middleton Community Center, Nampa Public Library, Veteran’s Therapeutic Garden, Trinity Community Garden, and the Canyon Hill Community Garden. Over 250 youth participated!

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Mr. Thistle
Level II Mascot

For more information contact:

University of Idaho Canyon County Extension 208-459-6003

or

http://jmgkids.us for curriculum and website

"The terms, Junior Master Gardener, JMG and Golden Ray Series, and associated logos, are service marks of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service."

Tomato Taste Off 2018! And the winner is...

Congratulations to the 2018 Tomato Taste-Off winners! Thirty one tomatoes were entered in 3 categories. There were 7 cherry tomato entries. First place was taken by Doug Ranck with a Black/Chocolate Cherry and second place by Mary Van de Bogart with a Sungold Hybrid. The slicer category had 14 entries. Richard Ames won first place with a lovely orange tomato variety named Persimmon. Clara Flynn took second place with the Celebrity tomato. The last category was the paste tomatoes with 10 entries. First prize went to Mary Van de Bogart with a San Marzano Redorta paste tomato. It was huge!

Then Pat Flynn took second with the good old stand by Roma Paste. The first prize winners received $50 gift certificates to a local plant nursery and the second prize winners received $25 gift certificates. Thank you to everyone who entered for all you hard work growing such yummy tomatoes this year!

The tomato taste-off was facilitated by the University of Idaho Master Gardeners from Canyon County and done in conjunction with the annual Indian Creek Festival that the City of Caldwell puts on every fall. This was the second year that the Canyon County Master Gardeners put on this event. Tomatoes are brought in from community members and master gardeners. The festival attendees were very enthusiastic in their tomato tasting and judging. It was fun to hear all the comments and interact with so many tomato lovers. The biggest surprise was that the same variety of tomato could taste so different from different gardens. For example, we had 4 entries of the Black/Chocolate Cherry tomato grown by 4 different people and they all had very distinct flavors.

Tomato classes were held in the afternoon. Attendees learned tomato basics, how to grow tomatoes on a trellis and how to can tomatoes.

It's never too early to start picking out that perfect tomato to grow for the contest next year!

The Master Gardeners look forward to seeing you at the 3rd annual Tomato Taste off 2019!

September Community Newsletter

In case you missed this issue - here's what's happening in September with Canyon County Master Gardeners! Newsletter link

Keep informed! Sign up for our monthly newsletter here

Turf/Tree Team Part 2

The Tree and Turf Team has been busy so far this summer. Part 2

Our next site visit was near Greenleaf to help answer the question on why a resident’s spruce tree was showing signs of failing health. What we found was a single spruce tree next to a barn where it was starving for water, which was making the tree unhealthy. That in turn attracted Spruce Beetles which started their slow death of the tree. Look at 3rd photo below where bark is missing, also notice the 4th photo below of a neighbor’s spruce tree with severe beetle damage. We took a small walk around and noticed several more spruce trees in neighborhood with similar signs of beetle damage.

Signs of beetle damage are where the needles on infested trees may turn a pale yellowish-green color and tend to drop to the ground after high winds, but rarely turn rust colored on the tree. Needles typically drop from branches the second summer after the tree has been infested. Boring dust, produced when beetles bore new entry holes, may accumulate in bark crevices and around the base of the tree. Streams of resin along the main trunk are often associated with recently attacked trees.

What can you do to help protect your spruce tree?

• Maintain the health and vigor of trees: The Spruce Bark Beetle prefers to attack weaker trees or ones that have fallen so maintaining the health and vigor of your trees is important. Tree culturing activities such as watering and fertilizing trees early in the growing season will help develop and maintain healthy trees.
• Prune lower branches to retain a fully crowned tree. Topping mature evergreen trees as illustrated in the pruning link, page 6, sets a tree up for disease and damage: Pruning should be done in the fall and the branches removed from the site if disease is present.
• Spray the tree with an insecticide registered for use on spruce trees to prevent Spruce Beetle attacks: This should be done in spring by early May to protect the tree prior to the beetle’s emergence and dispersal flight.

Severe dieback

Spruce tree next to barn

   

Neighbors tree with severe beetle damage

Noticeable beetle damage

           

Spruce beetle impact: from Colorado State forest management

https://csfs.colostate.edu/forest-management/common-forest-insects-diseases/spruce-bark-beetle/