Over the Garden Gate
Monthly Newsletter
Clinton County Master Gardeners
Volume 7 Issue 10
November 2016
Editor: Carol Machael, [email protected]; 563-357-7537
Published on the first Monday of the month except during January and December.
To submit an article it must be sent by E-mail as a Microsoft Word attachment to the above e-mail address. To be accepted for publication in the
next newsletter, articles must be received 10 days before the first Monday of the month. Articles will be accepted or rejected at the discretion of the
editor. If you are mailing something to me please use new contact info: 502 Apple Valley Lane, Clinton.
Help us Earn $$ at our Fundraising Event
Monday, November 28 from 4pm to 8pm
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at the Pizza Ranch, 1347 11 St. NW in Clinton
WORK! We need volunteers for 2 or 4 hour shifts...we get to keep the tips!
PLEASE COME & EAT! We get a percentage of dinner receipts!
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Invite your relatives, friends, coworkers, and anyone you know to join us for dinner.
Contact Linda Lamp at 563-659-5838 or Deb Monroe at 563-659-8592 if you can help.
CLINTON COUNTY MASTER GARDENERS ANNUAL HOLIDAY BANQUET
December 5, 2016 @ Buzzy’s, Welton, Iowa
5:30 pm - Social Hour 6:30 pm – Buffet Dinner
Join your fellow master gardeners at the annual holiday/awards banquet. We will be celebrating the holidays
and our accomplishments during the year. Volunteer/education awards will be presented. There will also be
door prizes. Invitations will be sent mid- November. Kindly return your RSVP by November 23rd.
At the banquet, the Clinton County Master Gardeners will also present awards—for those with large number of
volunteer and/or education hours, and for Master Gardener of the Year. This award is based on volunteer hours
and service to the organization. To nominate an individual for the award, please submit a letter of nomination to
the Advisory Board describing the achievements of the person.
Letters of nomination should be mailed to the Extension Office at Iowa State University Extension & Outreach
Office, 400 E. 11 Street, DeWitt, Ia. 52742. The nomination letter may also be forwarded to Willard Larsen at
[email protected] . The Advisory board will select an individual based on the letters received and
hours recorded for the current year. The deadline for submitting nominations is November 14 .
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Volume 7 Issue 10
Page 2
November 2016
CLINTON COUNTY MASTER GARDENERS ADVISORY BOARD MINUTES
OCT 18, 2016
BICKELHAUPT ABORETUM-9 AM
Roll Call: Linda L., Deb M., Brenda C., Bonnie M., Deb N., Willard L., Margo H., Mark S., Charles D.,
Betty Ellerhoff (financial officer)
Guest:
Approval of Sept. Minutes - Willard moved to approve, Deb 2nd. approved by all
Financial Report - Betty Ellerhoff-financial advisor for the county gave a detailed report on how funds will be
recorded. Betty will be working to get the accounts so we can understand how they work and how to use
them. Balance in acct to date is $7305.16. This balance does not include payment for the new 2016 Master
Gardener class.
Mark's report- New MG class went to Ames last Saturday and day was enjoyed by all.
Bickelhaupt-Margo- Arts at the Arb is done for this year. Next years' theme will be Kids & Nature. Wreath
class will be held on Dec. 3, 2016 in the garage. Call arb for more info.
Committee/Projects/Events
OLC-Willard- Water feature project being completed. Will have clean-up day after hard frost.
Publicity-Deb-Fall social-20 people attended.
Christmas Party– We have committee for party, $15 cost per person again. Deb M.
made motion to allow $300 for party needs, Linda L. 2nd. approved by all. Linda
suggested we add an award for 100 hrs in education & volunteer hrs. Approved.
Old Business:
Memorium spending-next month
Write up of Committee Events-keep up with it
Shirts-next month
New Business:
Board approved to make a publicity committee, Deb N. will help with this. Would like at least 3 on committee, 5 would be ideal.
Advisory Board needs 2 new member this year-need names by Nov meeting
Butterfly Event at OLC- Only $25 was used out of the $150 allowed. Money returned to accounts.
Next meeting November 15, 2016 at the Extension Office in DeWitt.
Brenda Council, Secretary
Volume 7 Issue 10
Page 3
November 2016
GET YOUR VOLUNTEER/EDUCATION HOURS IN !!!!
Through their participation in educational activities, Master Gardeners also increase their own personal
knowledge in horticulture. Master Gardeners extend Iowa State University Extension's consumer horticulture education programs through volunteer activity.
Recognition will be given at the Christmas banquet to Master Gardeners who have large numbers of
hours. The advisory board requests that Master Gardeners update their volunteer and education hours
to the state recording system at this time.
For these hours to be considered for special recognition, they must be recorded by November 28 .
Hours may be entered at: mastergardenerhours.hort.iastate.edu/. If you do not have access to a computer or are not comfortable entering your hours with the new system, please contact Mark Schroeder at [email protected] or call the Iowa State Extension office at 563-659-5125 for assistance.
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The Master Gardener Photo Contest
will be held again this year at Fair time. The
subject is the OLC on the DeWitt Fairgrounds. The photos may be taken in any season and there is lots of beautiful opportunities
now since there hasn’t been a killing
frost. Your photo may be a close-up, gardenHere is what is happening at the OLC. Loren
Andresen, Master Gardener intern, and Mike
Selby are building a new planter to replace
the water feature. Great guys showing their
volunteering spirit and hard work.
scape, or composite with a prop included, and
don’t forget the children’s category. All Master Gardeners and their families are eligible to
join.
The ‘Musque de Provence’ or fairytale pumpkin takes on a deep mahogany sheen when it
reaches maturity. Like the Cinderella pumpkin, it is flat and squat. This variety, however, is
distinguished by its deeply ribbed sides which make it easy to divide into slices, the way it
is often sold in French markets.
Volume 7 Issue 10
November
2016
Check out www.lisaorgler.com. Very interesting website!
Another OLC Project
The planter is now complete and
looking great. Big project and well
done!
This handsome squash is called the
“sea pumpkin” of Chioggia, a
coastal town south of Venice, Italy.
Weighing in at about 10 pounds,
squash of this variety have a
bumpy surface with a dusty bluegreen sheen. The deep yellow flesh
of the Marina di Chioggia is known
for its flavor.
MASTER GARDENERS VOLUNTEER :
Extension Office Plant Partners: Willard Larsen [email protected] 563-249-2476
Eagle Point Nursing Home and Rehabilitation or Community Garden: Willard Larsen
OLC/County Fair: Roger Rittmer [email protected]
Bickelhaupt Arboretum: Margo Hansen [email protected]
Curtis Mansion: Liz Clements 563-243-3254
. . . and justice for all
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability,
political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Many materials can be made available in alternative format
for ADA clients. To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC
Tropisms: Phototropic, Geotropic and Thigmotropic Plant Growth
Tropisms are natural responses of organisms to external stimuli. Plants need light and water
for photosynthesis. They have developed responses called tropisms to help make sure they grow towards
sources of light and water.
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Positive tropism – towards the stimulus
Negative tropism – away from the stimulus
Phototropism – growth in response to the direction of light
Geotropism – growth in response to the direction of gravity
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Thigmotropism— response when stimulated by touch
Auxin is a plant hormone produced in the stem tips and roots, which controls the direction of growth.
Seedlings of plants grow straight upward in dark environments in order to reach the
sunlight above ground. Once they break through the surface, they start bending toward
the light because the growth of cells on the dark side is faster than the cells on the light
side. However, if the amount of light is the same on all sides of the plant then it will continue to grow straight upward instead of bending.
If you were to put a plant on its side, you'd notice that after a while, the roots would start
growing downward while the stem would grow upward. This response to gravity is called geotropism. The roots are
exhibiting positive geotropism, or growth with gravity, while the stem is exhibiting negative geotropism, or growth
against gravity.
Different parts of a plant grow in opposite directions because they have different functions. The roots need to grow
into the ground to provide stability for the plant, as well as to access water and nutrients. The stem needs to grow
upward toward the sunlight so the plant can photosynthesize, or make food from sunlight.
So, how do different parts of a plant know which way to grow? Plants have organelles called statoliths, which settle
at the bottom part of their cells and allow plants to sense gravity. They also have a hormone called auxin, which
stimulates elongation and growth in plant cells. For root cells, the statoliths and auxin trigger downward growth, while
cells above ground are signaled to grow upward.
The growth of a plant toward a light stimulus is called phototropism. Seedlings of plants grow straight upward in dark
The best known early research on phototropism was by Charles
Darwin, who reported his experiments in a book published in
1880, The Power of Movement in Plants.
Darwin concluded from these and other experiments that (a) the
tip of the coleoptile is the most photosensitive region; (b) the middle of the coleoptile is responsible for most of the bending; and (c)
an influence which causes bending is transmitted from the top to
the middle of the coleoptiles.
environments in order to reach the sunlight above ground.
Once they break through the surface, they start bending
toward the light because the growth of cells on the dark
side is faster than the cells on the light side. However, if
the amount of light is the same on all sides of the plant , it
will continue to grow straight upward instead of bending.
Plant and soil specialist, Dr. Thomas Nikoai of Michigan State University,
says leaving the leaves on the lawn is " ... not only not a problem, it's awesome." According to an interview at Christian Science Monitor, Dr. Nikolai says that by mowing over the fallen leaves to turn them into smaller
pieces, the leaves will actually enhance the lawn's fertility, not kill it off.
And while it's usually recommended to use a mulching mower, or a
mulching attachment, to convert the larger leaves into smaller-sized particles, virtually any mower can do the job, and it's merely a matter of mowing over the leaf-filled yard a few times during the season.
Fallen Leaves Provide Habitat to Creatures – All sorts of little animals rely on leaf cover to survive and build nests. These include
salamanders, frogs, toads, box turtles, many terrestrial invertebrates, and other creatures.
Leaves Provide Nutrients for Organisms – Leaves are a natural part of any ecosystem. Every resident of the leaf litter—or visitor to it
is connected to the food web in some way,.
Reduce Waste – Throwing away leaves is very wasteful. The EPA says that in 2011, yard trimmings accounted for 13.5% of solid waste
(approximately 33 million tons). Don’t let your leaves be wasted, they have critical benefits to wildlife and your garden.
Increase Soil Fertility – Leaving leaves alone and letting them naturally decompose adds nutrients to the soil. Leaves also increase the
soil’s water retention.
Reduce Pollution – Leaf blowers and the trucks used to haul away leaves pollute. Artificial fertilizers also pollute. However, leaves are
natural fertilizers that do not pollute and actually improve the soil.
Saved Time – By not focusing on removing leaves, one can focus on other fun stuff to do during the fall. You do not have to ditch the
rake completely; you can use it to move leaves onto your flower beds or a compost or leaf mold pile.”
DeWitt, Iowa 52742
400 East 11th Street
Clinton County Extension
Iowa State University