Family Fun Day at the Garden - August 1, 2015

Upcoming Cobb County Extension Events

The following events are available through Cobb County Extension.

http://cobbextension.blogspot.com/

Bluebird Trail Tour

Saturday, October 4, 10:00 a.m. –Noon. Free and open to the public. Cobb Master Gardener and Bluebird expert Jim Bearden will conduct a guided walk of the 2.3-mile Bluebird Trail at Green Meadow Preserve Park, at 3780 Dallas Hwy., Powder Springs, GA, 30127. Follow the Bluebird Trail blog at bluebirdtrail.blogspot.com.

 

Thyme to Read Book Club

Friday, October 10, 10:30 -11:30 a.m. Book club sponsored by Cobb County Master Gardeners will meet at the Training Room of the Cobb County Water lab, 662 South Cobb Drive (at the intersection with Atlanta Rd.). This month’s book is The Forgotten Garden, by Kate Morton. November’s book will be The Founding Gardeners, by Andrea Wulf.  Schedule and information can be found at www.cobbmastergardeners.com. Free and open to the public.

Landscaping and Septic Tanks

Friday, October 10, noon-1:00 p.m. Presented by Cobb County Extension Horticulture Agent Neil Tarver, as part of the ongoing Lunch & Learn series of the Master Gardener Volunteers of Cobb County, at the Training Room of the Cobb County Water lab, 662 South Cobb Drive (at the intersection with Atlanta Rd.).

Trees of Our Lives: Small Native Trees for the Landscape

Tuesday, October 14, 7:00-8:00 p.m.  Presented by Master Gardener Dawn Hines, as part of the ongoing Gardeners Night Out presentation series of the Master Gardener Volunteers of Cobb County, at South Cobb Regional Library, 805 Clay Road, Mableton, 30126.

Horticulture Week at Green Meadows Preserve Park - July 8th

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Cooperative Extension. To celebrate the 100th anniversary and Horticulture Week, Cobb County Cooperative Extension is holding a series of classes and events the week of July 7 thru July 12th.  Extension Horticulture Week Events

Tuesday July 8th from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm
Green Meadows Community Garden will be featured as well as the Cherokee Garden and the historic Period Gardens around the house. Feel free to come at any point between 9:00 am and 1:00 pm.  There are only 2 events with specific times.

9:00 am General Welcome and Thank You for coming

9:30 am  Bluebird Trail walk (2.3 miles) for those who want to take a walk on the trail system and learn more about bluebirds and bird habitat.

9:00 am to 1:00 pm
Tour the gardens and talk to gardeners and Extension staff.

Gardens and Orchard:
Community Garden
Cherokee Garden
Historic Period Garden around the House
Organic Orchard

Additional Activities:
Bee Hive exhibit
Scavenger Hunt for children in the Community Garden
   (no collecting, just marking off the list)
Bug Talks in the garden
Watch the birdfeeders behind the garden

Feel free to bring a picnic lunch to eat under the Pecan Trees behind the house. Port-a-potties will be available for this event.

3780 Dallas Hwy, Powder Springs, 30127 (Intersection of Dallas Hwy and Old Hamilton Road).

Free and open to the public. For information, call 770-528-4070.

Additional Gardening Classes to Attend

Direct from the Cobb County Extension Blog,  here are several more classes you might be interested in taking this spring. (Two were in a previous post but this post contains more information).

If you are interested in taking a class be sure and call to preregister! Don't forget, you can also subscribe to the Extension Blog by email.

Home Yard and Garden Equipment: Use and Care

Saturday, March 22, 1:00 p.m. Free and open to the public. Presented by Agriculture Agent Neil Tarver at UGA Extension/Cobb County, in the second floor classroom at 678 South Cobb Drive, Marietta, GA, 30060. Please preregister by calling 770-528-4070.

Evergreen Groundcovers for Sun and Shade

Tuesday, March 25, 7:00-8:00 p.m. Free and open to the public. Presented by Master Gardener Shirley Priest, as part of the ongoing Gardeners Night Out presentation series of the Master Gardener Volunteers of Cobb County, at South Cobb Regional Library, 805 Clay Road, Mableton, 30126.

Bluebird Trail Tour

Saturday, March 29, 10:00 a.m. Free and open to the public. Cobb Master Gardener and Bluebird expert Jim Bearden will conduct a guided walk of the Bluebird Trail at Green Meadow Preserve Park, at 3780 Dallas Hwy., Powder Springs, GA, 30127. Follow the Bluebird Trail blog at bluebirdtrail.blogspot.com.

UGA Extension in Cobb County Open House

Tuesday, April 1, 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Free and open to the public. Drop in to discover what Extension in Cobb County has to offer! From Horticulture and Natural Resources, to 4-H for youth, to Family and Consumer Sciences, we provide up-to-date, researched information from UGA to the citizens of this county. Open House with displays and snacks at UGA Extension/Cobb County, second floor, 678 South Cobb Drive, Marietta, GA, 30060. For information, call 770-528-4070.

Garden to Table

Thursday, April 3, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Agriculture Agent Neil Tarver and Family and Consumer Sciences Agent Cindee Sweda present a class growing and then using food crops. UGA Extension/Cobb County, second floor, 678 South Cobb Drive, Marietta, GA, 30060. Preregistration is required; $10 fee for class and materials. Call 770-528-4070 for information and to register.

Moving Toward Organics in the Vegetable Garden

Tuesday, April 8, 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. Free and open to the public. Learn what organic gardening and farming really means and steps you can take to have a more environmentally friendly garden.  Presented by Amy Whitney, of UGA Extension/Cobb County, as part of the ongoing Gardeners Night Out presentation series of the Master Gardener Volunteers of Cobb County, at Mountain View Regional Library, 3320 Sandy Plains Road, Marietta.

The Beauty of Bulbs! From Amaryllis to Zephranthes

Friday, April 11, noon to 1:00 p.m. Free and open to the public. Presented by Master Gardener Debra Stockton as part of the ongoing Lunch & Learn series of the Master Gardener Volunteers of Cobb County, at the Training Room of the Cobb County Water lab, 662 South Cobb Drive (at the intersection with Atlanta Rd.). Debra will give us the ABCs of bulbs with a focus on Georgia favorites: daffodils, gladioli, and tulips.

Bluebird Trail Walk for Thursday Jan 30 - CANCELLED

Three robins and a red-winged blackbird on the birdbath. A
song sparrow on the ground beneath them.

It isn't often that events are cancelled here because of snow but....the walk scheduled for January 30th at 10:00 am is officially cancelled due to snow. The roads might be semi-passable by Thursday morning but the trails will still be covered in snow.

The next walk will be Monday, Feb 10th at 10:00 am at Green Meadows Preserve on Dallas Highway.

If you have extra time, put out water for the birds. I had lots of visitors all day yesterday during the snow because I had the only unfrozen water around.

Weekly Calendar August 11 - August 18

Tuesday August 13
6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Tonight's Bed Time Talk What's in Your Dirt will start at 7:00 pm sharp
Master Gardener's and Gardeners will be available for advice and help
 
Thursday August 15
8:30 am - 9:30 am
Master Gardeners in the Garden

Friday August 16
8:30 am - 10:00 am
Walk the Bluebird Trail with Jim
Meet at the garden to begin the walk at 8:30 am
Wear walking shoes and bring water to drink

Mini-Bluebird Muffins

 KC Bearden made some scrumptious blueberry muffins for the Bluebird Trail Tour back in March. They were incredibily good because of the surprise in the middle.

Mini-Bluebird Muffins

Ingredients:
Use any blueberry muffin recipe or boxed blueberry muffin mix that contains canned blueberries or fresh blueberries.

1 additional pint of fresh blueberries is needed as well

Topping:
1/4 cup of oats
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of butter
1 Tablespoon flour
Shake of Cinnamon
Shake of Nutmeg

Grease the mini-muffin tin with cooking spray.

Mix the topping ingredients and set aside (feel free to add a bit more of any of the topping ingredients to suit your taste).

Mix the muffins as directed and fill each hole in the muffin tin 3/4ths full of batter.

Add 3 fresh blueberries to the center of each muffin and push them lightly into the batter.  Put a small clump of the topping on each muffin over the blueberries.

Bake as directed for your recipe.

Here is the special surprise:
The blueberries form a berry center in the middle and the topping also follows into the middle of the muffin. When you bite into the muffin, you find the sweet oat topping and fresh blueberries in the center of the muffin.

Totally delicious! This will delight, surprise and make your family and friends happy.

We have new neighbors!

We now have another nest to watch at the garden. Last week I noticed a Carolina wren nest had been built in the corner of the ventilation window on the side of the shed. It actually is a really good place for a wren nest because it has a cool breeze, is totally protected from the elements and has a wide ledge for the nest to sit on.

Wren nests are very hard to peer into to count how many eggs are there. Cavity nesters (bluebirds and American kestrels) and birds such as osprey, great blue herons and peregrine falcon's that nest repeatedly in a particular place, are much easier to observe.

Even though bluebirds nest in boxes, you can wire the boxes with a nest cam and see all the activity in them. Last year my husband and I were addicted to watching an American kestrel nest cam in Boise Idaho.

Nest cams are video systems that you set up to live stream all the activity that occurs at the nest location. Most nest cams only work during daylight hours but some use an infrared camera so you can watch all night.

There are many local nest cams (just search for nest cams in Georgia). One that I know will be active for at least another month is in downtown Atlanta.  The peregrine falcon nest is on the the Sun Trust Plaza building, approximately 50 stories up. Since the nest is on a tall building, it is well lit so it can be seen in the sky. It certainly makes it easy to watch this nest 24/7.  Peregrine Falcon Nest -Downtown Atlanta.

Cornell Lab of Ornithology in New York has two nest cams and links to others (Cornell University Nest Cams). This year they have links to 2 osprey nests, a red-tailed hawk and a great blue heron.  The American Kestrel Nest Cam just went live so there will be activity for the next 2 1/2 to 3 months for that box.

On the Green Meadows Bluebird Trail we have Carolina Chickadees, Eastern Bluebirds, Tufted Titmice and Tree Swallows nesting in the boxes.  There aren't any nest cams on those boxes but here is a link to the Bluebird Blog Nest Cam post if you want to watch bluebird nest cams.

Saturday Workday Fun

We lucked out and had beautiful weather for Saturday's work day- okay it was beautiful because it didn't rain and it wasn't cold! In fact, as of 8:30 Saturday night it still hadn't rained.

The Bluebird Fundraiser was a resounding success. Mike and Sue did a wonderful job preparing the food for the Bluebird Blue Plate Special . If you weren't there, you really did miss out on some delicious food! And you missed out on getting to just sit and chat with your fellow gardeners while at the garden.

Everyone was already a winner after eating that delicious lunch but went home as double winners after the Bonanza Door Prize Drawing.

The garden looks 200% better than it did at noon on Monday. Spreading a huge pile of mulch, moving a huge pile of dirt, tilling up a huge sections of weeds besides digging weeds makes the entire garden look new and fresh. Yes!

There are still a couple of sections of the main paths that still need work before the next load of mulch gets delivered.

 













Above: The sunflower border after the first 2 passes with the tiller. To the right: The sunflower border after the tilling has been completed. Quite a difference, isn't it!  Thanks Denny for tilling it for us and Mike for using his truck to bring the tiller to the garden.

Everyone is hard at work at some task or the other

 

Chuck spend all morning moving sifted soil back and forth. Either to the sunflower borders or into the compost bin while Jennelle and Susie sifted, sifted, sifted... Jennelle was very happy to use the gloves she had gotten as a door prize after a previous workday. Susie wished she had some. Lucky her, she managed to snag a new pair of gloves at today's Door Prize Drawing!



















        Team 1 - aka The Blues Sisters                                                   Team  2 - Mary & Carol

 It was sad work removing all the fruits and flowers from the apple, pear and plum trees but it had to be done. The trees will be much stronger now that they can devote all their energy to making roots versus making fruit while their roots aren't established yet.

Weekly Calendar April 26 - May 2

April 27
10:00 am to 12:00 noon
Saturday Workday
Details for Saturday workday

12:00 noon to whenever
Bluebird Fundraiser Details

April 30
5:00 pm to 7:00 pm
Gardener's on Duty

Saturday Workday with Door Prizes and Bluebird Fundraiser

This Thursday, April 25^th and Saturday, April 27^thare our April work days. Thursday is from 10:00 to 12:00 and Saturday is from 10:00 to 12:00 also.  So far, here is the list of things we've come up with that needs to be worked on.

· Weeding (ongoing and forever)

· Weed pollinator beds before mulching

· Mulch pollinator beds with mini-pine nuggets

· Spread free or purchased mulch in garden common areas

· Move the compost/dirt pile and sift it as we move it

· Round-up along outside of fence (Thursday only)

· Till the sunflower border area (Saturday only)

· Plant sunflower border area (Saturday only)

· Weed eat/cut onions and Round-up remaining stems

· Weed around sign and plant 4 or 5 Caldwell Pink roses around the GMP sign

· Plant 4 Celeste figs in 1 gallon containers on the upper terrace

· Give the shed a good sweeping and cleaning

· Remove blooms & fruits from the fruit trees (Saturday only)
    (The fruits need to be removed so the trees develop a good healthy root system the first year in the ground)

 

As you can see there is a lot to do and we probably won’t get it all done on Thursday and Saturday unless YOU come help us.   Even if you can only come out for an hour, your contribution of time and effort will be greatly appreciated.

 

On Saturday after the workday is over at 12:00, we will be having a Bluebird Lunch Fundraiser for the Bluebird Trail.  Mike and Sue will be providing a delicious selection of food.  For further details, check the link to the Bluebird Lunch Fundraiser post.

Friends of a Feather -Bluebird Fundraiser

On Saturday at the end of the workday (12:00 noon), there will be a lunch fundraiser for the Bluebird Trail.

The baby blue birds are hungry and your support is very much needed.

We will be providing a delicious selection of food including several salads. We will be doing it like a Bar-b-Que plate fundraiser taking donations for each plate.

Help us help the mother blue birds feed their young.

Mike & Sue

Bluebird Trail Tour in the Snow

Snow?  Yes indeed it snowed on us at the garden during the Bluebird Trail Tour! Maybe we should have called it the Snow Bird Tour. At one point Jim called out "It is snowing!" and when we looked, he was rather blurry it was snowing so hard.

But that didn't keep this hardy bunch of people from bundling up and spending time in the garden and walking the trails.

It was colder standing in the garden with the wind whipping around us then it was once we started walking. 

I was impressed that everyone had a hat of some kind on!

Kathy was stalking a bluebird at one feeder, trying to get pictures for Jim's blog.

Bluebird Trail Tour is STILL on at 4:00 Saturday

Hello Everyone,
   The Bluebird Trail Tour scheduled for 4:00 this Saturday afternoon is STILL ON! There will be hot cider to warm you up as well as other goodies.

Walking the trail through the woods will be protect you from the wind. Just bundle up and it won't be bad since you'll be moving.

See you there for the walk!

As for the Workday - I'll be there at 2:00 to help change the lock combinations but the only thing on the workday agenda is weeding. If you'd rather weed when the weather is nicer this week, feel free to do your weeding later in the week. It is pretty nasty for just weeding. Brrrr....

If you have to choose between the Bluebird Trail Tour and weeding at the workday, pick the Bluebird Trail Tour!

         Vicki

Hooray - the new hoses are installed

Today was a most excellent workday. We got the pile of dirt moved into all the new beds plus topped off a few other beds. Weeding took place, the compost was turned and even more exciting is that the 4 new hoses got installed. Those dratted green ones have been replaced!! Hip hip hooray! Everyone now has access to wonderful hoses.

 

The Bluebird Trail Tour was a great success as well. Kitty and Kathy (KC) both brought blueberry muffins. Soooo delicious!  Jim's talk and tour was very interesting and provided great information. The sun even came out while we were out walking to make it nicer.

 

If you weren't able to come to the Thursday workday and Bluebird Trail Tour, be sure and come out on Saturday.

        (If you are in doubt weather wise, check the blog and an update will be posted by 1:00 pm)

Weekly Calendar: Feb 23 - Mar 2

Feb 23
2:00 pm
How to plant seed potatoes
Mike (Bed #30) will demonstrate different methods of planting seed potatoes. We'll be able to watch the potatoes grow all spring in our experimental area at the garden and see which method was most productive
 Feb 24
2:30 pm
New Gardener Orientation

Feb 26
4:00 - 5:30 pm
Gardeners on Duty

Feb 28
10:00 am - 12:00
Thursday Monthly Workday

12:00 -1:30
Bluebird Trail Tour
Bluebird Trail Tour Announcement

March 1
Lock combination changes
Be sure you have it before you come to the garden!

March 2
2:00 - 4:00
Saturday Monthly Workday

4:00 to 5:30
Bluebird Trail Tour
Bluebird Trail Tour Announcement

Bluebird Trail Tours!

Jim will be leading two tours of the completed Green Meadows Preserve Bluebird Trail. Come out and see what all the excitement is about!

Wear a warm jacket (if the weather is chilly as we will be in the shade) and comfortable shoes for the 2 + mile hike along the the Bluebird Trail. Tours will be conducted rain or shine.

The first date will be on Thursday February 28th at 12:00 noon after the Green Meadows Community Garden work day (Thursday version).

The second tour date will be on Saturday March 2nd at 4:00 pm after the Green Meadows Community Garden work day (Saturday version).

We look forward to showing the trail off to the Nest Box Sponsors, fellow gardeners and 2013 MGVOCC classmates.

Mr. Bluebird is watching us

Great Backyard Bird Count

One of my favorite Citizen Science events is about to occur - the Great Backyard Bird Count !

What is a Citizen Science project you ask?
       It is any project where ordinary people go out and collect data and submit it to the requesting group. This data is used to detect trends and developments. Some projects require you to go through a training class - like if you are a stream monitor. Jim will be doing citizen science when he records and reports on the success of the birds that move into the nest boxes on the Bluebird Trail.

This year the Great Backyard Bird Count is Feb 15-18, 2013. I'm going to try it at the Community Garden as well as at my house.

If you are interested, join me at the garden on 

 Saturday, Feb 16 between 2:00 and 4:00 and we'll look for birds.

Bring binoculars if you have any.

Below are pictures of some of the birds that have been heard or seen in and around the garden. We'll just see how cooperative they are when we go looking for them!

To the left, pine siskins on the tube feeder. Above, a red-bellied woodpecker. Below the pine siskins, a tufted titmouse.

A male cardinal (to the left) is bright red all over. While a female cardinal (above) is buffy brown with red highlights. She isn't bright like the male because she needs to be hidden while sitting on the nest. Below is a morning dove.

 

Bluebird Trail - Labor of Love

All it takes is one person taking one small action to make a difference. The Green Meadows Preserve Bluebird Trail is a perfect example of that statement. (You can follow Jim's bluebird adventures here - Green Meadows Bluebird Trail)


Male Eastern Bluebird 

I'm sure most of you have met Jim (he has beds # 34 & 35) at some point when he comes out to Green Meadows to walk his two golden labs Daisy and Abbi, work in the garden and work on the bluebird trail. Jim has helped build the Community Garden from the ground up. He put in over 200 hours of volunteer work before he got his two beds in July of 2012!



Jim pounding in rebar

While Jim was helping to build the garden he noticed bluebirds flying around everywhere. Shortly after that, he and Kathy (his wife) bought a bluebird house to put on the fence to provide a home for the bluebirds. The more he watched the birds and read about them, the more he wanted to help provide nest boxes for them.  Green Meadows Preserve has lots of choice habitat for bluebirds but lacked one essential thing - spots for bluebirds to build a nest.

The Community Garden is lucky enough to have 3 bluebird boxes nearby. Two of the boxes are in the small clearing behind the shed. Lucky, because not only are bluebirds fascinating to watch, but because bluebirds eat lots and lots bugs. In fact, 60-80% of their diet consists of bugs!

Box # 1 is the original box Jim had on the fence. Box # 20 is the

box that Jim and Kathy gave their grandaughter for Christmas.

 

There are 20 nest boxes on the bluebird trail. Jim's human assistants installing the nest boxes have been Kathy and Mike (bed #30). Daisy & Abbi go along as needed.  Four of the nest boxes on the trail were donated by community gardeners - Kitty & Harvey, Jim & Kathy, Vicki & Victor.

Jim showing Avery and her father Jed

the bluebird nest box she got for Christmas.

On the first terrace up from the garden you can see a bluebird feeder and a birdbath that have been installed.  If bluebirds eat insects, why have bird feeders you ask?  They also eat suet, cracked pecan meats, sunflower meats, dried and live mealworms and any live grubs we happen to dig up in the garden. (Denise has donated dried mealworms to feed the bluebirds.)

Jim is going to put a small feeder on the fence so we don't have to leave the garden when we find grubs to feed the bluebirds. Providing more food sources means the bluebirds will stay around, have babies in the nest boxes and eat our pestiferous bugs as well.

Where is the food? Where are those humans that are

bringing the bird seed out? Mike? Jim?

 

Be sure and watch all the activity around the bird feeders and birdbath! There is already lots of action to watch around the 2 boxes near the garden. The males are investigating the houses and trying to get females to accept check them (and the nest boxes).  In another 6 weeks or so they will get serious and start building nests. 

Warm Weather next 10 days

Hey Everyone,
   We are going to be having exceptionally warm weather for the next 10 days and it is going to be exceptionally dry as well. True, 2 days call for showers (30% and 40%) but you know that doesn't really mean it WILL rain and if it does rain it might not be very much. Therefore, supplemental watering will be necessary.

  If you water deeply and thoroughly every couple of days when you water you don't have to go quite as frequently. It is also better for the plants to really water good.   I'm going to be going down to the garden to water every 2 days so the plants aren't as stressed and susceptible to bug attack.

  Speaking of bugs, watch your veggies, especially the undersides of leaves because this warm weather will also cause lots of bugs to hatch out and go for the yummy greens. There are some weird looking critters on the plants right now but they are good critters. Lady bug beetles have funny looking larva but don't kill them because if you do you have destroyed a very beneficial aphid predator.

Here is a link to lady bugs if you want more information about them:  Lady Bugs - adults and larva pictures

 

Jane has a nice lady bug larva on her brussel sprouts

  Also, anyone with carrots or parsley needs to be on the watch for swallowtail caterpillars. That cold weather we had did NOT kill them off.  Susan (Bed 18) and I (Bed 41) have been removing caterpillars this past week. Instead of smashing them, just put them in the bluebird feeder by the birdbath to feed the bluebirds.

 

This one has grown quite a bit. When they are small they are mostly black, without

 the yellow and white spouts you see on this one.

 

  Enjoy the beautiful weather!

          Vicki