june begins
garden problem season
une, if it can be so designated, is the official beginning of the garden problems season! At least I’m declaring it the official start! Phone calls, office visits and on-site requests come fast and furious, seemingly. It’s difficult to say there’s one typical concern; clientele questions are all over the board. I’ve been asked about peach leaf curl, bagworms, algae in ponds, and more.
The most unusual question, and the first I’ve ever had on this topic, was a late afternoon call about how to make sauerkraut! Well, this question was out of my area of expertise; however, I felt compelled to answer the question due to the client’s immediate need for help (already had the cabbage shredded), and the unavailability of a FACS agent at the time to whom I could “pass the buck” (Barbara Ames did talk to this client later)!
Events this month:
June 6 – 7: Ag in the Classroom – Plants & Animals Have a Place in the Classroom. This is a comprehensive program designed for teachers interested in incorporating agricultural topics into their classroom curriculum. For my involvement I taught composting, raised bed gardening, and how to plant and care for a tree. I also assisted Jeri Geren with the plant propagation class.
June 8: Coffeyville Public Children’s Library presentation on gardening, garden tools, and a demonstration on braiding onions.
June 12 – 15: Horticulture Agent’s summer training and PFT meeting. This included a tour of the Rocky Ford turfgrass research center, and discussions of how the proceed with Master Gardener programming in the future given the budgetary constraints and reductions in state staff.
June 20: Preserving your Salsa program with Barbara Ames and Jeri Geren. This presentation included discussions about safe use of pesticides (reading the label), common pests of the garden, and preparing and water-bath canning salsa.
June 26: Guest speaker for the Zone 6 Garden Club of Pittsburg. I’ve been asked to talk about new insect pests on the horizon and other current concerns affecting landscape plants.
Throughout the month I compile the KGGF Ag News Report (combined recording from Josh, Jeri, Keith and myself) and e-mail them to Debra Woodall at KGGF in Coffeyville. I also e-mail the Extension Minutes reports from the Ag and FACS agents to KGGF and KLKC radio stations.
J