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January
brings a new year, new DCMG interns (welcome ya'll!) and always new
garden projects. Each new year, North Texas gardeners also face the
challenge of horrific weather, perplexing soil, and insects that
seem to come from some from biblical prophesy. And yet, always
hopeful, they spend cold winter days planning new beds and redesigning
old ones.
And then there are the Master Gardeners, a unique group who are not
content to just fill their own home flower and vegetable beds. Master
Gardeners don't do just beds. They do PROJECTS, some big and some
small, but all designed to educate our community about the benefits and
joys of gardening.
DCMGA currently has 21 approved projects, and while some are on-going,
some take place only once a year. To up-date current members and help the
new class of interns pick projects to earn their volunteer hours, five
on-going projects have been highlighted. Descriptions of all current
projects can be found on our DCMGA website.
Habitat for Humanity is one of the most personally rewarding projects of
DCMGA. Master Gardeners get to see these homes go from bare earth setting
to a finished landscape in one morning or afternoon. Habitat constructed
homes for seven families in 2004 in Denton and Lewisville, and next year,
their plans include Sanger. These homes are landscaped by a Master Gardener,
working with the building coordinators for Habitat, the actual family who
will live in the home and various other volunteers. Some are from Habitat
itself, working to earn "sweat equity" toward their own homes. Others are
from the church or organization sponsoring the home, and still others are
community volunteers. It's wonderful to have several Master Gardeners
available to oversee various parts of the volunteer labor.
The Master Gardener who is the Habitat liaison visits the site toward
completion of the home, measures for flowerbeds, coordinates with the city
to make sure regulations are met, orders topsoil and meets with the family
receiving the home to determine their preferences in landscaping. Some
families have definite preferences and want to help choose plants. Others
have never had a landscape before and want the Master Gardener to do most of
the plant selection. In either case, the plant selection and landscape plan
is a challenge, as we need to select hardy plants which will survive with
minimal care and we need to do it for $250! (Many times, Master Gardeners
will donate plants from their own gardens to our projects and this is a real
budget stretcher.)
The day before the landscaping project, the MG liaison (and sometimes the
family) will select the plants, mulch, grass seed ,and any hardscape
materials and transport them to the site. The day of the landscape, we
coordinate the volunteers and the various components of the landscape...and
sometimes do the planting raking, etc. ourselves. I would love to welcome
aboard anyone interested in volunteering one time or on an ongoing basis.
Nancy
Franke, project manager
http://www.dcmga.com/RegionalProjects.htm
Newton Rayzor, an elementary school in the Denton ISD,
now has an outdoor learning area, thanks to the volunteers of DCMGA. The
learning area fills a courtyard between the library and classrooms and has
been landscaped with a fabulous butterfly garden, large herb bed, native
plant bed and vegetable garden. Pathways, seating/observation areas, and
even a compost pile, have been included. Not only are the students able to
study insect and plant life first-hand, the area is used as a "behavior
incentive". (Children can be given permission to eat lunch there.) This
school counselor says she likes to bring students out to the area to calm
them (A phenomenon gardeners know well!) This year, plans call for
installation of a weather station, along with bird feeders and a shade
garden. Brigid Corbett, project manager
http://www.dcmga.com/SchoolProjects.htm
Aimed at introducing pre-school age children to vegetable
gardening, the Children's Community Garden, at Bowling Green Park, has
become a DCMGA out-reach to parents as well. Last spring, from March until
June, 18 children, along with parents and even some grandparents, planted
two garden plots, with a variety of vegetables, flowers and herbs. We had
two "tee-pees" covered with scarlet runner beans and bird-house gourds,
along with a cucumber tunnel. Giant sunflowers provided shade as the summer
progressed, and to some mixed reactions, a rabbit took up residence in our
"bunny garden" of radishes, lettuce and carrots! Classes met one morning a
week with everyone participating in garden preparation, planting seeds and
transplants, and, as summer progressed, watering and weeding. A worm compost
bin was a big hit with the children, who brought food scrapes from home in
their "compost cans" to feed the red wigglers. In the last two years,
produce from the Children's Garden has won over 12 red and blue ribbons from
the Denton County Vegetable and Flower Show. But the best part of the
experience is the picking of their very own vegetables to take home to share
with their families. Pam McClimon, project manager, 2004
http://www.dcmga.com/YouthProjects.htm
Denton County Master Gardeners have created and continue
to maintain an authentic Victorian landscape garden around the historic
Bayless-Selby House, near the Courthouse Square in Denton. Many
opportunities are available to volunteer in the herb, antique rose,
perennial, and pass-a-long gardens, as well as guiding visitors on tours of
the walking path. Volunteers may set their own hours or participate in
scheduled workdays, held the third Wednesday of each month, from spring to
fall. Bayless-Selby House and it beautiful park-like grounds are
considered one of the treasures of Denton. Master Gardeners have a unique
opportunity to work there, educating the public about turn-of-the-century
family gardens and enjoying its beauty, all at the same time!
This year, plans are being made to add another section to the park, with a
"new" house, so we look forward to even more creative opportunities.
Carolyn Gold, project manager
http://www.dcmga.com/DentonCountyProjects.htm
In 2000, DCMGA was asked to
redesign a demonstration garden at the Upper Trinity Water District plant to
make it more appealing. The result was so successful that we were asked to
design and install four more major beds. All that you now see when touring
Upper Trinity is the result of the ideas and labors of Master Gardeners.
DCMGA provides docents for 2-3 events a year, as well as giving tours
(invitation only) to mayors, water district members, city architects and
designers, state representatives and senators and others working with the
water district.
Our efforts are now focused on
bed design, clean-up, mulching, and maintenance. Workdays are usually held
each Thursday, 8:30-12:30. Volunteers may work more hours but must
coordinate first with the project manager, since the plant is now a secure
site after 9-11.
Plans for 2005 include
labeling plants and publishing a booklet of plant identification and care.
Linda Williams, project
manager
http://www.dcmga.com/DentonCountyProjects.htm |
The
New Year
