In Season Spring 2019

In Season

SPRING 2019

A publication of the Virginia Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Program and the Virginia Tech School of Plant and Environmental Sciences Volume 33, Number 3, May 2019

Dave Close State Master Gardener Coordinator Devon Johnson Communications Project Coordinator Sue Edwards Master Gardener Program Development Gabrielle Sanderson Program Support and Implementation Sarah Wright Program Support and Implementation

Virginia Cooperative Extension programs and employment are open to all, regardless of age, color, disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, veteran status, or any other basis protected by law. An equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Virginia State University, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture cooperating. Edwin J. Jones, Director, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg; M. Ray McKinnie, Administrator, 1890 Extension Program, Virginia State University, Petersburg.

Content Special Letter from the State Coordinator

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Dave Close addresses change and renewal at the State Coordinator’s Office

Sow What: Millennials and Gardening

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Research from the EMG State Office on Millennial’s gardening interests

Spring Garden Tips Banquet With Becky Heath!

Master Gardener College will feature a Thursday-night banquet highlighting keynote speaker Becky Heath.

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Update: Submit Your Digital Brag Boards!

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Local Fairs Promote Love of Gardening

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Master Gardeners contribute to local fair competitions by judging produce, horticultural products

Spotlight: Norfolk Botanical Garden Tour

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Buffer Landscaping in Action!

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Master Gardeners & Master Naturalists Collaborate at Smith Mountain Lake

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A Special Letter From the State Coordinator:

Seasons of Change & Renewal It seems at the beginning of each season I catch myself saying “Summer” is my favorite season or “Fall” is my favorite season, or “Winter,” well, I never say that winter is my favorite season, but you get the idea! I do think, however, that spring truly is my favorite of all four seasons even though fall is a close second!

Why spring? There are far too many reasons for me to include in this brief letter and some of them are on a deep and personal level as they relate to my faith. But in short, springtime brings about newness and change and renewal. Springtime is the lengthy awakening from the dormancy and sometimes dreariness of winter (which does play an important role in life even if I don’t like the cold temperatures and short days!).

This spring, the spring of 2019 is proving to be a season of dramatic change in the state coordinator’s which is creating an opportunity for some sweeping renewal.

And while change and renewal can be hard and sometimes painful, it usually leads to good things. Positive things.

“Ok, get to the point Dave, enough with the philosophical waxing and analogies, what are you even talking about?!”

Specifically I am making reference to John’s transition from our EMG team to his new position in the College of Natural Resources and the Environment. From the onset of his time with our program John proved to be an essential and invaluable asset to the EMG program. Losing him truly is a loss for our office and for our program. I sincerely wish John all the success he can find in his new position. It is an exciting opportunity. It is something new, which is fitting for this ‘season.’

As a result of John’s transition, he and I worked to ‘renew’ his vacant position.

To reimagine it. To make it reflect the reality of what all he did when he held the position. This is the exciting part. This is the encouraging part to me as we look

at filling the big shoes he is leaving behind. And his departure truly is leaving a void, a vacuum that we hope to fill with talent and skill equal to his.

We have decided to elevate his position title to “State Coordinator,” and I will become the “Program Director.”

Functionally, John served as the state coordinator, particularly over the course of the past two years. This allows us to reimagine how this office will function into the future and how we will engage with our colleagues nationally moving forward. Even in his leaving, John’s insight and wisdom and expertise is having a formative impact on the EMG program.

I hope the same can be said of me at some point in the distant future when it is time for me to transition as well.

John, thank you for serving the EMG program well for these past six years.

Thank you for successfully serving our extension agents and coordinators and volunteers. Thank you for challenging me and inspiring me to be better at my job.

Also along the theme of change . . . . Each spring between the end of March and the first of April, three of our four daughters celebrate birthdays. This year we celebrated three milestones: we now have an 18 year old, 16 year old, and 13 year old (and our oldest turned 20 just a few weeks prior)! My personal family continues to grow, and now my ‘work family’ is also growing! By the time this edition of In Season is published, Devon will have had her first baby. We are excited about this new edition and we are celebrating with Devon and Scott on the arrival of their son. Springtime really is a season for new things and it really does generate a lot of excitement and celebration!

Dave Close

Dave Close Master Gardener Coordinator

Sow What: Millennials and Gardening Research conducted by the EMG State Office shows Millennials are interested in gardening and want to learn more!

By: Gabrielle Sanderson Gardening has been a favorite activity for millenniums, dating all the way back to the Neolithic period in 9,000 B.C., where the science of agriculture was developed to produce plants instead of foraging for a complete diet (Driscoll, 2018). Trends in the past, especially surrounding economic downturns, show that people often turn to community gardens, fruit and vegetable production, and container gardening in order to save space, while also producing a substantial amount of food (Driscoll, 2018).

Since the recession of 2007 to 2009, Millennials (born between 1981-2003) have started a trend

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among younger households by participating in gardening activities (Cohen and Baldwin, 2018). Currently, they occupy 29 percent of all gardening households and that number is expected to continue increasing at the same rate (Cohen and Baldwin, 2018).

According to the 2018 National Gardening Survey, Millennial households reached an alltime high in 2017 with their participation in gardening activities. Specifically, an interest in horticulture can be seen sweeping the Millennial Generation with their curiosity focused on fruit and vegetables, flower

production, and indoor gardening; this data has been backed up by an EMG State Office survey, conducted by Gabrielle Sanderson, which analyzed Virginia Tech (VT) Millennial’s attitudes towards horticulture.

The survey, which assessed the students’ awareness of and interest in different types of horticulture (e.g. indoor gardening, vegetable gardening, and sustainable horticulture), was conducted through a VT survey system and presented at the 2019 Food Dining Fair for Virginia Tech. There were 101 individuals that provided usable data for the analysis and out of the total, 79 responded that they might or would be interested in learning more about gardening.

The 2018 National Gardening survey states that “households spending the most on fruit trees in 2017 included those of age 18-34,” which accounts for 43% of the sales recorded in that year. Expanding off that data, the Virginia Tech students that participated in our survey were given the option to pick from a variety of horticulture categories and select those that most appealed to them.

We expected that the students would show significant interest in indoor gardening and sustainable horticulture, yet the most popular categories chosen were Fruits/ Vegetables (72), Flowers (62), and Indoor Gardening (51). The interest in fruits and vegetables, represented in the data collected, shows that Millennials are intrigued by the idea of growing their own food. Michelle Sakesena and AnneMarie Kuhns, from Produce Business, state that “the ERS (Economic Research Service) report suggest Millennials are devoting a larger percentage of their grocery bill to fruits and vegetables than Generation X and Baby Bomber shoppers” (Saksena and Kuhns, 2019). This might be because Millennials responded to the recession by “allocating more of their

food budget to fruit and vegetable grocery store purchases as a means of cost saving” rather than buying food from second party providers (Saksena and Kuhns, 2019).

“Millennials occupy 29 percent of all gardening households.”

In addition to an increased interest in growing food from home, Millennials in our srvey also demonstrated an interest in Indoor Gardening. The interest in Indoor Gardening, which was represented by 50 percent of those surveyed, includes topics in indoor plants and succulents. Taylor Bryant, a commenter on the 2016 National Gardening Report stated that Millennials are even “out-greening their parents in some departments, with 37 percent of millennials growing plants and herbs indoors compared to 28 percent of Boomers” (Bryant, 2017). This may be because fewer Millennials are buying homes, but rather they are renting or living in apartments; thus, the need for indoor gardens has become increasingly more substantial and that popularity is predicted to grow in strength. Judith de Graff, co-author of Urban Jungle: Living and Styling with Plants, does not believe that the popularity of gardening will fade from Millennials, yet does state that “it will probably change over time, along with the kinds of plants that are trendy…I think in 10 years, it will be different, but there will still be lots of plants in people’s homes” (Bryant, 2017).

The reason that Millennials’ interest in gardening is so significant is that “millennials are now the largest living generation in the United States, surpassing even the Baby Boomers, according to the U.S. Census Bureau” (Saksena and Kuhns, 2019). They

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Millennials in our srvey also demonstrated an interest in Indoor Gardening. help to influence buying power, consumer product production, and can even help to influence the Extension Master Gardener Program. Based on this research and our own survey data, the EMG State office hopes to be able to provide more directed guidance on landscapes to Millennials, develop improved teaching and demonstration gardens, and be able to appeal to more diverse age groups for educational seminars in the community.

The Extension Master Gardener Program will better be able to provide resources for younger generations to get the information they want on various gardening topics and be able to reach a different demographic based on how Millennials prefer to receive information.

According to our survey, over half of the participants stated that they learn the most information through a physical style, which involves performing physical activities to learn, rather than listening or watching a lecture. This shows that hands-on activities and workshops on vegetable gardening or growing indoor plants would a good way to educate younger demographic generations because of their demonstrated interest in the topics and their favored learning style.

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Additionally, the VT students who responded to our survey stated that they preferred to receive notifications or information through social media, which includes Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. This is helpful, because it allows the EMG State Office to see how we can specially design our outreach and marketing efforts for younger demographics and appeal to Millennials specifically. Just as the Millennials have emerged as an influential buying power in the gardening community, the Extension Master Gardeners can provide horticultural education to this the growing demographic and help to better inform, educate, and inspire future generations with best gardening practices. Not only will our survey help improve the direction of our state program over the coming years, but we hope it will also inspire Virginia Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners throughout the commonwealth to branch out and to reach a different age demographic. â–

References Bryant, T. (2017). So, You’re A Millennial Obsessed With Houseplants? Join The Club. [online] NYLON. Available at: https://nylon.com/ articles/millennial-house-plants-obsession [Accessed 26 Feb. 2019].

Cohen, P. and Baldwin, I. (2018). 2018 National Gardening Survey. GardenResearch.com, (]), pp.36-0315-36-0315.

Driscoll, S. (2018). Gardening. Research Starters.

Saksena, M. and Kuhns, A. (2019). Millennials Paving The Way For Produce Consumption Uptick - Produce Business. [online] Produce Business.

Available at: https://www.producebusiness. c o m / m i l l e n n i a l s - p a v i n g - w a y - p ro d u c e consumption-uptick/ [Accessed 26 Feb. 2019].

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Let your lawn get some height, before you give it a haircut! You should wait until your lawn gets to approximately 2 inches before you break out the mower. http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/BSE/BSE-47/BSE-47NPPDF.pdf

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Take a walk around your garden and remove the unwanted debris, like dry leaves or old plant material. You could make a compost pile out of it! http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/426/426-703/426-703_pdf. pdf

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Soil test, soil test, and soil test. http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/452/452-701/SPES-75.pdf

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Be on the hunt for hornworms in your precious tomatoes! https://pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/3104/3104-1551/ENTO254.pdf

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Prepare for yard for the Purple Martins! They’re coming around March 15th! https://www.purplemartin.org/research/8/scout-arrival-study/

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Watch out for destructive squirrels! They are known to eat the eggs and nestlings of birds. https://pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/HORT/HORT-59/ HORT-59-PDF.pdf

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Restrain the urge to uncover your bulbs! The cold winds can still harm the new shoots! http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/426/426-201/426-201_pdf. pdf

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Cats are cute but vicious! Place all your birdbaths and feeders at least 15 feet away from shrubby cover, so cats are unable to ambush unsuspecting birds. https://pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/426/426-070/426-070_ pdf.pdf

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Do you like butterflies? Make sure to trim your butterfly bushes back 5 inches to encourage new growth and the fluttery visitors. https://pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/HORT/HORT-59/ HORT-59-PDF.pdf

It’s the time to prune your crapemyrtles! http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/430/430-451/430-451_pdf. pdf

of the Green Industry,” says Heath whose keynote address will focus on where horticulture is now and where it is headed in the future. “Master Gardeners have more of an impact on communities than almost any other group.”

Heath notes that younger generations, like millennials, have a deep connection to the planet but fewer of them are gardeners.

It’s important for the Green Industry to cater to this demographic and get them involved in things like growing their own food.

Banquet with Becky Heath!

By: Devon Johnson Join us at Master Gardener College for a special Thursday night banquet featuring keynote speaker Becky Heath, who will address the exciting and important role she envisions for Extension Master Gardeners in the future.

Becky Heath is co-owner and President of Heath Enterprises, Ltd., the home of ‘Brent and Becky’s Bulbs’, a wholesale/ retail mail order flower bulb business located in Gloucester, Virginia, as well as the current president of GardenComm (or Garden Communicators International).

“Master Gardeners can make a huge impact on the health and sustainability

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“This is where Master Gardeners can have the most impact,” says Heath.

“Everybody starts somewhere. Sometimes there’s a tendency, when an individual grows and becomes an expert, they forget where they used to be. We need to reach back and help other people where they are,” she says, adding that Master Gardeners are well positioned to do this as part of the Green Industry that “gets information out there.” “‘Brent and Becky’s Bulbs has had a longstanding relationship with the Extension Master Gardener Program,” says Dave Close, State Master Gardener

Becky Heath of Brent and Becky’s Bulbs and GardenComm will join us for a banquet at Master Gardener College.

Coordinator. “Becky has a deep passion for getting people excited about gardening and she articulates that extremely well.

We’re thrilled to have her at this special banquet and keynote address event.”

In her role at GardenComm, Heath is exposed to a cross section of the Green Industry--including new trends she hopes to share with Master Gardeners during her keynote address.

“Master Gardeners are all communicators in one way or another,” says Heath. “I hope they come away from my talk thinking of themselves as communicators who have the power of knowledge to share.”

Banquet: A first for Master Gardener College!

Master Gardener College 2019 will feature Heath’s keynote as part of a special Thursday night banquet--the first time

we’ve offered such an event.

“The banquet will be held at our College venue, The Main, on Thursday night” says Close. “It will feature dinner and is open to all Master Gardener College attendees registered for the full conference.”

The banquet will begin at 6:00 pm with dinner, followed by Heath’s keynote address, and then a Milestone Award ceremony honoring 2018 Milestone recipients.

“This is an exciting opportunity for us to offer a new event to College attendees,” says Close. “We’ve always had a milestone ceremony and a keynote speaker on Thursday, but we’ve never combined them into this kind of celebratory banquet before! We’re excited for Becky Heath’s keynote and also for this new event to kick off college!”

For more information on Master Gardener College, please visit our website at: https://www.mastergardener.ext. vt.edu/college/registration/

Becky Heath is co-owner and President of Heath Enterprises, Ltd., the home of ‘Brent and Becky’s Bulbs’, as well as the current president of GardenComm.

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Update

Submit Your Digital Brag Boards!

Don’t forget to prepare a digital “brag board” slideshow to display your unit’s projects & achievements!

What are brag boards?

Guidelines for Submission

Brag boards are a great way for EMG units around the state to show off their projects, achievements, and year-end highlights to others. Brag boards will be compiled into a scrolling presentation for College attendees to view at their leisure in between sessions and will be posted online after College concludes.

File type: Please submit your digital brag board as a PowerPoint presentation (.ppt or .pptx).

Brag boards can be submitted via our website or by emailing emgoffice@vt.edu.

File size: Presentations should not be larger than 15 mb.

Presentation guidelines: • Presentations should have a footer or text on each slide that designates your unit.

• Presentations should be sized widescreen (not “standard” size).

for

General guidelines: • Presentations should highlight your unit’s important projects or achievements.

• Pictures are great but explanatory text is also helpful for viewers.

• Presentations will play on a scrolling slideshow on screens in conference common areas.

For brag board ideas, check out last year’s presentations here.

• Each slide will show for a few seconds and will then move on to the next slide.

Therefore, do not include more than a sentence or two of text as viewers will not be able to read long paragraphs.

SUBMIT YOUR BRAG BOARD NOW!

Local Fairs Promote Love of Gardening Master Gardeners contribute to local fair competitions by judging produce, horticultural products, and even can goods. Master Gardener College 2019 offers Master Gardeners the opportunity to become a Certified Fair Judge.

By: Devon Johnson Summer brings county fairs, complete with competitions for the best produce, cut flowers, potted plants, and can goods. Many Master Gardeners around the commonwealth play an integral role in their local fairs by serving as judges to evaluate the horticultural products entered in these contests--and of course, many more Master Gardeners participate in their local fair competitions as entrants!

Local fairs are also an important venue to promote gardening to the public and provide an opportunity for local gardeners to show off the products of their labor.

“Fair competitions produce enthusiasm for gardening” says Wendy Silverman, New River Valley Master Gardener Coordinator.

“It’s a chance for people to show off their efforts in the garden and promote a love of gardening to others.”

Master Gardeners in the New River Valley and elsewhere serve as judges for their local fairs. “Right now we help with the NRV Fair and the Shawsville Tomato Festival” says Silverman, adding that Master Gardeners judge the horticultural categories (cut flowers and potted plants), while 4H and Master

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Food Volunteers help with the produce and can good categories.

“Fairs are always looking for qualified people to do judging and there is no better person to judge than a trained Master Gardener,” says Steve Hale, a New River Valley Master Gardener, who has served as a judge at more than a dozen local fairs. “Master Gardeners can really tell who takes care of their plants, who fertilizes and cultivates them.”

“Fairs are always looking for qualified people to do judging, and there is no better person to judge than a trained Master Gardener.”

If you’re trying to win, Silverman suggests that you know your ripening stages and submit things that are ready to eat, for example don’t submit a giant zucchini (unless you’re in a giant zucchini category).

She adds that consistency is important and that produce should be as clean and blemishfree as possible, while flowers should be put in water to prevent them from wilting.

Hale emphasizes the importance of knowing the criteria for every category you enter.

For example, if you enter cut flowers, you should adhere to any criteria dictating the number of blooms to submit. He also adds that horticultural displays, like cut flowers, should be judged immediately after entries close so they don’t sit out for hours in the heat.

“I would encourage anyone to enter,” says Silverman, “Fairs are a lot of fun!”

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Master Gardeners often judge horticultural products like cut flowers or potted plants at their local fairs.

Fair Judge Training at 2019 Master Gardener College 2019 Master Gardener college offers an opportunity for Master Gardeners who love fairs to earn the title “Certified Fair Judge.”

Jeannie Layton-Dudding, ANR Agent in Giles/Bland Counties, will serve as lead instructor for a 4-hour workshop on Thursday, September 19 which will teach Master Gardeners how to judge fairs, including how to give constructive feedback on fair entries.

“There could be more emphasis on training [for fair judges],” says Hale, who also notes the importance of giving encouraging feedback and exercising leniency when judging youth categories.

“We’re trying to get judges to be consistent throughout the state and make judging more objective,” says Silverman, who organized the workshop and will teach the horticultural judging component. “This is a great opportunity for Master Gardeners to earn the title of Certified Fair Judge.” ■

Spotlight

Norfolk Botanical Garden MG College Tour Norfolk Botanical Garden has prepared a special half-day itinerary for Master Gardener College About Norfolk Botanical Gardens

Tour Schedule

Visit Virginia’s largest botanical gardens!

This tour will include time for independent exploration, a boat tour, and the choice of one guided tour led by a NBG Curator of the following collections:

“Today, Norfolk Botanical Garden (NBG) includes 175-acres, with more than 60 themed gardens that can be viewed by tram, boat or by foot. Themed gardens include the Bristow Butterfly Garden, the Sarah Lee Baker Perennial Garden, the Virginia Native Plant Garden and the Bicentennial Rose Garden. Each of these gardens allow guests to see a variety of plants – from the cultivated to the wild.

NBG is the only Botanical Garden where you can explore by foot, tram, and boat.”

To learn more about Norfolk Botanical Gardens, visit their website.

• Propagation House • Woodies Collection • Herbaceous Collection Optional Boxed Lunch: Boxed lunch pick up at Garden Café. Preorder required. Additional cost: $12.50.

Choose from: • Smoked turkey • Ham and swiss • Hummus and Cucumber

Learn more about College & prepare to register on May 13

Buffer Landscaping in Action Master Gardeners & Master Naturalists Collaborate at Smith Mountain Lake A team of Master Gardeners, Master Naturalists, and citizens are working together to preserve the shoreline at Smith Mountain Lake.

By: Maeghan Klinker When Smith Mountain Lake experienced an increase in runoff of fertilizers and sediments due to a housing boom in the 80’s, the Smith Mountain Lake Association (SMLA) recognized the importance of landscaping to prevent harmful runoff and erosion of the lake’s shoreline. In addition to promoting Phosphorous-free fertilizer, the SMLA manages a Buffer Landscape Advisory Service Team (BLAST) that helps introduce and support buffer landscaping to homeowners near the lake.

As the Smith Mountain Lake Association’s website states, the mission of BLAST is to, “preserve the lake shoreline and water quality while providing wildlife habitat and protecting property investment and enhancing the beauty of the lake.” In order to achieve this mission, the Buffer Landscaping Committee was created, consisting of a team of approximately 20 volunteers, many of whom are Virginia Master Naturalists and Extension Master Gardeners.

In Photo Above: Smith Mountain Lake shoreline via Virginia State Parks CC License 2.0.

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These committee members use their specialized knowledge to make recommendations to homeowners on how to use native plants to slow and filter water flowing into the lake. They also create demonstration gardens, provide onsite advice to lake residents, and operate a recognition program that acknowledges the efforts of residents who have effectively utilized buffer landscaping techniques.

“Although both organizations have different Mission Statements and goals, [...] there are many potential projects that could easily fit into a common wheelhouse.”

When Master Gardeners and Master Naturalists team up on projects, there’s no limit to the possibilities.

“Although both organizations have different Mission Statements and goals,” Brager says, “I think there are many potential projects that could easily fit into a common wheelhouse.”

Whether it be buffer landscaping, installing a rain garden, or any other project, consider reaching out to your local chapter of the Virginia Master Naturalists. When these two programs work together to share knowledge and empower communities, the results can be remarkable.

Rich Brager, a Master Naturalist who has worked on the BLAST project, believes that collaboration between Extension Master Gardeners and Extension Master Naturalists has been invaluable to the success of this initiative.

“Collaboration between these programs has absolutely furthered the goals of the BLAST project. Some Buffer Landscape Committee members are both Virginia Master Naturalists and Virginia Master Gardeners. Each member draws on their own knowledge base and training from their respective organizations,” says Brager.

Both Extension Master Gardeners and Extension Master Naturalists have a thorough background knowledge and training in a variety of horticultural and environmental topics. By working together on this initiative, the two programs have achieved a great deal towards remediating the water quality of Smith Mountain Lake.

Photo of Smith Mountain Lake shoreline. Provided

by Smith Mountain Lake Association Buffer Landscape Committee To learn more about the Smith Mountain Lake Association and their efforts in buffer landscaping, visit the Smith Mountain Lake Association’s webpage here. ■

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“I grow plants for many reasons: to please my eye or to please my soul, to challenge the elements or to challenge my patience, for novelty or for nostalgia, but mostly for the joy in seeing them grow.� – David Hobson