Halifax EMG coordinator named VCE employee of the month

William “Bill” McCaleb has served as the EMG coordinator for Halifax for 21 years and was named VCE’s January employee of the month.

Longtime Halifax EMG coordinator Bill McCaleb was recently honored as VCE’s January employee of the month--a well deserved honor for one of the longest serving EMG coordinators in the commonwealth!

“I took the EMG course in early 1997 and began officially as the Coordinator on September 1, 1998 after a short two-month stint as ‘volunteer coordinator,’” said Bill.

Bill was nominated for this honor by Rebekah Slabach, Halifax ANR agent, who said, “Bill is one of the hardest working ‘retired’ men you will ever meet. As an ANR Program

Assistant, he leads the Southside Master Gardener Program. He always has the EMGs on his mind with ways they can better serve the community and the schools with programs. He works tirelessly and spends way more time doing for others than he does for himself.”

“I have seen Bill take an hour to coach someone who has walked in to the Extension office with a question about a plant or tree,” said Slabach. “ I have also seen him work with plenty of novice producers with questions and problems with getting a garden or farm started. He not only directs the best resources for beginning the project, but he also follows up with dozens of helpful articles and snippets of advice.”

Bill is also a passionate gardener himself. “Bill cares about the science of horticulture and always strives to provide accurate, timely information to citizens who bring in plants to identify. He loves growing things, has the best tomatoes in his neighborhood - and shares his passion with everyone he encounters,” said Slabach.

Bill was also a founding member of the group that formed the Healthy Harvest Community Garden and was instrumental in its design and planning. “He contributed his years of agricultural experience toward the vision of planting a sustainable, mostly organic garden that would benefit the community with healthy vegetables,” said Slabach.

“One of Bill’s signature qualities is his determination to “show up” no matter the time or day,” said Slabach.

The EMG State Coordinator’s office extends our congratulations to Bill for this well deserved honor! •

EMG Coordinator Endowment updates & Giving Day 2020

In 2019, the EMG Coordinator Endowment supported programs to slow the spread of invasive species, office staff transitions, and

What did the coordinator operating fund support this year?

Staff transition

In 2019, the EMG coordinator operating fund supported the state office during a period of staff transition as Kathleen Reed, our new state coordinator, came on board and Dave Close took a new title as EMG program director.

The operating fund allowed us to hire a student worker for additional hours through the summer of 2019 to perform the important tasks of mailing certificates, answering email, and preparing for Master Gardener College.

These funds were vital to maintaining office function during this period of staff vacancy.

In addition, operating funds made it possible to replace aging technology so we can remain in compliance with Virginia Tech IT requirements.

Spotted lanternfly materials

Operating funds also supported the development of educational pop-up banners with information on the invasive spotted lanternfly. The state office purchased three banners, which were made available to EMG units located in areas where the spotted lanternfly has been found. Should the spotted lanternfly continue to spread throughout the commonwealth, additional units may use these materials as well.

Why give to the EMG program?

The EMG coordinator operating fund supports special state office projects, like the development of online training modules or marketing efforts. Should state-level budget

A spotted lanternfly banner at Master Gardener College 2019

restraints ever make it necessary, the EMG coordinator endowment could be used to fund the EMG state coordinator’s salary and keep the program functioning as normal.

Ted Dempsey, a Virginia Beach emeritus EMG gives to the EMG coordinator endowment to ensure the program has stable funding at the state level.

“If we don’t have direction and support from Virginia Tech, the local programs could wither and disappear in certain areas,” said Dempsey, “So I felt that the need to have firm funding at Virginia Tech for the program was important enough for me to make a contribution.”

Giving Day

Virginia Tech’s second annual “Giving Day” event will occur March 18 at noon through March 19 at noon. Giving Day is a 24-hour university-wide fundraising effort during which donations can be made to different Virginia Tech and VCE departments, including the EMG program. Donations are tallied and ranked on the Giving Day website.

From Virginia Tech:

“Giving days are 24-hour online fundraising challenges that universities and nonprofits use to rally their alumni or friends and inspire donations. Multiple goals are established and numerous tactics are employed to motivate donations, such as hourly giving challenges or matching gift offers. Giving days provide an otherwise scattered community of supporters to come together to make an impact.”

During giving day, donations to the EMG operating fund can be made online!

Plan now to post on social media about 2020 Giving Day! As Giving Day approaches, we will make a direct link to our donation page available to you via email. For more information on Giving Day social media, including templates for posts, email Devon at dvj@vt.edu.

Giving Day Challenge

For giving day 2020, we have received two generous challenges:

$1,000 matching challenge $2,000 matching challenge that will be unlocked when we reach $1,000 (for a total of $3,000 matched)

Giving Day donations will go into our unrestricted operating fund. •

Giving Day is March 18-19, 2020

The Ageless Gardener

“A little studied negligence is becoming to a garden” — Eleanor Perenyi in “Garden Thoughts” (1981)

By George Graine, Fairfax Master Gardener

This story originally appeared on the Farifax Extension Master Gardener website, as well as in the Virginia Master Gardener Association (VMGA) newsletter. VMGA is a statewide association of Extension Master Gardener volunteers whose mission is to “foster communication, education and fellowship among Virginia Cooperative Extension Master Gardener volunteers.” Learn more about VMGA on their website: http://vmga.net/

For the past several years some authors of garden books have honed in on writing what can best be described as adaptive gardening or gardening for a lifetime. This makes a lot of sense once you realize that by year 2020, more than 46 million baby boomers will be 65 and older. The most recent book in this genre is “The Lifelong Gardener: Garden with Ease & Joy at Any Age” by Toni Gattone (Timber Press, 2019). A couple of other examples include “Late Bloomer: How to Garden with Comfort, Ease and Simplicity in the Second Half of Life” by Jan Coppola Bills (2016) and “Gardening for a Lifetime: How to Garden Wiser as You Grow Older” by Sydney Eddison (2010). The key point made by all these books can be summed up as recognizing your ability to create a landscape of beauty that supports your lifestyle. Indeed, your new landscape can be inspirational, beautiful and perhaps most importantly, functional all at the same time.

It seems reasonable to accept some of the objectives of adaptive gardening as noted by Gattone:

• To raise awareness of adaptive techniques that enable gardeners to re-think how and when they garden for greater ease

• To describe ways gardens can be changed or modified to ensure the safety and comfort of the gardener

Cover of “The Lifelong Gardener” by Toni Gattone

• To modify favorite tools to increase their usability or to replace them with more ergonomic options

Another way to think about gardening is that if you garden smarter, it will take less time to do more. In simpler terms, as one ages or has some kind of physical disability, knowing how to garden smarter will help to keep you more physically fit than most other activities. You need proactive solutions when you have physical challenges. “The Lifelong Gardener” is all about three T’s — tips, tools and techniques.

In the chapter “You and Your Body,” the key is to identify what you can control. Keep your attitude in check and be realistic regarding any mobility issues. In other words, find a way to maneuver about so that you will conquer pain with joy — adapt! Regardless of age and aging, gardening is about how you feel, so again adapt. This becomes the new normal and enables you to garden more comfortably and without or with little pain. Your attitude is showing when you are able to recognize some limitations, that is, your abilities and disabilities when you are gardening. Take note that age is just a number although age may be important when you are looking for bargain prices. Otherwise, does it really matter? In the end, aging and attitude should not be a deciding factor for a gardener; however, it is important to understand your limits. Mark Twain said, “Aging is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”

Gattone has a message relative to your comfort zone. She says, “It is important to strengthen our resilience to discomfort, as a path to inner peace.” If you can achieve that, you will not regret that resilience is a critical skill that goes along with caring for your body. As one ages you need to rethink how even simple gardening chores can be achieved regardless of some malady that heretofore limited your activity in the garden. The Dali Lama noted, “Pain can change you, but that doesn’t mean it has to be a bad change. Take that pain and turn it into wisdom.” This chapter includes a compilation of why and how you can maintain your physical fitness for working in the garden. The critical aspect is to accept your own reality. In other words, change your attitude and recognize your limitations more commonly called — STOP! As your body changes you can expect to see changes in balance, stamina, mobility and reaction time. This will become your new normal as noted above.

The second chapter is about “Your Garden.” It is akin to attending a lecture on adaptive gardening and how you can garden for a lifetime. Here is where you might want to give serious consideration as to how to make

“Garden smarter, not harder and never give up.”

some changes to your garden. In order to help with a garden transition, Gattone has included an excellent multi-page worksheet called “An Adaptive Gardening Action Plan.” This starting point is invaluable as it helps plan your garden on paper and “forces” you to be honest with yourself. You can put into practice every point she makes because sufficient words and color photos from previous reading provide a DIY perspective.

The last chapter is about “Your Tools.” Where would you be without some of your favorite gardening tools? Are they still serving the original purpose? Human factors engineering

or the more familiar term ergonomics comes to the rescue. This is especially true for those with weaker hands, arthritis, achy joints, loss of muscle, bad back, etc. More than likely, just as the need to adapt a garden is paramount, one also needs to find tools that “work.” Fortunately, a number of tool manufacturers are listening to the plight of aging gardeners. They have developed garden tools that recognize how ergonomically designed tools can be a difference maker for gardeners and are more suitable for their needs. These days, it is a lot easier to find quality tools and helpful products such as kneeling seats, carry tool seats and pot lifters for moving heavy containers. This is a win-win for the tool purveyor and the gardener. Many of these new tools will help you to stay in the garden longer. Also, look for tools that serve multiple purposes. Consider adapting tool handles with a bicycle handle grip or the type of tape used on tennis rackets for a better grip and ease. Do not shortchange on quality. The marketplace has many lookalikes, and it is better to personally check what is available instead of making a purchase over the internet.

One last point is about gloves. Although this may seem like a rather mundane topic, it is actually a practical consideration for every gardener. You need to protect your hands. Today you will find a confusing array of gloves, so look for those labeled as “bionic,” with padding, reinforced fingertips and wellconstructed seams. Gloves come in all price ranges and with many different types of materials. Try before you buy. Consider the type of gardening that you do as this may dictate your glove selection. For example, long leather gloves (costly) are if you work with roses, but inexpensive “mud” gloves with a cotton-poly back and latex coated fingers and palms may be very serviceable for lots of gardening chores.

A few last words …. Garden smarter, not harder and never give up. Continue to stay in the garden for as long as it provides you with so much pleasure. •

College 2020 Preview

A team of EMGs is busy planning our College 2020 schedule, which features some exciting new additions as well as perennial favorites.

College 2020 returns to Blacksburg, Virginia for our 33rd annual conference. This year’s event will host perennial favorites, including Holly Scoggins and Alex Nimeria, as well as new faces like Fred Turck who will address firewise landscaping.

Concurrent topic preview: • Ants • Hydroponics • Gardening history • Marketing • Showy woody plants • Ticks • Forestry • Vegetable gardening

Tours and workshops preview: • Catawba Sustainability Center • Lab Tours with Eric Day and Mary Ann Hansen • Fair Judging • Virtual Reality Studio Experiences • Floral Design • Winemaking • NRV Garden Tours

Changes and updates for EMGC 2020:

• Registration will open spring 2020

We anticipate holding speakers and sessions in Torgersen Hall

• Housing available on campus in air conditioned dorms ; dining at D2, an award-winning on campus buffet-style dining hall.

• Evening events including: VMGA silent auction, milestone awards ceremony, VMGA night

We will be certifying Land Care Stewards

SAVE THE DATE: June 25 -28, 2020

More info: https://mastergardener.ext.vt.edu/college

Building on the Virginia Tech campus.