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Until further notice there will be no advisory board or regular

membership meetings. We will keep you posted monthly.

B U S I N E S S N A M E

ASSOCIATION OFFICERS

President: Caprice Ellefson

608-391-0535

Vice President: Julie Hazen

608-326-8707

Past President: Donna

Teynor

608-412-4661

Secretary: Cheryl Frazier

608-874-9383

Treasurer: Marla Cameron

608-632-3706

Editor: Caprice Ellefson

608-391-0535

A P R I L , 2 0 2 0 Volume 12, Issue 121

C R A W F O R D C O U N T Y M A S T E R G A R D E N E R A S S O C I A T I O N

April Meeting Dates

From Wisconsin Master Gardener Extension

Due to the COVID-19 virus outbreak and guidelines from Wisconsin Department of Health Services, UW-Madison, and federal agencies:

All activities are cancelled through May. For us, this includes but is not limited to: meetings, bus trips, public learning sessions (such as LCL) and plant sales for April and May.

All Master Gardener Program VOLUNTEER requirements are suspended for the rest of the year. This means you will be able to report less than 24 hours of VOLUNTEER activity and still be able to maintain certification status.

*The 10 hour minimum of Continuing Education remains in place. Please use the following as authorized sources for your continuing education:

Lessons attended at Madison Garden Expo in February Garden talk with Larry Meiller on WPR From the State MG website—level 1 lessons, level 2

plants, lessons or articles from the website Any MG conferences that may be held later this year

Volunteer activity can be done from home. Work on newsletters or social media updates and the like are fine. Work on any lessons for Lawn Chair Learning or Kids in the Garden are also fine.

*See page 3 for more details on CE hours.

Enjoy the beauty of spring

and stay safe.

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B U S I N E S S N A M E

C R A W F O R D C O U N T Y M A S T E R G A R D E N E R A S S O C I A T I O N

What Can Our Members Do During Social Distancing?

From Donna Teynor: With social distancing in effect this spring why don’t we let our thoughts turn to gardening? There are a lot of Wisconsin specific publications available online from University of Wisconsin Extension — Madison at learningstore.extension.wisc.edu

Here are a few of my favorites:

Container Gardening (A3382) Growing Vegetables at Home: Questions and Answers (A2801) Home-Grown Tomatoes for Wisconsin (A1691) Mulches for Home Gardens and Plantings (A3383) Specialized Gardening Techniques: Wide-Row Planting, Square-Foot Gardening, and

Raised Beds (A3384) The Vegetable Garden (A1989)

From Carley Borcherding: What are you doing during COVID-19 Stay At Home?

I set up a StoryWalk© in my front yard for our neighborhood kids. I think the adults

actually like it more than the kids. They are asking when a new book is coming out.

I have also been busy repairing and making new items for the fairy garden at Katie's

Garden and cutting down my ornamental grasses.

Staying safe from the virus tip: my daughter gave me this tip. Use the plastic bags

you get from the store when pumping gas. Slip your hand into the bag, pump the gas and

then dispose of the bag in the nearby trash can.

From Cheryl Frazier: Do you have a garden area that has gone to weed and is a

disaster?

Last year I was not able to tend to my gardens because of knee surgery. One of my

gardens became overrun with thistle and is a disaster. My plan, starting right now with

the warmer temperatures, is to take a picture of it now and work on getting it back to

delightful, taking progressive pictures every month. In the fall I plan on presenting my

Disaster to Delightful garden to our group.

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B U S I N E S S N A M E

C R A W F O R D C O U N T Y M A S T E R G A R D E N E R A S S O C I A T I O N

What Can Our Members Do During Social Distancing?

(Continued)

From Caprice Ellefson: work on Continuing Education Hours. These will not only help

with the CE hours required to re-certify (that is still in effect) but are informative and FUN!

1. Read a UW sponsored article or watch a video

Click on https://wimastergardener.org

Click on Learn at the top menu

Option 1 - Click on Level 2 Plants Plus and select one of the topics to

watch the video and take a 5-question quiz (you do not have to pass to get

credit) - the topic tells you up front how many hours you can log (usually 2

hours of CE but some are 2.5 hours)

Option 2 - Click on Articles and read one of the articles. You will get 30

minutes of CE hours for each article read

2. Listen to one of Larry Meiller’s talk shows on WPR (Wisconsin Public Radio)

Garden Talk on Friday 11:00am-12:30pm and then rebroadcast on Saturday

6:00am-7:30am

Larry Meiller Show weekdays 11:00am-12:30pm

Both of these shows are available as podcasts to download to your computer,

iPad or Smartphone

3. Read an article on https://learningstore.extension.wisc.edu/

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B U S I N E S S N A M E

C R A W F O R D C O U N T Y M A S T E R G A R D E N E R A S S O C I A T I O N

In the News

At our March membership meeting, Linda Suchomel gave an interesting and informative presentation on “Marvelous Mulches”. She started by telling us the generic benefits of using mulch and some of her personal experiences. Then she went on to give us examples of the many different types of mulch that can be used and the specific benefits and drawbacks of each. Thanks Linda, it was a great presentation!

Caprice Ellefson, Cheryl Frazier and Illene Olsen gave a presentation on herbs at the

Seneca Highschool Wellness Day on March 11th. They had four separate sessions which

were well received by the students and the teachers that attended. Along with information

about the history of herbs, the modern uses and how to grow them, they had a game called

Match the Herb, herbal candies as a treat and surprise take-home herb seedlings along with

packets of herb seeds.

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April is Volunteer Appreciation Month

B U S I N E S S N A M E

C R A W F O R D C O U N T Y M A S T E R G A R D E N E R A S S O C I A T I O N

Crawford County’s MG Association’s Mission Statement: We TEACH, LEARN, LEAD and SERVE, connecting with the University of Wisconsin and engaging with them in transforming lives and communities.

"An EEO/AA employer, University of Wisconsin Extension provides equal opportunities in employment and

programming, including Title IX and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements."

From Julie Hazen and the rest of the Crawford County MG Advisory Board Members

A couple of fun ways to THANK YOU ALL for all that you do