With the New Year I'm going to change course for this issue and clean my Desk, so to speak, of some housekeeping duties and bits and pieces. So, without further ado, here we go:

Extension DuPage Budget crisis, I hope, will be one of those "and that too shall pass" issues. And when it does it will be largely because of all the efforts that all of you put forth everyday on behalf of University of Illinois. We all have learned that our message is a powerful one and we need to be able to tell it better. Which leads us to...

The Master Gardener database. In a relatively short period of time, we have installed the database into the culture of Extension DuPage. Thank you for your support and if any of you need specific training on how to get your activities into the system, please, by all means, contact Mary, Sarah, or me for help. I have been very pleased with the Regional response of enthusiasm for this home grown software and look forward to facilitating its installation in every county in the state in the next year or so. So speaking of coordination.....

I would like to announce that the Gardening Thymes Newsletter, which you are reading as we speak, for 2007 will be coordinated to be sent with the Master Gardener Quarterly assignments. This will change the distribution of the Newsletter to 4 times per year instead of 6, but we will try our best to pack 6 months worth of information into 4 and be more proactive in posting information on our website...

Speaking of websites and computers, would any of you "non-users" be interested in classes on computers and the web? If we gauge your interest, we could put together some classes that would make you a "surfer" in no time and I could even be persuaded to call it Master Gardener Continuing Education too...just let me know if you would be interested...and speaking of the future...

The future in DuPage is EAB. It's now been found in additional places and it's just a matter of time (like next year is my guess) that we have confirmed cases of it here. The "solution" is fleeting. It's not a simple task to decide what is the best attack for this pest. Asian Long-horned Beetle was initially found in the Chicago area. Cutting trees proved, for now, to be a success. But EAB has had its roots in this region for years now; years of potential unintentional distribution. Will cutting trees be the answer? Will that be economically feasible for society? It has not solved the problem in Michigan. Will it end up being the Dutch Elm Disease of this generation....just waiting, trying to back-plant while ash trees slowly disappear? There are many good minds working on the best solution and I will keep you all up-to-date on the latest thinking and research. The future...

We have 21 new Master Gardeners signed up and raring to go for the training that starts in January. A pre-thank you to all of you that will take part in mentoring and setting examples for the new "class". While we are on the you's...

A final note...as the New Year begins I reflect on what has been important to me in the past year and what will give me satisfaction in the year to come. While I have a "job" here, I also strive to be one of you, a "giver of one's self", hoping that what we all do benefits not only Extension, but adds to the "better good". Thank you for your efforts and may the New Year be good to all.

- Susan Grupp

Master Gardener "Year".
The MG volunteer "year" is being changed to correspond with the calendar year. This change will allow DuPage to be aligned with the other counties in the Northeast Region and the state. November and December 2006 volunteer and education time will still count towards 2007 hours. Master Gardeners and Interns will have until December 31, 2007 to complete their volunteer and education requirements.

Garden Thymes Newsletter Submissions.
In our continued efforts to cut postal costs, we would like to encourage you to sign up to receive the Garden Thymes Newsletter through email. Instead of a printed copy mailed to your home, you would receive an email with a link to the online Garden Thymes. If you are interested in this option, please email Sarah at sarahnav@uiuc.edu.

Upcoming Garden Classes. All classes will be held at our Extension office in the lower level conference room. There is a $10.00 fee for each class. Advance registration is required.

• Groundcovers to Know and Use. Monday, February 12, 10 – 11:30 am. If the only blanket of green in your landscape is grass, you may be missing an opportunity to reduce mowing, save water and add color and texture to your landscape. Join Susan Grupp to learn more about ground covers.
  
• Emerald Ash Borer and Other Invasive Species. Tuesday February 13, 12:45 – 2:30 pm. Repeated Thursday, February 15, 6:45 – 8:30 pm. Emerald ash borer has been found in several northern Illinois locations, and other invasive pests are also likely to show up. Learn to identify and cope with these devastating landscape pests. Phil Nixon, U of I Extension specialist, will present the program via teleconference featuring a color slide presentation.

Welcome to our New MG Interns

Nanette Bauer
Stephanie Dalton
Carol DeSimone
Sharon Devo
Lin Drogos
Dorothy Gieren
Kyle Gilgis
Stephanie Hansen
Jan Hanson
Eleanor Holt
Judy Karlin
Mary Luzader
Sally Mabbitt
Janice Miller
Mary Jo Oakes
Dusty Patrick
Marilyn Pendergrass
Darlene Robenhorst
Susanna Roberts Davison
KC Swininoga
June Vandervest

MG Reporting Database News

We have completed our MG Reporting Database training, and hope that everyone has had a chance to log in to create their account. We appreciate your efforts and think that you will find the database very convenient and useful. The reports that can be generated from the volunteer activity that you enter are amazing! In just seconds, we will be able to view summaries and details by event, Master Gardener or locations. Please try to stay up-to-date in entering your volunteer hours and continuing education. This will make sure that our reports reflect everyone's contributions.

You can find a Volunteer Activity Report form on our website at http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/dupage/mg/downloads.html. This might be helpful for keeping track of your hours when you are not near your computer.

The "cards to take up to Joan" after volunteering on the Garden Help Line, are gone! If you are a database user, you may use the office computer to log your hours. If you report your activity on paper, you may turn in a volunteer activity sheet or I can help you enter your own hours into the database. We still need to track our client contacts, so a "tick sheet" will be next to the Help Line phones to note male or female callers. I can then enter the Garden Help Line contact report into the database.

If you have not logged onto the Reporting Database and created your account, please take just a few minutes and try it out!

Thank you again for all you do.

Sarah Navrotski

Many people are aware of the reputation of the Brown Recluse Spider (Loxosceles reclusa) but few residents of northern Illinois realize that some have made their way into our area and in fact have been here for some years. You are not likely to run into one while working in your garden because they are not yet winter hardy this far north. They can, however, survive very nicely within buildings and are doing so, perhaps in more locations than we realize. Left undisturbed, a population of Recluses introduced in containers, furniture, firewood, etc. which was moved here from their native habitat from central Illinois south can thrive. A Recluse is relatively long lived (up to two years) and a single female is capable of producing hundreds of young in that period of time. Since they are non-descript in appearance and secretive by nature, they well may exist in a building for years along with humans and not be noticed. In fact, a sizable group of perhaps a hundred or more was recently found living in a house in DuPage along with a family including two small children with no evidence that anyone had been bitten. That is probably due to the fact that the Recluse is not large or aggressive and bites only when it feels threatened.

The Recluse has earned a scary reputation because its bite can result in long lasting injury to those individuals especially sensitive to its venom. In those people, the bites often lead to necrotic lesions that require medical treatment and can take years to heal fully. The fact is, however, that not everyone bitten has a serious reaction. Fortunately, the spider's fangs are short and almost any type of clothing will protect a person from being bitten.

So, how does one know a Recluse if one runs across one? The Recluse has two distinguishing features which make positive ID possible. The bad news is that both features require a good magnifying glass to see properly. The Recluse has a dark violin shaped mark on its back with the neck of the violin pointed toward the rear. It also has six rather than the usual (for a spider) eight eyes arranged in pairs in a semi circle on its head. Other than that, it pretty much looks like many small spiders we see in our homes and our gardens. It never makes a web; it prefers to hunt at night for the bugs that make up its diet. Male Recluses are normally smaller than the females and have somewhat longer legs.

Those bitten by Recluses often encountered them while rummaging through boxes in storage areas or rolled on them while in bed. In the South, the Recluse is common. Some experts contend that in some areas they are to be found in as many as 90% of homes and outbuildings. The fact is, however, there are relatively few reports of Recluse bites. If one is concerned that Recluses or any other spider for that matter may be lurking in the basement, crawlspace, or shed a sensible precaution would be to wear a long sleeved shirt and some sort of gloves when working there. It is also wise to remember that spiders, in general, are considered the gardener's friend since they prey on many types of insect pests.

- Lou Horton

Now that winter is truly here, surfing the net is a great way to start planning for next spring. I found myself completely enchanted with the variety of unusual vegetables I can try to grow next year from the Seeds from Italy web site at www.growitalian.com.

We are talking about an amazing array of vegetable and herb seeds that you won't often see represented in your local garden center, like yellow radish or specialty vegetables from Puglia, along with tips on growing and recipes for your future bounty. They also produce a quarterly newsletter that you can subscribe to via email or just read current and past issues on the web site.

And speaking of seeds, the National Gardening Association web site at www.garden.org has a "Seed Swap" section where you can post messages for seeds you are seeking and whether you have seeds you want to swap. Plus there are other interesting areas on the site including the Weed Library with great pictures, a How-To section filled with garden related projects and crafts and the Food Garden Guide. This last section breaks down into Fruits, Vegetables and Herbs. I found the Herb section especially useful with not just growing information but also how to harvest and store.

For our MGs who work on programs with children and local schools, the NGA has a companion web site at www.kidsgardening.org (you can also link there from their main web site) filled with ideas for programs, grants and resources. Be sure to check out the School Garden Registry containing descriptions of projects being done by schools around the country.

- Debbye B. Simpson

It seems as though the seed catalogs arrive earlier and earlier every year. My first one came two weeks before Halloween! Now that we are deep in catalog-and-garden-planning season (read: winter) a warm drink along with that order form can really hit the spot. Aromatic leaves, flowers or stems steeped in boiling water are the most ancient and commonly consumed liquid after pure water.

"Herbal tea" is something of a misnomer; "tea" is Camellia sinensis, whose leaves, after various kinds of processing, are used to make the most widely consumed beverage in the world. Some forms, such as green tea, are now being found to be particularly healthful.* But the meaning of the term "tea" has been expanded to include beverages infused with a wide variety of plants, and there are many on the market today.

However, if you would like to experiment with making herbal tea from the produce of your herb patch, here are a few tips. First, be absolutely sure there were no pesticides applied to the plant whose leaves you plan to use. Most herb teas are infused: that is, the leaves are placed in a warm teapot (start with a teaspoon of dried herb per cup) boiling water is poured over and the tea is brewed for three to five minutes. To keep the leaves corralled, a mesh tea ball can be used or the leaves tied into a piece of loose cheesecloth. Try herbs which have strong, familiar flavors – chamomile, lemon verbena, mint, sage. Many people find herb teas much milder than traditional tea; herbs can be added to plain tea to make a flavorful blend.

* Please note that no medical or health recommendations are intended to be made in this article.

- Sandy Lentz

Easter Seals

About seven years ago, Easter Seals approached Susan Grupp about developing a program for their day care center. Elaine Weil and her committee have been a fixture at the site in Villa Park ever since.

The Easter Seals Child Development Center offers day care for children of all abilities. The children can be there full-time, part-time, or on a drop-in basis. Elaine, who is a preschool teacher herself, plans the lessons, and she and her team staff, supply and run the hands-on gardening activities once a month.

Talk to Elaine and you'll feel her enthusiasm. This past month, for example, the Master Gardeners presented a program on the "Three Sisters": beans, corn and squash. They gave each child a "seed saving pouch" and set up stations at which the children "met" each of the three sisters. Each station had an activity (or three) for the children; for example, at the corn station the children learned how to grind corn using rocks and hollowed out logs; they got to look at five different types of corn, including popping corn still on the cob; and when they were finished, each child got some seeds to take home.

The programs last one to two hours, depending on the number of children and how involved the children get. Since it is a year-round program, the Master Gardeners must get creative during the winter: the children may learn about birds or make bottle greenhouses, ornaments with seeds, or Tussie Mussies based on the Victorian Language of Flowers! This last year they made topiaries and did plant propagation.

Other ongoing projects at the Easter Seals site include a courtyard planting and a butterfly garden they established right outside the classroom window. The children, as you might expect, really enjoy viewing the garden from inside. Now if it could only rain enough so that the gardens don't require consistent watering....

Ask Elaine or Linda Jegen what is most rewarding about the program and the answer is the same: the children. The Master Gardeners come once a month and the children get to know them and look forward to their coming. Linda loves seeing them grow up, as some children are in the program for two or three years. The Master Gardeners get to see the children's excitement and provide them with something they can be successful at. They say everyone at the Easter Seals program is very dedicated, and the Master Gardeners who come find that dedication infectious.

- Debbi Heinze

Celebrate Gardening in the Natural State!
May 2-5, 2007
Little Rock, Arkansas

Consider signing up for the International MG conference. MGs and MG Coordinators from across the country and Canada attend this informative and enjoyable event.

The conference will be hosted at the Peabody Hotel/Statehouse Convention Center in downtown Little Rock from May 2 to 5, 2007.

IMGC Website
Official website of the 2007 International Master Gardener Conference: http://mg2007.uaex.edu/

"The Garden Thymes" is the official newsletter for DuPage area MG's. If you misplace your copy, it can be found at our DuPage County Extension website. From time to time, you may have something you would like to share with fellow MG's or perhaps include an article of your own. We would love to hear from you!! As always, your comments and suggestions are most welcome. Please note the change in issue numbers to reflect our program year.

· Issue #2 - February 28, 2007

· Issue #3 – May 30, 2007

· Issue #4 - August 29, 2007

· Issue #1 for 2008 - November 28, 2007

Every Wednesday, January 10 – March 28
2007 Master Gardener Classes
9 am – 3:30 pm
Limited space
Pre-registration required

Monday, February 12
Groundcovers to Know and Use
10 – 11:30 am

Tuesday, February 13
Emerald Ash Borer
Telenet Class
12:45 – 2:30 pm

Thursday, February 15
Emerald Ash Borer
Telenet Class
6:45 – 8:30 pm