March 14th the Herbal Aromatherapy workshop is scheduled. If you plan to attend please let Brenda know. We are in need of herbal snacks. If you bring a snack you will not have to pay the program fee of $10.00. We will know by March 10th if we will have enough people to hold the class. If we don't get at least 10 then it will be cancelled. There will be a Master Gardener Meeting held in its place.

Mark Your Calendars, the busy season is upon us. New trainees may make an appointment to be trained on the DDDI equipment.

Start saving boxes and bags for the plant sale. Begin checking out your plants-decide which you want to donate to the Plant Sale. Make a brief care sheet for each one. Let Brenda know if you need help digging or dividing.

Junior Master Gardener Program will start March 17th 6:30-8:00 PM. Barbara Brayfield and Leslie Niebrugge have great plans for the youth. If you would like to assist them, the more the merrier! Master Gardeners help support this program through the plant sale.

We did get a grant for trees at the Cross, the Trees Forever staff will be down in May with suggestions. Get you imagination going in designing our gardens in the Biblical garden area.

University of Illinois Extension

Master Gardener Meeting

Effingham, County

Tuesday, February 14th, 2006

Purnima Shah called the meeting to order at 6:35 P.M. Attending were Barb Brayfield, Kitty Simmons, Judy Aldrich, Ann Hudson, Brenda Roedl, Purnima and Rita Kemme.

Minutes

The minutes of the January meeting were reviewed. Kitty moved and Purnima seconded that they be approved. Motion carried.

Financial

The financial report was the same as in January reported Kitty.

Old Business

Newspaper articles: Authors are always welcome. Send articles written to Rita at ritac@mchsi.com. We have articles now through the 7^th of March. Kitty has sent one on the new flowers for 2006 and Barb will do another on herbs for March 7^th so we can again advertise our herbal aromatherapy night.

Flower Show: After discussion it was decided we would table the flower show until next year, unless Joan would like to go with it. Brenda will see her in am and decide. So unless Joan decides to do it, Rita moved and Kitty seconded that we wait until next year and start earlier with the plans. Motion carried.

Brenda's Notes

Office Help: always a need. Come in and Brenda will have something for you to do to get hours.

Master Gardener Classes: Help is needed for the March 1 class as Brenda will be gone and for most of the others also. Feb. 22^nd is the Field Day at Collinsville so none are needed this day.

Upcoming Events: Brenda passed out a paper for the next couple months and the days where help is needed. Please call and volunteer. On Sat. March 18^th, Birding etc. will be held at the convention center. Rita and Purnima and (Normalie???about hummingbirds) will help with this. Barb will help with the K-Conversation Day on April 21^st. Call to help. April 29^th is the plant sale. Start thinking about what you can pot up to bring. Set up on the 28^th. March 27^th is Body Smart Gardening for the HEA. June 3^rd is Women in the Wild. Barb Brayfield will help with the Junior Master Gardeners and anyone else interested????

New Business

Telenets: will now be charged a registration fee of $5.00. This will be advertised in our newspaper column and Purnima will put new fliers at the senior center so folks will know. A press release has also gone out announcing the charge. Master Gardeners who have completed 30 hours of service for 2005 will not be charged. Neither will they be charged for the aromatherapy night if they are helping with the program or bringing in an herbal snack.

Herbal Aromatherapy Night: Coming up on March 14^th. Due to this we will not have a meeting that night. Feel free to come and help set up or to bring an herbal snack. Barb will demonstrate the making of a dream pillow, oil infusion and bath salts. Purnima took fliers and will put out at the senior center and IGA and other sites. Brenda will do a press release and radio announcement.

Adjourn

Barb moved and Judy seconded that the meeting be adjourned. Meeting adjourned at 8:30. Next meeting will be April 11^th, 2006 with the March 14^th Aromatherapy taking the place of the March 14^th meeting.

Submitted by: Rita Kemme, secretary

Master Gardener Opportunities For Service

It's time to start thinking about giving back your volunteer time! Check your calendars.

March

Anytime-Office

8- Master Gardener Training

14-Aroma Therapy Workshop

15-MG training

18-Birds/Woods walk/Booth to hand out critter

control and Deer resistant plants info

22-MG Training

29-MG training

April

-Anytime-Office

5-MG training

12-MG-training

18-Telenet-Summer Flowering Bulbs

19-MG-tour

21-K-Conservation Day-Pond walk/Nature Walk

28-Plant Sale set up

29-Plant Sale 7-10AM

May

Anytime-Office

2-Telenet-Uncommon, Unusual and

Underrated Landscape Plants

16-Telenet-Shade Gardening

Current Projects:

Landscaping the Cross

Junior Master Gardeners-Nursing Home Gardens

Check on your Plants for the plant sale. Prepare your care sheets to hand out with the plants. Save bags and flat boxes.

Fishing & Hunting Expo

March 17

Thelma Keller Convention Center

Kurt Singclair and David Shiley will present a program for Kids of All Ages on tying Spinner Baits at 6:00 PM

8:00 PM Kurt & Dave will present a program on How to Find Land to Hunt on-Access to Public Lands for hunting using a variety of maps, gps and internet sites.

March 18th

12-Noon U of I Effingham County Master Gardeners will host a program called It's For the Birds. Kids of All Ages welcome to this hands on workshop. Make a nesting bag, bird house, pinecone bird treat, learn about humming birds and view slides of area birds.

June 3rd

Ballard Nature Center

1-2:15 PM Herb Workshop-Cultivation and Uses

2:30-3:45 PM Aroma Therapy Workshop

Getting Ready For Spring

St. Francis Ladies Solidality would like one or more master gardeners to give a program on getting ready for spring-What to do when-trimming, pruning, mulching cutting, planting tips, bulbs- I think we can do it. I think we need several Master Gardeners for this program. It's Monday evening March 20th at 7:30 PM. If interested give Brenda a call-217-347-7773

If some of your volunteer hours as a Master Gardener are devoted to youth education, here are some winter gardening activities that can be used with 4-H clubs, scout troops and other youth groups.

Garbage Gardening is a great way to show kids that many of the things we throw away have value. Plant parts that are normally thrown away are potentially beautiful houseplants.

Avocado–The avocado needs light to germinate. There are two ways you can start an avocado. Plants can be started by suspending the pit with toothpicks in a glass of water. Put the pointy side up and remember to change the water every couple of days while waiting for it to split and send out a root. The other way to start an avocado is to plant it in soil. Let the pit dry for a day. Peel off the dark, brown covering. Put the pit in a pot filled with potting soil, pointed end up. Leave about one-third of the pit showing. Keep the soil moist, and a shoot should appear in about four to six weeks. Once the tree has started and is up to at least 6 inches, put another layer of soil in the pot to cover the pit.

Carrot, Beets, Rutabaga, Turnips–These root crops have a leafy upper portion. Cut a 1-inch section from the top of the vegetable and plant it in moist sand with only the upper part exposed. Keep the soil moist and small leaves will begin to appear in about 10 days.

Citrus–Seeds of orange, lime, lemon and grapefruit are easy to grow. Kids can look for seeds while they eat something that's good for them. Soak seeds in water overnight. Plant them about 1 inch deep in a pot filled with potting soil. Put two to three seeds in each pot.

Ginger–For kids who like a challenge, ginger is something they could grow. Look for fresh ginger roots that are showing signs of sprouting. You will notice little bumps that look like they are getting ready to burst. These are 'eyes.' Just like you plant potatoes, slice the ginger root so you have several eyes on each piece. Plant them in well-drained potting soil. Keep the soil moist. It takes about three weeks for ginger to sprout.

Worm composting–Start a worm bin indoors. This teaches kids the value of recycling, and they get to mess around with slimy worms! They will also learn about the interdependence of plants and organisms as they turn vegetable scraps into valuable compost.

Jazz Up Garden Containers

Any budding artists? Let them loose on some inexpensive garden containers. Kid-safe, durable paints are available at most craft stores.

Remember Terrariums?

Pull out that old fish bowl or an old mayonnaise jar. Carefully place some soil and plants inside a clean glass container. Cover the opening with clear plastic wrap. Watch as the plants and roots grow.

Feed the Birds

Though not a true gardening project, it is fun to feed the birds. Pine cones coated with peanut butter and then rolled in birdseed make great bird feeders. Have the kids keep track of all the different types of birds that visit their backyard along with the date each was first spotted.

Flower seeds are often much smaller than vegetable seeds. Some are almost dust-like, and handling them is a real challenge. When flower seeds fail to germinate, we humans are often at fault, not the plant.

Seed from any reliable seed house can be assumed to be of proven viability. The hazards of germinating flower seeds are so great that even professionals seldom have 100 percent success.

Small-seeded flowers like begonias, impatiens, geraniums, petunias, snapdragons and salvia need to be sown in February so that plants are large enough to set outdoors on Mother's Day.

Good germination of flower seeds takes proper temperature, moisture and oxygen–a lot easier to do indoors than in an outside bed.

Small, fragile seeds will die if they dry out during germination. Another common mistake is covering them too deeply. Many seeds should just be sprinkled over the top of the medium and then watered in.

A small greenhouse is best for growing your own plants, but few of us are fortunate enough to have one. Next best is the use of fluorescent lights in an area of your home where you can have some control over temperatures and where spilled water isn't a problem. A corner in the basement or an unused room works well.

While it is obvious that you get a lot of fresh air, sunshine and exercise when you're out gardening, what isn't so obvious is the fact that you are also relieving a good portion of life's pressures, tensions and worries.

Stresses fade away as you become absorbed in the tasks ahead: working the soil, planting, cultivating and best of all–harvesting.

The number of high-powered, tense and stressed people who have found the garden to ease their day-to-day tensions is increasing every year.

Doctors, airline pilots, mothers of small and not-so-small children, teachers and senior citizens are all involved in the job of gardening. They know that you don't have to get into your car and drive for hours to find peace of mind–it's right outside your door.

If your spouse is often stressed, encourage him/her to take up

gardening. No drug in the world is as safe or as effective for making a person mellow. Working out frustrations and resentments at the end of a hoe sure beats popping pills or hitting the bottle.

It has become obvious that gardens are not just food factories. As you know, a gardener gets a lot more out of gardening than just food.