Date: Wed. , May 20 EVENING MEETING...Bring your significant other!

Time: 5:30pm Potluck • 6:30pm Meeting • 7:00pm Speaker:Pat Middleton

Place: Extension Office

Topic: The program is information regarding helping MGs work the Hort Help Line. The 5 minute talk is Woodland Wildflowers by Norm Meyn. Bring a potluck to share...utensils, papergoods and drinks provided by the Extension. Note: Have a topic of MG interest or a guest speaker you would like to have at any our meetings? (Please contact either Pres., Margie Karl or V. Pres. Norm Meyn.)

It doesn't seem possible we are over a quarter of the way into 2009. A lot has happened in these last four months. Peoria County Master Gardener's are steadily moving into reopening approved projects. There have been some great strides forward in guiding the projects toward the focus of the MG mission of education and sharing our knowledge. Together, we have come up with an extensive media contact list for getting our word out. We hope to gain more awareness and interest in our program and what it has to offer through the broader use of communication. Members are sharing their thoughts with the board to offer new ideas to keep us from becoming stagnated in our efforts. There have also been some new projects approved this year. I don't know about you but I feel pretty good about our volunteers and our progress so far.

On a personal note, the Jr. Master Gardener program I'm leading is going well. The group, named Garden Fun, consists of six 8 & 9 year old girls and one 10 year old boy. We are raising vegetables & flowers in raised beds at my home. I have to tell you, the unfinished wooden raised beds have caused quite a stir in the neighborhood. Neighbors have been stopping and asking what we are doing. We will have a party/demonstration once things get growing. Anyone wanting to see what we are doing is welcome to stop by. We meet on Tuesdays from 3:30-4:30PM until school is out.

I have also been doing some more clean up in my yard and planting a few things here and there. I'm not getting in too much of a hurry though. Miss May has fooled me once before. I have to really be careful when I go to the plant stores. I love seeing all the beautiful colors and textures I've been longing for all winter. It would be very easy to buy and plant them just to have Nature play her nasty freeze trick on me once again. So if you happen to be in one of these stores and you see me setting on a bench eyeing the selection, perhaps you should just set with me and we can chat and dream of what's to come. In the meantime I'll just be satisfied with my early bloomers.

In honor of Earth Day and Arbor Day, I leave you with this: We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. ~Native American Proverb

- Margie Karl

Master Gardener apparel sales will begin in May this year. Watch for your sell sheet in the next issue of Imagine. All ordering will be done via the internet (through the Master Gardener website at http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/mg) and apparel will be shipped to your local extension office for pickup mid-summer. This year will feature favorite items like denim shirts, polo shirts, hats, T-shirts, jackets, MG pins, decals, patches and license plate covers. New items for 2009 include a fleece jacket, long-sleeve T-shirt and gingham shirts. Master Gardener apparel is a great way to show your pride and promote your local projects.