Lee Borden

Attracting Beneficial Predators

Who doesn’t want more beneficial predators on the prowl in the garden? They’re on duty at odd hours, working tirelessly to keep under control those pesky critters that work to beat you to your food and munch on your flowers.

Many of you probably remember Suzanne Sikes, who regaled us last April with the many glories of daylilies. She’s back in March to coach us on how to improve our hospitality to the gardener’s best friends.

The meeting is March 15, 2016 in the Elmore County Extension auditorium, 10:00 am. And stick around after the program for refreshments and the business meeting.

How Can You Rack Up Those Volunteer Hours?

Join us for the CAMGA meeting on January 19, when we simplify the task of building those volunteer hours every intern needs to graduate and every CAMGA member needs to stay active. You’ll learn about key opportunities for volunteer service and have the chance to visit personally with the people whose opportunities you most want to pursue.

10:00 am in the Elmore County Extension Auditorium. The business meeting will follow, and you will be finished by noon.

Here’s the link to the slides we used in the meeting.

Here are the descriptions of the work areas actively seeking volunteers.

Build a Bluebird House

Join our own Rod Douglas as he builds a bluebird house before your eyes. Come to Lunch & Learn at the Elmore County Extension Auditorium, 340 Queen Ann Rd, Wetumpka, AL 36092.

Tuesday, January 12 from noon to 1:00 pm. Bring your lunch; drinks are provided.

Wanna help build a word cloud?

The USDA is working to promote home gardening and has asked us gardeners to help build a word cloud on the subject “consumer horticulture.” Hundreds of gardeners have already contributed, and it takes just a minute or two. You don’t have to sign in or give your name. Click on this link and add the two or three words you associate the most with consumer horticulture, and you’re done!

Wondering what the heck a word cloud is? This should help.

We Have a New Wireless Presenter

The CAMGA video equipment now has in it a new wireless presenter, an Inatek WP1002. It replaces the larger and bulkier remote we have been using, and it also includes a laser pointer.

Check out the video to learn how to use it.

A Layman’s Take on Photosynthesis

For our September CAMGA program, Lee Borden will share why he stands in awe of the process of photosynthesis and regards it simply as “the most important chemical reaction on the planet.” Speaking as a gardener, not a scientist, Lee will describe what the world was like before photosynthesis, how it works, and what makes it slow down or stop. Along the way, he will name some of CAMGA members’ favorite people, places, and things and describe how they depend on photosynthesis.

The meeting will begin at 10:00 am on September 15 in the Elmore County Extension Auditorium.

Here are the resources:

Slides for Lee’s presentation

Morton, Oliver. Eating the Sun. New York: Harper Collins (2009). Link.

Silverstein, Alvin, Silverstein, Virginia, and Nunn, Laura Silverstein. Photosynthesis. Brookfield, Connecticut: Twenty-First Century Books (1998). Link.

Podcast on Photosynthesis: In Our Time (BBC)

Steel making (try to imagine it happening without fossil fuels!) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l7JqonyoKA

Energize Your Garden with Cover Crops

Join us for the Lunch & Learn on Tuesday, September 8, when Lee and Amanda Borden teach us how using cover crops can make our soil more fertile, help decrease the watering we need to do, and help our plants thrive.

We all know commercial farmers use cover crops, but most of us don’t think about using cover crops in our garden. Lee and Amanda will explain why cover crops are just as important, and just as helpful, for us as they are for the cotton farmer growing on 2,000 acres.

Here’s a partial list of the benefits cover crops provide:

They help us increase organic matter in our soil
They reduce erosion
They help our soil hold more water so we don’t have to water as much or as often
Many cover crops dig deep to bring up essential nutrients and deposit them where our plants can use them
Many cover crops increase the nitrogen available for our plants

The program will begin at noon in the Elmore County Extension Auditorium at 340 Queen Ann Road, Wetumpka, AL. Bring your lunch; drinks will be provided.

Here are the resources mentioned during the program:
• Slides for the program
• Managing Cover Crops Profitably:
http://www.sare.org/Learning-Center/Books/Managing-Cover-Crops-Profitably-3rd-Edition
• Cover Crops for Sustainable Crop Rotations:
http://www.sare.org/Learning-Center/Topic-Rooms/Topic-Briefs/Cover-Crops-for-Sustainable-Crop-Rotations
• Cover Crops for Organic Farms:
http://content.ces.ncsu.edu/cover-crops-for-organic-farms.pdf
• Cover Crops for the Southeast:
http://www.ars.usda.gov/SP2UserFiles/Place/60100500/csr/SlideSets/SS01.pdf

Mallory’s Slides on Organic Gardening

Mallory Kelley did a great job at the Lunch & Learn today, and she was kind enough to make her slides available to you. You can view them by clicking on this link. Thanks, Mallory!

Mary McCroan’s Snake Was a Mommy!

We all had fun Tuesday when Mary McCroan presented about the benefits snakes provide in our garden, and she was kind enough to bring a small worm snake as a demonstration. What neither she nor we knew at the time was that the worm snake she held up for us to see was great with baby worm snakes!

Here’s what Mary said about it on Facebook:

Last Tuesday I gave a presentation on snakes to my Master Gardener Group. A visual aid was a worm snake I’d found while planting a tree on my property. They live under the mulch and even underground when it gets too hot. I let her go after the presentation. I know that she is a she, because when I checked the terrarium where I’d been keeping her, I found 8 baby worm snakes. Very cool says I.