Registration is open for the Advanced Winter Tree ID class. In this day-long class, spend time with samples and, if weather permits, outdoors.
This class will be held on Feb. 18th at the Fairfield County Extension office. The deadline to register is 2/12.
Can you identify trees with leaves? What about without leaves? Identifying trees in winter can be a real challenge. This is an advanced class for individuals who are familiar with using dichotomous keys.
This class begins indoors with some introductory identification clues and samples. A guide for identifying trees by fruit and twigs will be utilized for a major portion of the class. The afternoon portion of the class may be outside, depending on the weather and time.
Registration is $40 and includes lunch and materials.
Register here
Growing Raspberries: Macy Deatty
Apple Trees: Brooks Warner
Orchards: Kane Lewis
Soil Testing: Leeoria Willis
Ginseng: Brooks Warner
Container Gardening with Fruit: Ryan Slaughter
Learn more here or visit montgomery.osu.edu
If summer heat has you spent and you can’t wait for Winter to begin join the OSUE Clermont County Master Gardener Volunteers as they Prepare for a winter rest.
RSVP to save your spot by calling the office at 513-732-7070 or email Burdsall.9@osu.edu
When you come to the Clermont County fair (July 21st-27th), make sure to stop by The Master Gardener Volunteer booth in the Floral Hall to see what we are doing now.
On Wednesday, May 1, the Williamsburg Farmer’s Market opened its 2024 season with a bang! 295 customers/attendees enjoyed the variety of food, plants, and doggy treats available from 7 vendors, and LOTS of children enjoyed the “Touch-a-Truck” event with a variety of fire, EMT, and law enforcement vehicles available for exploration. Clermont County MGVs Diana Dickinson and Susan Givler manned the first-ever MGV booth at the Farmer’s Market to answer questions and provide information to attendees. They logged more than 30 attendee visitors over the 3 hours of the Market.
The Williamsburg Farmer’s Market is a weekly affair, open from 4-7:00 every Wednesday from May 1 through October 16 at 150 E. Main St., Williamsburg. As the season progresses and produce and meat become more available, the number of vendors will increase to around 13-14 each week. The Clermont County MGVs will be a regular feature, with a booth twice in May and once a month for the rest of the season on the Market’s Special Event Days, which are:
May 1 Touch-a-Truck
May 22 Touch-a-Truck 2
June 12 Community Outreach Day
July 17 Christmas in July
August 14 Williamsburg Local Schools Event
September 18 Williamsburg Garden Club Scarecrows in Williamsburg
October 16 4th Annual Trick or Treat/Costume Contest
See us and enjoy the bounty of the Market!
In presentation order
Joe Boggs – OSU Extension Hamilton County
What’s Real or Imagined?
Boxwoods (Buxus spp.) were one of the earliest plants used in North American landscapes, and their planting records date back to the mid-1600s. These deer-resistant evergreens are among our most popular landscape plants owing to their unique forms and functions in landscape designs. However, the long run of boxwoods in Ohio landscapes seems threatened by new and old diseases and a new non-native pest. Are the threats just a bump on the boxwood road or signs signaling the end of boxwoods? This presentation provides information and perspectives on the threats to boxwoods.
Curtis Young – OSU Extension Van Wert County
What’s All the Buzz About Cicadas Again?
This presentation will look at what cicadas are making the news, why they are in the news, where they might be seen in 2024, what impact they may have on perennials in landscapes, and what one may need to do to protect one’s landscape from injury. The presentation will look at their biology, species that could be encountered, how they produce damage to plants, and what to look for in 2024.
Carrie Brown – OSU Extension Fairfield County
Benefits of natives and trees for pollinators
We will start by exploring the benefits of incorporating native plants into your landscape. We will then take a look at a few native trees that your local pollinators are sure to love.
Marne Titchenell – OSU Extension Wildlife Program Director
The Good, The Bad, and the Hungry: Dealing with Wildlife in the Garden
Eaten plants, dug up bulbs, and holes in the lawn…if you spend time in the garden or landscape, you have undoubtedly encountered these issues. Many wildlife species live among us, our communities, and our backyards. Viewing these species can be enjoyable, but sometimes conflict arises. Fortunately, most wildlife damage can be managed with the right techniques and strategies.
Ashley Kulhanek – OSU Extension Medina County
Weird Things Bugs Do
Join us to learn about common and not-so-common insects and some of their strange and endearing behaviors happening in yards across Ohio.
A series of articles presented by Candy Horton, an OSU Extension Master Gardener Volunteer
I was working in the garden this past weekend. I was installing a new cold frame and noticed spinach coming up. Some of the seeds I planted last November are now coming up. I am so excited about that; I should be able to start harvesting again in just a few weeks. I did get my first batch of radishes and lettuce planted and should be harvesting these soon, too. I’m planting cool-weather plants and do well in this type of weather. I check to see if the bean seeds I planted last year are coming up. I’m hoping that will be soon.
Some things that I have to do in the garden this coming week are to clean out the weeds from around the beds and walking paths. I need to move the compost over into the second compost bin so that I will have compost to use this fall, and I can start the next batch with all of the cleanup I’m doing. I want to clean the strawberry bed and add new plants and leaf mulch to finish cleaning that bin. Once I know how many strawberries made it through the winter, I can add more if needed. The ones I have seen are beautiful and look very healthy. I am working on the bed that will have the peas in it. It’s a 4’ x 12’ bed. The seeds I have are supposed to be self-supporting. I will plant 2 short rows this week, then in 3 weeks, plant two more and continue this until I have all the rows planted. As the plants die down, I will pull them and start the process over. With peas being a cool weather plant, I may have to take a break in the hottest few months and start back up in the fall.
I checked on the seeds I started in the milk jugs and were outside. I have a lot of seeds coming up. Most are flowers, but the trays’ seeds are coming up quickly. The broccoli and cabbage are doing good. I will plant more seeds in milk jugs through the end of this month and another couple of trays.
As for the next section of the potager garden, I have the layout ready. The center section is going to be 8 feet wide. I will add a water feature, a resting spot, and insect hotels in this section. The insect hotels will be the first thing I will add to the garden. Insect hotels are a way to invite beneficial insects into your garden. Many insects use leaves, sticks, plant stalks, and holes in wood to build their homes for the winter. By building or providing these items for insects to build their homes in, you provide a safe habitat for them. And they will help care for the bad insects that invade your garden. According to the Oklahoma State University Extension group, less than 1% of all insects are pests. The rest of the insects benefit us or serve as an important food source for vertebrate predators. Native pollinators such as bees also need nesting sites, and because of urban development, places where they can build their nests are becoming harder to find. These are solitary bees such as mason or leafcutter bees. I want to add a nesting box for them as well. Utah State University Extension has a really good article on how to make and manage a wild bee house or hotel, as well as a lot of good information on where to place them in your garden and how to protect the bees once they have started nesting. I have the links for both articles below. When I started building this garden, I never thought about insects and worms; I just wanted a garden. I soon realized that with this eventually being a walled garden and a sort of outdoor room, I want to invite into this room everything that will help to make it a safe, restful, and healthy space, and that includes the insects, birds, butterflies and all other types of habitat.
On June 11-13, The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) hosts the Urban Food Systems Symposium in Columbus, Ohio. The event includes keynotes, a grower panel, 40 presentations, a reception with approximately 50 posters, a choice of six off-site educational tours, and dinner at The Waterman Agricultural and Natural Resources Laboratory, a unique 261-acre university facility for teaching, research, and community engagement.
This symposium will bring together a national and international audience of academic, non-profit, government, and research-oriented professionals to share and learn how to build coalitions to adapt to this changing world and how urban food systems contribute to these solutions.
Join 300-400 like-minded people at the Urban Food Systems Symposium. Act now to take advantage of early registration prices through April 13. Hotel reservations close May 21, and registration closes on May 24. Tour capacity is limited and is on a first-come basis. Visit UrbanFoodSystemsSymposium.org for more information.
