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Looking for a Quick Easy Summer Meal..try a Turkey Wrap!!

This recipe is being shared from the Fairfield County SNAP Education Program  Celebrate Your Plate Series.   Preparation time 15 minutes

TURKEY CRANBERRY WRAP

1 large whole wheat tortilla

2 tablespoons reduced fat cream cheese

2 tablespoons reduced sugar dried cranberries

½ apple, cored and thinly sliced

2 oz. sliced oven-roasted turkey breast

2 tablespoons chopped red onion

½ cup fresh baby spinach

Place tortilla on a plate and spread with cream cheese.  Top with dried cranberries and sliced apple.  Layer turkey on top of fillings.  Sprinkle with chopped red onion. Top with spinach and any additional toppings.  Tightly roll by tucking 2 inches on each side inward toward the center.  Then grip the bottom, untucked side of the tortilla and roll forward.   Cut in half and serve.   Nutritional Information:  Calories 380,  Total Fat 11g, Sodium 920 mg Total Carbs 59g, Protein 16g

 

Reminders to be Vigilant for Lyme Disease

– Christine Gelley, Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator, Noble County OSU Extension

Humans are infected through the bites of immature black legged ticks calls nymphs.

It is becoming common knowledge that Lyme disease cases are on the rise in Ohio and that Lyme disease is transferred to people through the black-legged tick (A.K.A.- deer tick). It makes sense, given that the preferred habitat of this tick is the habitat occurring throughout Southeast Ohio- forested areas with leaf-litter coverage, grassy forest edges, and other areas with low-lying vegetation where wildlife are common. At this point, the black-legged tick is distributed through nearly every county in the state and poses a significant health risk to Ohioans.

Over the past week, another member of my immediate family has begun treatment for Lyme disease. The issue is prevalent and could present for any of us at any time. Even with the best prevention techniques and Continue reading Reminders to be Vigilant for Lyme Disease

The Summer 2024 Master Gardener Newsletter is here!

Can you tell a termite from a winged ant?

Packed into this issue:

  • Distinguishing termites and ants
  • Connie’s Corner
  • Thanks to Lancaster Greenhouse
  • Learning Never Ends’ needs
  • Thank you Pam and Neil Jarvis and Louise Smith
  • Field guide available
  • Helping Hands in the Garden—projects
  • Wagnalls gets ZooBrew
  • MGV Project Leaders
  • 2024 MG training highlights
  • Song bird and pollinator gardens of Ag Center
  • Corn reproduction
  • Controlling slugs
  • Available MG materials
  • Best time to water
  • Garden tasks for June
  • Importance of sun protection
  • Garden designs for disability and aging
  • Featured Book: The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley
  • Local foods programs and food preservation
  • In/Around the Garden
  • Featured events and event calendar

Find the entire newsletter linked here in a PDF printable format.

Dividing perennials..the time is now!!

Spring is a great time to divide many of our favorite herbaceous garden perennials. The plants are small, easy to handle and they have the entire growing season to get re-established in your garden. But how do you know how often to divide perennials.

The term “perennial” literally means to last or exist for a long time and to be enduring or continually recurring. A perennial plant re-grows year after year from the same root. Some perennial plants are very long-lived like an oak tree which others are short-lived like some of the newer coneflower cultivars.

Dividing perennials or “division” is a form of propagation: you are creating multiple plants from a single plant. Some plants like Heuchera, coral bells, are very easy to divide. The plant crowns are right at the surface of the soil and small plants, called ‘offsets’, develop from the larger main plant. Other plants like Hosta and ornamental grasses have dense roots that require a sharp knife, garden fork, or even an axe to cut apart.

Division also promotes plant health and can rejuvenate a plant. A perennial should be divided when it dies out in the middle (the oldest part) of the plant, produces smaller flowers or leaves, and blooms less.

Dividing perennials is also a good idea if plants have become crowded as it increases air and light around plants which can increase blooming as well as reduce disease and insect pests.

For a great guide to knowing when to divide those perennials check out this factsheet:  https://extension.psu.edu/dividing-perennials

 

Don’t miss the Seeds of Change event on April 20 at Rising Park!!

Be sure to mark your calendar now to attend the Seeds of Change event at Rising Park..Listen in as our good friend Keri Murphy of the Lancaster Fairfield County Community Recycling Center shares all the details!!   Master Gardeners will be there with seeds and vegetable gardening information too!

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Victory Garden Seeds Available at OSU Extension-Fairfield County

It’s time once again to get your hands dirty and start growing! The Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) and Ohio State University Extension offices are kicking off the third year of the Ohio Victory Gardens program.  Seed sample kits with lettuce, carrots and  sunflowers  will be available for free to the public to get people planting.

Seeds packets are now available for pick up at OSU Extension in Fairfield County.  Just stop by the Fairfield County Agriculture Center located at 831 College Avenue in Lancaster to pick up your seed packet.  Each packet contains a sample packet of lettuce, carrots, cucumber and sunflower seeds.  OSU Extension in Fairfield County   is open M-F from 7:30am until 4 pm daily.  Be sure to pick up a Free OSU Garden calendar when picking up your seeds and maybe even consider purchasing a Soil Thermometer.  Soil thermometers are great tools to keep in your garden toolbox to get your garden off to a good start each year.  Vegetable seeds will have a better germination rate if you know the soil temperature.  For example, most of those cool season vegetables like spinach, lettuce, peas and onions, beet seeds will germinate at soil temperatures in the mid 40’s.  Those tomatoes, cucumbers and pumpkins prefer soil temperatures in the 58-60 degree soil temperature range.  The cost of the soil thermometer is $10.00 with all proceeds benefiting the Fairfield County Master Gardener Program. OSU Extension in Fairfield County is located in the Fairfield County Ag Center at 831 College Avenue, Suite D, Lancaster, Ohio.

Start your growing season off right.  Check soil temperatures before opening your first packet of seeds to plant in your garden.

 

Source:  Connie Smith, Program Assistant, Master Gardener Coordinator-Fairfield County

Know your Soil Temperature before planting ANYTHING!!!!

Spring has sprung and everyone is getting ready to start planting.

The past few weeks have no doubt brought lots of gardeners out into the sunshine.  The calendar tells us we could be planting early spring crops in the garden but what does the soil thermometer tell us.  If you have never thought about the use of the soil thermometer you should!  Have you ever had crops that you planted in garden that just “set” there and did not take off?  Perhaps you planted them in wet soils or perhaps you planted them when the soils were just too cold.

Soil temperature plays an important role in seed germination. Adequate soil temperatures for germination range widely for different crops.  For example, spinach needs a soil temperature of at least 38 degrees to germinate while lettuces, onions and peas like a 42-43-degree soil temperature.  Other  cool season crops like broccoli, cabbage, beets and carrots can germinate at 40 degree soil temperatures.     Potatoes do best at 45 degrees, even though legend suggests St. Patrick’s Day is the perfect day for planting potatoes.    And those tomatoes, cucumbers and pumpkins prefer soil temperatures in the 58-60 degree soil temperature range.

Need a soil thermometer?  Stop by OSU Extension in Fairfield County and pick up a soil thermometer from Garden Tool supplier, AM Leonard Company in Piqua, Ohio.  The cost of the soil thermometer is $10.00 with all proceeds benefiting the Fairfield County Master Gardener Program.  Soil thermometers are great tools to keep in your garden toolbox to get your garden off to a good start each year.  OSU Extension in Fairfield County is located in the Fairfield County Ag Center at 831 College Avenue, Suite D, Lancaster, Ohio .