Thanks for making the Plant Sale a success!

In this edition:

• Assessing the summer garden for plant division
• A message from our MG Coordinator
• Buckeye Lady Beetle Blitz coming
• Successful MG plant sale
• Proceeds from the MG plant sale
• Help needed for June farmer’s market
• Community project at fairgrounds
• Anniversary changes to fairgrounds’ gardens
• Cathy Giles wins Wagnall’s award
• Helping Hands off to a great start
• Seasonal Asparagus Quiche recipe
• Summer in the garden
• My Monet Weigela
• Noxious weeds and invasive plants
• Square foot gardening
• Proposed plant exchange page for MGs
• Garden Destinations: Garvan Woodland Gardens
• Featured Book: Martha Stewart’s Gardening Handbook
• Did You Know? “Exfoliating” defined
• In/Around the Garden

Find the Summer 2025 Master Gardener Newsletter in it’s entirety linked here.

The Lab can test ticks for several diseases.

The Buckeye Tick Testing Laboratory at Ohio State University is up and running and now ready to accept samples!

The tick population, the number of tick species, and the associated tick-borne diseases in people and animals are rapidly increasing across the Buckeye State. Ohio now has six medically important tick species. These include blacklegged ticks, American dog ticks, lone star ticks, gulf coast ticks, Asian longhorned ticks, and brown dog ticks and each carry one or more pathogens that could be harmful to humans and/or animals (note: pathogens are germs that can cause illness).

The Ohio State University Buckeye Tick Test Laboratory is addressing this critical situation by offering cost-effective tick-borne pathogen testing for the general public with test results within 72 hours. After receiving the test results, individuals can Continue reading Buckeye Tick Test Laboratory is now open for business →

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

Can you tell with certainty which are safe to eat?

Each spring questions circulate about some of the most desirable and delicious wild foods you can find in Ohio- morel mushrooms. Foraging for wild edibles is a topic that I find incredibly challenging to address with clientele because proper identification of a plant or fungus can be the difference between a gourmet dinner and a grueling stomachache or worse, an untimely death.

Fortunately, morels are one of the easiest mushrooms to identify, but if you have any doubt that the mushrooms you have found are not true morels, you should not consume them or prepare them for others. There are false morels that appear in Continue reading Morels are Coming! →

If you see an eagle, we want to know.

In this edition:

• The Impact of MG Give Back Hours
• A message from our MG Coordinator
• Help needed spotting bald eagles
• First annual Fairfield County MG plant sale
• 2025 Library Gardening series
• Living Well webinars
• Fruit tree pruning workshop
• Local plant sales in May
• Snow cover and plants
• Hybrid Cleome
• Milk jug winter sowing
• Time to plant Helleborus
• Growing onions
• How to read a seed packet
• Plant tag garden tip
• Container gardening books
• Featured Book; The Tree Collectors by Amy Stewart
• In/Around the Garden

Find the Spring 2025 Master Gardener Newsletter in it’s entirety linked here.

– Ted Wiseman, ANR Educator Perry County

De-icers can cause damage to the environment.

Chemical de-icers will help remove ice, but can also cause damage to the surrounding environment.  Over application of chemical de-icers can shorten the life span of concrete surfaces, corrode metal railings, pollute streams and lakes through run-off water, damage soils and stunt or kill plants adjacent to de-iced areas.  Manual snow-removal followed by the application of an abrasive such as damp sand to create traction can keep sidewalks safe without the problems associated with de-icers.  Using de-icers wisely, or replacing them with manual removal and abrasives, can minimize the potential for damage while keeping steps and sidewalks safe.

Most de-icing chemicals are technically “salts” that work by lowering the freezing point of water below 32° F.  Salts can damage Continue reading Using De-icers this Winter →

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

There are alternatives to salt for melting ice.

With winter comes ice, with ice comes salt, with salt comes salty soils and stressed plants in the spring. Did you know that there are many product options available for melting ice besides salt? Today we’ll look at the benefits and disadvantages of those options.

Salt is a great tool for treating slippery roads and sidewalks. It consistently works when applied appropriately. However, high levels of salt can leach into soils and inhibit plant growth when spring comes again. Plants damaged by salt accumulation will appear dehydrated. Salt in the soil draws water out of the plant cells and leads to quicker and more intense dehydration. Plants will often display chlorosis (leaf-yellowing), stunted growth, damage to uniform plant species that progressively change from bad to good as you move away from high traffic areas. Homeowners often associate the damage with Continue reading Icey Sidewalks and Salty Solutions →

Decorating the house with fresh greenery is one of the oldest winter holiday traditions.

In this edition:

• Decorating safely with fresh greens indoors
• Connie’s Corner A message from our MG Coordinator
• Perennial plant of the year
• Fairfield County MGs recognized
• Learning Never Ends gardeners win blue ribbons at fair
• Winter virtual book clubs
• One MG’s Christmas traditions
• Gardener’s gift idea
• Holiday recipes
• Waxed amaryllis bulbs
• Holiday leftover safety
• Autumn mysteries revealed
• Importance of watering the landscape
• Winter mulching
• Fall cleaning of gardening tools
• Putting the garden to bed for winter
• How the tomato became a vegetable
• Agriculture technology featuring Trevor Bowie
• A review of the MGV State conference
• See what’s happening in and around the garden

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

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

A fresh tree can draw up 2 qts or more water on the first day in the tree stand.

Bringing the outdoors in as decoration is a popular tradition this time of year. We just finished our annual Holiday Wreath Making Workshop where we did just that and what a fun time we always have. Our local tree farms will be opening after Thanksgiving! Can you believe it is that time already? I encourage you to shop early this year and be prepared to take good care of your live tree so it lasts in beautiful condition until New Year’s Day. The drought of 2024 may impact the availability of trees and their longevity if not pampered in your home.

For some, décor that looks like real plant material is a must and for others, real is the only way to go. I respect both options but given the choice, I will go for real evergreen material for our tree, wreaths, swags, and garlands. If you like to keep it real for the holidays like I do, keep Continue reading Keeping it Real for the Holidays →

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

Leaf litter can be composted.

While there are many tasks on a gardeners list in the fall, the “clean up” that is best for our ecosystem may not look all that “clean”. Leaving residue on the soil is beneficial in many ways, especially deciduous tree leaf litter. Leaf litter may seem like a nuisance, but the litter is a valuable resource that I hope you will consider recycling.

Leaves contain valuable nutrients for soil health. Healthy soils provide plants and animals with healthy habitats. Keep the nutrients held within fallen leaves in use by reincorporating them into your landscape in the form of compost or mulch.

It is important to take Continue reading Leave the Leaves →

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

Don’t be surprised when you find these in the house!

It’s stink bug season again!

The brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) is back in 2024 causing frustration for homeowners and farmers across America. These shielded, flying, stout, and brown insects are thought to have invaded the US from Asia in the mid-90s. Since the first one was positively identified in 2001 by Penn State they have spread across the country and now pose threats worth $21 billion to specialty food crops annually. They cause damage to many food crops including fruits, vegetables, and grains.

There are many different kinds of less common stink bugs in our region that including beneficial, predatory stink bugs. Stink bugs do not Continue reading Return of the Stinkbug! →