The Tollgate Farm News - Tollgate Farm and Education Center

The Tollgate Farm News
Volume 19
Issue 6
June 2013
MSU Tollgate Gardens Volunteer General Meeting in the Conference Center
Thursday, June 20, 7:00 PM
Interesting Facts and Figures about Hostas
On Thursday, June 20, Ralph Heiden will offer a program on his favorite topic, Hostas. He will start with
some interesting facts and figures about hostas and how to determine which of the over 8,000 cultivars
you might want in your garden. Hostas were once considered a "cast iron" plant with few problems; however, in recent decades, certain disease, insect and
cultural ailments have started cropping up with the
number one selling genus of perennials. Ralph will talk
about deer, slugs, viral diseases, foliar nematodes,
spring desiccation, petiole rot and other challenges
with growing hostas in the home landscape.
Ralph Heiden retired in 2010 after many years as an
Extension Horticulture Educator with Michigan State
University in Jackson County. He has an MS in Horticulture from MSU and has taught Master Gardener classes
in over 30 Michigan counties. In March, he was a
"Professor" at the annual Hosta College in Piqua, Ohio.
He has been involved with the American and Michigan
Hosta Societies for many years. In retirement, he has
been developing his websites, PlantsGalore.Com and
HostaHelper.Com.
Tollgate Hosta Garden 2013
Tollgate Garden Volunteer Important Dates and Events
June
20
Meetings
TGV General Meeting
June
July
7:00 PM
Activities
Activities
6
Demo and Hosta Gardens
9:00 AM
13
Open House Clean-up
9:00 AM
20
Tollgate Open House
10:00 AM
Children’s Garden and Nursery
15
Pond
9:00 AM
27
22
Xeriscape/Activity Center Dry
9:00 AM
Aug
29
Heritage/Dry Shade
9:00 AM
6
TGAC Meeting
7:00 PM
13
Fall Fair Meeting
7:00 PM
15
TGV General Meeting
7:00 PM
July
Meetings
9:00 AM
Meetings
2
TGAC Meeting
7:00 PM
Aug
Activities
9
Fall Fair Meeting
7:00 PM
3
Pond and Activity Center
18
TGV General Meeting
7:00 PM
10
Entrance/Dry Shade/Farmhouse
17
Xeriscape/Office
24
Rose, Heritage, Rock Ledge Gardens
Page
GREETINGS
from the
To l l g a t e
Fa r m
Manager
Roy Prentice
Greetings All,
Plant Sale: Thanks to all that helped make the plant
sale a success. Due to the efforts of the many
volunteers that donated plants, prepared the nursery, and helped customers on the day of the sale, we
made nearly $4700.00! Volunteers made a big
difference, especially on the day of the sale. You all
really pitched in on the day of the sale and all of the
pre-sale prep days, weeding, arranging and making
the sale area look good for our customers. All of the
money raised goes directly into the Tollgate Garden
Volunteer account to help us keep the place looking
great for our many visitors. A big “thanks” are due
also to George Papadelis of Telly’s Greenhouse.
Beetle Traps Positioned at the Edge of the Woods
Great Selection of Annuals Donated by
George Papadelis of Telly’s Greenhouse
Photo by Renee Cottrell
George very generously donated a trailer load of
wonderful annuals for the plant sale. George has
been a long-time friend of Tollgate and has donated
lots of plants over the years. If you are deciding
where to shop for plants this year, please help us
say “thank you” by considering Telly’s.
Novi Historical Commission Heritage Festival:
Just a reminder that the farm will NOT be hosting the
Heritage Festival as it has in past years. The Heritage Festival was originally scheduled for June 15th
and appeared on some Tollgate calendars.
Beetle Traps: The US Forest Service will be using
Tollgate again this year as a site for beetle research.
Page 2
If you are walking along the edge of the woods west
of the sugar shack, you will see large black beetle
traps hanging from the trees. Dr. Therese Poland,
of the Forest Service is working to develop effective
insect monitoring systems for the Asian Longhorned
beetle and other exotic species.
Many visitors and garden groups came to Tollgate
during May to view the gardens. As the site becomes
more and more prominent in SE Michigan, I really
appreciate all of the effort that goes into keeping the
grounds looking their best. Those of you that have
Master Gardener hour requirements that you need to
fulfill, now is an ideal time for you to get them in. If
you put off getting those volunteer hours until late
summer or fall, there is less to be done around
Tollgate. Check out the Tollgate website and make
note of our upcoming volunteer days. There is much
to do to keep the place looking good.
See you around the farm!
Roy
N otes from the President
When gardeners garden, it is not just plants that grow, but the
gardeners themselves.— Ken Druse
COME GROW WITH US!
PLANT SALE SUCCESS!!After all the weather worries
we were shocked and amazed
that we had a beautiful morning
and a very successful event! Thanks to all
volunteers who contributed your plants,
time or sales talent to put together our most
successful Plant Sale ever. The addition of
pictures, references and knowledgeable help
seal the deal on several sales. See my Nursery notes (page 5) for more ideas and plans
where you can be a team member. These
funds go to our gardening account to continue to upgrade and maintain the current
garden sites and projects.
The next major Tollgate event of the year, the
Tollgate Open House, is on July 20th! As
announced earlier this year the event will
have a new theme “Art in the Gardens”. There
will be local artists working, displaying their
talents, musicians to provide entertainment
and other garden item related vendors to
satisfy your shopping urges. We will continue
with educational talks and the garden walking tours. We hope to educate and entertain
our guests and hopefully stimulate local volunteer interest. We will have an organized
clean-up day Saturday July 13th and that
whole week on an individual walk-in basis for
weed control. If it is an hour, a morning, or a
day that you can help we would appreciate
any time you can give.
Above Photos by Renee Cottrell
A sign-up sheet for volunteer tasks, finger
food donations for the event will be circulated
at the next membership meeting or you can
e-mail me at rmcottrell4@att.net.
We will be looking for lots of volunteer support to best present our site to the public.
As Always, Thank you for being a Tollgate
Garden Volunteer.
Renee Cottrell, President Tollgate Volunteers
Photo by Darretta Ferasin
Page 3
Planting the Enabling Garden
Mulching the Farmhouse Garden
Page 4
Photos at Left by Darretta Ferasin
Workday
Activities
Photos by Roy Prentice
Preparing for the Plant Sale
NURSERY NOTES from PLANT SALE
Thanks to volunteers, we have a good reputation and turnout for our Spring Plant Sale. A lot
of time and energy is needed to keep the nursery full, presentable and a healthy growing
environment. We would like to have a team of multiple volunteers that are willing to do small
portions of the maintenance to contribute to the overall management of the Nursery.
HERE ARE SOME OF THE IDEAS:
 Each
volunteer takes on a row or two to manage weeding, digging in plants as needed,
and keeping plant tags visible/legible.
 Row
managers get familiar with the plant material and work with Renee to prepare
informational handouts/pictures etc. of each plant to use on plant sale day. This would be
a great way to enhance your plant knowledge of sun and shade perennials.
 Adding
in rows of in-ground planted daylily and iris: This project would include
pictures for identification of bloom color and replenishing the growing clumps after the
plant sale ‘dig’
 Team
members to assist with spring and fall divisions/work days, plant sale prep
and mulching tasks
Many hands would make this quick work. The plans are there. We just need the volunteer help.
If you are more of a computer whiz and prefer just to do the plant research we can use that kind
of help as well. Call me if interested. Renee 248-398-2562 or e-mail rmcottrell4@att.net.
“Amazing Star”
The 2013 Tollgate Quilt
You can purchase your raffle tickets at the
TGV General Meeting, from the Tollgate
Quilting Bees, from Roy or on the day of the
drawing. Raffle tickets can be purchased up
until the drawing during the Summer Open
House, Art in the Gardens, on July 20th.
The pattern is Amazing Star. The quilt
measures 77 x 78 inches.
Raffle Tickets will be $2.00 each or
3 tickets for $5.00
P h o t o s Wa n t e d
f o r t h e To l l g a t e
2014 Calendar
The deadline for calendar photographs
is fast approaching, June 17th. I have
received only a few photos so far this
year. Please send your photographs of
Tollgate to me via Roy or you can bring
them to a Volunteer meeting and give
them directly to me. They should be in
landscape format on a CD or memory
stick. If you use a memory stick and
want it back please put your name,
phone # or address on it.
Nancy Roggers
Page 5
2013 Plant Sale . . . 2013 Plant Sale
Photos by Mike Janczarek
Photos by Mike Janczarek
Photo by Mike Janczarek
Photo by Darretta Ferasin
Photos by Darretta Ferasin
Page 6
. . 2013 Plant Sale . .
Photos by Darretta Ferasin
BAKERS NEEDED
Our Open House is
coming in July so keep
in mind that we will
need goodies for our
many guests. Every
year they let us know
how much your baked donations help in
making this a wonderful day.
Photo by Jackie Stengel
Raquel Vega's Introduction to Bonsai at our May
Tollgate Volunteer General Meeting proved to be
very interesting and uniquely educational. Raquel’s
enthusiasm and love of the art of Bonsai was extremely contagious.
Feel like baking or did you see some
delicious bake goods in the store? Please
feel free to bring some treats to our
monthly Thursday evening meetings. No
need to sign-up. Need ideas? Let me know.
Yvonne mainwoods@gmail.com
Page 7
Fall Fair
Submitted by Dennis Roggers
Now that summer is finally here the Fall Fair Committee is hard at work. All the pieces are starting to
come together for what we hope will be and even
better Tollgate event. In the coming months I will
announce the craft workdays as we get closer to the
Fair, but in the meantime we still can use your paper towel and toilet paper tubes for one of our
crafts. You can drop these off in the Volunteer Communication Center (VCC) on the east wall table.
Our fund raising efforts are continuous all year but
the can drive is still an important part of the total
financial picture. Your support is always appreciated and goes a long way to making the fair a reality. You can drop off your returnable bottles and
cans in the box by the fridge in the VCC and I will
be glad to take them in for you.
Submitted by John Woodrich
The PAR garden is all planted and we have straw
mulch between the rows and woodchips on the
main paths. The garden is really starting to take
shape due to the hard work of some dedicated
volunteers. This year we have planted pole
beans, beets, cabbage, cantaloupe, cucumbers,
eggplant, garlic, onions, parsnips, peppers, potatoes, tomatoes, turnips, watermelon, winter
squash and zucchini. If anyone would like to
receive the weekly announcement of our PAR
garden workdays send an e-mail to John
Woodrich at jfwoodrich@yahoo.com.
This year Betsy Wilds will be handling the volunteer sign-up duties for the Fair, I will be announcing more information on how and when to sign-up
in the near future. As always our meetings are at
7:00 PM on the second Tuesday of the month and
all are welcome to come and join in on the fun. We
hope to see you there!
Photos by John Woodrich
Fall Fair 2012
A Special Thanks!
To all of you who made a donation to help the Tollgate Gardeners make Tollgate a more
beautiful place. Your donation is greatly appreciated! The support that you have provided will
continue to help our program prosper and grow. Thanks again and Happy Gardening!
Mike Bauer
Sue Berry
Don Kasanic
Page 8
Kerry Kelly
Jennifer Louwers
Priscilla Mouat
Len Stein
Nancy Strodl
Melinda Thomas
Sharon Weber
Page 9
around the farm...around the farm
Tollgate Volunteer Information
Activity Days
If you aren’t getting
Activity day hours are 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM unless otherwise noted on the
Tollgate Garden Volunteer Important Dates and Events listed on the first
page of the Tollgate Farm News or by the Area Garden Leader (AGL).
Lunch will be provided - veggie alternatives are available upon request.
This schedule does not exclude you from working independently on the
site. However, on non-scheduled days, your efforts will need to be selfdirected with guidance from the garden area clipboards located in the
Volunteer Communication Center.
The Tollgate Farm News
e-mail, Check your
SPAM folder
Volunteer Activity Day and
Meetings Information
248-347-3860 ext. 400
Garden Tools Available
for Use at
Tollgate
List of Suggested Gardening
Implements to Bring
from Home as Needed
 Spades
 Garden Hoe
 Garden Rakes
 Long Handled





 Brooms
Garden Forks
 Wheel Barrels
 Weed Buckets
 Leaf Rakes
Trowel
Hand Pruners
Loppers
Garden Scissors
Your Favorite
Weeding Implement
 Hand Saw






Plant Division Forks
Shrub Rake
Sun Screen
Gloves
Knee Pads
Insect Repellant
Tollgate Garden Advisory Council
Farm Manager
Roy Prentice - 248 347-3860 ext. 251
e-mail - prentic1@msu.edu
President ........................... Renee Cottrell
Vice President… ............... Peg Palmer
Secretary…........................ Dave Komraus
Treasurer ........................... Sue Janczarek
Membership ...................... Nancy Roggers
PR....................................... Yvonne DeMattos
Fall Fair .............................. Dennis Roggers
Programs ........................... Jackie Stengel
Hospitality ......................... Yvonne DeMattos
Farm News Editor ............. Darretta Ferasin
For membership questions or to update your
current membership information send e-mail to:
tollgatemembership@gmail.com
MSU Tollgate Gardens Volunteers
For general information and questions
Contact Roy Prentice
Page 10
● The Tollgate Gardens Advisory Council next
meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 2, 2013
at 7:00 PM in the Tollgate Office Building. All
Tollgate Gardens Volunteer members are
welcome to attend.
● Listings to contact individual Council Members
and Area Garden Leaders are available at all
general meetings and in the Volunteer
Communication Center.
● Tollgate Volunteer Membership is renewed
annually. The 2012 Tollgate Garden Volunteers
membership is from December 1, 2012 to
November 30, 2013.
THE TOLLGATE FARM NEWS
Tollgate Gardens Volunteer Office
28115 Meadowbrook
Novi, MI, 48377-3128
www.tollgate.msu.edu