HOE! HOE! HOE!

Officers,2010
President: Jennifer Corzine
Vice President: Donna Hebert
Treasurer: Fred Vesperman
Secretary: Helen Quinn
Committee Chairs
Go Texan Beds: Jennifer Corzine &
Donna Hebert
Ext. Office Beds: Julia Cosgrove & John
Milligan
Communications: Helen Quinn
Children’s: Jennifer Corzine & Sandy
Robillard
2010 Seminar: Sandy Robillard
Fundraising: Julia Cosgrove
Admin: Carolyn Guillotte
Class: Jennifer Corzine
Painting Texas w/wildflowers:
Edmond McGee
Co-op: Fred Vesperman
Texas AgriLife Extension:
Flora Williams :(Acting) County Agent
Barbara Szymczak: Secretary
*****************************
Newsletter Editor:
Helen Quinn
Articles, photos and other
Information due by 27th of each
month. Send to:
hortiq@gmail.com
Website:
www.grimesmastergardeners.org
HOE! HOE! HOE!
Grimes County Master Gardeners Newsletter
VOLUME 6, ISSUE 1, January 2010
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ongoing Projects:
*Rose beds and landscaping at Go Texan
Building, Fairgrounds.
*Landscaping at Texas Agri-Life Extension
Office.
*Painting Texas with Wildflowers
December Christmas Meeting
Congratulations to our newest
Master Gardeners, Kathy Denning, Linda
Jolly and Carol Garnett, who received their
Certificates at the meeting. Other
Recognitions included:
Kathy Denning – most volunteer hours/Intern
Helen Quinn – most Volunteer hours
Sandra Stuckey – most C.E. Hours
Sandy Robillard – most meetings attended
Out-going board members were thanked, and
In-coming ones welcomed
Pictures inside!
Regular meetings are held on the 2nd Tuesday of each month
at the Go Texan Building, Grimes Co. Fairgrounds, 9.00 am.,
except as noted below. Two evening meetings held at
members' homes, and two Saturday field trips, enable
members who work to participate.
ON THE CALENDAR – JANUARY/FEBRUARY
DUES ARE DUE – BRING/SEND YOUR CHECKS BY
JANUARY MEETING
Jan 12 GCMG Regular meeting, Go Texan Building
Jan 26 GCMG First Training Class – Speaker, Jayla Fry
Jan 30 TX Bluebird Society season kick-off, Brazos Center, 9.50-2.50
Feb 02 – Class 8.30-12.30
Feb 09 – Class 8.30-12.30
Regular GCMG meeting time/place TBA
Feb 15- Class 4 8.30-12.30
Feb 20 GCMG Spring Planting Seminar, Navasota Center
Feb 23- Class 5 8.30-12.30
CHRISTMAS ACTIVITIES
First the Navasota Christmas Parade – once again John and Linda brought their team of
Haflinger horses and carriage to town and we participated in the parade. T'was a freezing cold
night but we snuggled cosily in the carriage (John and Linda & granddaughter Emma up front,
Alvie, Fred, Bill, Vicki, Carol and Helen in the back.
VEGETABLE PLANTING GUIDE
12/20 – 1/15 Brussels Sprouts
12/20 – 3/5 Carrots
1/15-3/15 – Asparagus
1/5-35/5 – Beets
1/20-3/5 – Broccoli
1/1-3/15 – Garlic
1/20-3/10 - Kale
1/20-3/10 – Kohlrabi
1/209-3/15 – Lettuce (head)
1/15-3/20 – Lettuce (leaf)
1/20-4/15 – Mustard
1/20-2/20 – Spinach
1/15-4/20 – Turnips
1/15-2/5 – Onions (plants)
1/20-2/20 – Peas (English)
1/25-3/5 Peas (Edible Pod)
1/25-5/5 – Radish
If your bulbs are still chilling in the refrigerator, take a minute to check them for mildew.
Better yet, plant them! Add a little bone meal to the planting hole, and if hungry critters
are a problem, try lining the holes with hardware cloth to make a protective cage for the
bulbs.
NEW VEGETABLE TO TRY IN 2010 : CARDOON
Cynara cardunculus
Cardoon requires a long, cool growing season (ca. 5 months), but it is frost-sensitive. It
also typically requires substantial growing space per plant and hence is not much grown
save Iwhere it is a regional favorite. The stalks, which look like large celery stalks, can be
served steamed or braised. They have an artichoke-like flavor. Cardoons are available in
the market only in the winter months. In the U.S.A., it is rarely found in stores, but are
sometimes available in farmers' markets, in May, June, and July. The main root can also
be boiled and served cold, especially good in a vinaigrette sauce.
STARTING CARDOON:
Start them as seedlings indoors. The seedlings, when first planted out,
want to see about 8 to 10 days of temperatures around 50° if they are to
have a good growth; hereabouts, that means planting out in mid -March
or so. Since they require a good 6 to 8 weeks i ndoors as seedlings
before being set out, we should sow seed around mid -January.
Sow your cardoon seeds about ¼ inch deep and ¼ inch apart in a lightly
moistened soil -less growing mix. Use a good -quality starting mix, not
hardware -store "potting mix": you want a soil -free medium, to be sure
there are no fungal problems . Germinate the seed at a temperature of
about 75° F.: heating pads or the like under the seedling flat or pot are
an immense assist to good germination. Be sure to start more seeds
than you want plants, perhaps half again as many, because you will
likely have to cull them at planting -out time.
As soon after emergence as the individual seedlings can be handled, transplant them into fair
-sized pots
or cells --say 2 to 4 inches in size. Keep those transplants growing at temperatures as close as you can
get to 65° in the day and 55° at night .
When the outdoor daily highs hit the high 40s, transplant your seedlings out.
The Bed Site your cardoon bed where the p lants will get at least 6 hours of sun, as they will not develop
properly without it. Cardoons need really good soil to thrive. Before planting out your seedlings, spade the
ground deeply (well -drained soil is important), and supply it with good compost o r manure (and fertilize
again, generously, every season). If your soil is heavy (clay), work humus or even sand well into it.
Slightly acid soil is wanted for cardoons --some say even as acid as pH 6.0 (though others say 6.5).
Transplanting Out
We have se en spacing recommendations from up to six feet down to 18 inches, which makes selection
problematic. The optimum will depend in part on your soil: the better it is, the bigger the plants will grow.
A test planting at small spacing, especially in a deep -dug bed, seems logical, because you can just pull
out some if the lot is getting wildly overcrowded. But in an event, this vegetable will eat up garden space
I have never grown Cardoon here in Texas but
am trying it this year – in the flower bed.. So far
It has survived the frosts without protection, as
has its cousin, the Artichoke.
Helen Quinn
Copies of the application are available at the Extension
Office, Garden Centers around town, the Chamber, the
Community Center, and on the GCMG website. Pick some up
And invite your friends and family members to become
Master Gardeners!
CHRISTMAS 2009
Non-perishable goods
collected for Navasota
Manor residents
John, Linda, Emma
(and Fred)
Warming up after the
cold journey to the
party.