Congratulations to Gwinnett Master Gardener Rosalie Tubre, whose Special Ed. Junior Master Gardener project at Peachtree Ridge High School has won the “National Achievement Award” from the National JMG (Jr. Master Gardener) Program. Rosalie and the Peachtree Ridge teacher working with the project will be traveling to Charleston WV to receive the award on October 14th at the International Master Gardener Conference. Rosalie’s GCMC Project with Peachtree Ridge High School Special Ed. students encompassed two school years for the students to complete the 8 chapters in the curriculum where it would normally be achieved in one year by regular students. Rosalie said ” I have been blessed to have had the opportunity to teach these young mentally challenged and/or disabled students. They learned a lot from me, but I too learned a lot from them”. Related Images:
WaterSmart Landscaping
For most of the 10 years I’ve lived in Gwinnett County, the Atlanta Metro Area has suffered some degree of drought conditions, belying the stereotyped “rainy night in Georgia”. Two years ago we were under the severest watering restrictions ever seen in the region. Homeowners were forced to turn off their automatic irrigation systems, and were limited to 20 minutes of hand watering during specific hours on assigned days of the week. Lawns turned brown, lawn maintenance companies laid off employees, and the iconic Pikes’ Family Nurseries filed for bankruptcy. During that time there was no shortage of “Volunteer Opportunities” for a Master Gardener willing to give presentations on rain barrel instillation, or on other WaterSmart Landscaping techniques. All of that changed when an 8-day rain-event, between September 14 and September 22, 2009, brought record rainfall to the area. Official gauging stations showed that portions of Gwinnett County received 11…
McDaniel Farm Projects Winds Down for the Season
Gwinnett County’s McDaniel Farm Project Master Gardener volunteers will be cleaning up the demonstration garden and harvesting the last of this year’s produce during September. For the 2011 growing season, volunteers have harvested over 600 pounds of produce making this a record setting year for the garden. All harvested produce is donated to help feed the hungry in the area. A new crop this year is sweet potatoes which will be ready to harvest in mid-September. We did a test dig today and found dozens of little potatoes. Okra is another record setting crop with some plants so tall we can’t reach the tops. New plantings of cole crops for fall will be in the raised beds close to the road where the plants can continue to grow while the main garden is plowed and planted in a cover crop for the winter. As the garden winds down, volunteers will be shifting their focus…