December 19, 2012

Mrs. Stout gave instructions for an origami crane and an origami fir tree.  The group enjoyed folding the ornaments and the pre-holiday break meeting was a success!!  Next month we will get back to book reviews and discussions.  Enjoy the holidays!

Mulching November 21, 2012

The garden has officially been put to bed for the winter!  Three students spread the mulch and everything is looking good!  The bulbs are in, the mulch is spread, and most of the plants have been trimmed!  We are looking forward to spring!

Gardening Update November 9, 2012

Katie did a wonderful job today working with the coleus cuttings.  They are growing and looking fabulous!  Everyone of the cuttings survived!  The winterizing of the Flag Pole Garden continues.  Katie worked on more deadheading and weeding.  She found the resident Praying Mantis in the lilies.  Khrys joined us and we reviewed more of the VA Tech article talking about perennial maintenance.  Next week I WILL remember to buy the mulch and we will continue working on winterizing the garden!

Cereal Success

Over seventy boxes of cereal were collected from students and staff at Strasburg High School.  Both Matthew's Pantry in Fort Valley and Keep the Change Food Pantry in Strasburg were the recipients of this year's collection.

Bulbs!

On Friday, November 2, 2012, Khrys planted a bag full of daffodil bulbs in the Flag Pole Garden.  Master Gardner, Carolyn Wilson donated the bulbs for the garden.  Khrys did a fabulous job and even found a hibernating frog!  Khrys weeded as he went along and learned a great technique for popping the bulbs in using a spade.  Well done!

                                                

Gardeners at Work!

Fall Gardening

October 5: Katie and Larina checked the cuttings.  They are doing very well. They did some more weeding and deadheading in the garden and reviewed the VA Tech article on perennial gardens.
Oct. 12: no meeting
October 19: Katie and Kyrys went to the greenhouse for soil and pots.  It was too wet for outside work so the students worked on the propagation project.  They started some cutting in water a few weeks ago.  Today they potted these rooted cuttings and took some additional cuttings from the large coleus plant.  The new plants were watered and checked.  They are doing really well!  We read and reviewed the mulching section of our article.  We will not meet next Friday.  In two weeks we will meet to mulch and plant daffodil bulbs. 

SHS Flag Pole Garden Project

• The Master Gardener SHS Flag Pole project continues!! On September 14 Gary and Katie met to start the fall project.  They read and reviewed the VA Coop. Extension publication: Planning the Flower Border.  The students put in some hard manual labor and some serious "dead heading" (removing spent blossoms).  
• Sept. 21, 2012: Katie, Khrys, and Larina met to discuss the purpose of the garden and the type of tools that will be needed.  We reviewed the above article and talked about the importance of year-round color and some plant possibilities given our growing zone.  The students had the opportunity to view a good bug (a large Praying Mantis) and a "bad" bug: a grasshopper chewing on leaves.  Some time was spent weeding and dead heading.  Back in the library the students used the encyclopedia to read more about the Praying Mantis and how valuable it is in the garden.  This fall we will be looking for the egg cases. 
• September 28, 2012: Katie and Larina discussed and worked on plant propagation (rainy day plans).  The students reviewed various methods of propagation and worked on taking cuttings from a large Limeaide Coleus plant.  They tried starting the cuttings in a potting soil mixture as well as trying to root the cuttings in a cup of water.  We will watch to see which cuttings work out better.  Hopefully, we will produce some beautiful new plants!

Update

The cereal collection is up and running...don't forget to pick up an extra box or two this weekend to support our community service project!

Fourth Annual Cereal Collection

Announcing the 4th Annual Cereal Collection for local food pantries!! This year we will be collecting for the Keep the Change Food Pantry in Strasburg as well as the Matthew's Food Pantry in Fort Valley. We hope to collect at least 100 boxes of cereal to be delivered during the first week of November. Please take this opportunity to be part of the solution and make a positive impact on your community...one cereal box at a time.

Beautiful!

May 17, 2012

Alyssa, Emily, Katie, and Rebecca met this afternoon to plant perennial geranium, perennial sunflower, lilies, iris, and columbine. Rebecca correctly identified the Southern Catalpa tree and won a pair of pink gardening gloves! The girls discussed planting in groups for an attractive garden display. They planted the flowers, weeded, and mulched. Gallons of water were transported for the new plantings. They also trimmed the dead blooms and tidied up the garden. The Flag Pole Garden is looking fabulous!

May 2, 2012 Looking Great!

May 2, 2012 Garden Group

The group met to study the VA Tech Extension soil test results and soil amendments.We talked about fertilizer run-off and the importance of testing and adding the correct nutrients to the soil. The group worked on more weeding and edging as well as soil amendment.

The Beginning!!

The SHS Garden Group started work on the Flag Pole Garden on April 11, 2012.  A group of National Honor Society students organized a plan for revitalizing the garden around the school's flag pole.  As a VA Tech Master Gardener Project the project has provided an educational opportunity for students to learn about soil tests, planning a flower border, creating a water-wise landscape, and working with native plants.  The following articles are to be read in preparation for working in the garden:

• Planning the Flower Border
  http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/426/426-202/426-202.html
• Creating a Water-Wise Landscape
  http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/426/426-713/426-713.html
• Va Tech: Perennials, Culture, Maintenance and Propagation
  http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/426/426-203/426-203_pdf.pdf
• VA Native Plants
  http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural_heritage/documents/mtn_nat_plants.pdf
  
  

  For more information see Mrs. Bushman in the library.

  
  

Hunger Games

Bring five items to the library for the Keep the Change Food Pantry and receive an invitation to the Hunger Games Banquet! The library will treat you to Greasy Sae's Stew, home made bread and decadent Capitol deserts! Just in time for the release of the movie version, the library is supporting the food pantry while celebrating reading and good books! Be sure to stop by the library for more information as we fill the shelves with items for the food pantry!

More Cereal Pictures