(Mostly) Monthly News for Gardeners
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News and events for gardeners from Penobscot, Piscataquis, and Somerset Counties from University of Maine Cooperative Extension, Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry, Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, and other trusted partners
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Regular Features
- This is the time to...
- Pest Reports
- Plant Picks
- Skill Share
- Volunteer and Project Profile
- Food and Nutrition
- Organizations and Resources
- Upcoming Events
- Mission and Quick Links
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This is the time to...
By Kathy Hopkins, Extension Educator, UMaine Extension Somerset County
- Closely observe your garden for leaf, stem, and blossom damage and note any suspicious insects. Make an accurate identification of the potential pest or pathogen before choosing any treatment. If you need help, bring the insect or diseased plant tissue into your local UMaine Extension county office for identification or e-mail digital pictures to your local office.
- Listen to the weather predictions for night time temperatures and be prepared to cover any cold-sensitive crops such as tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers when temperatures go below 40°F. Tomatoes perform better with protection from temperatures cooler than 50°F.
- Direct sow: basil, beans, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, corn, cucumber, dill, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, peas, pumpkins, radish, shallots, spinach, Swiss chard, squash, and turnip. Consider repeat plantings for certain crops for a steady supply. Ornamental flowers, such as cosmos and zinnias, can also be direct seeded for an inexpensive pop of color in sunny gardens.
- Transplant seedlings of warm-season crops such as tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant.
- Use row covers to protect a wide variety of crops from flea beetles, cucumber beetles, cabbage moths, leaf miners, and other unwanted insects. Be sure to secure the row cover tightly along the edges, check under the row cover frequently for weed growth and sneaky intruders, and remove the row cover when insect-pollinated crops, such as cucumbers, are fully in flower.
- Keep an eye on rainfall amounts with a rain gauge. Most annual crops and newly installed perennials (woody and herbaceous) do best with 1 to 1.5 inches of rain per week.
- Fertilize annuals-Annual flowers will benefit from split, small applications of fertilizer (proportioned every few weeks) during early summer. Don’t threaten lakes and streams by over-fertilizing. Removing spent flowers will maintain their flowering habit longer throughout the season. Most healthy established perennials (including trees and shrubs) do not require annual applications of fertilizers.
- Use mulch wisely in ornamental and edible plantings. Bark, wood chips, straw (not hay), shredded leaves, and pine needles all can work well in a variety of landscape settings, but should not be applied at a depth of more than 2” and not in direct contact with the stems of woody plants. Placing a few layers of wet newspaper down prior to adding organic mulches can help provide a good extra barrier for weed suppression.
- Identify invasive species in your garden or property and consider contacting the US Department of Agriculture Animal Plant Health Inspection Service in Maine via their website or by calling 207.848.0010. Frequent repeated cutting over a long period of time (often years) can be an effective management strategy for a number of our worst invaders, such as Japanese knotweed.
- Be aware of ticks. Extension’s new Diagnostic and Research Laboratory is now officially accepting tick samples for tick-borne disease testing. For information on submitting a specimen to the Tick Lab, as well as information on the different tick species of Maine, tick management, and personal protection, go to the Tick Lab or call 207.581.3880.
- Consider growing vegetables and flowers in containers, if space is limited. You’ll find a great list of vegetable varieties suitable for small spaces in our Growing Vegetables in Container Gardens bulletin.
- Order a copy of Pest Management for the Home Vegetable Garden in Maine, a 20-page publication with helpful photos from UMaine Extension.
- Compost grass clippings, leaves, and kitchen scraps. Find more information on how to have an efficient and productive system in our Home Composting bulletin.
- Make sure the birds have fresh water in bird baths or shallow dishes in the garden. Add some small rocks or float a few pieces of bark to create landing areas for insects to also access fresh water.
- Pinch back tall growing fall bloomers like asters, monarda, and helianthus to make them stockier and more floriferous.
- Celebrate National Pollinator Week, June 17-23, 2019
- Learn about the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Integrated Pest Management Program in Maine by visiting their website or calling 1.800.287.0279. The Integrated Pest Management website provides factsheets and a diagnostic service for plant-related diseases and insects as well as ticks.
- Tell a friend or colleague about Maine Home Garden News. Current and back issues are available.
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Rose Chafer
By Clay Kirby, Associate Scientist/Insect Diagnostician, UMaine Extension
Photo by Clay Kirby.
The dreaded rose chafer is a scarab beetle from the same family as the Japanese beetle. Like the Japanese beetle, the rose chafer has a cream-colored “C”-shaped white grub larval stage and only one generation per year. In fact, rose chafer adults pretty consistently make their June appearance 2-3 weeks before the Japanese beetle adults, which show up in the Bangor area around the first week of July. However, this grub tends to be smaller than the Japanese beetle white grub, is not as serious a turf pest, and tends to be found more commonly in sandy soils. The adult rose chafer beetle is tan (this can vary a bit with some beetles having a greenish tint) with long reddish spiny legs and are about a 1/2-inch long. They are strong fliers, more likely to fly in warmer temperatures, and are somewhat protected by a toxic chemical in their bodies that is harmful to birds.
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Sundial Lupine and the Non-native Big-leaved Lupine
By Leala Machesney, Environmental Horticulture Student, University of Maine
Lupinus perennis. Photo courtesy of Cassi Saari, Wikimedia Commons.
Lupines are an important part of Maine’s cultural identify. Mainers and tourists alike flock to take pictures of fields filled with the deep purple flowers in mid-summer, but the plants that have become as associated with Maine as white pine or wild blueberry aren’t native to the state at all. Big-leaved lupine (
Lupinus polyphyllus
) is actually an introduced species native to the West Coast of the United States that negatively impacts Maine ecosystems where it becomes established. The exact date that big-leaved lupine was introduced to New England from the West Coast isn’t known, but most estimate sometime in the 1950s.
Sundial lupine (
Lupinus perennis
), not big-leaved lupine, is our native species. This native lupine has steadily lost its habitat due to expanding human land-use beginning in the early 1900s. A small population of sundial lupine does exist in New Hampshire, but the species is now believed to be extirpated from Maine.
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What Does Organic Gardening Really Mean?
By Tori Lee Jackson, Extension Educator, Agriculture and Natural Resources in Androscoggin and Sagadahoc Counties
No pesticides? Using only certain pesticides? Buying products with the organic label?
Casual gardeners and the vast majority of consumers often have a vague or erroneous understanding of what the term “organic” really means when it comes to the foods and textiles they buy, or the practices associated with producing organic products. In simple terms, you might say that an organic gardener works with nature rather attempting to control it.
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Maine Harvest for Hunger: 20 Years and Going Strong!
By Frank Wertheim, Extension Educator, UMaine Extension York County
Now that the 2019 gardening season has begun, it’s time to both reflect back and look ahead as the Maine Harvest for Hunger (MHH) program begins its 20th year. The MHH journey began in 2000, when a small group of UMaine Extension Staff and Master Gardener Volunteers met with Good Shepherd Food Bank staff to see they felt they could engage our Master Gardener Volunteers and the farming community to make a difference in face of a rising level of food insecurity in our home state of Maine.
Nearly 3 million pounds of top-quality food has since reached the tables of countless neighbors in need because of the extraordinary efforts of hundreds of volunteers and farmers from throughout Maine. Our collaboration has grown to include Master Gardener Volunteers, commercial farmers, home gardeners, 4-H youth groups, businesses, and civic organizations.
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Food & Nutrition: Preserve Your Garden’s Harvest with a Hands-On Workshop This Summer
By Kate McCarty, Food Systems Professional, UMaine Extension Cumberland County
We’ve all been there—whether it’s due to enticing seed catalogs in February or the groaning tables of hopeful seedlings at the local farmers’ market, excitement about the coming growing season can lead us to overplant. Come July and August, the garden is starting to churn out some serious amounts of produce. A new cucumber seems to be hiding under every leaf, the Swiss chard is knee-high, and who knew one tomato plant could make so many ripe tomatoes at once? If this scenario sounds familiar, perhaps you’re in need of some basic food preservation skills that will help you “put up” your garden’s harvest.
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Organizations and Resources
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Click the links to learn more, find a chapter near you, and get involved.
Bangor Land Trust
is a nonprofit organization that has conserved over 800 acres of land with public access in the Bangor area. Our mission is to protect for public benefit land and water in the Bangor region that have special ecological, natural, scenic, agricultural, or recreational significance; and to increase public understanding of the value of land and water conservation.
The Garden Club Federation of Maine
National Garden Clubs, Inc. provides education, resources and national networking opportunities for its members, to promote the love of gardening, floral design, civic and environmental responsibility.
Good Shepherd Food Bank
In addition to distributing food to Mainers in need, the Food Bank is leading a statewide effort to combat the root causes of hunger by engaging in advocacy, nutrition education, and strategic partnerships. Good Shepherd welcomes you to join in this effort.
Maine Audubon
is a member-based organization that engages people in conservation, education and advocacy to advance wildlife and wildlife habitat conservation in Maine.
Maine Federation of Farmers' Markets
' mission is to cultivate a vibrant, sustainable farmers' market community as a vital part of Maine's local food network. The Federation works with farmers, consumers, and communities to make wholesome, locally-grown foods available to all residents, to educate consumers about food resources, and to support farm viability.
Maine Gleaning Network
A collaborative farm surplus rescue effort gathering crops from Maine's fields and engaging communities in resourceful and equitable food system activities.
Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA)
The purpose of the Association is to help farmers and gardeners: grow organic food, fiber and other crops; protect the environment; recycle natural resources; increase local food production; support rural communities; and illuminate for consumers the connection between healthful food and environmentally sound farming practices.
The Grange provides opportunities for individuals and families to develop to their highest potential in order to build stronger communities and states, as well as a stronger nation.To inquire about finding a nearby Grange, contact Walter Boomsma at
grange@boomsmaonline.com
Transition Towns
The Transition Movement is comprised of vibrant, grassroots community initiatives that seek to build community resilience in the face of such challenges as peak oil, climate change and the economic crisis. Transition Initiatives differentiate themselves from other sustainability and "environmental" groups by seeking to mitigate these converging global crises by engaging their communities in home-grown, citizen-led education, action, and multi-stakeholder planning to increase local self reliance and resilience.
Transition Skowhegan meets every 1st Thursday at 6 pm, Skowhegan Public Library.
Contact Iver Lofving 474-7370 or Jason Tessier 474-4380
Dexter Dover Area Towns in Transition (DDATT) meets every first Friday at 6 pm, Abbott Memorial Library, Dexter. Contact Sam Brown 277-4221 or email
info@ddatt.org
Wild Seed Project
works to increase the use of [Maine] native plants in all landscape settings in order to conserve biodiversity, encourage plant adaption in the face of climate change, safeguard wildlife habitat, and create pollination and migration corridors for insects and birds. Check out their
Native Plant Blog
.
Maine Agriculture in the Classroom
promotes the understanding of agriculture and natural resources among students, educators, and the general public. Curricula and resources for educators and others working with young people. Check out newsletters and/or subscribe
here
.
Maine Farm to School Network
supports the rapidly spreading farm to school movement in Maine. This network knits together a wide diversity of students, teachers, school nutritionists, parents, farmers and groups who support child nutrition and Maine agriculture.
Search
their resource database,
join
the network.
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Upcoming Events
June 13
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Garden Thursdays
(through the end of August) UMA Community Garden, 9-12.
June 21
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Summer Solstice Garden Party
, Norumbega Parkway. 4-6pm. Maps will be available to find all Adopt-a-Garden spots in downtown Bangor.
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Master Gardener Volunteers
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Stay current with enrollment and reporting your volunteer hours! All required "paperwork" is available and accessible online. Contact your county coordinator for the password.
Report your volunteer hours online anytime:
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Mission
The University of Maine Cooperative Extension is the major educational outreach program of the University of Maine with offices statewide. UMaine Extension provides Maine people with research-based educational programs to help them live fuller, more productive lives.
Mention or display of a trademark, proprietary product, or firm in text or figures does not constitute an endorsement and does not imply approval to the exclusion of other suitable products or firms.
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The goal
of the Central Maine Gardening Newsletter is to connect gardeners with resources and events that encourage and inform.
Quick Links
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Local Weather Anytime
Most outdoor activities are driven by the weather. Our local National Weather Service in Caribou has meteorologists on staff 24 hours a day. They are willing to talk with you about predictions for your town. Give them a call at 492-0180. Or check out their online detailed maps at
http://www.weather.gov/car/.
Need Pesticide Credits?
Interested in Volunteering with UMaine Extension?
Nearly 8,000 volunteers devoted more than 150,000 hours to their communities last year through the University of Maine Cooperative Extension! Look around our
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Contributors
Donna Coffin, Extension Educator
Kate Garland, Horticulturist
Kathy Hopkins, Extension Educator
Trisha Smith, Community Education Assistant
The goal of the Central Maine Gardening Newsletter is to connect gardeners with resources and events that encourage and inform.
The University of Maine does not discriminate on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, including transgender status and gender expression, national origin, citizenship status, age, disability, genetic information or veteran status in employment, education, and all other programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies: Director, Office of Equal Opportunity, 101 North Stevens Hall, 207.581.1226.
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Piscataquis County Office
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Open Monday - Friday 8 am to 4:30 pm
307 Maine Ave Bangor, ME 04401 207.942.7396 or 800.287.1485
Piscataquis County Office -
website
Open Monday, Thursday, Friday 8 am to 4:30 pm
165 East Main St Dover-Foxcroft, ME 04426 207.564.3301 or 800.287.1491
7 County Drive Skowhegan, Maine 04976-4209
Tel: 207.474.9622 or 1.800.287.1495 (in Maine)
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