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1) AUGUST IS THE MONTH TO....
- Put the Rogers Farm Demonstration Garden Field Day on your calendar for next month! September 10, 10am-2pm, rain or shine. And, hey, while you're at it--give us a like on Facebook!
- Celebrate blueberries! Maine's most delicious (and economically important) native fruit has its own page at UMaine Extension. Make Wild Blueberry Jam or purchase some from a Maine farmer (Value-added Blueberry Products). Thinking about establishing blueberries in your home landscape? Watch this video on site selection to see what you'll need to do to prepare.
- Stay on top of the garden and harvest all the fruits--and vegetables--of your labor! See our friends at the National Garden Bureau for tips on harvesting all of your favorites.
- Make the glory last past the end of the season! Check out Let's Preserve Tomatoes for ways to keep enjoying our best-known summer treat long into winter. Then peruse our other preservation tips for the whole garden surplus here.
- Share the surplus with Maine Harvest for Hunger to help those struggling with food insecurity. Contact your county Cooperative Extension office for donation locations or to report your donations (this last part is important!).
- Plant lettuce, turnip, and spinach seeds and set out cauliflower, broccoli, and cabbage seedlings for fall harvest-use this helpful chart for planning successive plantings.
- Continue to be mindful of ticks. Learn about how to submit a tick for ID, tick species of Maine, tick biology, tick removal, tick management, tick-borne diseases, and see photos of ticks.
- Seed (or re-seed!) your lawn (Bulletin #2367--Establishing a Home Lawn in Maine) and keep up with lawn maintenance (Bulletin #2243--Maintaining a Home Lawn in Maine). Find more tips in Bulletin #2166--Steps to a Low-Input, Healthy Lawn.
- Shop at your local farmers' market! Find one near you.
- Wear sunscreen and reduce sun exposure, even on days you might not think it's important. Apply sunscreen products first if also using insect repellent.
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Photo by Maine
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Cucumber beetle hunting
(
Photos by Jonathan Foster)
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Photo by U
Maine
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2) When is *Not* a Fruit, Actually a Fruit?
By Jonathan Foster, UMaine Cooperative Extension, Penobscot County
Ah, fruit! That sweet, delicious, juicy morsel consumed only from the kitchen table bowl at breakfast or as part of a sumptuous dessert. Apples, bananas, pears, you know the routine. But is that really the full understanding of fruit? If we were to gather a large group of Central Maine Garden Newsletter readers and ask folks to raise their hand if they have a vegetable garden, a pretty fair number would go up. If we then asked who grows fruit, I'm betting a lot of those hands would go back down.
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3) Garden Snapshots
Tomato trellising and pruning
The 2016 Mandela Washington Fellows took a break from their sustainability projects to volunteer at the Rogers Farm Demonstration Garden. Cultural exchange and hard work in the plots were followed by a much-needed cookout! Rogers Farm and the Orono Garden and Cooking Club thank you!
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4) Garlic Roasted Cabbage Steaks
(Courtesy of the folks at the National Garden Bureau)
Makes 4-6 Servings
Ingredients:
- 1 (approx. 2lb) head of organic green cabbage, cut into 1" thick slices
- 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 to 3 large garlic cloves, crushed
- Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper
- Olive oil spray
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 5) Featured Plant: Scarlet Elder (Sambucus racemosa var. pubens)
Developed by Marjorie Peronto, associate Extension professor, University of Maine Cooperative Extension; and Reeser C. Manley, assistant professor of horticulture, University of Maine.
Scarlet elder belongs in the cool, moist woodland landscape beneath the canopy of yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis) and sugar maple (Acer saccharum), keeping company with beaked filbert (Corylus cornuta), roundleaf dogwood (Cornus rugosa), and mapleleaf viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium). With a minimum of effort, you can prune scarlet elders to form small, open-branched trees. Groupings of artfully pruned plants add a great deal of structural interest to the winter woodland landscape.
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EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
Fall Field Day at Rogers Farm Demonstration Garden on
Saturday, September 10, 2016, 10AM-2PM
. University of Maine Cooperative Extension will celebrate a terrific growing season with workshops, activities, music, and food. Talks include: Growing Great Garlic by Heron Breen of Fedco, Toxic Plants by State Toxicologist Lebelle Hicks and Dividing Peonies by the Peony Society of Maine. Meet the experts at our pest management resource table as well as friendly faces from our local gardening groups. Check out our demonstrative hive and enjoy face painting, a garden scavenger hunt for kids, music, fairy house building, food, door prizes, and more! Free and open to the public, no RSVP required, rain or shine.
UMaine Extension Master Gardener Demonstration Garden at Rogers Farm (914 Bennoch Road, Old Town, ME, 04468). Inquiries or requests for a disability accommodations can be directed to Jonathan Foster at james.j.foster@maine.edu or Kate Garland at Katherine.garland @maine.edu. 207-942-7396
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The Maine Home Garden News, a statewide newsletter by the University of Maine, is published during the gardening season. Interested Maine gardeners may access the most current issue here.
The Beatrix Farrand Society has announced its 2016 program schedule. Details on the talks being offered at Garland Farm this season, as well as information about the Society, can be found here.
The
Maine School Garden Network
newsletter, from an local organization dedicated to school gardens, healthy eating, and environmental stewardship, can be accessed
here.
Learn about Maine School Garden Day, the Northeast Farm to School Institute, and more! They are also hiring a new coordinator--see the job posting
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EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2016 3-
7 p.m.
Free and open to the public. Energy Efficiency vendors will provide information on weatherization, insulation, and energy efficient heating systems. Special one-time expo pricing may be available! Representatives from Efficiency Maine and the City of Bangor will answer questions about their respective rebate programs and sign up interested homeowners.
"The Way Life Should Be" Garden Tour of Boothbay, Bar Harbor, and Camden. September 25-27, 2016.
Depart Holiday Inn by the Bay, Portland, Sunday morning, September
25th, 8:15 a.m.
Parking is available adjacent to the Hotel for $12.00 a day. If you wish to stay in the Hotel on the night of return to Portland,
September 27th
, please make your reservation for a room by
August 12th
. When making the reservation, mention you are on the National Garden Club Bus Tour to Bar Harbor. More information and registration here.
Online courses and resources
:
For aspiring, new, and experienced farmers.
Support Maine farmers and eat food grown and produced in Maine. Outdoor markets will be opening soon, and many communities have year-round farmers' markets.
Find a Farmers' Market near you
Maine Herb Society Monthly meetings in Bangor through most of the year. Visit their website or call Theresa for more information 942-7396.
Penobscot Beekeepers Association Monthly meetings through most of the year. Visit their Facebook page or contact Peter Cowin petercowin@tds.net for more details.
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CLUBS AND ORGANIZATIONS (cont.)
Brewer Garden & Bird Club
Orrington Garden Club
10am, 1st Wed. of the month Sept-June. Meetings are held at member homes. Contact Barbara 989-3746 or barenaj@gmail.com.
Hampden Garden Club
Monthly meetings Feb.-Dec., fourth Tuesday. Call Pat 862-3909 or Ellen 234-2945 for more information.
Veazie Garden Club
Meetings second Tues. Sept-June, 7pm Veazie Grade School. Call 866-4564.
Penquis Beekeepers
Meetings 7pm on second Tues. of the month at the Dexter VFW.
Sebasticook Garden Club meets at 1:30 on the 4th Thursday in March-October. Most meetings are held at the Newport Cultural Center located at 154 Main Street in Newport. For information call Ann at 416-4807
Milo Garden Club-Second Tuesdays September-June. Locations and programs vary. Contact Gini Goodhind at 943-7772 or Pauline Mullins at 343-2612 FMI.
Dexter Dover Area Towns in Transition (DDATT). Folks interested in seed saving have formed an interest group. More information can be found on DDATT's Facebook page.
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Mission
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.
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Contributors
Jonathan Foster, Home Horticulture Coordinator
Donna Coffin, Extension Educator
Kate Garland, Horticulturist
Theresa Tilton, Administrative Support Supervisor
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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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Surface mail recipients can contact their county Extension office for further information when web links are included in an article.
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