By Kathy Hopkins, Extension Educator, UMaine Extension Somerset County, and Trisha Smith, Community Education Assistant (Home Horticulture), Piscataquis County
Keep planting! It's not too late to direct-seed short-season vegetables including radishes, summer squash, green beans, and cucumbers. Consider starting additional fall harvest plantings in mid to late July. Read more about planting into fall.
Shop at farmers' markets! Maine has a vibrant farmers' market scene in many communities throughout the state. Find one near you.
Prune lilacs. Pruning after blossoming stimulates growth for bigger blooms next year. Watch this demonstration video (filmed in early spring so cuts are most visible) for tips.
Use wire hoops with row covers to increase production and protect crops such as broccoli, cucumbers, and melons from insect pests. Remove the row cover while fruit-producing plants (cucumbers, melons) are flowering to allow for insect pollination.
Consider installing drip irrigation in your vegetable and flower gardens. Save water and reduce plant diseases by avoiding wetting the foliage. Water catchment and drip irrigation can work together for conservation and convenience.
Be observant about possible pest pressure in your gardens with weekly walk-abouts. Look for leaf, stem, or blossom damage as well as general growth. Check the undersides of leaves for egg masses and look for beneficial insects that might be doing some pest control for you. Identify pest(s) before deciding on control measures. If you don't know what the pest is, bring a sample of the insect and diseased or damaged leaves to your local county office of UMaine Cooperative Extension. See how to prepare samples: plants (weeds and diseases); insects.
Upcoming Events and Activities-
Do you know of a class, activity, or event that may interest gardeners in Piscataquis, Penobscot, or Somerset Counties? Please forward information to trisha.smith1@maine.edu for possible inclusion in our next newsletter. Check UMaine Extension's calendar for educational opportunities all over the state
June 8-DDATT First Friday discussion, Abbott Memorial Library, Dexter. 6-8 pm. Group discussion of water catchment.
June 23-Annual garden tour, Peony Society of Maine. Starts at 1348 Ohio Street, Bangor or Ecotat Gardens Route 2, Hermon. 9-4 $3 donation requested.
The Scoop on Neonicotinoids
By Ann Marie Bartoo, Master Gardener Volunteer
Reviewed by Dr. Francis Drummond, University of Maine Cooperative Extension Entomologist, and Kate Garland, Horticultural Professional, University of Maine Cooperative Extension Penobscot County
Imagine for a few moments that you are a mature bumblebee. Your daily work throughout the growing season involves pollinating flowers, fruit trees, and vegetables. One afternoon, however, you and several of your sisters have trouble finding your way back to your colony. Despite your confusion, you are able to function and keep working as best you can. You are a bee that has been exposed to a group of insecticides called neonicotinoids. As your exposure to neonicotinoids increases, your nervous system starts malfunctioning and not sending messages to the muscles, you become disoriented and paralyzed. Death can sometimes be immediate if exposure is high.
By Alicyn Smart, D.P.M., Assistant Extension Professor and Plant Pathologist, University of Maine Cooperative Extension
One of the biggest fears of avid gardeners is that their beloved plants will get a disease, and for good reason - plant diseases are the cause of about 14% of all annual crop losses, translating to about $220 billion in crop loss worldwide and an additional loss of 6-12% after harvest. With all the time and effort you put into gardening, it's important to take steps to limit the amount of disease your plants could potentially encounter. Here are some simple suggestions that can make a big impact.
By Lynne M. Holand, Community Education Assistant, University of Maine Cooperative Extension Androscoggin and Sagadahoc Counties
Photo courtesy of Lynne M. Holland
The miniature rose plant is often overlooked as an option for in the outdoor garden. They tend to be sold in 4" or 6" pots in the florist and grocery store during holidays in the winter and spring when the idea of planting outside is a distant memory. Though the colors are varied and the plants attractive for a while, they often wither and die in the home; one bloom and done. Anyone could be forgiven for thinking this is a petulant, hard to care for plant; a tiny diva of the rose world. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Volunteers are essential to the University of Maine Cooperative Extension achieving its mission to bring University research to people in our communities. Master Gardener Volunteers, 4-H Leaders and advisors, and County Extension Associations are some ways to get involved. Orientation and required trainings are available online. Explore the Cooperative Extension Volunteers page and/or contact your County office to indicate your interest.
Penobscot County 307 Maine Avenue Bangor, ME 04401-4331 Phone: 207.942.7396 or 800.287.1485 (in Maine) Piscataquis County 165 East Main Street Dover-Foxcroft, ME 04426 Phone: 207.564.3301 or 800.287.1491 (in Maine) Somerset County 7 County Drive Skowhegan, ME 04976-4209 Phone: 207.474.9622 or 800.287.1495 (in Maine)
Master Gardener Volunteers: It's important that our county, state, and federal funders know about your efforts and impact in our communities. Choose the link to the online form for the county where you were trained (unless you have made other arrangements):
Volunteer Spotlight: Forest Hills Gardens in Jackman
By Kathy Hopkins, Extension Educator, UMaine Cooperative Extension Somerset County
Joe Bergeron and Danielle Hale are Master Gardener Volunteers from Jackman who have made a huge difference in their community. Their mission is simple: to share their passion for sustainable gardening and food sourcing in order to create sustainable, healthy eating options in their community. They have tirelessly developed and implemented a community-wide project through their local school, Forest Hills Consolidated School. Their hard work, commitment, and ability to develop collaborative efforts with the Jackman business community, the school's teachers, kitchen, phys-ed, and after school staff has led to the development of a school-wide sustainable agriculture group and helped create a healthier environment in both the school and the community of Jackman.
Ways to Use Less Sugar in Homemade Jams and Jellies
By Kate McCarty, Food Preservation Professional, University of Maine Cooperative Extension Cumberland County
June is strawberry season in Maine, and many home gardeners may want to preserve their strawberry harvest into jams and jellies. If you are looking to use less sugar in your homemade jams and jellies, there are several pectins that allow you to use less or even no sugar. Pectin is the substance in jam and jelly that makes it set and gives it its gel-like texture. It is available in liquid and powdered form, and people use it to ensure a proper set and to reduce the amount of sugar needed. Using a low or no sugar needed pectin is the only way to make a jam or jelly using less sugar. Do not attempt to reduce the sugar in a classic or traditional jam or jelly recipe, as you run the risk of its not setting.
There is always a need for quality activities for kids. 4-H is a great way to share your interests and skills with the younger generation. If you're interested in working with youth, consider becoming a 4-H volunteer leader. Learn more about 4-H here, and find out what it takes to be a volunteer.
County Extension Association Executive Committees are crucial to the success of Extension in our communities. In partnership with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension staff, the Executive Committee of each County Extension Association assists with providing input on local educational programming needs, helps hire staff, and oversees the county budget appropriations that support educational Extension programs for county residents.
Read more here, and contact
your county's Cooperative Extension office.
Citizen scientists are needed by the Maine Wild Leek Project to document the distribution of wild leeks in Maine. To log locations of wild leeks, please use
this form. Information on location of wild leeks is confidential and will not be distributed.
Read more here
Shared Earthly Blessings community garden in Dexter welcomes volunteers. Produce is grown, harvested, packed, and delivered to local seniors. For more information call John Gornall at 207.924.5232.
University of Maine Cooperative Extension has employment opportunities across the state. Find the list
here.
The Maine Food System, What's That? University of Maine Cooperative Extension helps support, sustain, and grow the $3.9 billion food-based economy in Maine. We are the only entity in our state that touches every aspect of the Maine Food System, where policy, research, production, processing, commerce, nutrition, and food security and safety are integral and interrelated. Read more here.
Graphic by Michael Mendoza
If you eat, you are part of the Maine Food System!
You may also be growing food for yourself and/or others, supporting farmers' markets and CSAs, volunteering at food cupboards, community meals, or soup kitchens. If you aren't, we're trying to make it easier for you to get involved.
Organizations that address food insecurity with distributions of free food and meals exist in most communities. Many welcome volunteers as well as donations of food, including fresh garden produce in season. Access to refrigeration and timing of food distributions can limit an organization's ability to accept donations. It is best to contact them first. With this in mind, we aim to provide a comprehensive list of these organizations. Please do not hesitate to email trisha.smith1@maine.edu with additional or corrected information.
The Maine Food Atlasis an interactive mapping project created by the Maine Network of Community Food Councils and the Center for Community GIS. Explore or even contribute-The Maine Food Atlas relies on individuals to submit and update listings.
Click here to see a list of organizations tackling food insecurity in Penobscot, Piscataquis, and Somerset Counties.
Organizations of Interest
Click the links to learn more, find a chapter near you, and get involved.
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.
Hirundo Wildlife Refuge is a 2,400 acre nature preserve spanning Pushaw and Dead Streams, Lac d'Or, vast wetlands (including a gently raised bog),
Silver Maple Floodplain Forest, mixed hardwood and evergreen forests. Accessible by canoe and trails.
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 TownsThe 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 Classroompromotes 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.
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.
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.
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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