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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August 2022
Fellow gardeners of Central Maine,
How you care for your home garden and landscape makes a difference, and the UMaine Cooperative Extension Home Horticulture team is here to support you! Check out this month's Maine Home Garden News for the full articles linked in this newsletter, plus more! Subscribe here to get Maine Home Garden News in your inbox on the first of every month!
Yours,
Donna, Kate, and Laurie
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UMaine Extension Master Gardener Volunteers training accepting applications
The 2022 Master Gardener Volunteer training includes self-paced online learning modules along with live virtual sessions with horticultural experts from across the state. Designed to train volunteers for horticulture and food system-related community service projects, topics include vegetable and fruit production; plants for the Maine landscape; soil health and composting; pesticide safety; and food security. Participants will be expected to volunteer at least 40 hours on a community project to complete certification. Applications for the 2022 program are due Sept. 1.
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Study finds online salsa recipes for home canning lacking food safety standards | |
Homemade salsa recipes are abundant on food blogs, but the majority of them fail to follow USDA home canning guidelines and are a cause of food safety concern, according to a new University of Maine study.
In the study, “Adherence of Food Blog Salsa Recipes to Home Canning Guidelines,” UMaine Extension professor Kathy Savoie and Jen Perry, an assistant professor of food microbiology, examined 56 recipes for home canning of salsa from 43 food blogs. They found that in 70 percent of the recipes, USDA home canning guidelines were not included in four categories: acidification, thermal processing, contaminants and vacuum sealing.
Of the blogs evaluated for this study, the number of Facebook followers ranged from 719 to 3.2 million.
“Traditionally, salsas are mixtures of low-acid foods, such as onions and peppers, with acidic foods, such as tomatoes. Depending on ingredient ratios, the natural acidity of salsa mixtures may not be high enough to safely process in a boiling water bath, which is still the most common method for canning in American homes,” says Savoie, who has been providing home food preservation education since 1996.
Read more...
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Two New Training Programs to Access in-depth Horticulture Knowledge
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New training programs are available to access in-depth horticulture knowledge. The Maine Horticulture Apprentice Training is designed to supply learners with a foundational horticulture education suitable for skilled entry-level positions in the horticulture industry and requires completion of a 200-hour industry apprenticeship. The Maine Gardener Training is designed to supply learners with a horticulture education and skills for use in their personal garden without the volunteer component in the Master Gardener Volunteer training program. Enrollment for these courses opens Sept. 28.
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Do you have plans to start canning your tomato harvest? Before you start be sure to reference a research based tested recipe. The USDA also recommends acidification of your tomatoes by adding citric acid or bottled lemon juice to increase the acidity level.
To ensure the safety in whole, crushed or juiced tomatoes, add two tablespoons of bottled lemon juice or 1/2 teaspoon of citric acid per quart of tomatoes. For pints, use one tablespoon of bottled lemon juice or 1/4
Read more...
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Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) Quarterly Conference Call
The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry is hosting a quarterly conference call to update city and town tree and forest managers, public works staff and any interested land managers on the known status of emerald ash borer in Maine, current state efforts, municipal opportunities, and plenty of time for Q&A. The call will begin at 10:30 AM on Monday, August 29 and will run no more than 1.5 hours. Please share with municipal tree managers and others within your community government who may be interested (tree warden, arborist, public works, parks, transfer station, land stewards etc.). This month’s call will take place on the Microsoft Teams Webinar platform.
How to Join Meeting
Join the Meeting on Microsoft Teams
Meeting ID: 222 245 561 969
Passcode: WPHjhd
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American Goldfinch
By Doug Hitchcox, Maine Audubon Staff Naturalist
One of the most familiar of songbirds, the American Goldfinch, is a late and specialized nester. In late summer, while many of Maine’s breeding birds are fledging this year’s chicks, goldfinches are just getting started. By September, the goldfinch chicks should be out of the nest, still following adults around, while most of their migrating relatives are already moving south. Goldfinches have a late nesting season because, unlike most birds that rely on insects for feeding their young, they rely on flowering of thistles (Cynareae) and almost exclusively feed their chicks seeds. After nesting, goldfinches molt and trade their “gold” for a duller mustard-brown plumage that often leads people to think they are a different species visiting their yard in the winter.
For more on the importance of Maine native plants to support birds and other wildlife, visit Maine Audubon’s “Bringing Nature Home” webpage.
ople tend not to read much more than a couple of paragraphs. Place article copy here.
Photo by Doug Hitchcox. American Goldfinch (adult male)
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Photo by Doug Hitchcox. American Goldfinch (adult male) | |
Cider Pressing at the Law Farm | |
Fall Soil Amendments for the Vegetable Garden
By Rebecca Long, Agriculture and Food System Professional, UMaine Oxford County
It’s been a hard-fought season in the garden, between early season insect pressure and humid conditions just right for fungal diseases. But before you throw in the trowel for the season, consider how you are going to protect your soil over the winter.
Ideally, strive to go into the winter with some sort of cover on your soil to protect it from compaction and erosion. The best time to start thinking about this is as soon as a spot in the garden opens up. Once you have harvested a crop and removed any plant matter that could harbor insects or diseases over the winter, consider your options for soil cover.
Read more....
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New Garden Resources to Meet New Needs
Timely UMaine Extension Publications
- Webinars & Videos
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Garden Chats: Growing Resilience From the Ground Up- You may have missed the live Zoom presentations, but we've rounded up fact sheets for each week's discussion for your reference
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Victory Garden for ME series: videos for first time vegetable gardeners
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Growing Maine Gardeners: An initiative led by UMaine Extension’s Home Horticulture team to address the increased demand for gardening education throughout the state of Maine and to provide additional support for beginner gardeners.
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Free Distance Nutrition Education Classes through UMaine Extension Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program is free to income eligible adults with children or your adults and if you are eligible for programs such as SNAP, WIC, or Head Start.
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Garden Mentorship Program: direct technical assistance and encouragement via phone or email throughout the season from trained Master Gardener Volunteers
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Maine Farm Products and Pick-Up Directory: The directory provides information on available local farm products and alternative pick-up options developed by farmers statewide to accommodate the recommended social distancing in light of COVID-19.
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Learn at Home: Educational Resources to Use During School Closures: From science to financial literacy, whether for toddlers or teenagers, we encourage you to take advantage of these activity books, guides, and other resources to help children remain engaged in educational experiences throughout their school closure.
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Learn at Home with 4-H Friday Fun! Each Friday, watch for a new hands-on activity that you can try out with simple materials you have at home. Watch a short video clip to see how it’s done or download our 4-H Learn from Home activity sheets. Each activity outlines materials needed, easy-to-follow instructions, reflection questions for discussion and activity extensions.
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Social Media: Many of our staff are stepping up efforts to communicate to audiences via social media. For example, see Rogers Farm Demonstration Garden’s short educational Facebook videos (also on Instagram).
Traditional Services Being Offered in New Ways
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Identifying insect pests: Charley Armstrong, will identify pest samples via images. See instructions for submitting an insect specimen.
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Identifying plant diseases: Dr. Alicyn Smart will identify plant disease samples via images. See instructions for submitting a sample.
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Tick testing: Ticks are being tested on a limited basis. See instructions for submitting a tick sample.
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Publication orders: We are still processing orders from our publication catalog, including pesticide application training materials.
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Soil testing: The Analytical Lab and Maine Soil Testing Service remains open and is taking samples with a priority on commercial samples. If you need to drop off a sample, you can place it in the box outside of Deering Hall; do NOT enter the building.
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General gardening questions: Contact your county office. Emails are preferred. If it’s necessary to leave a voicemail, please leave your email address (if available) or a mailing address in addition to your phone number.
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Extension Programs in other states:
If you find a great program when you're poking around online, let me know so I can share with your fellow gardeners: donna.coffin@maine.edu
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Garden Organizations and Allies
Click the links to learn more, find a chapter near you, and get involved.
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Master Gardener Volunteers
Guidelines for Master Gardener Volunteers (Updated 6/8/21):
Reminder for MGV
Check out Kate Garland's information about the "Take Five" Winter Walk Series for Master Gardeners starting in January that was sent to MGVs in a separate email.
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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
Photos: Edwin Remsberg, Donna Coffin, or Laurie Bowen unless other listed.
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Contributors
Donna Coffin, Extension Professor
Kate Garland, Extension Horticulturist
Laurie Bowen, Food Systems Program 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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