|
Farmers Market Season Has Begun!
Now is a great time to enjoy the bounty of the season at several of our local farmers markets. Check out the list of local markets in Southern Maryland here. If you're looking to explore markets throughout Maryland, check out this directory.
We'd like to highlight 2 local markets that also help folks extend their benefits (SNAP/EBT, SUN Bucks, FMNP, and WIC) through Maryland Market Money. This program matches benefit dollars spent up to $10 (subject to change). That means if you spend $10 of your SNAP dollars, they'll match you another $10!
La Plata Farmers Market
209 Washington Avenue, La Plata
Wednesdays: April - August - 9:00 am -2:00 pm
Saturdays: April - November - 9:00 am - 2:00 pm
Accepts Cash, Credit, SNAP, SUN Bucks, FMNP; Maryland Market Money
Social Media: Facebook; Instagram
| | |
Shlagel Farms
12850 Shlagel Road, Waldorf
Saturdays: Year Round - 10:00 am-2:00 pm
Check social media and their website for additional opening times
Accepts Cash, Credit, SNAP, SUN Bucks, FMNP; Maryland Market Money
Social Media: Facebook; Instagram
| | What Can You Eat From A Garden? | | |
During March's Exploring MD Foods lesson, 3rd grade students at Arthur Middleton Elementary School worked as a team to prepare and taste a garden salad.
Following the cooking and tasting they learned how to regrow food scraps through water propagation. They enjoyed learning and practicing culinary and gardening skills in the classroom.
| | This hydroponic garden is thriving with herb growth. The 4th grade students at Barnhart Elementary School enjoyed exploring the plant life stages and tasting the various herbs (basil, mint, spinach, oregano and dill). | | |
During March's Read for Health Lesson, the 1st grade class at Barnhart Elementary School learned that " A fruit is a suitcase for seeds!"
They enjoyed exploring assorted fruits (strawberries, plums, blueberries and oranges) and observed the various seed sizes, color, location on the fruit to decide if they were edible or inedible.
| | |
During April's Read for Health lesson, the 1st grade class at Barnhart Elementary School enjoyed activating their green thumbs and learned about the process of seed starting.
They planted lettuce seeds then took their plants home to nurture them. The students observed their growth and eventually tasted the lettuce leaves.
| | Photo Credits: Khylah Harris | | |
4-H: A Program for Life!
Bonnie Boyden
Program Management Specialist, 4-H
bboyden@und.edu
| | The Charles County 4-H Program supported approximately 4000 youth in 2024, participating in community clubs, camps, school enrichment programs, county workshops and as individual study members. Over 300 of these youth had intensive experiential learning opportunities through community clubs and individual study. Charles County youth had opportunities for 4-H experiences through 4-H camping program and short-term and school enrichment projects. | |
Charles County continues to have one of the stronger 4-H programs in the state as a result of participants taking advantage of the wide variety of experiences and opportunities offered by staff and volunteers. This achievement is possible because of the open environment in which volunteers can be excited about being empowered to reach youth; they carry that enthusiasm into their planning and programs. The result is that more youth are involved in more experiences resulting in personal growth and development.
Charles County 4-H’ers are acquiring life skills in the areas of decision making, acquiring knowledge, personal responsibility, communication, creative thinking, understanding self and getting along with others. Below are a few of the summer programs being offered to members.
| | We start the summer programs off with the Southern MD Spring Livestock Show, Rabbit Show and Dog Show. This opportunity is open to all 5 Southern MD Counties and held at the Charles County Fairgrounds. The youth have the opportunity to exhibit their livestock projects in the areas of beef, sheep, swine and goats. This is an excellent learning experience for new members. | | |
The summer would not be complete without having our day and overnight camps.
Day camp will be held at the Charles County Fairgrounds
June 16-20.
Overnight camp is held in the beautiful mountains of Western Maryland, the week of July 13-19.
At both of these camps, the youth participate in many outdoor experiences while learning independence and social development.
For more information about our summer programs, email Bonnie Boyden at bboyden@umd.edu.
Photo Credits: Bonnie Boyden
| | |
4-H'ers Get to Play "Dr. Dolittle"
Jeanne Williams
Charles County 4-H Program Assistant, Shooting Sports Coordinator
jeannhh@umd.edu
| | |
For 6 weeks from March until the middle of April, 4-H youth met weekly to learn all about veterinary science, with topics covering poultry, equine, livestock, animal first aid, small animals, and more.
They completed hands-on learning tasks like flushing wounds, making an animal first aid kit, looking at x-rays, to name a few. At the end of the program, youth got to pretend to be vets and “treat patients” with all the knowledge they had accumulated over the weeks.
The youth really enjoyed themselves and took home more than information. We can’t wait to try this program again in 2026 with new topics!
Photo Credits: Jeanne Williams
| | More reasons for youth to be 4-H'ers . . . | | |
4-H offers Entrepreneurship workshops
- to help 4-H'ers and non-4-H'ers prepare for three events
- to collaborate with two local farmers markets to hold a youth market day
- to participate in the Shark Tank Competition
For more information, contact Kelly Bryant, 4-H Educator, kmbryant@umd.edu.
| |
What’s the Buzz Going On in My Front Yard?
Every spring, as the soil begins to warm and early flowers bloom, you might notice curious little mounds of finely textured soil dotting your lawn or garden beds. If you look closer, you may even catch a tiny bee poking its head out of a hole like a groundhog (although one that doesn’t eat your plants) on the first day of spring. Don’t be alarmed and don’t stomp them out. They’re native ground-nesting bees, and if you’re lucky, they might be the charming, adorable, and important cellophane bees.
| |
Meet the Cellophane Bee
Cellophane bees (Colletes sp.) are solitary, ground-nesting native bees that emerge in early spring, often around the same time as the earliest blooming trees and wildflowers. They're medium-sized bees with a somewhat fuzzy appearance and are often mistaken for honey bees, though they lack the social structure and communal hive of honey bees.
What makes cellophane bees stand out among other bees is their unique nesting behavior. Female cellophane bees dig slender vertical tunnels into well-drained or sandy soil, where they create brood cells lined with a natural waterproof secretion. This lining hardens into a thin, clear layer that looks and functions like cellophane, hence its name. It helps protect developing larvae from moisture and microbial threats, a clever adaptation that speaks to just how specialized these bees really are.
| |
Now, Why All the Buzzing Around?
Cellophane bees are solitary, meaning each female builds and provisions her own nest. However, they often choose the same general location to nest in, leading to what looks like a large colony. This clustering behavior can surprise homeowners who suddenly see dozens of small holes in one relatively small patch of soil. Where these pictures were taken, there were hundreds of bees in a relatively small patch. While it may seem like they are swarming, these bees are not defending a hive, so they have no reason to sting unless directly handled or severely threatened, and even then, only the females can sting, and they are typically extremely docile.
Most activity happens over a brief few weeks in the spring. Once the females have mated, dug their tunnels, and stocked the brood cells with pollen and nectar, they seal them up and die off, leaving the next generation to develop underground until the following year. By early summer, all visible signs of their presence have vanished and moved underground for the larvae to develop, until next spring’s return.
| |
Happy Pollinators
While honey bees often get the spotlight, native bees like the cellophane bee play a crucial role in supporting biodiversity and crop health. Cellophane bees are generalist pollinators, visiting a wide variety of plants, including early blooming trees, native wildflowers, and even some fruits and vegetables. Because they tend to stay close to their nesting sites, they can be incredibly effective at pollinating your immediate landscape.
Their presence in your yard is a good sign, and means your garden is providing suitable early-season forage and habitat. These bees are also a reminder that supporting pollinators isn’t just about planting flowers. It’s also about providing habitat for them, and in this case, a patch of sandy soil.
| |
How You Can Help
Despite their importance, ground-nesting bees face many challenges, from habitat loss to pesticide exposure. Here are a few simple ways you can support them in your own yard or garden:
- Leave some bare or lightly vegetated ground in sunny, undisturbed areas, grassy yards, or pathways work great. Over-mulching or frequent tilling can destroy nesting sites.
- Avoid using broad-spectrum insecticides, especially in early spring when pollinators are active.
- Plant native early bloomers to provide nectar and pollen when cellophane bees emerge.
- Resist the urge to mow or disturb nesting areas for a few weeks during peak activity (typically March through May). Mowing can destroy nesting sites and cause tunnels to collapse.
-
Educate neighbors and fellow gardeners about these beneficial bees, as many nest aggregations are mistakenly treated as infestations and lead to individuals treating them as such.
Live and Let Buzz
If you’re a gardener, spotting these bees is something to celebrate. Their gentle presence and hard work are part of what makes a spring garden thrive. So, if you catch sight of a tiny bee carefully peaking its head out of a little dirt tunnel in your yard this season, take a moment to appreciate it. That bee is one of Maryland’s native pollinators, doing its part to keep your garden and the larger ecosystem buzzing with life.
| | |
Hayden Schug
Agriculture and Food Systems Educator
hschug@umd.edu
| | Get Ready. Get Set. Go Gardenening! | | This spring, the Grow It Eat It Education Project gave presentations on starting vegetable seeds indoors and planning a vegetable garden. A new section was added on growing "Backyard Berries." Winter sowing vegetables was offered in a separate hands-on workshop. | | Pictured above: Karen Trundle, Connie Nesbary, Gail Black and Michelle Chenault. Photo credit: Terry Thir | | The Senior Education Programs have been active at all the centers this spring, providing information to the Green Thumb Club at the Indian Head Senior Center, an event for Arbor Day at Nanjemoy Senior Center, an Earth day celebration at Waldorf Senior and Recreation Center and several events at the Clark Senior Center including the winter sowing workshop pictured below. | | Pictured: Brian Larson, Michelle Chenault, Janet McGrane, Linda Ivko, Donna Ball. Photo credit: Terry Thir | | |
Master Gardeners freshened up the Extension Office demonstration garden with some weeding and new mulch.
They also helped divide some overcrowded plants at the Christ Church Meditation Garden. Some of the divided plants were donated to the Master Gardener Plant Sale. Thank you, Christ Church Meditation Garden, for your donation!
MGs also helped clean up the herb garden at the Dr. Mudd House.
| | |
Pictured: Joyce Linwood (left), Karen Hile and Cindy Gariepy (center), Linda Bronsdon (right)
Photo credits: Left and Center Terry Thir, Right Rose Markham
| | |
The Food Bank Garden Project winter-sowed a wide variety of vegetables, flowers and potato baskets.
The Wills Group employees participated in a workshop to help winter sow some vegetables and herbs.
The Master Gardeners gave tours of the garden at the Food Bank Open House and Spring Food Drive.
The Backyard Buffer Program would not have worked so well without Broc Bowers, Project Manager (St. Mary’s and Charles County) Maryland Forest Service, for providing the tree seedlings, and Connie Nesbary for providing registration support. Master Gardeners distributed buffer in a bag bundles at the Extension Office.
| | Picture above back row left to right: Deborah Croan, June Leynad, Suzanne Troisclair, front row: Connie Nesbary, Terry Thir. Photo credit: Terry Thir | | Master Gardeners also displayed at Celebrate La Plata and Market Day at Port Tobacco, and performed the Peter Rabbit Puppet Show at Barnhart Elementary! | | Celebrate La Plata, pictured above: Kathy Jenkins and Suzanne Troisclair Photo credit: Terry Thir | | Rose Gazarek and Bill Allen at Market Day at Port Tobacco. Photo credit: Terry Thir | | Left to right: Sally Matts, Paris Reed, Gail Walker, presenting the Peter Rabbit Puppet Show. Photo creditt: Terry Thir | |
And, finally, a VERY BIG THANK YOU!
We’d like to thank everyone who came out to support the Master Gardener Plant Sale. This fundraiser allows us to keep our programs at low to no cost to the community.
| Visit the Home & Garden Information Center’s (HGIC) webpage for more gardening information and to submit your questions. You can find more tips and tricks for taking photos here at Ask Extension. You can also follow HGIC on social media- Facebook page, YouTube channel, or Instagram (@umdhgic)HC). | | |
Julia Rycyna
Home Horticulture Educator
Master Gardener Coordinator
jrycyna@umd.edu
| |
Feel free to contact our staff with any questions
or ideas you have to help make our community better.
Please send an email to jcrawfo4@umd.edu or visit our website.
| | University programs, activities, and facilities are available to all without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status, age, national origin, political affiliation, physical or mental disability, religion, protected veteran status. This institution is an equal opportunity provider. If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate in any event or activity, please contact us at (301) 226-7500. | | | | |
