Fifty newsletters is a milestone we are so excited to share with you!

 We hope this is a helpful tool for you. If you didn't know, our newsletter won a Oklahoma Association of Extension Agriculture Agents Communication Award in 2021. The goal is to continue to provide timely information in an easy format. Past newsletters are archived on our Agriculture Web Page, so you can reference them later. If you have a topic that you would like to see, let us know!  

As we celebrate this issue, I want to take a few minutes to explain about the OSU Master Gardener Program. This program is designed to teach about gardening and empower the members to then in turn volunteer in the community through garden education programs and projects. This group also has a lot of horticulture experience to share, so the fellowship is really fun. Being able to partner years of garden experience with research based information is a great resource for the community. The current average age of our group is about 72 years old. The projects they tackle amaze me!  

Enrollment is currently open for the next course, January to March 2023. Visit our master gardener website for all the details. Our brochure also has this information. 

Master Gardeners provided over 1500 hours of

community volunteer service in 2021

at a value of over $42,810.

These numbers are currently being collected for 2022.

< REMINDER - Log your hours!  MG website  >

 Thank you for your service to our community!

At our state master gardener conference in October, we ran across some new (to us) links that can be very helpful for all of us. 

Seek is an app by iNaturalist

iNaturalist 

Xerces Society for Pollinator and Conservation information

USDA Pollinator Conservation Program and Conservation Reserve Program

Fall is a great time to prep your garden for next season. Remove plant residue, compost if healthy.  

Cultivate if desired. Manure application should be done in the fall to reduce pathogen contamination, like ecoli and salmonella spp. Cover crops are also another good option. Here is a good fact sheet to reference: Healthy Garden Soils

A lawn area in our butterfly garden was requiring push mowing and trimming.  Bordered by other beds, the bermuda grass would crawl into our garden spaces.  Our demonstration this summer shows how to prep this for a new purpose.  

Three methods were chosen to clear the lawn from our garden that are easily accessible for homeowners.  Cardboard, clear plastic, and black plastic treatments were used. 95 degrees or higher is best for these methods. Installed June 16, 2022. 

Two or three weeks minimum is recommended.  We left treatments in place for 4 1/2 months, to show the methods for clients, and as time allowed for removal. A few stragglers were hand dug to remove around the edges.  Oct. 29th, 2022.  

Next steps will be to plant some cool season cover crops to demonstrate those options.  Eventually this area will be transitioned to hardscape and new purposes.  Stay Tuned  Stop by and see the progress any time.  Watch your step, a new handicap raised bed area is under construction.  For a look at the project in detail, go to our webpage. 

Our office will be closed on Friday, November 11th for Veteran's Day to honor all who have served.  

We will also be closed on November 24 and 25th for Thanksgiving Holiday.  

December 14, 2022 

Set up at 9 am

Pottawatomie County Historical Museum Conference Center

Details on our Local Events Page (click)

Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry - Hay Resources Search (click on link)

Oklahoma State Extension reduced lab testing rates for drought-stricken producers (click on link)

Drought assistance (reduced cost) for some testing services.   

Pottawatomie County USDA-Text Message Alerts - Text your state and county (OKPottawatomie) to FSANOW (372-669). Standard text messaging rates apply.

For Hay and Cattle prices: Red will indicate a drop in price, Green will indicate a rise in price. (10 31 2022)