Author: audrey

2017 MG Intern Class

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Nelson Wynn, ACES Agent III, welcomes everyone to the 2017 Master Gardener Intern Class. We are so excited to have 20 participants signed up this year to take the class! Sometimes for our small county, it’s difficult to have the minimum 15 people sign up. We look forward to working with each and every one of them and them becoming members as soon as they get certified! Of course, they’ll hopefully be coming to our regular monthly meetings, the second Tuesday of each month, held at the Jemison Municipal Complex building in Jemison. Here’s a Smilebox of a few more photos from the 1st day.

 

2017 mg class

January Meeting

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Our first meeting of the year was a very interesting and informative one. Tracy Britnell, owner of Creative Elements Landscape & Garden Design, presented the program on “Sustainable Landscaping”.  Tracy has degrees in Design & Merchandising, Interior Design, and Landscape Design.  She completed her certification in Permaculture Design at Spiral Ridge Permaculture with Cliff Davis in 2013.  When time permits, Tracy offers consultations as well as detailed design plans. She specializes in outdoor rooms, foundation plans, cottage garden designs, edible landscape design,  and practicing  permaculture design principles. Her passion is organic and sustainable gardening and living. Oh, and not to forget, she is also a Master Gardener, since 2004! Thank you, Tracy, for a great program!

speaker at January meeting

December Meeting

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Our December Christmas meeting was a change from the norm, we had soup, salad, and different kinds of cornbread. The dessert was homemade cookies and rainbow sherbet. We had several guests in attendance and a few of the members played Dirty Santa afterwards.

Christmas Home Tour 2016

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Our 4th Annual Christmas Home Tour was held this year on December 11th and was a big success. The homeowners  were Gene and Peggy Martin, Randy and Judy Rockett, and Aaron and Amber Shelnutt. We are looking forward to the 2017 Christmas Home Tour! Here is a Smilebox slideshow of more photos from the tour.

 

December Lunch and Learn

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Our Lunch and Learn was presented this month by Master Gardener Ann Baker on December 7th. The program was about decorating with items from nature, how to make a beautiful bow, and also everyone there made a “Make and Take” decoration.  The Lunch  and Learn programs are held at the Extension Office from 12-1 p.m. These are free and all you do is bring a sack Lunch, drinks are provided! Future Lunch and Learn programs will be announced.

Planting Downtown Clanton

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Some of the Chilton County Master Gardeners helped plant all the large planters in downtown Clanton on November 15th. This is always a fun event that we look forward to every year. The city buys the plants, the workers place them in the planters where they want them, we plant them and give them our loving touch, then the workers come back and water them in. This year we planted pansies and ornamental kale, so keep an eye on downtown  Clanton, it’s going to be pretty!

Home for the Holidays Fundraiser

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master gardner at Home for the Holidays
Left: Harriett Jackson, M.G. and  jewelry vendor. Right:  Representatives of Butterfly Bridge

Chilton County Master Gardeners hosted a “Home for the Holidays” fundraiser this year for the first time.  Vice President Sondra Henley held the event at her house October 15, 2016.  CCMGA partnered with Butterfly Bridge and a portion of the proceeds will benefit the Children’s Advocacy Center in Clanton. There were many days of preparation which included cleaning, decorating, and displaying vendor’s items in the home. There was also a tasting table with all dishes prepared by some of the members. This included cream cheese cigar rolls with peach salsa, mini cold skewers, turnip green soup, Lee’s cornbread, Arnold Palmer tea, and peach upside down cake. A candy table ( all you could put in the box for $5.00) and raffle basket with all proceeds from these two going solely to Butterfly Bridge was very popular. Door prizes were drawn for every 15 minutes. We think the event was a success and plan to have it again in the future. Also for your enjoyment is a SMILEBOX  to watch for more photos.

Celebrating Octoberfest at Monthly Meeting

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October’s meeting was a celebration of all things German; food, decorations, stories, all depicting the life of Germany. CCMGA member Wally Walters presented an excellent description of what it’s like to visit Germany, and she should know, she was born in Germany! The food the many members brought was fabulous, with many of the items labeled with the English name and also the German name.
Our program was presented by CCMGA member Margie Robertson, who is a Master Beekeeper and a member of the Shelby County Beekeeper’s Association. She did an excellent job of describing the bee’s life cycle, and how they go about gathering nectar for the honey. Margie  did this without the aid of a PowerPoint, which wasn’t really missed, as she did such a wonderful job of describing everything in vivid color!

Members Help With Fall Forestry Tour

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Master Gardeners help with Forestry Tour

Chilton County Master Gardener members Audrey Giles, Harriett Jackson, and Sarah Saunders attended and helped with the Fall Landowner Forestry Tour on October 10th. This event is hosted by the Chilton Natural Resources Council and covers various topics including land maintenance and rules and regulations. The tour was held on the property of Wade Connell in Clanton and included stops throughout the property.  A representative from Plantation Pipeline spoke about the petroleum pipeline that runs through the property and the caution that must be taken before digging around them or starting a project close by. Other subjects discussed were wildlife food plots, a fungi pest that affects roots of trees, boundary lines and firebreak maintenance. The tour was concluded with lunch which was barbecue provided by Hickory Chip and served by the master gardeners and door prizes that were provided by local businesses that helped sponsor the tour.