Our speaker for August was Mr. David Cline. David works for Alabama Cooperative Extension System in Aquaponics. He explained that Aquaponics is growing fish and plants in the same water. You can grow almost anything in water as long as you have the correct pH balance. The three systems for growing them are 1. The NFT (nutrient film technique) 2. Ebb and flow system and 3. Deep water raft system. The fish and plants you are growing have to be compatible with each other, such as temperature and the type of pH each needs as well as the proper lighting.
We also heard from Krystal Vaith. Krystal is the 4-H Club coordinator with the Chilton County Extension Office. Pat Farmer is our liaison that has volunteered to get a Junior Master Gardener program started. All members seemed to agree that this is something we want to be involved with.
We had 28 members present and 8 guests. The meeting was adjourned at 12:05.
Our monthly meeting for July was presented by Mr. David Doggett, a Jefferson County Advanced Master Gardener specializing in Japanese Maple Trees. At Aldridge Gardens David gives guided tours to adult groups. He also has created the Aldridge Gardens Japanese Maple Trail which consists of over 50 different cultivars of Japanese maples. He says they come in all shapes and sizes, all colors, and many different kinds of leaf formations. Some can reach 10 feet, some can grow in containers like the pygmy, and others scan the scale all in between. Japanese maples cannot be grown from seed or from cuttings, they have to be grafted, and this accounts for so many varieties. Thanks, Mr. Doggett, for a very informative program about Japanese maple trees! Betsy Smith and Jacob Turner presented 7 of our interns with their Master Gardener Certificate and name badges. These interns were Callen Alred, Sam Blackmon, Diane Handley, Kimberly Hudson, Sonja Johnson. Donald Jones, and Becky Roper. Amy Bakes presented Beverly Williamson with this month’s Peach Award for her being such a vivacious, enthusiastic, and hard working volunteer! Diane Clapp, our Hospitality Team Leader, had the table decorated for 4th of July which included some Chilton County Peach dishes. Thanks to whomever prepared these dishes! Our audience included 25 members, 2 Honorary members, and 5 guests! Thank you to all that attended!
V. P. Hugh Nichols presents a speaker’s gift to Mr. David Doggett
Back, L-R Betsy Smith, Sam Blackmon, Callen Alred, and Donald Jones. Front, L-R Sonja Johnson, Kimberly Hudson, Diane Handley, and Becky RoperAmy Baker presents the Peach Award to Beverly WilliamsonHospitality Team Leader Diane Clapp did a good job decorating for July 4th!
Our speaker for our June meeting was Dr. Edgar Vinson, Assistant Extension Professor at Chilton Research and Extension Center.
He explained how they get their research projects, where the research questions came from, how they design a research project, conducting the research project, how they use the results of the research data and how they get the funding for these projects. The plants he listed from some of their research projects were strawberries, figs and peaches. He said these studies usually take about two years to complete. This was a very interesting and in depth program on how they keep our farmers and growers informed on the most current information for their crops.
Hugh Nichols and other leaders of the Demonstration Garden(@ 120 C.R. 756, Clanton 35045) made the decision to name the Shade Garden there in honor of one of our former members, Jerry Farmer. Jerry passed away in December of 2024. He was very instrumental in getting money for the structure, getting it set up, and getting it put to very good use by suggesting it be used as an outdoor classroom for children and adults. He was married to one of our sweet members, Pat Farmer. Pat also helped in all ways with the Shade Garden.
Our meetings are the second Tuesday of every month at 9 am and we meet at the Clanton Recreation Building @ 305 1st Street N, Clanton, AL 35045. The public is always invited. For more information you may call the Chilton County Extension Office @ 205-280-6268. Our website is
We had a great Plant Swap May meeting at Judy Cobb’s “The Old Place” yesterday in Coosa County! We can’t thank you enough for opening up your home and beautiful yards and lake to all of us Again this year! You and your husband go to great lengths to accommodate us and see that we all have a good time! Some came early and fished, and afterwards some tried their hand at Hatchet 🪓 Throwing, myself included, which I had never done and was terrible at🤣🤣. Beverly Williamson was my teacher and she was very good! We also had some visitors this year; ACES retirees Gay West and Elaine Densmore, ACES Chilton County’s Lucy Ellington and Jason Turner; spouses Lamar Giles, Anthony Baker, and Ellie Nichols, Shelby County members Elizabeth York and Susan Arvin, Lanell Baker’s son, David, and a couple of member’s friends/family members that I didn’t get their names, sorry 😢. Lots of pretty flowers were there for the picking and the Stealing! Again, thank you Judy and Mr. Cobb for all your hospitality❗️
The speaker for our April meeting was Dr. Chip East, who is a Regional Extension Agent at Auburn. He is a Commercial Horticulture Coordinator over several counties in the east central part of Alabama. He grew up working on his uncle’s vegetable, cattle and hog farm as well as a nursery and landscaping business. In learning how to propagate plants for the nursery, the native azalea became his favorite plant to propagate.
Dr. East presented a very in depth program on the many ways you can propagate an azalea. He told us that the native azalea is the hardest to root and explained the many ways to root an azalea, from air layering, collecting seeds to stem cuttings. It was a very interesting program.
Lanell Baker, Secretary, told us about the thank you note she received from the 4-H Club thanking us for the $100.00 donation we gave in Jerry Farmer’s memory.
The Extension Office bed was weeded by the intern class. Doug Jones and Callen Alred have volunteered to oversee these beds. They have set the 2nd and 4th Mondays as work days. Thanks Doug and Callen for taking this position, we know you will do a great job.
Amy Baker presented the Peach Award to Kerry Rush for all her hard work at the Demonstration Garden, serving a 2 year term as secretary, and always being ready to help where needed.
Hugh Nichols and Kerry Rush wrote a grant for $533.00 for tools to use in the Demonstration Garden. The grant “Work smarter, Not harder” has been awarded to the Association.
CCMGA members that attended the AMGA conference in Prattville, AL gave us a report on the conference. Harriett Jackson was appointed as a AMGA Member at Large, Betsy Smith spoke at the conference on “Open the herbs for kids”, and Beverly Williamson was nominated for “Intern of the Year”.
Dr. Chip EastV.P.Hugh Nichols presents Dr. Chip East with the speakers honorary gift.Clem Clapp tells us about the trip to his property to find the ”Owl’s Eye Ginger”, which is only found i this area.Harriett Jackson was appointed at the AMGA Conference “Member at Large”Amy Baker presents Kerry Rush with the monthly Peach Award Betsy Smith and Beverly Williamsour Hospitality Team Leader, Diane Clapp and her Easter decorations
Several of the CCMGA members made a trip on February 7th to tour Wright’s Nursery in Plantersville, AL. They are a family-owned and family-operated wholesale business that grows annual spring and fall bedding plants, herbs, perennials and vegetable plants. They sell to independent retail garden centers in and around central and north Alabama. Their plants can be identified by the ‘Alabama Grown’ logo (that they have trademarked)on most of their tags. The process of growing and getting bedding plants ready for the market is much more complicated than we know, but technology has made it much more efficient and profitable. We saw all the trays and all the machinery involved in growing plants from seeds and cuttings from their own plants. Wright’s uses non-GMO seeds and many are organic certified. Their plants are grown using mostly OMRI, organic certified, listed materials while a few are non-organic. We saw rows and rows of very uniform plants in the many greenhouses we toured. It was one of the most fascinating tours we’ve been on! Many thanks to our “Honorary Members” David and Martha Wright! After the tour we all went to Valley Grande in Maplesville for a great lunch! Photos by Audrey Giles and Hugh Nichols
The February monthly meeting is always our Awards Ceremony. But the first order of business was our very own Lanell Baker(also Secretary) presenting a program on “Starting Plants From Seed”. It was very informative with lots of questions from the audience. We have really enjoyed having Mr. and Mrs. Wright of Wright’s Nursery in Plantersville joining us in our meetings these last few months. They both have degrees in horticulture, so no Master Gardener course for them❗️We want them to go on meeting with us each month, so we awarded each one of them with our Honorary Member Certificate. So now they are part of us🥰❗️ Dianne Clapp was this month’s Premier Peach recipient, for her steadfastness and willingness to help. She was awarded a Certificate and a Peach Pin. Our President, Skip Coulter, has added a very interesting part to our meetings. At the end he has a Question and Answer Quiz, (sometimes multiple choice)with half of us being the Annuals and half of us being the Perennials. You NEVER know what the questions will be. I think so far we are neck and neck for winning. And Skip always has a bag of candy or cookies for the winners. Our program photos and Awards winners are below, with names and awards listed. Photos by Audrey Giles
Lanell Baker presents ”Starting Plants From Seeds”Trisha Williams & Hugh Nichols- Perfect Attendance AwardTop Hours Helpline- Beverly Williamson and Pat FarmerBronze Star(100-299 Hrs) Kathy OakesSilver Star(300-499 Hrs)-Lynne May(&Chip Durham)Gold Star(500-999 Hrs) Kerry Rush(Leslie Durham,Cheryl Herbster)Gold Badge(1000-1999 Hrs) Betsy SmithTop Intern Hrs-Bev Williamson 84 HrsTop CEU Hrs- Betsy Smith-227 hrs.3rd Place Top Vol. Hrs Hugh Nichols-279.5 Hrs.2nd Place Top Vol. Hrs Lyn Webb-364.5 Hrs.1st Place Top Vol. Hrs. Harriett Jackson 389 HrsPat Farmer & Hugh Nichols-Head of Shade Garden Project Master Gardener of the Year-Judy CobbFebruary’s Premier Peach Award-Dianne ClappDavid & Martha Wright First Honorary Members!
Our January meeting started off with a slide show of memories of Jerry Farmer, one of our long time members who passed away Dec. 28, 2025. He was the husband of our member Pat Farmer. They have been members since 2010. Jerry was a very dedicated CCMGA member who was loved by all and will definitely be missed!
Our speakers, introduced by our V.P. Hugh Nichols, were Sherry Carter, Jacob Turner, and Lucy Ellington. Sherry is with SNAP-ED program (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). She goes into all third grade school classes(except Clanton) of the Chilton County schools taking bags full of vegetables. fruits, and other goodies to help them learn better food choices.
Jacob Turner is an ACES Home Horticulture agent who covers home grounds, gardens, and pests. He told us about the areas he covers and some of his other assignments. He told about an event coming up at Penton Farms in February and in March there is to be a seed starting workshop, details to be online soon.
Lastly, Lucy Ellington, our ACES extension Coordinator, talked about all the programs and projects available through the Extension Office. There’s the annual state Bee Keeper’s symposium on February 1st, the Water Fest on March 21, the 4-H programs which includes Cloverbuds, Horse Club, Chick Chain, Forestry program, Home School Club, and the Day and Summer Camp at the beautiful Alabama 4-H Center on Lay Lake in Shelby County. Master Gardeners often volunteer for many of these activities.
Our V. President, Hugh Nichols, was nominated and awarded this month with our first ever Premier Peach Award. These people are chosen by the members for always going the extra mile in whatever they undertake to do for the club or for other members. They receive a certificate and Peach Pin. Thank you, Hugh, for all you do! And all members, please remember to recommend someone for this award at our February meeting.
Ballots were passed out for members to vote on Master Gardener of the Year and Service Project of the Year. Awards will be presented at the February meeting. Old and new business was discussed. The meeting was adjourned at 12 noon.
We had a very good turn out for our Christmas Dinner on December 10. We did have four interns that earned and were presented with their Master Gardener certificate and badge. These were L-R Barbara Patrick, Beverly Williamson, Teresa Freeman, and Clair van Loo Sluyterman. Our President Skip Coulter introduced our special guest for our Christmas dinner, City of Clanton Mayor Jeff Mims and his right hand “man” Debbie Street Mundy🥰❗️After our delicious pot luck dinner, several members stayed to play Dirty Santa and I think everyone had a really fun time. We all look forward to this every year to just laugh, have fun, and really get to know each other! Photos by Audrey Giles and Debbie Street
Our CCMGA November meeting featured programs given by two of our very own Master Gardeners, Beverly Williamson and Amy Baker.
Beverly Williamson’s program was All About African Violets. Beverly has been growing award-winning violets for many years. There is great variety in African violets: sizes, leaf shapes, leaf edges, bloom color and some are even trailing. Blooms can be smooth edged or ruffled and can be double. Violets should be kept moist but not soggy wet; they can be set on a tray of rocks with water to increase humidity. They need indirect light and morning light is best. The pot should be 1/3 the size of the width of the plant from leaf tip to leaf tip. To propagate: select a healthy leaf, cut the stem at an angle, place in a mixture of 1/3 each soiless potting mix, vermiculite and perlite, place under florescent or grow lights and keep damp. For more information go to Ball State University or the African Violet Society of America.
Amy’s topic was Soil Blocking for Seed Starting. What is soil blocking?
To do soil blocking you will need soil blocking tools and Amy uses the 3/4 inch 12 cell size to start seeds and then moves the seedlings up to the 2 inch 4 cell size. Amy sets the soil blocks in shallow trays, adds water as needed to the tray to keep the soil moist and places them under grow lights until the seedlings have their first true leaves and are ready to move to the large soil block.
Soil Mixtures: A general mixture has 1/3 part each of coconut coir or peat moss, perlite, and vermiculite. For acid loving plants the mixture is 1 1/4 parts peat moss, 1 part perlite and 1/4 part vermiculite. Amy has had great success with this method and all of her seeds germinated this year.
Both programs were very well presented and so very interesting!
CCMGA elected officers for 2025. Thanks to each for agreeing to serve our group. We will have photos next month.
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