Ashland-Bayfield County Master Gardeners

• Saturday, March 22nd      12 p.m. - 2 p.m. @ The UW Ex Bldg. Ashland

The second of our Late-Winter Garden Series:  Dr Susan Mahr presents "Starting and Growing Beautiful Summer Bulbs."

• Saturday, April 5th      8 a.m. – Noon @ The Ashland Bay Area Civic Center

The Ashland/Bayfield County Master Gardener Association is sponsoring an “Ask the Master Gardener” booth in conjunction with the UW Ex. Ofc. at The Bay Area Farm & Garden Show and Dairy Breakfast. 

• Thursday, April 10th     6 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. @ the UW Ex Bldg., Ashland

Third and final presentation as part of our Late-Winter Garden Series: Bob Tomesh presents “Make Your Own Apple Trees:  Apple Grafting for Beginners.”

The Ashland-Bayfield County Master Gardener Association became the 47th member of the WIMGA in September 2007.

There are 32 members in our organization from the two counties.

Ashland Bayfield MGVs listen to a talk on rose breeding.

We held our first organizational meeting in February 2006. In 2007 we spent a large amount of time on organizing committees, planning programs, amending by-laws, and being involved in volunteer activities and community educational programs. Our members are scattered throughout many rural areas of our two counties, from Madeline Island and Bayfield on Lake Superior in the north, the Iron River area to the west, Ashland area to the east, and Cable, Drummond and Mellen areas to the south. Many of our volunteer projects, therefore, involve numerous single or small group endeavors scattered throughout the two counties. Some members are required to travel 35 to 40 miles to attend our meetings.

1. We were inspired by a presentation about WIMGA given by Susan Mahr, MG Program Coordinator, at our March 2007 meeting. We applied for and became the 47th association affiliated with WIMGA in September 2007. We are proud to be affiliated with WIMGA and strive to meet WIMGA’s guidelines.
    

2. We designed, planted and/or maintained numerous gardens in communities throughout our two counties and also assisted senior citizens throughout the counties in individual gardens.
    

3. Our members are involved with various leadership positions in the community, including 4-H. One MGV coordinated a "Biggest Pumpkin Contest" for about 87 Bayfield County 4-H members, which included starting the plants, distributing them to youngsters and holding a "weigh-in" in September; and holding three horticulture meetings with the 4-H youth covering topics such as plant propagation, variety selection, making garden plans, vegetable and flower judging practice and grafting.
    

   A-B MGVs answer questions.

4. Members participated in two "Ask the Master Gardener" events. We staffed a booth at The Bay Area Farm and Garden Show and Dairy Breakfast on March 31 at the Ashland Bay Area Civic Center. This is a popular event that gives us great exposure in the community. MGVs answered questions and handed out literature on "How to Become a MGV." The other booth was on May 18 at Bayfield in Bloom’s hosting and live broadcast of Wisconsin Public Radio’s "Garden Talk Show" with Larry Meiller. Our Ashland/Bayfield County Ag. Extension Agent, Jason Fischbach, was one of the guests on the show. We also presented Larry Meiller with an original, handmade, signed, "birthday greeting card" – an annual tradition!
    

5. Our members have provided bulbs, perennials and annuals for various non-profit organizations’ fund-raising projects and have assisted at plant sales to benefit several organizations. These activities have given us opportunities to share our knowledge with the public while volunteering.

Improving Our World display at the Bayfield Co. fair in August 2007.

The culmination of summer activities in Northern Wisconsin is the county fair. We created an exhibit in the largest booth available in the exhibit hall at the Bayfield Co. Fair in late August. To get as many of our members involved as possible, we asked everyone to provide several 8" x 10" color photographs of their volunteer or home gardens for display in the exhibit. The photos were double-matted with brightly colored paper and displayed on three walls of the booth, along with bold lettering identifying our association and theme, "Improving Our World." We added garden art and live, brightly colored flowers and plants to create a "living," colorful and attractive garden display to get the attention of approximately 10,000 visitors for four days at the fair. Our intent was to raise awareness of and "make visible" our MG organization, exhibiting some of our accomplishments through exquisite photographs and creative garden display. We were honored with a "Blue Ribbon" for our efforts and received positive feedback from individuals and groups in the community.

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