Home Horticulture: Rutgers Master Gardeners of Burl. Co. Spring into Action!

Well, it seemed as if it may never come, but spring finally made an appearance in Burlington County and now, following a frost two weeks ago, this week it's feeling more like summer! The Rutgers Master Gardeners of Burlington County (RMGBC) and I have been hard at work, wrapping up our 2013 Initial Training Program, opening the growing season with the 2nd Annual Burlington County Garden Expo, and getting our eager hands into the soil at our many projects throughout the county.

Our training wrapped up with our annual tour of the Rutgers EcoComplex where Pat Evans told us all about how their bio-reactor landfill system works, and Russel Wright lead our group through the state-of-the-art research and demonstration greenhouse. During these tours we learned how the energy demands of the greenhouse are met through the capture and utilization of gases from the landfill, as well as about the incubator businesses operating in the greenhouse and how the aquaculture system provides nutrients to their growing plants through the recirculating hydroponic irrigation system.

Bio-reactive landfill tour with Pat Evans

Greenhouse tour with Russel Wright

Even though most of New Jersey saw heavy rains and thunderstorms during the day, we managed to stay dry out at the Burlington County Community Agricultural Center (BCCAC) for the Garden Expo on Saturday, May 11. In addition to the "Ask a Rutgers Master Gardener" table, the RMGBC had a Ramapo tomato plant sale, led educational programs on subjects such as The Climate-Friendly Gardener, Flower Arranging: Thinking Outside the Vase, and Gardening to Protect Water Quality, as well as ran the Children's Make-and-Take activities for the day. Our Make-and-Take activities included potting up a few herbs and/or flowers as a Mother's Day gift for mom while learning about the importance of soils and making a radish seed necklace while learning the basics of how seeds germinate. We all had a lot of fun and enjoyed the mild weather. Thank you to everyone who came out and helped to make this event a success!

'American Gothic' photo prop

RMGBC Children's Make-and-Take area

Flower arrangements by RMGBC Educator Joan Johnson

We've dug on in (ha!) to all of our community projects for the year as well, including our ongoing projects such as our Demonstration Plots and IPM Scouting Team at the BCCAC, Donation Garden at Medford Leas, our Kitchen and Blended Gardens at the Pinelands Preservation Alliance, and the Children's and Butterfly Gardens at the Rancocas Nature Center, as well as a new project working with the Eagle Scouts to help design a teaching garden at Evans Elementary School. Stay tuned for more updates on these projects as the season progresses!