1. SeedMoney: Funding opportunity for public food gardens– Online- Deadline: November 12
a. SeedMoney runs a once-a-year "crowd granting" opportunity open to public food gardens without any geographic restrictions. Funds can be used to start a new garden project or sustain an existing one. Past grantees include schools, community gardens, food banks, detention centers and homeless shelters, to name a few.
b. Participating projects set up crowdfunding pages for themselves using custom-built software and use challenge grants to motivate donors from within their communities to give.
i. Over the past 4 years, 1100 garden projects have raised nearly $900,000, which means that the average project raises roughly $800 with many projects raising $2000 or more. 255 grants will be offered this year. Grants will be on a sliding scale ($50-$700) to accommodate a wide range of projects, big and small.
ii. To find instructions on how to complete an application, please refer to the provided link in the title.
2. Virginia Association of Fairs, Caroline County Fair and Virginia Cooperative Extension Fall Judging School– November 16th– VA Tech; Blacksburg, VA
a. Who should attend Judging School?
i. Agents, department superintendents, fair board members, Master Gardeners, and anyone interested or associated with the home goods sections of local’s fairs.
ii. Please see the attached registration form for more information. All participants must agree to be listed in our on-line Fair Judging School Directory as available apprentice or certified judges for state and local fairs and other events in Virginia.
b. Our goal is to train and certify participants to judge at local fairs, State Fair, or any other related competition. There are many benefits to having certified judges including uniformity of judging standards, ethics training, and having a pool of available judges across the Commonwealth. All instructors are certified and have years of experience judging in Virginia and Maryland.
i. For more information: call Jeannie Dudding at 540-921-3455.
ii. Registrations should be sent to:
MACINE WILLIAMS, JUDGING SCHOOL
P.O. BOX 1207; RUTHER GLEN, VA 22546
Email: macine.lakeland@gmail.com
3. Medicinal and Culinary Mushroom Workshop– November 16th -VCE Appomattox
a. Appomattox Master Gardeners are sponsoring a mushroom workshop in association with VCE – Appomattox and VSU.
b. Participants will learn how to grow mushrooms from a local expert!
c. Participants will learn how to prepare mushrooms to eat from a culinary expert!
i. Including live demonstrations!
ii. Morning refreshments will be provided by Appomattox Master Gardeners.
· Fee $10. Class will be held from 9am to 12 noon at the:
VCE – Appomattox: 177 Morton Lane, Appomattox, VA 24522
· Space is limited, so call 434-352-8244 to reserve your spot!
4. Biweekly Update Submission form – Please use this form for submitting future biweekly update items.
Other Announcements:
5. Follow the State Office on social media:
i. Facebook
ii. Instagram
iii. YouTube
6. Resources for fertilization of lawns and for those involved with Healthy Virginia Lawns programming
7. Do you have questions coming in to your Extension Master Gardener program and need to find some answers? Extension Search Resources for EMG Questions
8. Registration now open for online Plant Identification Classes by Longwood Gardens and NC State – Click Here
9. An update from National Initiative for Consumer Horticulture: 2018 accomplishments letter
10. Visit the VCE Lawn and Garden Calendar!
11. Every Kid in a Park Program
12. Spotted Lanternfly, an invasive pest insect– found in Winchester, VA- January 2018
a. For information regarding the quarantine please see attached link
13. eXtension Good and Bad bugs webinar series – Feb 1 – Dec 6, 2019
14. Biennial 2018 EMG Summary– from the Extension Master Gardener National Committee
a. Data collected indicates there are 86,076 EMG volunteers throughout the United States and Washington, D.C, contributing 5.6 million hours educating the public, providing youth programming, and facilitating produce donated to local food banks.
b. While this is only the beginning of the value EMGs provide in their communities each year, 2018 efforts are estimated to have contributed 140 million dollars in value to the general public. Our volunteers reported over 8.6 million contacts and continue to be the front line of Extension’s consumer horticulture efforts. Forty-six states participated in this report.
15. Basil Downy Mildew: Occurrence Monitoring and Info Website for Gardeners
a. A new website, created by Margaret McGrath and the School of Integrative Plant Science at Cornell University, on monitoring occurrence of downy mildew on basil in the US and Canada:
i. It maps occurrences and replaces them into a GoogleDocs spreadsheet since 2009. There is information about BDM at the website that is geared for gardeners. Gardeners have been the primary and most important reporters in helping with monitoring this disease.
b. A handout for gardeners about reporting occurrences of BDM and 2 other important diseases: late blight and cucurbit downy mildew.