Maine Home Garden News is published during the Maine gardening season. The May issue is now available at:
http://umaine.edu/gardening/maine-home-garden-news/
To receive this free online gardening newsletter:
For more information, contact us at 1-800-287-1471. UMaine Extension no longer designs “for print” publications, except for as needed by clients who don’t have online access including e-mail.
Image Description: Colorful vegetables from the garden
Image Description: remsberg_11081030369
Our 5th Annual Backyard Locavore Day will be held on Aug. 10 in various communities within Cumberland County. Events in Brunswick, Falmouth, Freeport, North Yarmouth, Portland, Raymond, South Portland, Scarborough and Windham begin at 10 a.m. and end at 4 p.m. Registration is $15 in advance, $20 day of event and children under 12 are free. This is a rain or shine event.
Tickets can be ordered online: http://umaine.edu/cumberland/programs/locavore/ More information is available by contacting 207-781-6099 or (800)-287-1471 in Maine, or email: Lois.Elwell@maine.edu.
Registrants will receive a booklet in July describing each site and a map showing specific locations. Locavore Day is designed to educate members of the public about learn do-it-yourself strategies for becoming a locavore, who is someone who eats food grown or produced locally. Every year more and more people grow, raise, harvest and preserve foods in a sustainable way to meet individual food needs.
Each backyard will have a Master Gardener volunteer to answer your questions on gardening methods, including vegetable and square-foot gardening, backyard composting, root cellars, greenhouses, beekeeping, backyard poultry. Specific food-preservation methods such as drying, hot water bath canning, making herbal vinegars and jam making may be discussed with a Master Food Preserver volunteer. There will be complementary food samples.
This event raises funds for the University of Maine Cooperative Extension’s Cumberland County Food Preservation Programming at the UMaine Regional Learning Center in Falmouth.
The Maine Home Garden News is now available for the April issue at:
http://umaine.edu/gardening/blog/2013/04/01/maine-home-garden-news-april-2013/
Maine Home Garden News was created in response to a continued increase in requests for information on gardening and includes timely and seasonal tips, as well as research-based articles on all aspects of gardening. Articles are written by UMaine Extension specialists, educators, and horticulture professionals, as well as Master Gardener Volunteers from around Maine, with Professor Richard Brzozowski serving as editor.
In this issue . . .
Reminder: ~ Save the Date for the Cumberland County Backyard Locavore Day event being held on August 10, 2013 between 10 am-4 pm rain or shine.~
University of Maine Cooperative Extension in Cumberland County is offering a Master Gardener Training Course to begin February 8, 2013. The 2013 training program will focus on ecological landscaping and herbaceous and take place on 15 consecutive Friday afternoons in Falmouth.
A Master Gardener is a trained volunteer of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. Master Gardeners receive approximately 45 hours of practical training in basic horticulture with sessions in soil science, botany, entomology, plant diseases, garden problem solving, pruning and more. After the training, each Master Gardener agrees to “give back” 40 hours of volunteer time over a 12-month period as a participant in any numerous community-based projects around the county. The projects include growing and donating food through the Maine Harvest for Hunger program, establishing school and community gardens, working with immigrants and/or low income families to promote gardening interests, and serving as a Garden Angel to assist elderly or less-able individuals in gardening endeavors.
Participants must be residents of Cumberland County and are selected through an application process. Request a packet by calling the Cumberland County office of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension at 1-800-287-1471. The deadline for submitting applications is Friday, December 21, 2012.
Preserving the Harvest─A Hands On Food Preservation Workshop
Ever wonder how to preserve all those great garden vegetables?
Kate McCarty, Program Aide, Food Preservation and other Master Food Preservers of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension will teach you the basic steps for canning and freezing.
Summer 2012 Preserving Workshops – Hot Water Bath Method
Pricing various with location. ($10 scholarship available) Contact number listed for registration information.
Preserving the Harvest June/July 2012 Schedule:
| Date | Location | time | Cost | Register |
| June 2 | Wells High School—Wells | 9:00AM-12:00PM | $15 | 207-646-4565 |
| June 26 | UMaine Regional Learning Center—Falmouth | 5:30-8:30PM | $10 | 207-781-6099 |
| July 10 | UMaine Regional Learning Center—Falmouth | 5:30-8:30PM | $10 | 207-781-6099 |
| July 24 | UMaine Cooperative Extension—South Paris | 5:30-8:30PM | $10 | 207-743-6329 |
| July 31 | UMaine Regional Learning Center—Falmouth | 5:30-8:30PM | $10 | 207-781-6099 |
| More workshops are added during the growing season. |
Here is the link: http://umaine.edu/food-health/food-preservation/hands-on-workshops/
