Posted on

Meet Linda Carney, Master Gardener Volunteer

With a new cohort of Master Gardener Volunteers beginning to serve their community, we’d like to introduce them (AND YOU!) to the group of MGVs who have sustained this program for the last several years. Meet Linda Carney, teacher, steward, and grower of food and flowers in Natural Bridge and the Baker Woods Preserve!

Can you remember the moment you decided to become a gardener, or when you realized you had become one?

My mother grew up on a farm where by necessity just about everything they consumed was from the plants and animals they raised. She left the farm, joined the military and then raised a family on the move. She always had roses and a few other plants to tend to wherever we lived, but these were always patches we left behind. When my husband and I bought our house and land here in Natural Bridge, back in 1986, that heritage and opportunity became mine to kindle and bring to fruition with our family.

What benefits do you gain from gardening?

It brings me great joy just being outside, seeing nature at work and discovering its beauty. When I can, I love to share that joy and the discovery of nature with children. I also find gardening to be a peaceful and rejuvenating experience.

Why did you want to become a Master Gardener Volunteer?

Becoming a Master Gardener Volunteer began as a means of connecting with my past but then evolved into a way to continue to learn and teach others. It allows me to maintain my connection with the school at which I taught for thirty years and where I helped to establish a small school garden.

Linda teaches at a recent Grow and Preserve workshop about growing fresh herbs
Teaching at a recent Grow and Preserve workshop about growing fresh herbs

Read more Meet Linda Carney, Master Gardener Volunteer

Posted on

Welcoming kids to the Daun Martin-Poole memorial pollinator garden

Arial view of the pollinator garden at CCE
Arial view of the 740 sq ft garden

It’s been a joy this week to host 50 Farm Day Camp youth (5-12 years old) in our pollinator garden for a scavenger hunt and a lesson about protecting and supporting our native pollinators like this eight-spotted forester moth (Alypia octomaculata) we found…scavenger hunt and the eight-spotted forester mothand this hummingbird clear wing (Hemaris thysbe).hummingbird clear wing (Hemaris thysbe)

A scavenger hunt is a way to guide and motivate each child to closely observe the details of their surroundings. Once they’ve put in a good effort, they can start to help each other find the flowers, leaves, seed pods, and insects.kids doing scavenger hunt in pollinator garden

Being able to use this vibrant garden as an outdoor teaching space is the culmination of nearly two years of work from our dedicated Master Gardener Volunteers to plan the layout, prepare the site, and plant and maintain the garden.Nancy Alessi weeds the garden in April.Nancy Alessi weeded the garden in April, and several times since! Read more Welcoming kids to the Daun Martin-Poole memorial pollinator garden

Posted on

When can I clean up my garden…and still protect beneficial insects?

The days are getting longer and (sometimes) warmer, trees are beginning to leaf out, spring bulbs are blooming, and lots of people are anxious to clean up their gardens. But you may have heard that cleaning up your garden too early is bad for pollinators and other beneficial insects like natural enemies of pests. Is this true? How long do you need to wait?

Garden bed next to a house still full of dead plant stems from last year’s flowers
Don’t clean up your garden too early this spring! Pollinators and natural enemies of pests need to stay cozy a bit longer.

What’s the concern with early garden clean-up?

There are two aspects of garden clean-up that pose a risk to beneficial insects in your garden: cutting out dead stems and clearing away leaves or other debris on the ground. Some species of wild bees nest in dead stems, so cutting down and disposing of these stems before the bees emerge for the spring is problematic. Dead leaves and other plant debris on the ground provide shelter for natural enemies like lady beetles, fireflies, and ground beetles. Pristinely-raked garden beds remove this shelter. You can read more about the benefits of messiness in this ThinkIPM blog post.

When should I clean up my garden?

First, please don’t clean your garden up in the fall. With the exception of removing and disposing of diseased or insect-infested plants (especially annuals), let your garden rest in the fall.

Ok, so you’ve waited until spring. But when? It’s complicated. You are trying to protect a diverse group of wild bee species, who are nesting in diverse settings (including both the ground and dead plant stems), in addition to many different species of beetles, spiders, and other arthropod natural enemies of pests. It should come as no surprise that all of these different arthropods emerge from their winter homes at different times. For example, around here (NY) bumble bees, carpenter bees, mason bees, and mining bees emerge earlier (early April) than sweat bees (May). Even within two species of mason bee, researchers found that the temperature during the winter, the sex of the bees, and their size all significantly impacted when they would emerge in the spring (varying by up to 40 days). Winter temperatures also impact when alfalfa leaf cutting bees and other bees emerge.

metallic green bee perched on a pink cosmos flower
Sweat bees nest in the ground, and emerge a bit later in the spring than some other bee species.

Read more When can I clean up my garden…and still protect beneficial insects?