Upcoming Events

Green Industry Update
Tuesday, Jan. 29, 8:30 a.m. (registration until 9 a.m.) to noon.
Recertification credits: 21/23/24/27 = 3 hours; ISA = 3 hours; Private = 2 hours. $10 per person at the door; Pre-register with emily.harper@cobbcounty.org or by calling 770-528-4070.
Weed ID for Weed Control: Winter Weeds, with Neil Tarver, Cobb County ANR Agent; Future Direction for Georgia Pesticides Division, with Eric Olsen, Agricultural Compliance Specialist; Lawn Herbicide Effects on Tree Roots, with Paul Pugliese, Bartow County ANR Agent.

Mushrooms
Friday, Feb. 8, Noon to 1:00 p.m. Free and open to the public. Bring your lunch and enjoy the presentation! Presented by president of the Mushroom Club of Georgia, Cornelia Cho, at the Cobb County Cooperative Extension 2nd-floor classroom, as part of the ongoing Lunch & Learn presentation series of Cobb County Cooperative Extension's Master Gardener Volunteers of Cobb County. Cornelia will give us a new understanding of mushrooms including information about their medicinal uses and how they help us take care of the environment.

My Favorite Winter Plants
Tuesday, Feb. 12, 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. Free and open to the public. Presented by Cobb County Master Gardener Terry Barton, at West Cobb Regional Library on Dennis Kemp Lane in Kennesaw, as part of the ongoing Gardeners Night Out presentation series of Cobb County Cooperative Extension's Master Gardener Volunteers of Cobb County.

Seed Starting for the Vegetable Garden
Tuesday, Feb. 19, 6:30 – 8 p.m. $5 fee (cash or check) to cover cost of materials. Presented by Cobb County Cooperative Extension. Learn how to start your own garden transplants from seed, with Horticulture Program Assistant Amy Whitney at Cobb County’s Cooperative Extension Office, 678 South Cobb Drive, Marietta, 2^nd floor classroom.  Part of the evening includes participants’ starting some plants to take home. Pre-register by calling 770-528-4070 or email uge1067@uga.edu.

Growing and Care of Blueberries, Blackberries, Raspberries, Figs, and Grapes
Monday, March 4, 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.. Free seminar. Cobb County Cooperative Extension Agent Neil Tarver will explain how to plant and care for these small fruits. The seminar, held in conjunction with the Cobb County 4-H Plant Sale (link to information about the sale is at the bottom of our home page), will take place  at the County Water Lab at 660 S. Cobb Drive (the smaller brick building at the back of the property). Registration is required. Call 770-528-4070, or register by filling in the appropriate box on the pre-paid Plant Sale order form.

Perils and Pitfalls of Gardening
Friday, March. 8, Noon to 1:00 p.m. Free and open to the public. Bring your lunch and enjoy the presentation! Presented by Master Gardener Dr. Bruce Gillett at the County Water Lab at 660 S. Cobb Drive (the smaller brick building at the back of the property), as part of the ongoing Lunch & Learn presentation series of Cobb County Cooperative Extension's Master Gardener Volunteers of Cobb County. Dr. Gillett will talk about how to avoid, prevent, recognize, and treat diseases and disorders to which gardeners may be exposed.

Favorite Veggie Varieties of Cobb's Master Gardeners

A request went out to Cobb County's Master Gardeners for their one or two most favorite vegetable varieties for each of the plants/crops they grow. This is the result:

Tomatoes	Better Boy	Mentioned by two respondents. One said, “My personal favorite is Better Boy for a full size tasty tomato that bears up until frost.”
	Park’s Whopper
	Brandywine
	Kellogg Breakfast
	Sweet 100 (cherry)	“I love the sweet, small fruit that is prolific most of the summer. When the heat, drought, insects and disease have stifled my other tomatoes, I know I will still have cherry tomatoes from my Sweet 100 plant!”
	Brandy Boy
	Big Mama	“best for putting up”
	Early Girl
	4th of July
	Black Cherry	“just wonderful”
	Wuhib (paste type)	“Amazing productivity and disease resistance.”
Beans, Pole	White Mountain Half Runner	One gardener will only grow the ones from the Ferry Morse seed company.
	Blue Lake
	Rattlesnake
	Chinese Yard Long
	Musica	“a VERY heavy producer”
	Kentucky Blue
Beans, Bush	Roma	Mentioned by two respondents.
	Festiva
	Soleil (a yellow bean)
	Emerite (French filet bean)	“tiny and tender and flavorful”
Peppers, Sweet	Sweet Goliath
	King Arthur
	Chocolate Bell
	Sweet Banana
	Christmas Bell
	Camelot
	Big Bertha
	Colossal
Peppers, Hot	Lemon Drop
	Bhut jolokia (very hot)
	Jalepeno	Mentioned by two respondents.
Lettuce	Red Sails	Mentioned by two respondents.
	Black Seeded Simpson	Mentioned by two respondents.
	Heirloom Speckles
	Marvel of Four Seasons
	Buttercrunch	Mentioned by two respondents.
	Red Oak
Swiss Chard	Rainbow
	Perpetual Spinach
Watermelon	Moon & Stars
	Georgia Rattlesnake
Spinach	Renegade
Shallot	Ambition
Garlic	Mr. Pope’s	“being developed by Southern Exposure Seed Exchange”
Peas, Green	Sugar Snaps	Mentioned by two respondents.
	Telephone
	Sugar Ann
Peas, Southern	Purple Hull
	Pigott Family Heirloom
	Zipper Pea
Kale	Tuscan Lacinato
Fennel	Fino
	Florence
Potato, Sweet	Vardamon
Potato, white/Irish	Fingerling Russian Banana
	Yukon Gold
	Russet
	Kennebec
	Purple Majesty
	Red Pontiac
Pumpkin	Rouge d’etampes (Cinderella)
	Knucklehead, Goosebumps	From the “Superfreak” Series
Turnip	De Milan Rouge
Squash, summer	Yellow Crookneck
	Yellow Straightneck
Squash, winter	Chinese Pumpkin Squash
Okra	Clemson Spineless
Collards	Morris Heading
Beets	Chioggia
Cantaloupe	Ambrosia
	Hale’s Best
Cucumbers	Any burpless hybrid
	Straight Nine

 There are so many varieties available that choosing is difficult, and there are some varieties in catalogs and on seed racks that won't work well in our soils and climate and with our diseases and pests. The hope is that this list will help other gardeners as they plan their upcoming gardening year.

UGA also lists vegetable varieties that have been shown to do well more generally in gardens across Georgia. The list is part of the Vegetable Planting Chart that helps gardeners decide when to plant each kind of vegetable. Dates on the chart are for middle Georgia, which means that gardeners in Cobb County will need to adjust the planting dates by one to two weeks (later for spring planting, earlier for fall crops).