Upcoming Classes and Events

Pollinators

Thursday, January 7, 11:00 a.m. – noon. Master Gardener and Cobb Extension staff member Amy Whitney will present the who, what, when, where, and why of supporting local pollinators, at the Senior Wellness Center, 1150 Powder Springs St SW, Marietta, GA 30064.

Thyme to Read Book Club

Friday, January 8, 10:15 – 11:30 a.m. This month’s book is 1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus by Charles C. Mann.  At the Training Room of the Cobb County Water Lab, 662 South Cobb Drive (at the intersection with Atlanta Rd.).

Create a Rain Garden!

Friday, January 8, noon – 1:00 p.m. Mike Kahle, Master Gardener and member of the Cobb Watershed Stewardship Program staff, will present information about how a rain garden helps clean and control run-off, along with how to design and construct a rain garden of your own. Part of the Lunch & Learn series of Cobb Master Gardeners.  At the Training Room of the Cobb County Water Lab, 662 South Cobb Drive (at the intersection with Atlanta Rd.).

Landscape Changes and Homeowner Associations

Tuesday, January 12, 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. Master Gardener Pam Bohlander offers alternatives to standard landscaping plants that will keep homeowners and HOAs happy. Part of the Gardeners Night Out series of Cobb Master Gardeners.  At East Cobb Regional Library, 4880 Lower Roswell Road, Marietta, 30068.

Cobb Community Gardens

Wednesday, January 27, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. Quarterly meeting of Cobb community garden managers,  members, and supporters, at the Training Room of the Cobb County Water Lab, 662 South Cobb Drive (at the intersection with Atlanta Rd.).

Suburban Home Vegetable Garden

Tuesday, February 9, 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. Master Gardener Vickie Baroni will tell how to grow your own vegetables and herbs. Part of the Gardeners Night Out series of Cobb Master Gardeners.   At West Cobb Regional Library, 1750 Dennis Kemp Lane NW, Kennesaw, 30152.

Thyme to Read Book Club

Friday, February 12, 10:15 – 11:30 a.m. This month’s book is The Scent of Scandal: Greed, Betrayal, and the World’s Most Beautiful Orchid, by Craig Pittman. At the Training Room of the Cobb County Water Lab, 662 South Cobb Drive (at the intersection with Atlanta Rd.).

Compost and Soil Amendments

Friday, February 12, noon – 1:00 p.m. Master Gardener Eddie Rhoades will explain how to turn poor soil into soil that is plant-friendly. Part of the Lunch & Learn series of Cobb Master Gardeners.  At the Training Room of the Cobb County Water Lab, 662 South Cobb Drive (at the intersection with Atlanta Rd.).

Seed Starting Workshop

Tuesday, February 23, 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. Master Gardener and Cobb Extension staff member Amy Whitney will provide the information you need and hands-on practice for starting seeds of some vegetables and annual flowers indoors. In the second floor classroom at UGA Extension/Cobb County, 678 South Cobb Drive, Marietta, GA, 30060.

North Georgia Gardening Symposium

Thursday, February 25, 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. For homeowners, Master Gardeners, and landscape professionals. Re-certification credits available: 3 hours for category 24, 1 hour for Private pesticide applicators, 5 CEUs for ISA Arborist (A) and Municipal (M). Chattahoochee Technical College, North Metro Campus, Building D, Room 400, 5198 Ross Rd., Acworth, GA, 30102. Program cost of $35 includes lunch and breaks. Register at 770-528-4550, or online through Chatt Tech.

For additional information about any of the above programs, call our office at 770-528-4070.

Pollinator Spaces Across Georgia

Flowers for pollinators at a small community garden.

UGA Extension is encouraging the planting of pollinator spaces in community and school gardens through a new Pollinator Spaces Project.

The project gathers up on the Pollinator Spaces webpages  links to information about pollinators and gardens and information about upcoming classes and events  about pollinators.

Photos of pollinator spaces either newly created or already in existence can be posted on the UGA Community and School Gardens Facebook page or emailed to beckygri@uga.edu for posting on the website. Participating gardens will receive a certificate and be added to a map to show that support for pollinators in Georgia extends from border to border. At the end of the year, the map will be amazing to see!

For gardeners hoping to learn more about pollinators and the kinds of help we can offer these beleaguered garden helpers, check out publications at the link provided on UGA's "Building your pollinator garden" page.

For gardeners who would rather take a shortcut to learning which plants are pollinator-friendly, UGA offers this list on its "Plants for Pollinators" promotion card for the Spaces project:

Anise Hyssop
Aster
Button Bush
Catmint
Celosia spicata
Coneflower
Cosmos
Dill
Goldenrod
Mexican sunflower
Milkweed
Salvia - Hot Lips
Sunflower
Thyme
Verbena
Zinnia

Cobb Community Gardens to Hear from Captain Planet Foundation

Kyla Van Deusen of the Captain Planet Foundation will be the featured speaker at the next meeting of Cobb Community Gardens. Van Deusen will be presenting information about Project Learning Garden and how to get involved and support school gardens.

As part of its mission, the Captain Planet Foundation has helped thousands of schools develop pollinator and food gardens, among other projects, and Project Learning Garden extends that support to the development of garden-based learning programs in schools.


WHEN: Wednesday, October 28, 6:30 p.m.
WHERE: Cobb Water Quality Lab meeting room
               662 South Cobb Drive
               Marietta, GA, 30060


The meeting and presentation are free and open to all interested in managing and supporting community and school gardens.

The mission of Cobb Community Gardens is to share ideas, information, and resources to help support and promote community gardens throughout Cobb County.

For information, email debbie@esmithair.com .

Free Compost for Community Gardens

One component of healthy soil is composted organic matter.

Providing enough compost for a community garden, though, can be difficult. Recognizing that difficulty, Food Well Alliance is offering compost for community gardens in the metro-Atlanta counties of Clayton, Cobb, Fulton, Dekalb, and Gwinnett.

The "catch" is that registration closes on July 28 and that someone from the community garden requesting compost and a compost kit needs to attend one of a series of offered (and also free!) workshops to learn about compost.

Cobb Community Gardens meeting July 17

The next quarterly meeting of Cobb Community Gardens (CCG) is coming up!

July 17, 2014

6:30 - 8:00 p.m.

Cobb Extension office

(second floor classroom)   

678 South Cobb Drive

Marietta, 30060

The speaker for the evening will be Bobby Wilson, immediate past president of the American Community Garden Association, with a Q & A to follow. Mr. Wilson also is President and CEO of Metro Atlanta Urban Farm and Program Director for the UGA Extension/Atlanta Urban Gardening program.

CCG was formed with the goal of supporting and promoting community gardens throughout Cobb County, and its meetings are open to everyone interested in community gardens.

For additional information about either the meeting or the group, please feel welcome to call the Cobb Extension office at 770-528-4070.

Upcoming Events

Celebrate Horticulture Week with a Day at Green Meadows Preserve

Tuesday, July 8, 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Bring a picnic and enjoy all the park has to offer as Cobb Extension celebrates both Horticulture Week and the 100^th anniversary of the founding of Cooperative Extension. Bluebird Trail Walk begins at 9:30 a.m. Stay to learn about the Cherokee Garden, historic Period Garden, new organic orchard, bee hives, and community garden! 3780 Dallas Hwy, Powder Springs, 30127 (Intersection of Dallas Hwy and Old Hamilton Road). Free and open to the public. For information, call 770-528-4070.

Rain Barrel Workshop

Thursday, July 10, 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Reduce your outdoor watering bill! Learn about and build a rain barrel to take home for personal use. Horticulture Agent Neil Tarver, of UGA Extension/Cobb County, will lead the class in Cobb Extension's second floor classroom at 678 South Cobb Drive, Marietta, GA, 30060. $15 supply fee; preregistration required. Call 770-528-4070 or email Cornelius.tarver@cobbcounty.org.

Smart Irrigation

Saturday, July 12, 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Class conducted by the Cobb Water System and UGA Extension/Cobb County will help homeowners save both water and money. Learn technologies and practices to improve efficiency of water use. Class will be held in the second floor classroom at 678 South Cobb Drive, Marietta, GA, 30060. Free program, but please preregister at 770-419-6244 or email waterefficiency@cobbcounty.org.

Planning the Fall Vegetable Garden

Thursday, July 24, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. Amy Whitney, of UGA Extension/Cobb County, will explain what to grow, when to plant, and how to find space for the fall garden.  Class will be held in the second floor classroom at 678 South Cobb Drive, Marietta, GA, 30060. Free program, but please preregister by calling 770-528-4070.

ALSO, come meet Cobb Extension staff and some of our Master Gardener Volunteers at the Marietta Square Farmer’s Market. We will be there on July 5, July 26, and August 30 to answer questions on canning, food preservation, and gardening. Bring sick plants (or large pieces of them) for help with diagnosis and treatment options, and bring bugs for identification.

Community Garden Resources

Seed catalogs have begun to appear in mailboxes all over the county, and gardeners' thoughts already are turning toward spring. Some of those gardeners, however, don't have their own sunny spot of ground in which to grow vegetables, herbs, and flowers, so they are working in Community Gardens.

There are waiting lists for a lot of those community gardens, indicating a demand for the development of more such gardens. UGA has created several publications to help new community gardens get started.

How to start a community garden: Getting people involved emphasizes the importance of having a group of people involved from the outset, of making a solid plan, of site selection, and agreement on the garden's rules.

Siting a garden explains the importance of adequate light, access to water, and other aspects of selecting an appropriate garden spot.

Raised bed vs. in-ground gardens presents the pros and cons of two primary garden styles.

Raised garden bed dimensions provides information about lumber, depth, overall length and width, and other choices that will need to be made for those who choose to garden in raised beds.

 Garden sheds tells about why a community garden might want to provide a shed and about useful features for such a shed.

Stocking the toolshed: Handtools lists and describes useful tools that a garden might want to keep on site.

Garden fencing lays out the different problems that might be resolved through fencing (e.g.: deer) and the type of fencing needed to resolve the problems.

Sources of water for the garden explains alternate sources of water along with pros and cons of each.

Irrigation tells about the different types of irrigation systems, including hand-watering, drip irrigation, and the multiple kinds of overhead irrigation.

Growing fruits includes a plant selection chart that lists some of the easier-to-care-for fruits that would appropriate for a community garden.

Weed control focuses on mulch as a deterrent for weeds.

A new Community Garden Advisory Council has formed here in Cobb County with the goal of helping new and existing community gardens meet their individual goals --  from expansion, to finding funding, to maintaining enthusiasm, and more. The first meeting was held this past October, and the next meeting likely will be in early February of 2014. Anyone interested can call this office, UGA Extension Cobb County, 770-528-4070, for additional information.

New Help for School Gardens

UGA has created a new online resource center to to help teachers use school gardens to enhance student learning.  The Georgia FACES article "School Garden Curriculum Resource Center helps teachers use school gardens" describes the free resource, which offers lesson plans for Kindergarten through Eighth grade, and the plans follow the curriculum prescribed in the Georgia Performance Standards.

David Knauft, a professor of horticulture at UGA, collected and adapted the school garden lesson plans with the help of former agriculture teacher Alicia Holloway in order to make it easier for teachers to use their school gardens or to start new gardens.

"During his research, Knauft found many teachers didn’t feel they had time to work gardening into their teaching day and didn’t have the support they needed to maintain the gardens.

'We conducted four focus groups with teachers, administrators and volunteers across Georgia, asking them about the value of the gardens and what we could do to help,' Knauft said. 'They said that providing information to help establish and grow their gardens and how to work them into the existing curriculum, so that they could more easily use the gardens, would make a big difference.'”

In addition to the lesson plans, The School Garden Resource Center (click on the linked name to go to the site) also includes comprehensive information about starting and maintaining a school garden and information about grants and funding sources.