Piedmont Master Gardeners

Virginia Festival of the Book: Tanya Denckla Cobb
2024-03-23 13:30 - 15:00 (America/New_York)
The Piedmont Master Gardeners are pleased to sponsor a discussion with Tanya Denckla Cobb, author of The Backyard Homestead Guide to Growing Organic Food, during this year’s Virginia Festival of the Book. In a conversation with moderator and Master Gardener Diane Dale, Ms. Cobb will discuss a broad array of issues related to organic gardening and access to healthy food. She is director of the Institute for Engagement & Negotiation at the University of Virginia, where she co-founded and chairs the Sustainable Food Collaborative and has taught food system planning. Based on extensive research and years of experience, her book offers detailed seed-starting, growing, and harvesting information for 62 vegetables, fruits, and herbs, as well as recipes for how to make your own pest deterrent sprays. She is also the author of Reclaiming Our Food.

Garden Basics: A Year in the Life of a Vegetable Garden--A Gardener’s Path
2024-03-16 14:00 - 16:00
Growing a veggie garden can be enchanting, fulfilling, and, at times, a bit frustrating. This year-long journey through the life of a veggie garden and gardener—from selecting seeds through reaping the rewards of your efforts—will help you avoid getting overwhelmed along the way. We will explore:

seed starting and planting;
thinning, weeding, and harvesting; and
readying the garden space for the next year.

You will take away a personalized blueprint for what a successful season in your garden will look like. Garden Basics is a partnership with the Bread and Roses ministry at Trinity Episcopal Church.
Space is limited. Please register below to reserve your place in the class. Registration closes at 5 p.m. March 15, 2024, or when the class is full.

Garden Basics: Starting Garden Plants from Seed
2024-02-17 14:00 - 16:00
Starting flowers and vegetables indoors from seed is easy, inexpensive, and satisfying. But if you’re not familiar with seed-starting essentials, a lot can go wrong. Improve your success rate by learning basic seed-starting techniques. This workshop will include time for you to plant a few seeds to take home and grow.
You will learn

How seeds work
Mistakes to avoid when starting seeds
Tests and tricks for quick germination
How to care for seedlings once seeds have germinated.

Garden Basics is a partnership with the Bread and Roses ministry at Trinity Episcopal Church.
Space is limited. Please register below to reserve your place in the class. Registration closes at 5 p.m. February 16, 2024, or when the class is full.

PMG Speakers Bureau: How and Why to Grow Hedgerows (Sold Out)
2024-02-06 18:30 - 19:30
Hedgerows—living fences made of trees and shrubs—support biodiverse populations of birds, mammals, and insects. Popularized in the United Kingdom, this technique for growing a living boundary can be put into practice in Central Virginia. In PMG’s next Speakers Bureau presentation at The Center, Claire Denton-Spalding of the Piedmont Master Gardeners will cover the history of hedgerows, their benefits to native plants and animals, and how best to plant and maintain them in the Piedmont area. Program registration is full.
Photo: Autumn hedgerow, Gloucestershire, England, by David P. Howard. Wikimedia Commons

Earthworms: Friend and Foe
2023-12-05 18:30 - 19:30
Most gardeners view the presence of earthworms in their soil as a huge positive, but Dr. Linda K. Blum, a soil scientist in the University of Virginia’s Environmental Sciences Department and a Piedmont Master Gardener, will explain that earthworm activity isn’t all beneficial. For example, earthworms can increase greenhouse gas emissions from soils, disrupt nutrient cycling within the soil, and promote the movement of nutrient pollution from agricultural fields to adjacent waterbodies.
The notion that earthworms are good for the soil goes back to the 19th century and the research of Charles Darwin. He studied earthworms for nearly 40 years in his home garden and estimated that they can move up to 10 tons of soil per acre per year.
Dr. Blum’s talk will include many other surprising facts about the biology, geographic distribution and ecosystem impacts of native and invasive earthworms. (For instance, the largest specimen ever found was 22 feet long.) It will also provide information on how to identify and control the spread of the most recent invader, Amynthas agrestis, the Asian jumping worm.
Register here for this free program.

Garden Basics: Season Extenders in the Edible Garden
2023-11-18 14:00 - 16:00
You can grow fresh produce all winter in Central Virginia with the use of season extender techniques. Participants will learn
• How to use crop choice, garden layout, and row covers to extend the growing season
• Where to go for supplies
• How to position and secure row covers in a garden through a hands-on demonstration.
Garden Basics is a partnership with the Bread and Roses ministry at Trinity Episcopal Church.

How to Become an Extension Master Gardener
2023-10-27 13:00 - 14:00, 2023-10-18 13:00 - 14:00, 2023-10-12 13:00 - 14:00
The Piedmont Master Gardeners and Virginia Cooperative Extension will host a free information meeting on how to take part in the 2024 training class for Extension Master Gardeners serving Charlottesville and Albemarle County. For more details, contact Nick Saylor, master gardener program coordinator, at 434-872-4581 or nickjs23@vt.edu. Click here to learn more about the training and how to apply.

Garden Basics: Native Plant Propagation—Seed Saving and Winter Sowing
2023-10-21 14:00 - 16:00
Growing native plants is vital to sustaining pollinators, birds, and small mammals. Seed saving and winter sowing can extend your budget and widen the selections available. Participants will learn about
• seed collection and resources for buying native seed,
• various techniques for preparing native seeds for sowing, and
• propagation techniques for winter and spring and for outside and inside.
The class will feature a hands-on winter-sowing activity.
Garden Basics is a partnership with the Bread and Roses ministry at Trinity Episcopal Church.

Pollinator Gardening with Three Flowerpots
2023-10-03 18:30 - 19:30
Growing native plants is one of the best ways to promote biodiversity and create healthy habitat for wildlife, including pollinators like the monarch butterfly, now in migration. Even if you live in an apartment or townhome that lacks a garden space, you can still support pollinators by growing native plants on a patio or balcony. At 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, October 3, join us at The Center at Belvedere to learn how you can create a native plant garden with as few as three flowerpots that will attract bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and other vital pollinators. Register here for this free program, which is open to all. The Center at Belvedere is at 540 Belvedere Boulevard in Charlottesville.

Garden Basics: Fall Lawn Care and Great Lawn Alternatives
2023-09-16 14:00 - 16:00
Lawns can help prevent wind and water erosion, control flooding, break down organic chemicals, cool the air, reduce noise, and sequester carbon. But they can also increase water consumption and pollute our air and waterways. Learn a sustainable approach to lawn management that includes
• Using environmentally friendly practices
• Managing weeds and pests while doing no harm to pollinators, birds, and other wildlife
• Reducing your lawn with groundcovers and low-maintenance native plant beds.
Garden Basics is a partnership with the Bread and Roses ministry at Trinity Episcopal Church.

Seed-Saving Workshop at Gordon Avenue Library
2023-08-16 18:00 - 20:00
The Jefferson-Madison Regional Library will host a workshop led by Piedmont Master Gardeners on how to save seeds from plants in your garden. It will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. August 16 at the Gordon Avenue Library, 1500 Gordon Avenue in Charlottesville. Register here to take part.

PMG Speakers Bureau: Pruning the Right Way at the Right Time
2023-08-01 18:30 - 19:30
The Center at Belvedere will host a free presentation by a Piedmont Master Gardener and professional arborist on “Pruning the Right Way at the Right Time.” Learn the essentials of when, where, and how to prune trees and shrubs; what tools to use; and how to prune safely and efficiently. Please register here.

Albemarle County Fair: Submit an Entry
2023-07-26 12:00 - 20:00
Submit Entries: July 26 @ 12:00 pm – 8 pm
Pick up Entries: July 29 after 8pm or Sunday July 30 from 1-3 pm
Calling all home gardeners, brewers, bakers, beekeepers, artists, crafters, viticulturists! Join Extension Master Gardeners and Albemarle/Charlottesville 4-H Youth Development in participating in the Fair by submitting an entry.
The Fair takes place from 4 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, July 27, and from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, July 28, and Saturday, July 29, at James Monroe’s Highland, 2050 James Monroe Parkway in Charlottesville. Admission is $5; children under 6 are free.
Enter your best homegrown flowers, vegetables and fruits; or showcase your skill in baking, food preservation, fine arts, photography. The possibilities are endless! Explore the many entry categories for Agriculture and Home Arts and consider entering in more than one category.
Bring your children or grandchildren, show off your talents and learn along the way. You might even take home a blue ribbon! And while you are there, stop by the Piedmont Master Gardeners mobile Help Desk for answers to your gardening questions.
For ideas, tips, detailed schedule and instructions on submitting entries, please visit https://albemarlecountyfair.com. To register an entry, visit https://albemarlecountyfair.com/entry-catalog/. Drop off all entries at the Agriculture and Home Arts Barn, Wednesday, July 26, 12 – 8 p.m. Judging will be done the next day, and entries with ribbons will be displayed throughout the fair. Entries may be picked up after 8 p.m. Saturday, July 29, or Sunday, July 30, 1-3 p.m.

Garden Basics: Why Is My Plant Looking Unhealthy?—A Hands-on Workshop About Diagnosing Plant Problems
2023-07-15 14:00 - 16:00
Plant problems are often linked to a disease-causing organism or less-than-ideal growing conditions. This free, hands-on workshop will offer a systematic approach to uncovering the cause of a plant’s problems, as well as examples of common plant problems in Virginia.
Participants are encouraged to bring samples from their own gardens for the class to examine and diagnose. The plant sample must include both living and dead material and must be stored in a sealable plastic bag to avoid spreading potential pathogens. PLEASE DO NOT BRING A SAMPLE OF BOXWOOD. This will avoid the possibility of spreading the highly contagious boxwood blight. Participants are also encouraged to bring photos of their plant before the sample is taken to show how widely the disease is distributed in the plant and other plants in the garden. Include the stem and soil surface in the photos.
It will be helpful to have a hand lens or magnifying glass for examining plant material in the class, as well as a smartphone, tablet, or laptop for looking up information on the Internet.
Due to the hands-on nature of this class, space is limited. Registration closes at 5 p.m. July 14 or when the class is full. Garden Basics is a partnership with the Bread and Roses ministry at Trinity Episcopal Church.
