Master Gardeners

RAIN FELL IN the fifth-grade classroom at Hampstead Elementary on Monday.The simulation was created by Lisa Spence, home horticulture assistant of the Carroll County Cooperative Extension. She used a watering can in an exercise to demonstrate the ability of roots to net the soil and prevent erosion.Spence, assisted by five county master gardeners, showed fifth-graders why soil conservation is important.The program, Up From the Soil, began with a video, moved into touching earthworms and ended with a marigold for each child to plant after Mother's Day.Pupils from the classrooms of fifth-grade teachers Jo Clark, Regina Richardson, Meg Cheyne and Miriam Krumrine watched a video of the weathering of rock into soil, newsreels of the Dust Bowl of the 1930s and measures that have restored prime prairie farmland over the past 60 years.

FIFTH-GRADERS from Deep Run Elementary School traveled to the headwaters of their school's namesake to plant trees Friday.They were participating in the Master Gardeners Schools and Streams Program -- a partnership of Howard County Master Gardeners, Howard County public schools and the Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks.The project involves schoolchildren in maintaining the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay by planting trees and shrubs along streams. The stream buffers help cleanse the water.

PERHAPS your favorite shrub is wilting, or your zinnias are covered with white powder.Do the the leaves of your apples have orange bumps? Are fuzzy blotches tucked between the stems and leaves of your house plants?If anything like this exists in your home or garden, you may want to take samples of the distressed plants to a plant clinic staffed by volunteer master gardeners.The clinics are held on Saturday mornings at three branches of the Howard County library: the Miller branch, the Savage branch and the central library in Columbia.

THE YOUNG citizens of Connie Zumbrun's kindergarten class at Hampstead Elementary School marked Memorial Day this year with a better understanding of the military.They have had a pen pal in the Navy since January. On Friday, their pen pal, Petty Officer 1st Class Tony Beggs, 35, visited their classroom to show pictures and a video, and to chat with his young friends.During Beggs' six-month tour along the Iraqi coast aboard the USS Samuel Roberts, the Hampstead students sent Beggs letters, hand-drawn pictures and e-mail.

WHEN PAULA Behm-Windle moved to River Hill last year, she had a new house on about a third of an acre. The site included an area of trees and scrub.But in terms of gardening and landscaping, "we started with nothing," Behm-Windle said.Like many new homeowners, she began devising plans for what to plant where.She had the scrub cleared out, put in paths and mulch, and planted some flowers.Susan Smith, River Hill's covenant adviser, then told Behm-Windle about the Bay-Wise Landscape Management Demonstration Program.

Mary Pinciotti knows that red clay is actually good for your garden, despite popular opinion. She can tell which bugs are the plant-killers and which are harmless. And if you're having problems with your petunias, she knows just what to do."Aphids are the most common problem on ornamental flowers [and] a spray of water is the best 'pesticide' you can use," said the Cockeysville resident, who has an unusual variety of the flower thriving on her patio.Pinciotti gives advice with confidence because she's unusual herself: One of 64 master gardeners in greater Baltimore, she can help just about anyone grow a green thumb.

St. John's Lane Elementary School caps its 40th birthday celebration this Friday, with a lawn party from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.Organizer Andrea Reed Brightenback, Class of '68, encourages all former students and teachers to share birthday cake and enjoy the entertainment. She remembers that most of her class stayed together from first grade through graduation from Mount Hebron in 12th grade.Actually, the school has been celebrating the birthday all year.A time capsule with a memento from each decade has been buried on school grounds.

Here we are, once again in the Maryland Monsoon season. It's rained much of the week. Yech! I have beautiful flowers out, visible only to birds. I can't find my rain gear, so I'm either housebound or wet.There must be something to recombinant gene theory, because I swear I've got cat genes: I loathe getting wet and I adore sushi.In addition, the cats I know all lead lives of quiet delectation. They are showered with kitty treats, cleaned up after, petted and combed. Best of all, no one expects anything in return.

In addition to books, the Miller Branch Library on Frederick Road is home to . . . gardeners?Every Saturday morning from 10 a.m. to noon, and Monday evening from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., the Master Gardeners of Howard County conduct a plant clinic.Take a sprig of your sick holly bush to them, and the Master Gardeners will diagnose and prescribe a plan to make it a healthy bush once again.There are now 21 new Master Gardeners who went through a 40-hour course and exam this spring given by University of Maryland's Cooperative Extension Service.

Extension Office to offer master gardener classGardeners are welcome to register for the Master Gardener Training Course to be offered at the county Cooperative Extension Office, Ellicott Mills Drive in Ellicott City.Training will be begin Feb. 1 and consist of two three-hour sessions each week, from 9 a.m. to noon each Monday and Wednesday through March 22. Registration will be accepted until Jan. 15. Early registration is recommended, because space is limited to 25 people.Both new and experienced gardeners will be trained in a variety of topics, from perennials to insect pests, vegetables, and fruit growing.

Like first-time gardeners everywhere - inspired by the White House vegetable garden and bitten by the gardening bug - Maryland first lady Katie O'Malley doesn't want the fun, or the fresh vegetables, to end. So, with a couple of hard-won gardening lessons under her belt and the help of master gardener Lisa Winters, a fall vegetable garden has been planted this week at Government House in Annapolis. "I'd give the garden 100 percent," said O'Malley. "We have a few issues with the drainage and with the soil, but we have been working on those."

The vegetable gardens planted around the city's War Memorial Plaza in front of City Hall have produced more than 1,500 pounds of vegetables for the kitchens of Our Daily Bread, which feeds the homeless. But perhaps just as important is this news: "The garden has been respected," said Melissa Grim, acting chief horticulturist for the city's Departments of Recration and Parks. Except for the odd head of cabbage or sage plant going missing, there has been no theft or vandalism in the multiple beds that surround the plaza.

Howard County Master Gardeners will sponsor two programs this month in the new woodland theater at the Whipps Garden Cemetery, 3651 St. Johns Lane, Ellicott City. Pat Ferensic will demonstrate using pumpkins and gourds in holiday arrangements at 1 p.m. Oct. 11, and Judy Petersen will discuss planting bulbs for year-round color in the landscape at 1 p.m. Oct. 18. Rain dates for the talks are Oct. 12 and Oct. 19, respectively. Refreshments will be served. Admission is free. The restored 19th-century cemetery, owned by the Friends of the Whipps Cemetery and Memorial Gardens Inc., is now a public garden-park.

Just east of the arched bridge on Main Street in Ellicott City, a left turn onto meandering Oella Avenue leads to a hairpin left onto Race Road, which dead-ends at Lisa and Tom Baum's driveway. Tucked among the hydrangea bushes there, a small blue sign reads: "Bay-Wise Demonstration Landscape: Landscape practices for a healthy Chesapeake Bay. Inquire within." The year-old marker has drawn almost no spontaneous inquiries at the secluded property. At 6-by-7 inches, the sign appears more like a discreet badge of honor than an invitation.

Children at Laurel Woods Elementary School, Murray Hill Middle School and Patuxent Valley Middle School will benefit from extracurricular activities and support that are to be available through a new partnership with the Southeastern Howard/Laurel Chapter of Continental Societies Inc., an international public service organization dedicated to improving the lives of children and youth. The organization plans to sponsor student projects and activities relating to health, education, employment, recreation and the arts.

The Patuxent Research Refuge will offer "Birding for the Blind," a program for visually impaired people and their families and friends, from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. July 12 at the refuge's North Tract entrance. The program for children ages 8 and older will introduce participants to birding through hands-on activities and exploration of outdoor habitats. Admission is free but registration is required. The refuge's North Tract is off Route 198 between the Baltimore-Washington Parkway and Route 32, east of Laurel.

The Friends of the Whipps Cemetery and Memorial Gardens Inc. want to preserve small pieces of history. "There's nothing out there like it," said Barbara Sieg, executive director of the Friends of the Whipps Cemetery, about the Ellicott City site that holds more than 50 graves, some dating to the 1800s. "Old cemeteries are plowed up all the time," Sieg said. "There is a great deal we can learn from them about health conditions and life in the 1800s. It's rare that a neighborhood gets a chance to take a good look at history and learn about their neighbors who lived more than 100 years ago."

La Leche of Columbia will meet at 10 a.m. March 2 and at 7:30 p.m. March 20 at Owen Brown Community Center. The group offers support, information and guidance to breast-feeding mothers. Pregnant women, as well as infants and toddlers, are welcome. For help with breastfeeding questions: 410-309-4940, 301-421- 1177 or 410-461-3423. A Mommy and Me Cafe will be held at 10 a.m. March 26 at the east Columbia library, 6600 Cradlerock Way. The drop-in cafe, sponsored by La Leche of Columbia, will offer a chance to meet and chat with other mothers, grandmothers and children.

Glossy, purple-black eggplant, rainbow heirloom tomatoes, fresh cilantro, bronzy Zulu sunflowers. If you covet homegrown produce but lack the space or sun for a garden, or if you'd like the company of fellow gardeners and some hands-on guidance from a master, a community garden could be the solution. And now is the time to get started. Winter's calm not only offers an opportunity to plan any gardening project, but sign-ups for plots in local community gardens begin in just a few weeks.

The Howard County Office on Aging's SPRING support group program will sponsor "The SPRING Journeys," a chance to reflect on your life's journey and purpose, from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesdays through Dec. 7 at the Bain Center, 5470 Ruth Keeton Way. The group will offer older adults an opportunity to connect to their values and life purpose, create new relationships and become more fully engaged in life. Pat Leak, an experienced SPRING facilitator, will lead the group. Admission is free, but registration is required.