The Shadow Garden - Award winning book by Cherie Colburn
Information provided by Friends of the Garden member Shirah Miriam (Mimi) Aumann
What an incredible story - that children with cancer helped to make this book what it is by their creative illustrations but also by their contributing to the beautiful story itself - a story of love and determination to do something other than feeling helpless in the face of terminal illness. Following is an excerpt from the current issue of the Clark Botanical Garden e.newsletter. I found the concept very intriguing - A Shadow Garden and thought I would share it with you... Mimi
Author Cherie Colburn will be sharing her award winning book, Our Shadow Garden. Cherie accepted the Growing Good Kids Award on July 24th at the 2010 National Children and Youth Symposium. She was one of only four children's book authors to be recognized by the American Horticultural Society and the Texas AgriLife Extension Services' National Junior Master Gardener program for effectively promoting an understanding of and appreciation for gardening, plants, and the environment.
Our Shadow Garden follows a young boy and his grandfather as they embark on a mission to transform grandmother's garden into a night-blooming oasis while she is ill and unable to go outside. Cherie Colburn's tale educates young readers about gardening techniques while also instilling in them an appreciation for nocturnal plants and animals.
Our Shadow Garden rated five stars by Epinions.com http://www0.epinions.com/review/Cherie_ ... 9329582724
Buy it on line or see your favorite book store: http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Garden-Che ... 1933979690
According to their website, "Clark Gardens Botanical Park, 567 Maddux Road, Weatherford, Texas 76088 welcomes visitors all year long. The breathtaking 35 acre oasis awakens the senses, stirs the spirit and relaxes the mind. Visit the Clark Gardens Botanical Park special website: http://www.clarkgardens.org/
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Grant Funds Study on Feasibility of using Waste Heat from Springfield Generator to Power Commercial Greenhouse
Information provided byUNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI EXTENSION
SOUTHWEST REGION NEWS SERVICE
Grant Funds Study on Feasibility of using Waste Heat from Springfield Generator to Power Commercial Greenhouse
The City of Springfield has received a grant of $40,000 from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to study the feasibility of using waste heat and electric power from the City’s Noble Hill Landfill Renewable Energy Center (NHLREC) to help expand the region’s locally grown food supply. The grant will be matched by $20,000 from the City’s Solid Waste Management Division Enterprise Fund.
The study will determine the technical, environmental and economic feasibility of using a portion of waste heat and electric power from the Center’s 3.2 megawatt electric generating station to heat, cool and power a large commercial greenhouse to be located on adjacent City property.
The NHLREC is a partnership of the City of Springfield and City Utilities of Springfield to capture and use landfill gas as fuel to generate up to 3.2 megawatts of electric power for CU’s Springfield customers. The renewable energy center adjacent to the City’s Noble Hill Sanitary Landfill has been operational since 2006.
“We now have the opportunity to take our renewable energy project to the next level by using a portion of the Center’s waste heat and power to support year round production of high value produce for markets throughout the region”, said Ted O’Neill.
If feasible, the greenhouse project would be developed and operated as a public/private partnership. The project would contribute to the region’s locally-grown food supply, create new year-round “green” jobs, and add economic activity in the region.
“We plan to work closely with and share study results with the region’s agricultural community through Greene County’s MU Extension Service,” said Patrick Byers, a horticulture specialist with University of Missouri Extension, who will serve on the study’s advisory board. “If this project is successful, it will complement and strengthen the region’s growing network of commercial greenhouse growers and help expand our region’s home grown food supply.”
This project could also provide our region’s colleges and universities a unique ’hands on’ training center to help grow new ‘green jobs’ and small businesses to support our region’s sustainable agriculture and economic growth according to Dr. Anson Elliot, Chair of the Department of Agriculture at Missouri State University, who will also serve on the study’s advisory board”. Students and faculty from the Agriculture Department will conduct a produce market study for the project.
Local agencies working with the City’s Solid Waste Management Division include: University of Missouri Extension, Missouri State University Department of Agriculture, and City Utilities of Springfield.
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Mizumoto Japanese Stroll Garden a garden for the renewal of body, mind, spirit and soul
YouTube video photographed and produced by Hiltrud "Sam" Webber
This is another video in an excellent series of garden YouTube videos that have been released by Friends of the Garden member Hiltrud "Sam" Webber. This video takes up where her others have left off by continuing to explore and bring to the public interesting video displays of the many gardens located throughout Nathanael Greene/Close Memorial Park, 2400 S. Scenic, Springfield, MO.
Link to the new Mizumoto Japanese Stroll Garden video>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0a-cBD20Gpk
Normal daily admission price to the gated Mizumoto Japanese Stroll Garden is $3.00 for each adult. Membership in Friends of the Garden will provide free entrance for two people for the season to the Stroll Garden. For more information visit www.friendsofthegarden.org and click on membership. Come out and experience the beauty of the garden for yourself and as a member enjoy the serenity of the garden as often as you wish.
To view more of Sam's garden videos visit here> http://www.youtube.com/user/hiltrudwebber
Don't forget the Japanese Fall Festival Sept 10-12 at the Mizumoto Japanese Stroll garden, check the complete deatails here> http://www.swmogardens.com/fogcalendar/ ... p;eID=1593
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Low water levels leave Springfield area parched as plants, lawns struggle in the heat
Written by Wes Johnson • News-Leader • August 31, 2010
First, the good news from George! It's raining hard as I post this! Yes it is!
City Utilities is running two of its Stockton Lake pumps, at a cost of $2,700 a day, to help replace water that thirsty Springfield lawns are soaking up.
And around southwest Missouri, weeks of high temperatures and minimal rainfall are triggering trees to shed their leaves as a way to keep from drying out. "It's a survival mechanism; they lose water through their leaves," said Nikki Petitt, nursery manager at Wickman's Garden Village. "When they shed leaves, they don't lose as much water." Petitt said she has been getting calls from homeowners worried about the poor shape their trees and bushes are in, as a mini-drought dries out the landscape.
She said the problem typically is a lack of deep watering of the plant's roots. "People call and say, 'I've been watering every day but it's still doing no good,'" she said. "They're just not getting water deep enough into the soil."
It's the same refrain John Waddell hears at Botanical Tree Trail and Nursery in Springfield. "There's a lot of misunderstanding about what's good watering," Waddell said. "Right now, the ground is so dry, water may just sit on top and run off without getting down to theroots. The most common call we're getting is from people who say their dogwood trees are dying. It's usually a newer tree, and they're just not keeping up with the arid summer."
Both Waddell and Petitt said trees and bushes need slow, deep watering to ensure their roots are moist.
Petitt said a low-cost soaker hose works well, but people can also set out a garden hose near the tree or bush and let water trickle out of it for several hours in one spot. "That's going to do so much more for the plant than standing there with a sprinkler long enough," she said.
Read the rest of this article here> http://www.news-leader.com/article/2010 ... ea-parched
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by Jeanne Duffey in the Joplin Independent 08.31.2010
Experience the life and times of Americans in the mid-nineteenth century at the 19th annual 1860s Lifestyle Exposition sponsored by the Friends of Gray-Campbell Farmstead on Saturday-Sunday, Sept. 18-19, 2010, at Nathanael Greene/Close Memorial Park, 2400 S. Scenic Ave., Springfield. The demonstrations, contests and family activities will take place from 11 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. on Saturday and from noon until 4:30 p.m. on Sunday. Featured is the mid-nineteenth century clapboard siding farmhouse moved to the park in 1984 from the intersection of James River and Kansas Expressways.
Blacksmith Brad “Taylor” Johnson will demonstrate ironwork and Friends of the Garden member Shirah Miriam “Mimi” Aumann will use hemp, wheat and pieces of denim to show how paper is made.
“We will also have demonstrations of hearth cooking, various fiber arts, storytelling, music, dancing and woodcarving,” said Michelle Atkinson, president of the group. Admission is free, but donations are accepted.
On Saturday, the public is invited to participate in horseshoe and spitting contests, as well as a liberty school reunion, to be held from 11 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. David Burton of the University of Missouri Extension office and an expert on rural schoolhouse history will be the guest speaker.
The group of alumni of the one-room clapboard schoolhouse, about the same age as the Gray/Campbell Farmstead and located near Fellows Lake on private land, is raising funds to have it moved to the park. A silent auction held at the reunion to aid the move will end at 4 p.m.
Before the Lifestyle Exposition opens on Sunday, preacher Michael Burden, appropriately dressed in 1800s attire, at 11 a.m. will hold a one-hour outdoor service reminiscent of an old-fashioned brush arbor meeting. Also on Sunday at 3 p.m. the third annual apple pie baking contest will be held. Anyone may bring a pie and compete.
The 114-acre Nathanael Greene/Close Memorial Park and arboretum is located across from Horton Smith Golf Course and includes the Mizumoto Japanese Stroll Garden and 22 gardens created and maintained by the Friends of the Garden. The grand opening of a new botanical center, constructed and operated by Springfield-Greene County Park Board, will be held October 11-17, 2010.
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