January 3, 2007 - North Fulton Master Gardeners and a few high school students that I recruited gathered at Autrey Mill and using tillers, shovels and mattocks amended the planting beds with the mushroom compost and the soil amendments previously delivered. We were one step closer to the final phase of the garden renovation. Happy New Year to Autrey Mill!

February 7, 2007 - Our first of many scheduled workdays planned for the garden renovation began at 10 am. North Fulton Master Gardeners gathered again to begin planting the larger shrubs around the perimeter of the garden. But, time and energy ran out before completion, and a second workday was called for February 27 to complete that phase of the planting.

March 6, 2007 - It was time to do the main part of the garden. I visited Saul’s Nursery in Alpharetta and was able to purchase most of the rest of the plants for the garden. I filled my SUV and another van with plants and delivered them to Autrey Mill. We spent the morning laying out the plants in preparation for the next day when the bulk of the garden was to be planted. March 7 arrived cool, but sunny, and so did the NFMGs. The day was spent installing the rest of the plants and mulching the beds. The garden was looking good.

March 9, 2007 - Of course timing is everything and our contractor was able to come out and install the irrigation system, only a couple of days late. The Master Gardeners took a break while I hovered over the laborers to ensure they did not damage our precious plantings. They were very thoughtful and we only needed a few more bags of mulch to cover over areas that were disturbed.

March 21, 2007 - A few of the NFMG gathered for a final touch up of the garden. We replenished the mulch disturbed by the installation of the irrigation system, spread pine straw and planted 8 containers located at the front porch and the entrance gate. The garden was finished, and it looked wonderful.

April 4, 2007 - I am now on Spring Break, happy to have the garden completed in just over a year, within budget! What a great example of how a simple question can lead to a proposal to fill a need. A class project turned out to fulfill a real life need at one of the NFMG project sites. Grants from GMGA, NFMG, and Autrey Mill Nature Preserve, the donation of plant material from Fulton County, and the volunteer efforts of Hands-on-Atlanta and the NFMGs combined to bring a dream to reality. It all started at the Arbor Day Celebration that dreary day in February 2006.

The Autrey Mill Nature Preserve and Heritage Center is a 46 acre nature preserve in North Fulton County with about two miles of trails and ten historic buildings, all of which were either on the property originally or were moved onto the property from within about a five mile radius of Autrey Mill. The buildings, dating back to the mid 1800s, are undergoing renovation and are being used for educational programs and events at the nature preserve. Since the year 2000, the North Fulton Master Gardeners have spent hundreds of hours developing and maintaining the gardens at Autrey Mill.

“I would like to thank Jim Perry, NFMG Autrey Mill Project Director, for his encouragement, support and efforts in helping to coordinate and negotiate many aspects of this project and to help me see it to completion.”

Christine Hettinger, North Fulton Master Gardener

Gilmer County Master Gardeners and Interns active in community

Five Gilmer County Master Gardener Interns completed their training late this spring in Ball Ground. In just a few months these Interns have met their requirements for participation in community projects with hours of community service.

The Master Gardener Interns set up a booth on Earth Day and had a demonstration of a compost pile and worm farm.

The Gilmer County Master Gardeners are involved in many projects throughout each year. One of the successful projects involved include “Spring Gardening Tips,” four Thursday classes held in March which were open to the public and held at the Gilmer Arts and Heritage facility. The weekly classes were: Container gardening with Beverly Martarella; Roses, pruning and care, with John Williams; herbs, plants and uses, with Teresa Aaron, and gardening on a budget with Master Gardeners Sharon Smith, Loretta Hanks, Chris Westerman, and Beverly Martarella. The local ETC cable taped each session, and each session was aired the following week on Channel 3. ETC (Ellijay Telephone) gave the Master Gardeners a DVD for future Master Gardener educational activities.

Four years ago the Gilmer County Master Gardeners opened the first Farmer’s Market in Ellijay. The goal was to establish a successful market within four years and transition the leadership responsibilities from Master Gardeners to a Vendor Committee. This year the Master Gardeners are supporting the new Farmer’s Market steering committee with Vendors in a successful transition. The Farmer’s Market is open Saturday mornings from Memorial Day through Labor Day, at the Farmer Bureau parking lot at Sailor’s Drive and River Street, in Ellijay. The Master Gardeners feel this is a very worthwhile project as it involves the community both as sellers and buyers.

Ellijay has a Food Pantry for those in need. Master Gardener Sharon Smith and her husband, with the assistance of primarily the Master Gardeners and the Garden Club of Ellijay, and other community groups have planted a vegetable for the purpose of donating produce to the Food Pantry each week. At the end of the summer, thousands of pounds of vegetables have been donated. In addition, Sharon and her husband Don have a booth at the Farmer’s Market and the proceeds are donated to the Food Pantry.

Another project is the Chief Vann house in Chatsworth which includes gardening and landscape assistance to the staff at the historical park site.

Submitted by Sil Schell and Christine Westerman