May 2017 Meeting: Tool Sharpening & Garden Visit - Rademaker Home Gardens

Our May meeting was jam packed! It included not only tool sharpening but also a tour of Carol and Dean Rademaker's wonderful gardens.

Then there were consultations to decipher the results of soil tests for those who had turned in their samples to Nina Cairns at last month's meeting.

Whew - a lot going on!

We divided into two groups for demonstrations and tours. Uplands Garden Club members John Sharp, Dean Rademaker and Bill Wisler demonstrated how to sharpen a variety of garden tools, John and Dean showing how to use power equipment and Bill concentrating on sharpening using only hand tools.

Club members each brought one tool to be sharpened. They could try their hand at it themselves or ask John, Dean and Bill to do it. Admittedly, most of us chose the latter option but we did go home with newfound knowledge of how to do it ourselves at home next time.

While one group was getting their tools sharpened, Carol led the other group on a tour of their wonderful country property, which includes extensive perennial gardens, rustic features that Carol has created, a huge rock garden, outbuildings, and a stream leading to a pond.

And, as if that wasn't plenty, Nina Cairns was on hand to interpret the soil analysis results from samples that members turned in at the April meeting.

Learning from one another is just one of the many pleasures of belonging to the garden club, as this meeting highlighted so well. A hearty THANK YOU to John, Dean, Bill and Nina for sharing their expertise and to Carol and Dean for their hospitality!

March 2017 Meeting - Let's Talk Soil with Nina Carns

Uplands Garden Club member Nina Carns has a background in Agronomy-Soil Science from the University of WI at Platteville. She has worked for many years with troubleshooting fertility issues and working to get clients on a better program to correct soil deficiencies and problems with their crops. Obtaining higher yields and minimizing disease issues have been a key part of Nina’s work. She is a Certified Crop Advisor and has her own company, NC Nutrient Management located in Dodgeville.

The Garden Club March March meeting, held at Stonefield Apartments in Dodgeville, started with Nina explaining the basic nutrients covered in soil tests and why these nutrient levels are important. This part of the talk was then linked to the specific fertilizer and amounts needed to improve the soil. Nina walked us through a basic soil test from the immediate area, and discussed the different nutrients tested, what they mean and how to improve the deficiencies.

Then Nina gave us collection bags and invited us all to gather a sample from our garden areas to bring to our April meeting for testing. Once the results are known, Nina will write up a brief statement in very basic terms for what is needed to improve or correct problems with the samples submitted. These results will be available at the May meeting.

What a gift! We will all be eager to get our results. 

A huge thank you to Nina for sharing her expertise.