pumpkins-and-flowers

October Garden Tips

Hello Friends, Neighbors, Fellow Gardeners,

It’s time to enjoy our fall harvest!  Here are some garden tips, educational opportunities, and events for October. Events include a Fall Tour at Common Root Farm, Heritage Food: End of the Herb Season, Mill Creek Towne Garden Club’s “Pruning Your Fall Garden” program, and more!

Planning:

  • As beds empty, make changes to shape and size of beds.
  • Take garden photos and make notes in your garden journal.
  • Check your local garden club for end-of-summer bargains.
  • Start shopping for spring bulbs.
  • Start collecting plant seeds for next year and for trading.
  • Preserve gourds and dry flowers for display in the fall.
  • Have a question about gardening? Check the University of Maryland Extension’s New Maryland Grows blog for garden tips.hg_md_grows_blog
  • Support our local parks and gardens. Visit a garden or park for their spring festivities!
  • Support Our Local Farmers – Join a CSA and have fresh local produce delivered to you!mc_ag_logo
  • Support our local farmers! Visit a local farmers’ market near you. Download Montgomery County’s Office of Agriculture 2019 Farmers Market Flyer to find a farmer’s market near you.

 

Flowers and Groundcovers:

  • From mid-October through November, plant hardy bulbs for spring flowering.
  • Pull out spent summer annuals.
  • Plant hardy mums and fall season annuals.
  • Sow wildflower seeds, such as California Poppies, for next spring.
  • Collect dried flowers and grasses for indoor vase.mums
  • Continue to deadhead.
  • Plant hardy mums and fall season annuals.
  • Divide and transplant perennials—in particular, peony and iris.
  • Start seeds of pansies, calendula, flowering cabbage, kale, and other fall annuals.
  • Check on your container plants daily and keep them well-watered.
  • Pinch out tips of leggy plants.
  • Fertilize transplants.
  • Water transplants deeply when dry.
  • Pests to watch for: Aphids, Deer, 4-lined plant bug, slugs, snails, spidermites, whiteflies
  • Diseases to watch for:  Blackspot on roses; powdery mildew, rust, bacterial diseases.
  • See UMD’s HGIC Garden Tips for more details.

Trees and Shrubs:

  • Plant evergreens for winter interest.
  • Prune evergreens to get in shape for fall/winter.
  • Remove fallen diseased leaves.
  • Mulch or compost healthy leaves.evergreen
  • Transplant trees when leaves begin to color.
  • Put diseased leaves, pesticide-laden grass clippings and weed seeds out for recycling rather than the compost pile.
  • Prune out Eastern tent caterpillar egg masses.
  • Do not fertilize newly planted or transplanted plants the first year.
  • Spray with dormant oil to decrease pest infestations.
  • Mulch or compost healthy leaves.
  • Remove Ivy, Pachysandra, and other vine-like groundcover from under shrubs.
  • Remove dead and dying trees.
  • Pests to watch for:  bagworms, caterpillars, Gypsy moths, Japanese beetles, scale, sawfly, spidermites,  leafminers, Voles, and webworms.
  • Diseases to watch for:  Fireblight, Anthracnose,  Powdery mildew, Exobasidium gall on azaleas, Phytophthora, top dieback and root rot on azaleas.
  • For more tips, see UMD’s HGIC Garden Tips for more details.

Herbs, Veggies, and Fruit:

  • Pick pumpkins at a local pick-your own farm or visit a local farmer’s market.
  • Harvest most fruits before frost.
  • You can still have your vegetable garden and soils tested.pumpkins
  • Plant cover crops in vegetable gardens and annual beds (e.g., rye, clover, hairy vetch, and winter peas).
  • Continue planting cool season vegetables (turnips, carrots, beets, spinach, Chinese cabbage, kale, Brussels sprouts); plant garlic now through October.
  • Harvest leaves of herbs used in cooking (rosemary, basil, sage) in early morning, for best flavor.
  • Water deeply when needed.
  • Cover berry bushes and fruit trees with bird netting.
  • Remove finished plants.
  • Apply dormant oil spray to fruit trees.
  • Watch for insect and disease problems throughout your garden.
  • Pests to watch for: Corn borer, corn earworm, asparagus beetles, Japanese beetles, tomato hornworm, squash vine borer, rabbits, deer
  • Diseases to watch for: Fungal, bacterial, Powdery mildew, viral diseases.
  • Here are some more UMD’s HGIC Garden Tips.

Lawns:

  • This is the perfect time for seeding the lawn.
  • Continue removing diseased leaves. Put diseased leaves, pesticide-laden grass clippings and weed seeds out for recycling rather than the compost pile.
  • Apply fertilizer and lime to turf grass based on soil tests and UME recommendations.
  • Turn your compost pile.
  • The annual soil science calendars from the Natural Resources Conservation Service are both educational and beautifully done. The one for 2018 as well as those for previous years are available as free PDFs here: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/soils/edu/?cid=nrcseprd1250008
  • Diseases to watch for: brown patch, and red thread
  • Pests to watch for: Grubs
  • See UMD’s HGIC Garden Tips for more details.

Indoors/Houseplants:

  • Pot up Paper Whites and Amaryllis for holiday blooming.
  • For readying Christmas cactus and poinsettia for holiday blooming, fertilize them and put them where they’ll get 10 hours of bright light per day.
  • Remove old leaves, damaged stems.amaryllis
  • Pinch out growing tips of leggy cuttings and plants that are overwintering.
  • Clean the leaves of your indoor houseplants to prevent dust and film build-up.
  • Reduce fertilizing of your indoor plants (except cyclamen).
  • Remove old leaves, damaged stems.
  • Maintain moisture in pots wintering indoors, but do not over water!
  • Keep all houseplants out of drafts and away from heat vents.
  • Remove old leaves, damaged stems.
  • Pests to watch for:  aphids, spider mites, mealybug, scale, whitefly
  • See UMD’s HGIC Garden Tips for more information.

Indoor/Outdoor Insect and Wildlife Tips:

  • Clean and refill bird feeders.
  • Switch your deer deterrent spray.deer_in_neighborhood
  • Hand-pick Japanese beetles or shake them off over a bucket of dishwasher.
  • Caulk and seal your outside walls to prevent insect entry into your house.
  • Watch for: carpenter ants, flies, mosquitos, stink bugs, termites, rabbits, raccoons, groundhogs, deer, mice, moles,  snakes, squirrels, and voles.
  • For more information, see UMD’s HGIC Garden Tips.

Source: University of Maryland’s Home and Garden Information Center (HGIC) and the Washington Gardener.

 

Please Support the Mill Creek Towne Garden Club’s

Mill Creek Towne Entrance Walls Repairs Project

Mill Creek Towne Entrance Walls Repair Project

Hello Mill Creek Towne Neighbors,

Your help is greatly needed with a community problem. The original entrance walls that identify our community as Mill Creek Towne are in a state of deterioration. One entrance wall, consisting of a center wall and two side walls, is located at Roslyn Avenue and Redland Road and is on Montgomery County property. The other entrance wall, consisting of two side walls, is located at Miller Fall Road and Muncaster Mill Road and is on Maryland State property. Both the county and the state have been approached and have declined to provide the much needed repairs and maintenance, stating that this is the responsibility of the community.

These entrance walls are more than fifty years old and, for all of that time, The Mill Creek Towne Garden Club (MCTGC) has been the caretakers of the entrances. We provide annual care with plantings either by doing regular maintenance work ourselves or engaging the assistance of professional workers.

We need your help to repair the Mill Creek Towne Entrance walls! See details in this link below on how you can help.

https://www.mctgardenclub.org/2019/06/30/mill-creek-towne-entrance-walls-repair-fundraiser/

Thank you for your support!!

Sincerely,

Mill Creek Towne Garden Club – Derwood, Maryland
https://www.mctgardenclub.org | mctgc@mctgardenclub.org | Like us on Facebook

 

October

See below for upcoming local events in October.

Fall-Festivals-2019

Montgomery Parks Special Events & Festivals

More events are being added regularly. Please check back often!

Save the dates for these upcoming events!  Events include a Fall Tour at Common Root Farm, Heritage Food: End of the Herb Season, Mill Creek Towne Garden Club’s “Pruning Your Fall Garden” program, and more!

Montgomery County MD Food and Beverage Guide

The third edition of the MoCo Made Food & Beverage GuideMontgomery County MD Food and Beverage Guide is available!

The Guide features more than 60 local producers and farmers offering local-made products. Find the online version here:

https://mocofoodcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/MOCO_Directory_2018_FNL-digital.pdf

 

Master Gardener Plant Clinics

Varied Locations, dates, and times

Montgomery County Master Gardeners logo

Montgomery County Master Gardeners - Maryland

What can Master Gardeners do for you?

  • Help you select and care for annual and perennial plants, shrubs and trees.
  • Determine if you need to test your soil.
  • Provide you with information on lawn care.
  • Identify weeds, beneficial and noxious insects, and plant diseases and remedies.
  • Teach you how to use pesticides, mulch and compost.
  • Guide you in pruning trees and shrubs.
  • Provide you with options for managing wildlife.
  • Provide you with gardening resources.
  • Help you submit a plant sample for diagnosis

Plant Clinics are held at several sites in the county on a weekly basis and at special events such as garden festivals and the county fair. Regularly scheduled Plant Clinics are located at public libraries and farmers’ markets throughout the county as well as at the Audubon Naturalist Society in Chevy Chase.  There are also clinics three days per week at Brookside Gardens.  The busiest season is April through September, but some clinics are open year-round.  Bring your plant samples and questions to one of these locations in Montgomery County, MD (see link below to find a location near you):

http://extension.umd.edu/mg/locations/plant-clinics

 

Support Our Local Farmers – Join a CSA and have fresh local produce delivered to you!

Montgomery County Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

CSAs can take many forms, but essentially they are community supported farms in which members contribute to farming projects, usually by way of membership fees, in exchange for fresh, local produce. The concept came to the United States from Europe in the 1980s.  They are a great way to take advantage of fresh, locally grown fruit, vegetables, herbs, and more while supporting nearby farms. Each one is different, some offer pickup locations in urban areas, some offer only farm-based pickups.

There are multiple CSAs located around the County offering a wide variety of products. CSAs begin taking sign-ups for spring and summer seasons in the early part of the year, and they tend to fill up FAST! Know of another CSA not on our list? Let us know! Montgomery Countryside Alliance also maintains a list: http://www.mocoalliance.org/community-supported-agriculture.html

derwood farmers market

Derwood Farmers Market

2019 Dates:  April 27 to October 26 on Saturdays
By popular request:  Early Hours  in 2019  9 am until 1  pm    

Support Our Local Farmers: Visit the Derwood Farmers Market!

A community farmers’ market featuring fresh local farm fruits, veggies, meats, baked goodies, arts, live music and more.  ​Meet sustainable local farmers and from-scratch makers of edibles!

Located at the parking lot in the front yard of Derwood Alliance Church
16501 Redland Road, Rockville, MD 20855

Montgomery County Alliance

moco_alliance_banner_green

The mission of the Montgomery Countryside Alliance is to promote sound economic, land-use and transportation policies and programs that preserve the natural environment, open spaces, and rural lands in Montgomery County’s Agricultural Reserve for the benefit of all Washington Metropolitan area residents.
Montgomery County's Agricultural Reserve Map
Map by Tina Thieme Brown

Harvest Festival

18400 Muncaster Road
Derwood, MD 20855

Harvest Festival returns to Agricultural History Farm Park Saturday, October 5, from 11 am to 4 pm. Discover the ways Montgomery County’s farms and communities worked together to support the war effort during World War I. Admission is $15 per car. Cash only, please.

Interact with living historians in historic costumes. Participate in tinsmithing, apple butter making, pumpkin painting, and scarecrow building.

Enjoy traditional music and dancing. Experience farm equipment exhibitions and demonstrations. Meet heritage farm animals, and partake in food, crafters, hayrides, and tours of the historic Magruder-Bussard Farmstead.

Dive into some down-home fun on the farm! Montgomery Parks’ Agricultural History Farm Park is situated on 455 acres of land and serves as a historic farm site, as well as a modern farming activity center.

No pets, please. Service animals welcome. Find out more: http://ow.ly/CsMa30pgh8P.

Oktoberfest Germantown Parade & Festivities

Germantown Octoberfest

Saturday, October 5, 2019
10 AM – 3 PM

Oktoberfest is back in Germantown Maryland! Bring your Family and enjoy the Parade, Live Bands, Food, Beer Garden, DJ, Free Giveaways and more! The Parade will feature Local Businesses, High School Bands, Dance Groups, Teams, Scouts, Elected Officials, Color Guard, and more.

If you are interested in Sponsoring and/or having your group be part of the Parade email us at Kyle@PeaceOfHearts.org.

Parade Route (Century Blvd) :
START: UpCounty Regional Services Center
END: Germantown Police Station

There will be some Free Giveaways, Family Friendly Music and Activities!

Beer Garden and Live Bands will be at BlackRock Center for the Arts!!

Other fun stations include Photo Booth, Lucy the Clown making Balloon Animals, Library Activities and more!

The Fire Department and Police Department will have an Open House with Tours of their facilities and Fun Activities for Kids in their parking lot!

Tickets

Farm Park After Dark: Folktales and Ghost Stories

Friday, October 18, 2019
7:00pm – 9:00pm

Agricultural History Farm Park‎Farm Park After Dark Folktales and Ghost Stories

Agricultural History Farm Park
18400 Muncaster Rd
Derwood, Maryland 20855

Ghosts and ghouls and things that go bump in the night!

Join us by the campfire, as we share the haunted history and folktales of Maryland, and learn what might be creeping through the forests and old houses of our home state.

Fight off the chill with hot chocolate and s’mores!

Register: http://ow.ly/Hk0l30pGl4d

 

Seneca Store Celebration

pooles_general_store

Saturday, October 19 | 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 pm
Seneca Landing Special Park | 16315 Old River Road | Poolesville , MD 20837

Join Montgomery Parks to celebrate the recently completed rehabilitation of the Seneca Store. The historic building served the community as a general store beginning in 1901. The event includes a ribbon cutting, remarks, light refreshments and tours of the building.

LEARN MORE

 

Fall Tour at Common Root Farm

Sunday, October 20, 2019
3:00pm – 6:00pm

common-root-farm-derwood-md

 

WE ARE HAVING A FARM TOUR!!

Join us October 20 from 3-6pm for a guided farm tour and potluck at Common Root Farm.Common Root Farm
Simply stroll through the farm or take some time to explore production driven regenerative agriculture on a small scale suburban farm. Kids are welcome too!

Guided tours will start at 3:30 and 4:30. Potluck will begin at 5:30. No need to RSVP for the tour, but please let us know if you plan to make it to the potluck so we can plan accordingly.

We will provide vegan chili, a salad, bread, and refreshments.

Address is 18021 Bowie Mill Road, Derwood, MD 20855.

We look forward to seeing you all on the farm!

 

 

Common Root Farm
www.commonrootfarm.com
18101 Bowie Mill Road, Derwood, MD 20855
(301) 639.8316

RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/536962466848387/

Pruning Your Fall Garden

Tuesday, October 22, 2019
7:30pm – 8:30pm

October 22, 2019 Pruning Your Fall Garden
Mill Creek Parish United Methodist
Fellowship Hall
7101 Horizon Terrace
Derwood, MD 20855

Speaker:  Claire Peterson, Master Gardener
Cost: FREE, Donations gratefully appreciated!

Learn basic principles of pruning your fall garden . Please join us for Claire Peterson’s presentation based on the University of Maryland’s Extension Services’ Best Practices for Master Gardeners. Participants will have a chance to try this out during this session. Wear “yard clothes” if you would like to try this hands-on demonstration! Refreshments will be provided.

NOTE: If Montgomery County Schools are closed due to inclement weather, the Garden Club meeting will be cancelled.

RSVP: info@mctgardenclub.org

Details>

Brookside Garden’s Free Lecture on Contemporary Gardens

Garden Lust Book by Chris Woods

Thursday, October 24
6:30pm

Brookside Gardens
1800 Glenallan Ave
Wheaton, Maryland 20902

Join us at Brookside Gardens’ Visitor Center next Thursday, October 24 at 6:30pm for a free lecture by Chris Woods, former director and chief designer of Chanticleer Gardens and author of Garden Lust.

For three years, Chris traveled the world seeking out contemporary gardens and found fifty of the best. With wit and humor, he’ll reveal the fascinating people, plants and stories that make these gardens so lust-worthy. For more information and to register online please visit: http://bit.ly/2BtllLf

*NOTE: Brookside Gardens’ Gift Shop will offer a 10% discount on the book Garden Lust the day of the lecture.

Farm Park After Dark: Creatures of the Night

Agricultural History Farm Park‎Farm Park After Dark: Creatures of the Night

Friday, October 25, 2019
7:00pm – 9:00pm

Agricultural History Farm Park
18400 Muncaster Rd
Derwood, Maryland 20855

Some of the crawl. Some of them slither. Some of them fly through the dark night sky. They are all creatures of the night!

Join us as we shine a light on common creatures which come alive while we sleep. Learn facts that make them less scary, and overcome your fears through familiarity.

Following the program, enjoy an evening at the Farm Park with a campfire, s’mores, and hot chocolate!

Register: http://ow.ly/NBS930pGlaw

Farm Park After Dark: Long Exposure Photography

Saturday, October 26, 2019
7:00pm – 9:00pm

Agricultural History Farm Park
18400 Muncaster Rd
Derwood, Maryland 20855

Have you ever wanted to take your photography skills to the next level? Have you ever struggled with nighttime photography?

Join us at Agricultural HIstory Farm Park for a fascinating evening of exploration, as we employ a number of photographic techniques using long exposure photography.

REQUIRED SUPPLIES: Digital camera.
RECOMMENDED SUPPLIES: Camera tripod.

Register: http://ow.ly/zVqh30pGldI

 

November

Heritage Food- Baking

Agricultural History Farm Park ‎Heritage Food- Baking

Saturday, November 2, 2019
10 AM – 2 PM

Agricultural History Farm Park
18400 Muncaster Rd
Derwood, Maryland 20855

It’s Heritage Food Month on the Farm! Come on down and learn how to bake traditional treats from a variety of the cultures that make up Montgomery County’s diverse communities.

https://bit.ly/2OYsriU

 

Heritage Food: End of the Herb Season

Agricultural History Farm Park‎Heritage Food: End of the Herb Season

Saturday, November 16, 2019
10 AM – 2 PM

Agricultural History Farm Park
18400 Muncaster Rd
Derwood, Maryland 20855

It’s Heritage Food Month on the Farm! Help us as we put our herb garden to bed from the season and learn how to care for your own plants over winter. Find out a variety of methods for drying and preserving your herbs so you can enjoy them all year round.

https://bit.ly/2OWQFKt

 

Heritage Food: Canning and Preserving

Agricultural History Farm Park‎Heritage Food: Canning and Preserving

Saturday, November 23, 2019
10 AM – 2 PM

Agricultural History Farm Park
18400 Muncaster Rd
Derwood, Maryland 20855

It’s Heritage Food Month on the Farm! How did our ancestors make sure their food supplies lasted through the winter? What did they have to do to ensure they had adequate nutrition outside of growing seasons? Explore the variety of ways food has been preserved, historically, and learn the basics of canning and preserving that you and your family can employ at home, today!

https://bit.ly/35Iak6T