July 2024 Monthly Meeting Recap

Lauren Hazenson & Paige Ahlborg from the Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District talked about “Plants as Infrastructure”; 2024 plant sale recap; reminder of August combo monthly meeting

7/17/2024

The July monthly meeting was held via Zoom from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Watching the recording of this meeting can be counted as 2 hours of Continuing Education. (Find the recording in the Archives of the Monthly Meeting page.)

THANK YOU!

Many thanks to the RCMG volunteers involved with the March Meeting:

• Education Committee: Simba Blood & Gene Ranieri

• Journalist: Agata Miszczyk

• Presenters: Lauren Hazensen & Paige Ahlborg from Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District

• Set-Up: Sara Quinn

• Coffee Courier: Judy Johnson

• Greeters: Judie Ritchie & Helen Weber

• AV Team: Christopher Skelly, Scott Beary, Tami Noblet

• Zoom Aide: Niki Blue

• Clean Up: Helen Weber
  

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RCMG Board Announcements (6:30-6:40) – Julie Bechtold, RCMG chair

Plant sale recap

The 2024 Ramsey Master Gardener Plant Sale was a big success. There were a lot of changes this year and some challenges, but overall, the Plant Sale brought in a net income of $18,000 to support all the great programming of the Master Gardner Program.

Highlights:

• Aldrich Arena provided a huge space – 17,000 sq ft.

• 1,293 attendees

• 192 volunteers (that is almost half of the entire Ramsey MG program that was involved!)

• 7,528 plants sold

• On budget (first year with a budget)

• $18,000 net income

Challenges:

• Tally Tables caused a big backup

• Plant availability – natives and perennials sold out

• Staffing – set up was very efficient, but trouble filling shifts day of

• Plant Drop Off – more organization next year

• Cashiers and Square devices (Square fee is high)

Looking to the future for the 2025 sale – the sale will once again be held at Aldrich Arena! There will also be less one-time costs for signage and plant trays. Some additional tweaks and changes coming for 2025 will pertain to a bigger selection (triple the natives!) and more tables, less external partner tables but a bigger Ask a Master Gardener presence, required cashier training, and some changes to the roles and responsibilities with the Plant Sale Committee. If you feel like you have a special skillset that can help with the Plant Sale contact Julie.

Huge thank you to all the volunteers who helped make this possible!

Merch Orders

If you would like to order MG branded merchandise from the MG branded Online store , Julie is going to place a bulk order to save on shipping costs. Please contact Julie by July 31st if you are interested

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Darren Lochner's Coordinator Updates (6:40pm-6:50pm)

Program News

• Reminder to all master gardeners, do not forget to put in your hours into the state database as soon as you can – this is what is used for reporting and it is important to keep up to date

• Free admission to the MN Landscape Arboretum – the code is MG2024

RCMG News

• For all volunteers pre-2020 if you would like a standard maroon UMN extension MG shirt please respond to the link in the July newsletter by Sept 1st. There will be a bulk order placed to get everyone a shirt.

  • Volunteers after 2020 will have already received a shirt

  • This is not the same as Julie’s merch order (described above)
    

• Applications for the next class of Master Gardner open August 1st and close October 1st. If you know anyone that might be interested please encourage them to apply!
  

• The August Meeting will be held August 20th at Como Zoo and Conservatory. This is a joint meeting with Washington County and space is limited. If you plan on attending in person register as early as you can via Sign Up Genius. A remote option will be available.
  

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Guest Lecture - Plants as Infrastructure (7:00-8pm)

Guest Speakers: Lauren Hazenson & Paige Ahlborg from the Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District

• Lauren Hazenson and Paige Ahlborg from the Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District talked about “Plants as Infrastructure”
  

• The Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District is a special purpose unit of government in our area that provides permitting, regulatory compliance, grants, and outreach all with the goal to manage all the region’s surface water.
  

• Lauren discussed

  • the history of legislation and the watershed districts in the state and how they work with and across different agencies such as the DNR and MPCA.

  • some of the methods and projects RWMWD supports and funds and talked about the benefits of native plantings, rain gardens, shoreline restoration, erosion control.

• Paige discussed the specific project at Kohlman Lake.

  • Kohlman Lake (a shallow lake in Maplewood) was put on the impaired waters list in 2002.

  • Since then, RWMWD has worked hard to implement different projects in the area to help the water quality of the lake. These include:

  • Grants for rain gardens and tree trenches at both residential and commercial properties, both around the lake and upstream

  • Shoreline restoration including native plantings

  • Carp removal

  • Working with municipalities on street sweeping efforts

  • Regular testing and education and more!

  • The water quality has improved and in 2021 Kohlman Lake was removed from the impaired waters list!
    

• Lots of great questions followed.

Recap provided by Agata Miszczyk

RCMG Volunteer