MASTER GARDENERS AT FARMERS' MARKET

The Pitt County Master Gardener Volunteers will once again be at the Farmers' Market on County Home Road in Greenville this Saturday morning, July 2nd, from 7:30 AM to 11:30 AM.  Stop by their table with your gardening questions/problems or for information about the Pitt County Arboretum.  Click here for directions:  MAP

VEGETABLES READY FOR PICKING

Our Vegetable Garden at the Arboretum has begun to yield a bounty of produce.  This week 22 pounds of cucumbers, cabbage, red potatoes, tomatoes, green beans and okra were picked and taken to the Greenville Food Bank.  The vegetables are grown in raised beds in a small area.  It is always amazing how productive this garden is.  Over the course of the summer, we expect to donate several hundred pounds to the Food Bank.  If you would like to start your own vegetable garden, check out this publication for guidance: Home Vegetable Gardening 

THORNLESS BLACKBERRIES

YUMMY!

In the Fall of 2010, a Small Fruit Garden was started at the Arboretum with plantings of thornlesss blackberries, muscadine grapes, and blueberries.  In the Spring of 2011 a fig, pomegranate, kiwi vine, and a Goji berry were added.  Last week the Master Gardener Volunteers began harvesting the  blackberries.  The first week 3 pounds of earlier ripening Arapaho blackberries were picked.  This week 8 pounds of  Arapaho and Navaho blackberries were picked.  The berries were donated to our local food bank as are all the edibles grown at the Arboretum.

If you are interested in growing  blackberries in your garden, you can refer to this publication, Growing Blackberries in North Carolina.  While some of it's focus is on commercial growing, most of the information can be adapted to home gardens.  Should you have questions, scroll down the right side of this page to "Ask a Master Gardener" for ways to contact them.

Come out and see our new Small Fruit Garden.  It is just one of the ways we are 'growing' the Pitt County Arboretum.

SUMMER 2011 SUCCESSFUL GARDENER

The summer edition of the Extension's Successful Gardener is now available for online viewing.  Click here and then select the "Coastal Plain" edition for timely articles on gardening in this area including:

• Water-Wise Tips
• Vegetables and Summer's Heat
• Summer Chores
• Cane Fruits
• Green Swamp Nature Preserve
• Spotted Wing Drosophila
• and more...... 

WHAT'S IN BLOOM - Daylilies

It wouldn't be June if we didn't mention our daylilies, Hemerocallis sp .  Even with the hot, dry weather conditions we have been experiencing our daylilies are putting on quite a show.  You will find our daylilies in various gardens:  around the Ag Center, in the Butterfly Garden, mixed in the Perennial Border, and scattered about in the Mixed Border.   Daylilies are an easy care perennial.  They come in many colors, sizes, and bloom times.   More information on growing and caring for them can be found by clicking here to go to the American Hemerocallis Society's webpage.

The pictures below are just a sampling of what you will see at the Arboretum.

FARMERS' MARKET on COUNTY HOME ROAD

Stop by and visit with the Master Gardener Volunteers at the Pitt County Farmers' Market this Saturday, June 4th, from 7:30-11:30 AM.  You will find them at a table amongst the produce stands on the first Saturday of every month this summer.  Bring your gardening questions and pick up some helpful gardening tips.  If you've never been to the Farmers' Market, follow the map below: