BRUSH COUNTRY HORTICULTURE
JULY, 1997 VOL. 8, NO. 7

IN THIS ISSUE:

NEW PECAN VARIETY
ANNUAL PECAN CONFERENCE
AGGIE-HORTICULTURE
TRAINING IS EASY, BUT AFTERWARDS THE REAL WORK STARTS
MORE ON MASTER GARDENERS

NEW PECAN VARIETY -----

Kanza is the 22nd variety of pecan to be released from the USDA pecan breeding program. It is a good quality nut with excellent flavor that matures early. Bearing starts five or six years after planting.

Among the major attributes of Kanza is that it is highly resistant to pecan scab, which is essential in the humid areas east of US 281. However, its quality and earliness of maturity suggest that it will also find favor in drier areas of the state where scab is not a concern. It is also a good pollinizer variety for Pawnee.

Julian W. Sauls
Professor & Extension Horticulturist

ANNUAL PECAN CONFERENCE -----

The 76th annual conference of the Texas Pecan Growers Association will be held July 6-9 at the Renaissance Hotel in Austin.

Registration for TPGA members is $50, $60 for non-members‹but I believe Extension personnel get a break on registration fees.

There are a couple of orchard tours, a golf tournament, special dinners, an auction and a recipe contest on tap. Some of the events may have to be altered based on the current status of flooding along the Colorado River.

Of special interest to new and would-be pecan growers is the Pecan Mini Short Course conducted by Extension at 2:30 - 5:30 on Monday, July 7.

For more details, contact TPGA at 409/846-3285.

Julian W. Sauls
Professor & Extension Horticulturist

AGGIE-HORTICULTURE -----

As I talk to agents from time-to-time, I get the impression that many are unaware of the existence of our horticulture web site at College Station. Yes, I am aware that not everyone has Web access, but I am also aware that we sometimes resist change‹and change in the way we access publications and information for our clientele is not the future: It is now.

All Extension horticulture publications except handbooks are on the Web‹and a bunch more are being developed at this time. All of them can be printed directly from the Web.

How do you get there? Log on through Netscape, Mosaic or whatever browser software you have (including WebTV)‹the address is http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu

Basically, aggie-horticulture is organized into sections: one about the overall horticultural program at TAMU, one on crop production and gardening, another with links to horticulture programs at other universities, another linked to other horticultural interests and the Extension Information section.

Within the latter are Extension Publications, kinderGARDEN for kids and schools, Commodity pages for various horticultural crops, PLANTanswers of commonly asked horticultural questions, Wildflowers (over 70 species, in color) and the Master Gardener Home Page.

This is a tremendous asset for Extension and one which you should be using regularly. Provide the address to clientele so they can go on-line, too, as more and more of our clientele, both commercial and homeowner, are on-line‹and the number will only increase with WebTV.

Julian W. Sauls
Professor & Extension Horticulturist

TRAINING IS EASY, BUT AFTERWARDS THE REAL WORK STARTS --- -

I recently received a letter from Doug Welsh, State Master Gardener Coordinator in College Station. In the letter, Doug spoke about the success of the Master Gardener program statewide and the growth in the program during the past year. He states that the success of the program in Texas is "due primarily to the commitment, talent and hard work" of those that handle the program on the local level. I would like to emphasize the commitment and hard work part of what he said.

Training Master Gardeners is a fairly straightforward process that normally involves scheduling different people to come and teach the different sections of the Master Gardener handbook. It is an important step in beginning or continuing a Master Gardener Program, but an even more important step is taking the time to plan what a Master Gardener program will be used for. I don't mean some vague goal, I mean specifically what a County Extension Program plans to do with its Master Gardeners. Whether they will be used for answering telephone questions about home horticulture, or speaking to school children about careers in the horticultural industry, or what ever, specific plans need to be made prior to starting the program. A specific plan of work for a County's Master Gardeners coupled with the commitment of County staff to make sure it happens is essential in carrying out the volunteer phase of this program. As the County coordinator of a Master Gardener program, you will want to make certain that you are ready to manage this tremendous resource to obtain the maximum benefits that the program has to offer. If you need a little support in determining how to utilize a Master Gardener program in your county Dr. Welsh would be more than glad to visit with you. He can be reached at (409) 845-5341.

Lynn Brandenberger
Associate Professor & Extension Vegetable Specialist

MORE ON MASTER GARDENERS -----

I'd just like to second what Dr. Brandenberger has to say about the Master Gardener program. It is fairly easy to schedule the personnel, resources and time for Master Gardener training‹but quite another matter to use them effectively in support of the county horticultural program.

Many "wannabe" Master Gardeners want the training scheduled at night because they work days. Well, so does Extension work days‹and that is when most Master Gardeners are expected to be utilized in county program, i.e. when county Extension offices are open.

Yes, clinics and community beautification or youth gardening efforts are often scheduled on Saturdays‹but the use of Master Gardeners in those programs should be because those are Extension horticultural programs planned by the horticultural committee of the overall county program.

In other words, if trained Master Gardeners are not being used to support and enhance the county Extension program in horticulture, then there is little need for a Master Gardener training effort. Remember that the Master Gardener program was implemented in the Texas Agricultural Extension Service to provide a support base for county Extension programs, not because people want to receive the Master Gardener training so they can become better home gardeners.


JULIAN W. SAULS, Ph.D.
Professor & Extension Horticulturist
2401 East Highway 83
Weslaco TX 78596
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THE INFORMATION GIVEN HEREIN IS FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. REFERENCE TO COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS OR TRADE NAMES IS MADE WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT NO DISCRIMINATION IS INTENDED AND NO ENDORSEMENT BY THE COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE IS IMPLIED.
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