MASTER GARDENER CALENDAR - 2023

 

HELLO MASTER GARDENERS!

Taking pictures for the Master Gardener Calendar? Here are the guidelines for 2023.

Explore a wide range of seasonal gardening themes. Everything from winter landscapes to summer's veggie harvest, from pollinators to perennial borders—if it grows and looks good, send it in! Don't forget photos of your delicious vegetables as well as late summer blooms. Clean the veggies and spritz a little water on them. Remove browning leaves and stems.

Here are the guidelines for 2023 calendar.

Files should be AT LEAST 1 Mb (6 MPs on phones is 18 Mbs)-bigger is better. Most cell phone photos are good. Phone screenshots will not work. See Smartphone camera tips at the bottom.

A resolution of 300 dpi and a minimum size of 5"x7". Do not add text to the image (no watermark or plant name in photo).

Up to 3 submissions per person. Photo must be taken by a Master Gardener. Name your images with First and Last Name, followed by the County and plant name or number (Ex. Sally Smith_Bucks sunflower.jpg).

Send photos as an attachment instead of inserting them into the email. Check that you are sending the attachment as “actual size”. Email photos to Norma Young  njy1@psu.edu   Deadline is September 1

Tips for using your Smartphone camera

1. Shoot in Landscape

- Rotating your phone to landscape mode and using the volume buttons to take the photo provides a more stable hold on the phone, reducing noise in your pictures.

2. Utilize the Grid Lines

- Locate this option in your photo app settings.  Keep your main subjects off center so they become the focus.

• Focus on the eyes
• Place strong lines and divisions like the horizon on the gridlines

3. Don’t Zoom!

- Get up and personal with your subject for the best results.  Most smartphone cameras have a digital zoom, but using this won’t help you get detailed pictures from far away.  Zoom is just essentially cropping the picture on the screen.

4. No Garbage Cans!

- You should also avoid cluttered or ugly backgrounds by changing your point of view.  Watch out for the trash cans or other unsightly objects in your view.

Be creative. Night shot with flash

5. Multiple Shots

- If you see something that catches your eye don't just take one shot and hope for the best. The chances of getting a good photo with your first shot are very slim. You should take shots from various angles and distances.

* * * * *

Interested in herbs? Looking for Gardening Gifts?

 Check out the Herb Sampler on this Blog  

SPECIAL Price reduction.

The Second Edition Herb Sampler (2019) is available through Amazon. 

Just click this link to find it.

DRAGONFLIES: Six-Legged Scouts in the National Parks

 

(From July 2014 Facebook Note)

Today I was a "citizen scientist" and spent 4 hours this morning at Hodgdon Pond in Acadia National Park catching dragonfly larvae for a University of Maine research project tracking mercury in the water.

Hip high waders, long-handled net and a small plastic spoon to scoop them from net to a holding tub (can't touch them) and me slogging through muck.

Dragonfly Team: Ranger Michael, me, Julie and James

And getting STUCK - suction that wouldn't release my boot -  my co-"scientists" - Julie and James worked very hard to get me unstuck as Ranger Michael was at the far end of the pond. We all ended up falling down in the muck.

Aeshnidae, Libellulidae, and Gomphidae larvae (NPS)

We captured 60 larvae and identified at least three different families. We also scooped up a leech, a salt water clam (? fresh water pond?), caddis fly egg cases, a snail, back-swimmers and either a moss animal or an egg mass of some kind. We chose the largest samples, measured them (Average size 16-22 mm) and put them into bags with an information tag in each bag. The samples will be frozen and sent to University of Maine at Orono for analysis and to confirm the identity.

(I don't remember which is which!)

The toxic form of mercury, methylmercury, increases in concentration in the food chain. (NPS)

Excerpt from study

Why use dragonfly larvae?

Dragonfly larvae live in the water for 1-4 years or more before becoming adult dragonflies. Aquatic systems like lakes, ponds, and wetlands are often where methylmercury (the more toxic form that gets into living things) accumulates.

Dragonfly larvae also eat small fish, tadpoles, and bugs that in turn contain methylmercury. As the dragonfly larvae eat more, the amount of methylmercury in their bodies increase in a process called bioaccumulation. When other animals, such as larger fish, eat the dragonfly larvae these animals also accumulate methlymercury, but at higher concentrations due to biomagnification up the food chain. Dragonfly larvae are abundant and they are found across the country. They are in the middle of the food chain, so they are potentially useful for determining the health of an ecosystem.

Visit the University of Maine Facebook page Six-Legged Scouts in National Parks/About to find out more about this project. 

#     #     #

Interested in herbs? Looking for Gardening Gifts?

 Check out the Herb Sampler  description on this Blog  

SPECIAL Price reduction on Amazon. Click here. 

The Second Edition Herb Sampler (2019) is available through Amazon.