County Extension offices

When I need help with my gardening issues, I call (or go to) our county extension office. They have all kinds of classes you can take, such as classes on canning, how to be water wise, composting and rain barrels to name a few. I have taken all of those classes and they are great and very informational. For the Water-wise class they gave us a “mister” hose and showed us how to set them up. For the Compost class they gave is a huge temperature gauge and a plastic bin made from recycled plastic and for the Rain barrel class, you guessed it, they gave us a 55 gallon food grade rain barrel. I have mine sitting out in the open so it catches less rain than if it were under the roof spouts. I don't want the chemicals from the roof to get into my vegetables. It would be ok to use them on an inedible plant but not edibles. The classes fill up quickly so you have to keep your eye on them and get signed up quickly. :)

"Orlando" Tangelo tree

I received two baby Orlando Tangelo trees for Christmas this year and had no idea what to do with them. I called the place that sold them to my niece and they were a little bit of help, but they were trying to deal with customers and didn’t have a lot of time to talk to me on the phone. So when I was at the extension office for a class I talked to one of the Master Gardeners on staff (who happened to know about Citrus too) and she was very helpful. She gave me a lot of free information to read on when to plant them after the frost, fertilizing and when to put them in the ground. They are doing so well now and growing fast! They are near the bees (so is the blueberry bush) so they can pollinate them next spring!

The information at our CE office is amazing. From a little history to native plants; they cover 4H and they actually have classes on parenting and finances.  I love to go there and just browse before a class. The people are real friendly & knowledgeable and the truly want to help. That is hard to find these days.