I had more gardening to do this weekend. That translated to more wounds. I am done with gardening for a few weeks because vacation starts next weekend, giving the weeds plenty of time to get ahead of me.

Over the weekend I learned more than I cared to know about one Western U.S. weed – foxtail. One of our dogs ended up with a foxtail deep in her ear; the plight of having big ears, I guess. Apparently foxtail isn't a big nuisance for cattle as I haven't heard of it lumped with Medusahead, Goat grass, or Cheatgrass. To me, Cheatgrass and Foxtail look pretty much the same, but I am a far cry from a gardening wiz.

Sasha recovers from having a foxtail in her ear

I am surprised to see just how far the reach is for some of our Master Gardeners. Browsing through Facebook last week I was pleasantly shocked to see that one of my sisters had ‘liked' a post by the UCCE Sacramento County Master Gardeners. This sister is not a big gardener, likely knows nothing about Cooperative Extension, much less Master Gardeners, and lives in Virginia Beach, making it all the more impressive that the UCCE Sacramento County Master Gardeners have ‘reached' her. This highlights the power of the internet and social media as a tool for getting our information out beyond what we can do through meetings and print publications alone.

If you've read the 2018 Master Gardener Annual Report, you know how far their reach extends. The over 6,000 volunteers reached half a million Californians in 2018 by donating almost as many volunteer hours and receiving over 90,000 continuing education hours. What's more, the volunteers are long time volunteers. Pam Bone, from the UCCE Sacramento County Master Gardeners, was featured in the annual report to recognize her almost 40 years of volunteer service. Pam was the first UCCE Master Gardener volunteer. We are able to accomplish so much thanks to our volunteers across a number of our programs. I encourage everyone to take a look at the report. It is a great reflection of the broader UC ANR goals and public value, and a fantastic reminder of how fortunate we are to have dedicated volunteers.

The SI Leaders meet on Tuesday, followed by Program Council late Tuesday and into Wednesday. Friday the Blue Ribbon Panel meets to talk about making a visit to a few RECs in mid-September. While I am ‘in town' this week, it looks like it won't be slow at all. Summer will be over before we know it!