   Come Visit Our Cottonwood Office - January 26, 2005 Jeff Schalau, County Director, Agent, Agriculture & Natural Resources Arizona Cooperative Extension, Yavapai County The Cottonwood Cooperative Extension office is open to serve you. Cooperative Extension brings you research-based information from the University of Arizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. We offer many services including 4-H youth programs, food safety and early childhood development, horticulture information/education, natural resources and water education, range and livestock programs, and animal science information. In case you’ve never been to our office, we are located at 2657 Village Drive in Verde Village. To find us, take Highway 260 and turn east on Western Drive, then take an immediate right on the frontage road, veer slightly to the left and look for the brown building with the Blue and Red University of Arizona sign. We are open Monday through Friday between 9 am and 4 pm (we close between noon and 1 pm). I will be available in the Cottonwood office during business hours to assist you with gardening, agricultural, or natural resource information on January 31, February 24, March 21, April 18, and every third Monday of the month for the rest of 2005. If you cannot be there during these times, highly skilled Master Gardener volunteers are there most of the time. Call us to check on Master Gardener availability at 928-646-9113 or contact the Master Gardener desk directly by dialing extension 14. Both the Master Gardeners and I can assist you with gardening questions and insect/disease diagnosis. The offices of the V Bar V Ranch Experiment Station are also housed in the Cottonwood Extension office. The V Bar V Ranch is physically located on a 77,000 acre US Forest Service grazing allotment/permit that runs from Camp Verde/Lake Montezuma up to Clint’s Well. The ranch is a cow/calf operation that conducts research that will benefit other Arizona cattle growers. Dave Schafer is the Resident Director of the V Bar V Ranch and he supervises the day-to-day operation of the ranch and coordinates research projects. We are also in the process of hiring a 4-H Agent that will be housed in the Cottonwood office. This is a faculty-level position and will coordinate all 4-H programs within Yavapai County. The position has been vacant for two years due to statewide budget shortfalls. I anticipate this position being filled by April at the latest. So, what does all this have to do with gardening? I just thought the people of the Verde Valley would like to know that we care and are here to serve them. I really look forward to visiting with you during my scheduled office hours and providing reliable gardening information to you directly and with the assistance of Master Gardeners. Please come by and see us. Don’t forget about the Camp Verde Pecan, Wine, and Antique Festival on February 11th, 12th, and 13th. This event continues to grow larger and is a lot of fun. I will be there on the 11th and 12th and Master Gardeners will staff an information booth throughout the festival. The festival features pecans (pies, contest, bakeoff, sales), wine (tasting and sales), antiques for sale, jazz, demonstrations, hay rides, seminars, door prizes, information, and more. It will be held at the Camp Verde Community Center. Backyard pecan growers remember to collect your samples of 40 nuts of a given variety and enter them in the Pecan Contest. Entries need to be submitted to Michelle Ashley, Special Events Coordinator, by February 10 at 5 pm. Michelle is located in the Camp Verde Parks and Recreation Office at 395 S. Main St. Her phone number is 928-567-0535 ext. 135 and e-mail is mashley@cvaz.org. To prepare the best sample for the contest, read the November 29, 2000 Backyard Gardener column (see web URL below). Michelle also has printed copies of this. If you would like to sell some of your pecan crop, contact Michelle Ashley. She is setting up an area for local residents to sell pecans during the festival. See you there! The University of Arizona Cooperative Extension has publications and information on gardening and pest management. If you have other gardening questions, call the Master Gardener line in the Cottonwood office at 646-9113 ext. 14 or E-mail us at mgardener@verdeonline.com and be sure to include your address and phone number. Find past Backyard Gardener columns or submit column ideas at the Backyard Gardener web site: http://cals.arizona.edu/yavapai/anr/hort/byg/. |