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Yakima Master Gardeners

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Yakima Master Gardeners

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Diagnostic Clinic located at the WSU Extension
2403 S 18th St, Suite 100,
Union Gap, WA 98903

Master Gardener Foundation of Yakima County is a non-profit, all volunteer organization that promotes science based horticultural education within Yakima County communities.

11/02/2026

Many of our MGs are members of Odin Lodge. They are having their Lutefisk dinner coming up. Since the gardens are quite, why not try some Lutefisk!

11/01/2026

It’s World Vegan Day! And whether you are a vegan, vegetarian or full on meat eater, today is a good day to stop and ask yourself, do I eat enough vegetables? And more importantly, do I GROW enough vegetables? Unless you have winter greens, your garden has probably finished up for the year. So it is a good day to pull out your garden journal, be it fancy store bought, all the way to scratch paper, and jot down some notes on your vegetable garden. What worked well? What didn’t? Did you have enough produce or variety for your family? What do you want to try next year? What would you like to see your family eat more of?

Veganism is a great way of life for those who choose it. But vegetables are good for us all! So let’s look and see what we can grow better for next year!

11/01/2026

Whether you grow them, buy them, decorate with them or simply eat them, there is a pumpkin out there for you! MG Kelly Klingman is here to tell you not only how to grow and cure them, but how to make a difference in your community with your left over ones! All this week, In the Garden!

https://mgfyc-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/socialmedia_yakimamg_org/IQD68G3knWwJQIlTARdrH8kJAeQ0iicGfZVfRH9KAnSlaFw?e=Hr1Uqa

11/01/2026

Spiders are amazing!

The Chemistry of Spiderwebs
October is mating season for some spiders. Like them or loathe them, these arachnids use some fascinating biochemistry to spin webs with unique mateiral properties that scientists want to emulate.

Graphic and information via Andy Brunning, author of Chemical & Engineering News

11/01/2026

Today was part two of putting our Dahlias to rest for the season! We waited for the first frost, which signaled the plant to start getting itself ready. Then they were cut back a couple of days ago. Cutting, and letting them sit for a few days helps the sugars go back into the tubers. Yesterday they were dug up for the season, washed off and left to dry overnight. Today they were separated out, wrapped and ready for winter storage.

Why do we divide dahlias? It is one way to get more flowers into your garden, Each new mother tuber can become a flower, while growing more tubers off it to flower the next year. We also separate them to look for damage and disease so we can remove that from the garden.

Tubers that will be viable for next year, need a body, neck and eyes. The eyes are harder to spot, but once you see them, you’ll keep seeing them. We cleaned up the little roots just to make it easier to see the eyes, but it is not necessary. Tuber size does not matter when it comes to growing the flower. Tiny tubers can still produce large flowers.

We mark our tubers with the variety name with a Sharpie markers. You can still see the name written on last year’s on some of the mother tubers. If keeping track of which is which is important to you, don’t skip this step. Our Dahlias had name tags with all of them, and when they were cut back, label ribbon was tied to the stem. You can see the orange ribbon in some of the wrapped-up tubers.

It is very important to clean your trimmers between each dahlia so not to spread disease or viruses.

You want to make sure your tubers are dry of soil and any moisture from washing them off. We cut ours apart, making sure each saved tubers had at least one eye. We labeled with Sharpie, then wrapped them in plastic wrap. Each tubers is wrapped individually in the plastic wrap bundle so if any of them do rot over winter, the rot is not touching any other tubers.

Once wrapped they are stored in onion bags, just because that is what we use to keep them all together. You can also store them in wood shavings, sawdust or vermiculite which will keep them from drying out too much. You want to keep them in a cool place, like a basement at 40-50 degrees. Too cold they can freeze and die. Too warm they can start to sprout. If they sprout, cut off the sprouts, don’t break them.

The Ahtanum Youth Park Garden dahlia darlings, are now cleaned, labeled, wrapped and bundled and headed to the the basement of one of our Master Gardeners. They will be back next year, possibly in a new, sunnier location, so be sure to come down and see what these odd looking, potato like things turn into next year!!

10/31/2026

No one will feel that quieter time than we gardeners! Those early mornings to beat the heat are done! Time for a little break!

10/31/2026

October Pumpkin Spotlight: One Too Many

The One-Too-Many pumpkin, is a creamy pumpkin laced with pale red veins that darken to a deeper red. It’s named because they resemble a bloodshot eye.

When baked they make great pumpkin pie or they can be used for carving or decoration.

A bit on the larger size, they typically weigh 20 to 25 lbs. One Too Many can vary in shape from round to a flattened oblong shape. These productive vines have good powdery mildew tolerance plus some virus tolerance.

Address

2403 S 18th Street, Ste 100
Union Gap, WA
98903

Telephone

+15095741604

Website

facebook.com

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