Today's Feature

Master Gardener Plant Sale.

News release

Perennials will be abundant at the annual Ozark Gateway Master Gardener plant sale. This year’s event will be held from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 6 at Powers Museum, 1617 Oak St., Carthage (across from Municipal Park).

A wide variety of plants will be offered including annuals, trees, shrubs, houseplants, vegetables and lots and lots of perennials. Daylilies, Oriental lilies, iris, banana plants, lilacs, sedum are just a few of the reasonably priced plants available for purchase. A nice variety of groundcovers is also expected.

Area master gardeners donate healthy plants to the sale from their abundant gardens as a fund-raiser for the group’s many projects including the Garden and Grow program for children to learn about gardening. This year’s projects include the fifth year at Turn Around Ranch.

Other projects can be found at the Carthage Public Library Gardens, Joplin Crosslines, Schifferdecker Park, Vantage Point, Ronald McDonald House, Lafayette House, Joplin Community Clinic, Brady Building, Earth Day, Sarcoxie Cave Restoration, Webb City Environmental Day and George Washington Carver to name a few.

Master Gardeners also work the hotline at the University of Missouri Extension Office to answer gardening questions from residents. Volunteers from the local group donated over 2,000 hours of work during 2005.

Stench Report:
Thursday,
5/4/06

No Stench
Detected on Carthage
Square

Happened to catch a portion of a series on the history of firearms. As is the case with a lot a things I suppose, the machines needed to make precision parts for guns were modified from time to time to produce other products. Bicycles, sewing machines, typewriters and the such were usually manufactured near firearms facilities.

Followin’ the story made me think of current times and the development of all sorts of products that came from the space race. A lot of discoveries led to ever’day products that we now take for granted. Tang for one. ‘Course a lot of the computer technology was driven by the needs of things ta be small and affordable. I’ll prob’ly never ride a space craft, or for that matter ever take another swig of that fake orange drink.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

I still get caught up reading books by the old herbalists. It never ceases to amaze me the amount of information which got passed around before computers!!!

I had the pleasure of meeting Hanna Kroeger who was a gifted master herbalist, a teacher and a God send to many ill people. Hanna would have visitors to her Colorado location from all over the world. She was a great believer in eating good, clean foods and plant nutrition. Some of her remedies are as follows:

"Female trouble... fennel tea is helpful to the reproductive system. It is an old folk remedy to regulate difficult and irregular menstrual cycles. It has a hormonal-like action that reduces the effect of PMS and menopausal symptoms."

Artichokes tone up the liver. They bring clear urine and increase the flow of bile. Artichokes are thought to help keep arteries clean and smooth and improve weak digestion.

Oregano has anti-viral qualities and may aid the body in balancing metabolism. It is useful in capsules or as a tea for coughs, stomach disorders and gallbladder problems and again menstrual pains. Oregano has been used for nervous headaches, irritability, exhaustion and as a mild sedative."

There are many foods which have been traditionally used as "medicine" for centuries.

artCentral
Art Notes from Hyde House
By Sally Armstrong, Director of artCentral

Another great opening under our belts! I want to thank all those who attended the very "wet" but very successful art opening of Kim and Kat Kissels’ and Cheryl Church’s last Friday evening.

A good crowd was on hand in spite of the rainy weather and many traveled from out of town. The food was very good, thanks to offerings from Perry Fleming and cute sugar cookies of Kelly Hunt’s that matched the invitations, as well as the fresh fruit and veggies and raw salmon requested by the artists. The flowers from Justin Thomas at "The Wildflower" were beautiful as usual, and we thank him for the kind donation. And special thanks to Melissa Dunston of THE PRESS for her VERY fine article and good coverage of the event, and our friend Rich Brown was kind to give us a nice article as well.

So now , the rest of you reading this article need to come by and see this show! I spent all day Saturday and Sunday at the gallery and not a single soul came by. People of Carthage and surrounding area, this gallery is a little jewel that is for the most part undiscovered and needs to be taken advantage of! And the best part, it’s free entertainment. Make the Hyde House part of your Sunday afternoon at least once a month, and you will see a new show each time.

Speaking of Sunday afternoons, don’t forget to bring or take your mothers by our gallery on Mother’s Day Sunday, May 14th, for the reception. A pretty floral arrangement, a home decor book, and other prizes will be drawn for by those attending. This is from 1:00 - 5:00 that day.

An artist who formerly lived in Carthage is Barbara Lee Watkins. She writes, "I was Barbara Hartley then and helped to organize the Carthage Art Association in the 60s." Living now in Illinois, she will be in Carthage at the Public Library on May 8th for a book signing of her first novel, "The Artist and the Cop". An article that appeared in the SCOTT COUNTY TIMES in March states; "Watkins, who uses Barbara Lee as her pen name, said she knows about art and likes cop shows and mysteries so she started writing and couldn’t stop! The story follows the detective work of Karen Sutton, a retired small town cop and budding artist.

Other than publishing her book, Barbara’s life has included other recent honors. For the second year, Watkins was chosen to design an egg as part of the 2006 White House Easter Egg Artistry Contest, on display at the White House Visitors Center. Her book is available through Barnes and Noble and Amazon." We are pleased that Barbara contacted artCentral and plans to stop in and visit us while she is in town. We are anxious to meet her as well!