I think this might be my first blog encompassing a full week. I’m starting to wonder how I ever fit in a more frequent blogging schedule but will do my best to be a bit more prompt. It was both a short and long week with lots of action and activity as we continue to gear up for our busiest season of the year. I was up in Northern Wisconsin earlier in the week for some presentations and enjoyed a visit to Olbrich Botanical Gardens (OBG) and Green Bay Botanical Garden (GBBG) as part of my route and planned destinations! I also had a presentation in Sturgeon Bay for the Door County Master Gardeners. Our grounds staff and volunteers kept everything running smoothly and I believe the gardens are as tidy as they ever looked this time of year. It’s crazy to think that we might have some snow this weekend but Mother Nature has thrown us plenty of curve balls in the past. A great highlight of the week was the delivery and dedication of a new CASE endloader (from Johnson Tractor) that was purchased and donated to us by longtime volunteer and garden supporter, Dr. Gerald Gredler as well as the Gredler family. The photo below shows Dr. Gredler in the bucket (front left) of the new machine which has already been used extensively this week. Other images included in this blog are from my travels and at the bottom, there are some photos from the “Make A Difference Day” volunteer mulching activity that included over 20 students from UW-Whitewater as well as folks from the City of Janesville. This crew, in three hours, spread over 80 cubic yards of mulch over our entire daylily collection and Palmer Drive berm using primarily buckets. Amazing amount of progress this week with our countless volunteers coming in daily as well!