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July 2018
Established in 1980
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In this issue you will find:
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The Arid Garden's climbing cactus is putting on quite a show after the recent rains!
Photo by Linda Gregory. |
- Upcoming Events
- Member Tours & Events
- Seminars
- Feature Articles
- "In Your Plot"
- Wanted - Board of Directors Candidates
- Make a Donation to GVG via AmazonSmile
- Project Updates
- Allen J. Ogden Community Garden
- Arid Garden
- Desert Meadows Park
- GVG Gardens at Historic Canoa Ranch
- Committee Updates
- Member Photos
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Seminars will resume in September
Member Tours & Events
Member activities will resume in September/October
Visit our
website for a complete calendar of events
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| LOVE my tomatoes!! |
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"In Your Plot"
by Lorna Mitchell
LOVE those tomatoes! Great harvests of tomatoes, summer squash, eggplant, and green beans have been pouring in - peppers and cucumbers are beginning and melons are promising. Try to visit your plot 2-3X a week to pick fruit at its peak flavor and texture. It's time for Eggplant Parmesan, onion pie, bean salad, and zucchini in everything. Eatin' is good!
Rain in June was delightful and our plants responded, especially the weeds - pull them while they're small. Keep irrigation tubing and timers in good working order even after the monsoons get going because rain can be spotty and unpredictable. Keep the ground moist but not muddy - puddles are not good.
Pests usually come in abundance with the rains. Tomato hornworms can devour enough leaves in one day to almost destroy the plant. Look for their signs; leafless sticks of tomato stems and little black droppings on leaves and ground. The caterpillar itself can be very difficult to find as it's the same color as what it eats. Spray Bt (follow directions on dilution) on the entire crop of tomatoes. Bt contains bacteria which, once ingested by the caterpillar, causes it to stop eating and our plants are safe. It's effective for only 2-3 days so must be repeated every week to treat the new hatchlings.
Seeds of fast-growing, heat-loving plants can go in the ground now; including summer squash, pumpkins, radishes, corn, beans, okra, and melons. Transplants of tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant should give a harvest before fall, too. Remember that plants you buy have been grown in a greenhouse and they need time to acclimate to living outside if they are to survive.
Think cool and plan your fall garden. Browse seed catalogs and think of cold nights and lots of broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower. Seeds and transplants will go into the garden by the end of September. If you grow your own transplants from seed allow 8-10 weeks from seed to plot; that means by the middle to end of July your seeds are in potting soil. Keep them moist and in full sun after they get some leaves so they can be ready for life in the big outdoors. Think ahead - fresh broccoli for Thanksgiving dinner!
Those are my plot thoughts for now - happy gardening!
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Wanted - Board of Directors Candidates
The Nominating Committee is looking for members interested in serving on the Green Valley Gardeners Board of Directors.
Board members have the very important responsibility of establishing and administering club policies and giving direction to the president. The board also provides input as to the programs and projects the club undertakes.
The term of office for board members is three years. Board members are elected in October and take office in November.
If you would be willing to serve or would like to nominate a member, please contact Bill Carley at custom.bill@att.net or 920-344-6563. |
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Shop AmazonSmile and Benefit the Garden Club
Green Valley Gardeners is now listed on AmazonSmile. When you shop Amazon, log into AmazonSmile, use your existing personal account login information, select Green Valley Gardeners as your non-profit of choice. The club will receive a small donation for each qualifying purchase you make. Thank you!
To shop AmazonSmile go to
http://smile.amazon.com/.
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Allen J. Ogden Community Garden
b
y George Stone
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Is anyone else still in love with their cast iron cookware!
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Still like to garden? June and July are no fun to work your garden, but we diehards still do it. Sometimes when I arrive at 9 a.m. at the garden to find others out there harvesting, weeding, and watering I must admit I say to myself - "Are we crazy?". Most of us grew up doing it and we LOVE IT. Occasionally when I stroll the garden I'm astonished to find how many good gardeners there are at the Ogden.
In this issue of Sand 'N' Seeds I want to reach back into yesteryear and reminisce about cast iron cooking. I guess I was six or seven when I first knew my mother used cast iron cookware for every meal. I didn't give it much thought then, after all we were in a world war and we were all told not to complain about ANYTHING. As I grew older something told me to save some of the pots, pans, and skillets she cooked with. I saved them for a while, but when modern cookware came on the market I caved in to the temptation and bought the Teflon skillets and anything else that was new. Over the years I lost most of the cookware to family and friends, and now have but a few pieces left - but I do have those memories. As the Ogden Garden completes our kitchen/cannery building, I've begun a search for some of that old cast iron cookware. I've loaned the kitchen my two best skillets and will eventually use them cooking something for someone. I last used my 12-inch deep skillet at the 2017 pig roast to cook our campfire beans; and afterwards Bill Berdine said they were some of the best he had ever tasted. The recipe is good, but the skillet does make the difference. I think those of you who have cast iron cookware should hang onto it; however, if you've decided they're collecting rust and you no longer need or want them, I'm interested. I'm not asking you to give them away - I'll pay a decent price for some select pieces. If you decide to keep them, know that sometime in the fall I'll be doing some Dutch oven cooking and you may join me if you can. I'll let you know when.
On the canning front - a few of us at the Ogden are planning a road trip to Apple Annie's in Wilcox, on Saturday July 14, where we plan on picking peaches. Upon returning we'll be canning what we bought, probably the next day. Any club member is welcome to join us either on the road trip (five so far) or the canning process. Give George Stone a call at 520-343-9690 if interested. The peaches will be available all of July and August; however, the August harvest is not always the best. Green Beans will also be available.
A 50% increase in diagnosed Valley Fever cases has been reported here in Southern Arizona. If you're unaware of the symptoms, you may want to do a little research on it. Cold-like symptoms will drain you of energy that can last for months. Do your self a favor and check it out.
Anyone who has never ridden the Tucson street car is in for a treat. On Tuesday, July 10, I'll take a group of club members on a two-hour ride through downtown, the Fourth Avenue historic shopping district, the U of A campus, and other parts of Tucson. This is the third year the ride has been offered and it's fun. Don't be concerned by the heat, for those cars are air conditioned and can be cold as heck. One year it was over 100 degrees outside and a rider wanted a sweater. Call George Stone at 520-343-9690 if you want to go. The street car is called the LINK and a small map of the route is shown below. This would be a great adventure for a child who has never been on a street car.
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Join George and other club members for a Tucson street car tour!
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Spider Lily in flower. |
Arid Garden
by Mary Kidnocker
The garden is popping with blooms after the two-inch recent rains. Of special interest have been the twenty-some large white flowers on the climbing cactus, many opening in unison on June 22. This is the plant in the Palo Verde tree which volunteers so carefully cover with frost cloth to protect against winter temperatures. (See the photo of this beauty at the top of this newsletter).
Spring bulb Spider Lily also surprised with her unique blooms in the Shade Garden, responding to the rainfall. This Sonoran native is related to the common Amaryllis, and totally disappears during most of the year.
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Sunburn protection for Big Bertha cactus, created by volunteer James Tyrer.
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New agave plants have recently been added to the garden: A. filifera and
A. palmerii
. Scattered throughout, there are also a half dozen agave varieties currently in stages of bloom.
Why not stop by the garden in the early morning and be "blown away" by the riot of colors offered by the many Trichocereus cactus flowers... and accompanied by the chorus of songbirds.
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Queen of the Night blooms turning pink as they greet the morning sun. |
Desert Meadows Park
by Chuck Parsons
On the 30th of June we said goodbye to Leslie and Gary Campbell. Their contribution to the park has been impressive. They designed the native plantings along the Anza Trail, capitalizing on Leslie's experience and contacts at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum. While working on the trail, they often took advantage of the shade provided by a cluster of mature mesquites. Enjoying the shade, they conceived the Barrio Garden. They leave us with a wonderful gift! The farewell gathering was held in the Barrio Garden - only fitting don't you think?
Last month visitors to the park were able to see Queen of the Night in bloom. The park has two clusters of vine in the Barrio Garden area and one in the Hummingbird/Butterfly garden. I caught one of the vines the following morning while walking Mojo. By the time I shot the photo the bloom had begun to wilt and had turned pink.
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Club members are welcome to help themselves to the herbs in the new herb garden!
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Earlier this year, two 150-gal tubs were donated to the park. Elissa Dearing and the garden volunteers have set these up in the middle of the vegetable garden to grow herbs. Garden Club members are invited to snip herbs from this herb garden. There is a nice variety for your culinary pleasure.
There's a new feature under construction at the park. Park volunteers are working with member Charlene Westgate (Westgate Landscape Design) to create a demonstration area for passive water harvesting. The captured water will sustain native plantings that are designed to provide both habitat and food for birds. The garden is located along the Anza Trail, between the trail and the garden fence. We intend for this area to be informative, promote water harvesting and provide excellent birding. The project is being paid for using the remaining funds from our Freeport-McMoRan Foundation 2017 grant.
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| The Grijalva House tomato plants are producing an abundant crop of juicy fruit - or are they vegetables! |
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GVG Gardens at Historic Canoa Ranch (HCR)
by Bill Carley, Raydine Taber, and Jack Davis (emeritus)
Earlier this month we had another round of grasshoppers. This time, we were able to rid the herb garden of those little pests using a natural remedy.
All of the tomato plants in the Grijalva House courtyard have been producing tasty vegetables. Did you know that in 1893 the
United States Supreme Court, in the case of Nix v. Hedden, ruled that, for purposes of the Tariff Act of March 3, 1883, tomatoes are vegetables.
Our butterfly garden has been blooming and we allowed some of the herbs in the raised beds to bloom, encouraging butterflies to sample their nectar. Borage is blooming profusely.
In the orchard, we are in the process of removing sod from around the bases of the heritage pomegranates. Once all the sod is removed, we will fill that area with mulch. This winter, when they are dormant, we will continue to thin them out.
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The mammillaria have responded to the recent rains by putting out many blooms!
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Our first round of monsoon rains provided just enough water to coax the mammillaria and barrel cacti to bloom.
With a little pruning, the Junior House Courtyard is an oasis of green and welcoming visitors to a cool and quiet haven.
On Wednesday, July 11 and Tuesday, July 31, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., Pima County naturalists, on an easy hike, will help attendees to discover who is out and about in the desert at night. Learn why many animals and some plants are nocturnal and how they manage life in the dark. Bring a headlamp or flashlight. All ages welcome. Children free. Adults free with Membership, non-member Adult $5. Online registration required:
www.pima.gov/canoaranch
or email canotRanch@pima.gov or call 520-724-5220.
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The barrel cactus was also thankful for the recent rain!
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The 6th Annual Anza Day at Canoa Ranch will be held Saturday, October 20, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.
m. There will be celebrations to dedicate Canoa Lake and the completion of the 47 miles of the Anza Trail in Pima County. 2018 marks the 50th anniversary of the National Trails System Act establishing the Anza Trail and the Arizona Scenic Trail. There will also be the Anza Trail Color Guard, historic presentations, booths and food vendors. Circle the date and enjoy participating in the celebrations and seeing all the new landscaping around the lake and many other improvements to the ranch. The event is open to the public and free.
We invite all of you to come out and join us on our Tuesday gardening adventures at "the ranch". This time of year we start at 7:00 a.m. and typically finish around 9:00 a.m.
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Membership
by Mark Thompson
The hot weather and rains have really made things grow in Green Valley, and that's true for membership as well. In June, we added six new members to our ranks:
- Jon and Mary Smiley
- Scott and Pat Mccamy
- George and Marsha von der Lieth
We hope to see them around soon. Our membership is now at 431. Almost a quarter of our members are winter residents. So we (yes, that includes me) are spending a few months in cooler parts of the country.
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Club member, Linda Gregory, submitted this photo of two Gulf Fritillary caterpillars on the Blue Passion Flower vine at Desert Meadows Park. The photo was taken by Jeri Hedjuk, one of Linda's Camera Club students.
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