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October 2018
Established in 1980
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In this issue you will find:
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Happy Halloween! |
- Message from the President
- Upcoming Events
- Member Tours & Events
- Seminars
- Feature Articles
- Now Selling - GVG's "Plot to Plate" Cookbook
- Annual Board of Directors Election
- "In Your Plot"
- Tidbits from Club Archives
- 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 Activities
- Seminars
- Fall Plant Sale
- Looking for Gardens
- Membership
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MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
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I am pleased to be able to update the membership regarding the club's gardening cookbook, "From Plot to Plate: Growing Tips and Recipes from the Green Valley Gardeners". The cookbook is now available online and from the The Book Shop (next door to the Busy Bee Printing) and Desert Bloom Nursery (next to La Placita Family Restaurant). Both of these businesses are in the Green Valley Village Shopping Center. You can also purchase a copy from the Green Valley/Sahuarita Chamber of Commerce, located on Continental Road across from the KFC.
Seven nominees are up for consideration in the annual club Board of Directors election. You will soon receive an e-blast outlining the procedures for casting your ballot. Please take the time to read that e-blast as voting procedures will be different than in past years, with electronic voting (as voted on and approved by GVG membership) being the preferred method of voting.
In October, we have seminars confirmed for the 4th, 11th, and 25th. We will continue to hold our seminars at the GVR Desert Hills Social Center Auditorium. Doors will open with free coffee and cookies starting at 9:00 a.m. Presentations will begin at 9:30 a.m. and will conclude sharply at 10:15 a.m., allowing for 15 minutes of Q & A with presenters.
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- October 4 ~ Desert Hills Seminar ~ Jessie Byrd, Pima County Native Plant Nursery Manager, will talk about how the nursery and the Tucson Cactus and Succulent Society are leading the efforts to rescue cactus and reintroduce native species into the urban fabric of Tucson.
- October 11 ~ Desert Hills Seminar ~ Dr. Glenn Wright, from the U of A School of Plant Sciences, will educate us about the care of deciduous fruit trees.
- October 25 ~ Desert Hills Seminar ~ Alex Shipley from Civano Nursery will introduce us to some of the plants featured at our fall plant sale.
- November 1 ~ Desert Hills Seminar ~ club member, Kristee West, will educate us about growing Iris in Arizona.
Member Tours & Events
- October 18 ~ Mesquite Valley Growers Tour
- November 3 ~ Annual BBQ at Desert Meadows Park
Be on the lookout for separate eblasts providing details for each of these seminars and member activities.
Visit our
website for a complete calendar of events
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Now Selling - Green Valley Gardeners' "Plot to Plate Cookbook"
Whether you're new to vegetable gardening in the desert or looking for tasty new ways to use your bountiful harvest, the Green Valley Gardeners' new publication, "
Plot to Plate: Growing Tips and Recipes from the Green Valley Gardeners" is just what you need.
As the title suggests, the book is not your average cookbook. In addition to offering 191 tried and true recipes from 30 club members, it's a growing guide for a successful Sonoran desert vegetable garden plot. Expert advice from Lorna Mitchell, a club member, trained horticulturist and experienced desert gardener, includes tips for choosing good plant varieties for our area, how and when to plant, how to harvest, and ways to store and preserve your produce.
How to purchase:
- Members and non-members can purchase copies online for $15 per copy, as well as at our seminars and at member events. Copies purchased online can be picked up at club seminars, Desert Meadows Park on Wednesdays or the Arid Garden on Fridays. The books will not be mailed.
- Click here to purchase your cookbook from our online store and view details for pickup options.
Please support this important club fundraiser and help your garden thrive!
Thanks to the Cookbook Committee, comprised of Marilee Crumley, Rena Duffy, Lorna Mitchell and Christa Ryan, for their hard work and dedication to make this valuable resource a reality.
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Annual Board of Directors Election
The seven candidates for Board of Directors are: John Bergstrom, Steve Curtis, Christa Ryan, Patricia Simpson, Jon D. Smiley, Kathleen Stone, and Mark Thompson. The candidates have been asked to be present at the October 4 and 11 seminars for meet and greets with the members. Their bios will be available then as well.
The membership passed an amendment to the by-laws last year to allow electronic voting. Pursuant to that amendment, this year's election will be done electronically. The Nominating/Election Committee believes this will save the club $350. All members with an email address on record with GVG as of October 1, 2018, will receive an electronic ballot. Paper ballots will be mailed only to the small number of members without email addresses on record with GVG.
Instructions on how to vote and candidate bios will be e-blasted to members on October 19. Ballots will be emailed on October 22.
The committee believes this process is simple, secure and, most importantly, ballots will be secret. We encourage you to participate in the process.
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Fall's a good time to plant garlic. |
"In Your Plot"
by Lorna Mitchell
Harvests of eggplant, peppers, squash, green beans, and tomatoes are still coming in but that will end with a frost, so make room for winter crops.
We are fortunate to garden year round by rotating types of crops. Remember to replenish soil nutrients with amendments of steer manure or peat and balanced fertilizer whenever you dig. Now is the time for transplants of cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, Swiss chard, spinach, and kale. Put in seeds of carrots, beets, Swiss chard, kale, lettuce, spinach, cilantro, peas, radishes, kohlrabi, rutabaga, parsnips, and turnips.
Buy only healthy plants free of insect pests to bring into the garden. Hijacking pests will damage not only the plant they rode in on but will soon move to others; stop them before they arrive.
Garlic grows from cloves which can be obtained from grocery store garlic (99 Cent Store is good) or order from catalogs. Divide bulbs and plant cloves point end up, one inch deep and three inches apart, and keep them moist till May or June.
Don't plant "winter squash", that's a term for hard skinned squash that stores well but it is very frost sensitive and grows in the summer. Also, don't plant potatoes yet; Irish potatoes will be planted in February, sweet potatoes in May.
Continually check irrigation to ensure water delivery to each plant. Inspect connections for leaks and timers for settings. Check for low batteries, the high temperatures of summer can drain them and your timer won't work without them.
Pests are still with us; tomato hornworms keep showing up, grasshoppers are taking their share, and leafhoppers are sucking juices out of everything. Spray hornworms with Bt and go out early on a cool morning to pick off grasshoppers and leafhoppers and destroy them.
Weeds are another pest needing our attention. Goatheads (also called puncture vine or sand spur) seems to be plentiful this year; dig it up, bag it, and get the seeds away from the garden. Vine weed looks like morning glory and is invasive and will strangle plants; pull it out, do not let it grow. Mesquite seeds germinate and grow very rapidly and put down a long strong tap root, pull them up before you can't! Of course, grass invades everywhere and must be dug out by the roots.
Those are my plot thoughts for now - happy gardening!
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Tidbits from Club Archives
At the Spring Plant Sale of 1991, we sold "low water plants propagated by club members, along with baked goods and pressed flower notes made by female Auxiliary members."
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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
I'm taking a break. Be back next month!
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Pink Trump
et flower
s are late summer arrivals at the Arid Garden.
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Arid Garden
by Mary Kidnocker
During September it has been a pleasure to add two new volunteers to our garden family: Welcome to Pat Rice and Judy Restad.
For the third time this season the lovely cactus climbing through the Palo Verde tree has bloomed - this time a total of fourteen huge, white flowers. For once, they were all open on a Friday morning to greet the garden volunteers who so earnestly care for them year-round.
The garden is perhaps presently in the lushest mode of the season. On your way to the Thursday seminars, stop by and see how full and verdant it is!
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Volunteer Desert Marigolds beautify the Arid Garden entrance.
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We're now an ArbNet accredited park!! |
Desert Meadows Park
by Chuck Parsons
Good news this past month - the park was awarded accreditation by ArbNet as a Level 1 arboretum. Level 1 criteria allows for volunteer staffing. We will catalog plant collections and publish the lists on the club website. This along with more plant signs, will help visitors find specific species within the park - or should I say arboretum?
Carmen Johnson, our new coordinator in the Barrio Garden, is organizing 'Day of the Dead' events. Watch for e-blasts this month. In the meantime, mark your calendar for Monday, October 29th at 4 p.m. and again for November 2nd for a candlelight event after dark. Both events will be in the Barrio Garden at the park.
As the weather continues to improve, please schedule time to walk the park. Bring your coffee over in the morning, a sack lunch midday, or a glass of wine at sunset. You will enjoy the improvements made by volunteers this past summer.
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A seasonal display greets visitors to Grijalva House.
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GVG Gardens at Historic Canoa Ranch (HCR)
by Raydine Taber, Bill Carley, and Jack Davis (emeritus)
Monsoon season has kept us busy with weeding and more weeding. On the other hand, it has increased the growth of many of our plants, especially those in the Junior House courtyard. The fig tree, donated by Patricia Preciado Martin, is in its second year and has outdone itself in growth. This fig is approximately 12-15 feet tall and 8-10 feet wide. With this type of growth, it has out grown its place in the courtyard. Come late winter/early spring, we will be moving it to the orchard where it will have plenty of room to spread out.
Thanks to the monsoon rains, the chiltepines have also had a growth spurt. They have grown more in the last month than in the last three months. Amazing how plants seem to grow bigger and better with rain than irrigation.
Our tomatoes are on their second round of producing a nice crop. Hopefully we will have some available for picking during the Anza Day celebration.
We have completed plans for our fall/winter veggie crop and the butterfly garden. Purchasing and planting will take place the first week of October.
Cheri Raftery has donated a grapefruit tree and a lemon tree and
Pima County has agreed to buy two apple trees, two pear trees, an orange tree and a fig tree for planting in the Orchard. Jessie Byrd has indicated she has Heritage Pomegranates trees we can use to fill in the holes in the orchard. Our plan is to have all the planting done before Anza Day.
The 6th Annual Anza Day at Canoa Ranch is Saturday, October 20th, 9 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Highlights are the dedication of Canoa Lake and a celebration recognizing 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. Save 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 free and open to the public.
We invite all of you to join us on our Tuesday gardening adventures at "the ranch". We meet at 7 a.m. at the Sr. House Herb Garden.
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Member Activities
by Marita Ramsey and Cathy Merritt
Mesquite Valley Growers Tour ~ Thursday, October 18
Spread over 20 acres, Mesquite Valley Growers offers just about every kind of flora imaginable: flowering annuals and perennials, herbs, veggies, shrubs, shade and fruit trees, cacti, succulents, tropical plants and bonsai.
Mesquite Valley Growers is located on E. Speedway in Tucson. We will carpool from El Rodeo (formerly La Placita Bar & Grill Restaurant), departing at 8:15 a.m.
Reservations for this activity can be made at the Thursday, October 4 and October 11 seminars, or by emailing Marita Ramsay at maritasandoint@yahoo.com.
SAVE THE DATE - Annual BBQ at Desert Meadows Park ~ Saturday, November 3, starting at 1 p.m.
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Seminars
by Bill Carley
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Jessie Byrd proudly tends to Pima County's Native Plant Nursery plants. |
Thursday, October 4
Jessie Byrd, Pima County Native Plant Nursery Manager, will talk about how the nursery and the Tucson Cactus and Succulent Society are leading the efforts to rescue cactus and reintroduce native species into the urban fabric of Tucson.
Thursday, October 11
Dr. Glenn Wright, from the U of A School of Plant Sciences, will educate us about the care of deciduous fruit trees.
Thursday, October 25
Alex Shipley from Civano Nursery will introduce us to some of the plants featured at our fall plant sale.
Thursday, November 1
Club member, Kristee West, will educate us about growing Iris in Arizona.
As always, seminars are free and open to the public. They are held at GVR Desert Hills Auditorium, 2980 South Camino del Sol from 9:30 to 10:30. Doors open at 9:00 for coffee and treats. Master Gardeners will be present to answer your gardening questions. Special treat this year - copies of the club cookbook, "Plot to Plate: Growing Tips and Recipes from the Green Valley Gardeners," will be on sale for $15.00 before the seminar starts - and they're moving like hotcakes!
Watch for detailed email blasts about our seminars, arriving in your email inbox the Monday morning prior to each seminar.
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Our October fall plant sale is just around the corner. This sale is one of the major fundraisers for our club, and area residents look forward to refreshing their gardens with new plants. So please be on the lookout for details, and when the call for volunteers goes out, please consider helping us make this sale a success!
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We are still looking for a few good gardens to include in the April 2019 Spring Garden Tour. This year we are concentrating on areas around Canoa Ranch and along or off of Camino del Sol. If you know of any gardens that might be good additions to the tour please contact either
Stacie Meyer
staciemeyer24@gmail.com or
Cynthia Surprise
cjsurprise@verizon.net.
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Membership
by Mark Thompson
Four fifty-seven and growing. That's what our membership is up to now. Let's see if we can get to 500 by the end of the year. During the month of September, we added twelve new members.
- Janice Absher
- Jane Akob
- Melanie and James Heller
- Edith Fletcher
- Clif Mayfield
- Barbara and Lewis Nagler
- Rick and Pam Irvin
- Lila Hauge-Stoffel
- Loralee Makela
They will be receiving their name badges shortly, so please make them feel welcomed. Don't forget to check with Elissa at Desert Meadows Park if you need fresh herbs for that special dish and look forward to the members only plant sale on Wednesday afternoon 10/24. The exact time of this credit card only sale will be announced in a special Eblast. Enjoy your membership!
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