December 2018
Established in 1980 
In this issue you will find:
Happy Holidays!
  • Message from the President
  • Upcoming Events
    • Seminars
    • Member Tours & Events
  • Feature Articles
    • GVG's "Plot to Plate" Cookbook
    • "Thank You" to our Board of Directors Candidates
    • "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
    • Memory Garden at Posada Community Center
  • Committee Updates
    • Looking for Gardens
    • Membership
Would you like to submit an article or a photo for the January newsletter? Please submit it to [email protected] by December 28.
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
The Board of Directors election for new members was successfully completed this past October with Kathy Stone and Mark Thompson being elected to a second three-year terms. Christa Ryan was elected for the first time and joined the Board for its November meeting. Please take the time when you happen to see any of our newly-elected Board members and let them know of your interests, concerns, and any other matter you would like to convey.
 
I want to alert the club membership to an upcoming opportunity to enhance their knowledge of gardening and landscaping in the Sonoran southwest. The University of Arizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences' Pima County Cooperative Extension, Green Valley, will be offering its Master Gardener Course, February 5 through April 9, 2019. The course will be offered on consecutive Tuesdays, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. with an hour for lunch. The course will be held at the Green Valley Cooperative Extension Office, 530 East Whitehouse Canyon Road [road to Madera Canyon]. The course will be taught by University of Arizona faculty and expert Master Gardeners from Tucson and Green Valley. Applications can be picked up at the Whitehouse Canyon office and additional information can be obtained by calling 520-648-0808. Fee for the course is $200.00. This fee includes the Master Gardener manual and all course materials and does not require a volunteer commitment. A personal caveat, after of couple years of attempting vegetable gardening using my 35 years of Kentucky experience and finding mostly failure in Green Valley, I completed the course in 2014. With the knowledge and personal contacts, I made with experienced desert gardeners, I began to experience success in my gardening and landscape efforts.
 
A FYI item - the Board of Directors is considering having a strategic planning retreat early in 2019. The primary purpose of the retreat is to determine what, if any, changes need to be made for the Board to provide services and leadership for the club. Over the past four years, the club has grown in membership from 250+/- to over 500. The board believes this rapid growth may require changes in its structure and function. If you have suggestions regarding this strategic planning retreat please send them to me or any board member.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Seminars  by Bill Carley
The Elegant Trogan is perhaps the most hoped-for bird sighting in Madera Canyon.

  • December 6 
    Rodger Putney of Green Things Nursery will discuss the care of holiday plants
  • January 3 ~ the 2019 seminar series will start with Dr. Glenn Wright speaking on citrus. There is no one better to start the new year!
  • January 10 ~ Doug Moore, Director of Education for the Friends of Madera Canyon will talk about "Birds of Madera Canyon"
  • January 14 
    ~ Mark Sitter returns for his annual talk on cactus and succulents. Please note that due to popular demand this seminar is held at Quail Creek.
  • January 31 ~ Charlene Westgate, Westgage Garen Design, will tell us how to make use of basins and other earthworks to capture and direct rainwater to plants.
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.

Member Tours & Events

  • December 13 ~ Green Things Nursery Tour ~ One of the largest growers of poinsettias in Arizona. They also raise other holiday plants such as cyclamen and Christmas cactus. In addition, they are a traditional nursery stocking, cactus, trees, shrubs, annuals and pottery. This is a wonderful opportunity to purchase a premium poinsettia, available in a wide range of colors and sizes.
  • January 6 ~ Annual Meeting and Potluck at 5 p.m. at the Green Valley Recreation Las Campanas Center. A e-blast providing registration information will will be sent to all members.

Be on the lookout for separate eblasts providing details for each of these seminars and member activities. And v
isit our website for a complete calendar of events
FEATURE ARTICLES
Green Valley Gardeners' "Plot to Plate Cookbook"

With the holidays approaching, the cookbook committee wants to suggest that our gardening cookbook would take care of many of the names on your gift list. If they're into gardening, canning, preserving or just eating it would make the perfect gift. At only $15 it will be one of the most reasonable gifts you'll be buying this Christmas season. Plot to Plate would also make great hostess gifts, thank you gifts, and welcome to the neighborhood gifts for any new neighbors, especially if they're new to gardening in the southwest. 

  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.
"Thank You" to our Board of Directors Candidates

"Thank you" to all candidates who threw their hats in the ring for the November Board of Directors election. GVG depends on volunteers to serve in many capacities, with the board being one of the most visible opportunities. Your dedication to our continued success is appreciated!

And "thank you" to all members who took the time to vote!
Try growing sprouts in a jar on your kitchen counter.
"In Your Plot"   by Lorna Mitchell

Christmas wins the competition for attention this month so it's nice that our gardening chores slow down. If you put a little effort into onions, irrigation, and weeds over the next few weeks, it will be enough.

ONIONS: Onion transplants go into the ground as soon as you get them. Dixondale had weather issues and was not able to ship onion plants until after Thanksgiving, so our chore of planting them falls into December. Use a pencil to poke a hole into the soil every 5-6", insert the roots and 1/2 - 3/4" of the white portion and pat closely with soil so it stands up. Make sure regular water is available. If you want big bulb onions be sure to plant short-day varieties. Sets - tiny dry onions that can be found locally - will grow as "green onions" but don't get large.

IRRIGATION: Please make it a habit to manually turn on your water to visualize the connections and emitters so you know they are functioning properly every time you visit the garden. It does freeze at the garden so our faucets and timers need to be wrapped with insulating material such as a towel or blanket and protected from getting wet. Plants thrive on less water now than they did three months ago so it's wise to adjust the length of time the water is on.

WEEDS: We have a new crop of winter weeds that need to be removed when they are small because they grow taproots very quickly.

Rows of new seedlings are visible in many plots. It looks like seed germination has been abundant and now we need to make room for developing plants. Thinning root crops is important so they have room to grow and don't entangled with each other. Many of these crops can be eaten at any stage and the thinnings will make a gourmet meal.
Leaf lettuce is growing well. I call this a process crop - meaning harvest, eat, grow, harvest, eat, etc. Pick the larger leaves on the outside frequently. Don't let them get too big because the stems will get milky and bitter. If harvested regularly every 2-3 days one leaf lettuce plant will provide many healthy salads.

If that's not satisfying enough try growing sprouts in a jar on your kitchen counter. Get seeds from a food source such as a grocery store or those designated for sprouts; don't use seeds for gardens because they often are treated with fungicide to prevent decay in the soil before they sprout. Mung beans, garbanzo beans, peas, alfalfa, clover, arugula, lentils, dill, broccoli, radishes, etc., can all be sprouted in a mason jar laid on its side with a little water in it with cheesecloth replacing the lid. It is very important to soak the seeds first then rinse and pour off the water at least once, maybe 2-3 times a day. Keeping the seeds clean, airy, and moist (but not sitting in water) is the trick. Sprouts are wonderfully nutritious and add a great crunch to sandwiches, salads, and snacks. There are great web sites for all the info you need for successful sprouts and recipes and ideas on how to use them. One helpful site is sproutpeople.org.

With Santa's visit only weeks away why not drop a few hints about those gardening supplies you've been wanting all year? Whatever Santa brings to you, may it bring joy with it.

Merry Christmas to all my fellow gardeners!
Tidbits from Club Archives

In the autumn of 1984, an Arizona Cypress tree was planted in front of the East Social Center in memory of deceased members. It continues to grow in the same spot. See if you can find it the next time you visit this center.
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/ .
PROJECT UPDATES
Allen J. Ogden Community Garden  b y George Stone  




           I'm taking a break but will return next month!
Mexican Purple Sage before thinning.
Arid Garden  by Mary Kidnocker 

A warm welcome back to returning winter volunteers Carol Conry, Peter
Comanor, and Mary Beth Stevenson.
 
Among tasks this month was major thinning of a large, mature Mexican Purple Sage and a dense group of Bulbine plants from the shade garden area.
 
New centerpiece, the Inflorescence rustica flower, inspired by Linda Gregory and created by metal artist Henry Garcia, has been ably installed by Jim Campbell and Bill Carley in mid-garden. Stop by and see this low (maybe 'no') maintenance focal point!
 
Special appreciation to Mike and Jackie Jensen for donating a Mexican Redbud tree. We'll let you know in the spring when it is ready to pop into early-season bloom. Another big "thank you" to Diane and Bill Carley for their generous donation to the garden.

The Arid Garden's male Desert Broom is loaded with fall flowers.
Desert Meadows Park 
by Chuck Parsons



I'm taking  break but will return next month!
 
Two new garden sheds help with our storage needs.
GVG Gardens at Historic Canoa Ranch (HCR)  by Raydine Taber, Bill Carley, and Jack Davis (emeritus)

As we did last year, we will do again this year. Each Tuesday, work day, at the ranch will start with a short discussion of one of the plants we are growing. Our discussions include where the plant originated, how to cultivate it, what has it been used for and a little history about each plant.
 
Several past mornings at the ranch have already dipped below freezing, leaving a few plants frost bitten. It was expected that the first frost would kill off the remaining summer plants such as basil. We now have frost cloth ready and located next to each garden and the new trees have been covered or wrapped. We can expect temperatures at the ranch to be any where from two degrees to six degrees colder than Green Valley.
 
We've added two tool sheds to the side of Sr. House Herb Garden. We now have a place to neatly store all our supplies and tools. Yes, next year we will have tools for our volunteers. A few pruners have already been donated. Shelves will soon be added for convenient storage of our smaller supplies. Some seasonal items such as frost cloth and shade cloth will be contained in storage containers. These are just the right size to hold our garden carts.
After a meeting with Pima County, NRPR, we have been tasked with designing and budgeting four new projects. After approval of the design and budget and to be phased in over several years, we will begin to plant a rose garden at Sr. House, a Kitchen Garden at Junior House, climbing plants in the east window, with plants around the fountain area of the Junior House. Several plants will also be added to the fireplace of Junior House. The fourth project, which is a vegetable garden behind the Foreman's house next to the chicken coop, shelved for the time being. The start of these projects is based on approval from NRPR and budgeting from both GVG and NRPR.
 
We received our certification for a Monarch Butterfly Waystation.
 
Want to be a part of our garden restoration? Joi n us on our Tuesday gardening adventures at "the ranch". We meet at 8 a.m. at the Sr. House Herb Garden. 
Yellow Bulbine
Memory Garden at Posada Community Center (formally Casa de Esperanza)
by Mary Kidnocker

Craig Surprise transplanted some of the thinned Bulbine plants from The Arid Garden into one of the containers on the patio. Next spring, their dense yellow flower clusters should make an outstanding color combination in the cobalt blue pot. Good job, Craig.
COMMITTEE UPDATE S
Looking for Gardens

The Spring Garden Tour Committee has been busy selecting gardens for the April tour.  We still need more gardens.  The concentration this year is the area from Camino del Sol moving toward Abrego.

If you know of any gardens that might be good additions to the tour please contact either Stacie Meyer at [email protected] or Cynthia Surprise at [email protected].
Membership
 by Mark Thompson

November was another busy month for us as we added thirteen new members:  
  • Kathleen and Chandler Westwood
  • Jenica Hisko
  • James Watson
  • Casey Thompson
  • Ken Taft
  • Rhonda and Tim Rinn
  • Jan Dancliff
  • Margaret Cassidy
  • Marilynn Friley
  • Kelly and Chris Strayer 
Now, the key here is to get them involved. So, if you know them, please give them a call.
 
Don't forget to get your fresh herbs from the Desert Meadows Park Community Garden or pick up another plant at their greenhouse. And plan to attend our annual potluck in January.
MEMBER PHOTOGRAPHS
Thank you to club member and photographer, Linda Gregory, who shared these photos with us!

Infloresence rustica at the Arid Garden. Sculpture by Henry Garcia.



Carmen Johnson delivers her presentation during the Day of the Dead celebration at Desert Meadows Park.



Celebrating the fifth anniversary of Desert Meadows Park.



Desert Meadows Park volunteers Elissa Dearing (Community Gardens lead) and Chuck Parsons (overall DMP project lead) enjoying themselves at the Annual BBQ/Fifth Anniversary Celebration.
Editor: Linda Gricius | Green Valley Gardeners | [email protected]  | www.greenvalleygardeners.com
STAY CONNECTED: