December 2019
Established in 1980
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In this issue you will find:
- Message from the President
- Upcoming Events
- Seminars
- Member Tours & Events
- Master Gardener Class
- Work Calendar
- Feature Articles
- "In Your Plot"
- Make a Donation to GVG via AmazonSmile
- Thank You
- Project Updates
- Allen J. Ogden Community Garden
- Arid Garden
- Desert Meadows Park
- GVG Gardens at Historic Canoa Ranch
- Elementary Schools
- Committee Updates
- Member Photos
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MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
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New Board of Directors
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We have just elected 3 new Board Directors who take office officially this coming December 10, 2019. Patricia Simpson, Dave Duffy and Linda Gregory are our new Directors, and each brings unique experiences and skills to their position. For new Club members attending the January 2, 2020 New Members Seminar, you will have an opportunity to talk 1:1 with all Board of Directors regarding their interests in both regional sustainable gardening and landscaping as well as learn about opportunities to participate in an array of Club activities and projects. For all members attending the January 5, 2020 Annual Meeting and Dinner, you will have the opportunity to "meet and greet" our new Board of Directors as well as those continuing in their respective Director roles.
FYI Club members
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I have been contacted by Ellen and Harry March, owners of Native Gardens of Green Valley, both having been Green Valley Gardeners members since January 2013 and long time supporters of the Club, providing counter space to advertise a variety of Club activities as well as selling tickets for the annual Garden Tour and advertising the Spring Art in the Park festival, both major Club fund raisers. They are looking for a part-time employee @ $11 an hour, to work Tue & Wed from1pm - 4:30pm and Saturday's from 8am to 4pm.
Job Description
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Ability to stand for long periods of time and lift up to 35-40 lbs .
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Additional duties will include cash handling, watering and closing duties.
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Customers typically come to Native Gardens with a variety questions about plants we sell as well as plants already established around their homes.
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Native Gardens is currently in need of plant knowledgeable personnel to help with these questions and customer service.
Contact
: Native Gardens located at 20 La Canada Drive, Green Valley, AZ, work telephone: 520-780-3396.
Bill Berdine, President
Green Valley Gardeners
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The December seminars were recommended to the seminar committee by Ries Lindley. We asked Ries to give a talk about invasive plants and Ries suggested we break it into 2 talks. In an effort to educate club members on as many topics as possible we took Ries Lindley's suggestion.
On December 5 Dr. Anthony Knight will speak about poisonous landscape and house plants. On December 12th Ries Lindley will talk about good plants/ bad plants. The Seminar Committee wishes all of you Peace And Happiness.
Cynthia Surprise David Duffy Bill Carley
The seminars will be held at Green Valley Recreation Desert Hills auditorium,2980 South Camino del Sol. All seminars start at 9:30 and end at 10:30. Come as early as 9:00 to be assured of a seat and for coffee, goodies and socializing.
All Green Valley Gardener seminars are free and open to the public. Master Gardeners will be available before and after the seminar to answer your gardening questions.
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MEMBER ACTIVITIES
by Marita Ramsay
Our Annual Dinner will be held on Sunday January 5th at the Las Campanas Green Valley Recreation Center at 5 PM. Save the date and watch for E Blasts with more details.
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OPPORTUNITY TO BECOME A MASTER GARDENER
Information on becoming a Pima County Master Gardener click below:
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"IN YOUR PLOT"
by Lorna Mitchell
"It's the most wonderful time of the year!" Christmas parties and festivities are in sight so it's nice that our gardening is on auto-pilot. There's not much required of us except maintaining irrigation and a little weeding. We can walk our paths with confidence watching our plants grow anticipated harvests, and maybe, even for Christmas dinner!
Warm temperatures this fall have given us abundant germination for our winter vegetables and now we need to make room for developing plants. Thinning root crops such as carrots and beets is important so they grow straight or round without entangling with each other. Thinning is tedious and must be done with the fingers, pinching out the tiniest to allow room for the robust. Leave about ½ inch between tiny plants on the first thinning and as they grow, thin again, leaving one inch between, then you might have small crops for a gourmet serving, thinning and eating as you go.
Turnips are an undervalued crop that grow easily and taste wonderful fresh and crisp. It is one root crop that thrives even if you don't thin them - they grow right out of the ground! Cooked in soups it creates a velvety texture and can be used as a low carbohydrate substitute for potatoes; check your Garden Club Cookbook for ideas. Try planting some seeds but cover with a cloth until they push it up.
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 timers need to be wrapped with insulating material such as a towel or blanket and protected from getting wet - a wet towel is not an insulator. A great help is a silver sun shade for a car and a bungee cord, both from the 99 cent store. 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.
There is still time to put in onion plants (short day varieties) or sets (use these for "green onions") and garlic cloves for harvest in late spring/early summer.
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; 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, 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 moist (but not sitting in water); clean, and airy 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 you have joy this season.
A very Merry Christmas to all my fellow gardeners,
Lorna Mitchell
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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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Through Amazon Smile, the GVG has earned $97.12 this year. Thank you all for the support!
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A Big Thank You!
We want to thank all the volunteers who helped during the Fall plant sale. Your enthusiasm and plant expertise made the sale a huge success. We look forward to working with you again in the future. The Spring plant sale is scheduled for March 19, 20 and 21. Set-up will be on Wednesday March 18. We will be asking for volunteers to work on committees for the Spring sale at the Annual Meeting in January. We wish you a Merry Christmas and healthful and Happy New Year.
Christa Ryan and Kathy Stone
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Allen J. Ogden Community Garden
b
y George Stone
On November 1 the Ogden Garden participated in the area's annual Mitzvah day volunteer program. This year volunteers painted one of our storage sheds. We are always glad to be a part of this very important program. Thank you organizers.
On November 2 a Dutch oven 101 demonstration was given by George Stone to 14 participants who enjoyed a meal of chicken & dumplings along with a peach cobbler. This was the first demo given at the Ogden Garden this year. The event was held on the Hummingbird Cafe's patio. The outdoor setting was enjoyed by all.
On November 14 Kathy Stone gave a one hour presentation on potting cacti. Twenty-two club members attended the demo and then walked the garden, enjoying George Jr. and our chickens and rabbits.
On November 23 eight plot holders and seven Copper View School volunteers planted 2000 onions in 3 hours.
Thanks to all who gave of their time. We now look forward to a successful grow season and sale.
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Arid Garden
by Mary Kidnocker
It has been a challenge for garden volunteers to get up and down from our upper storage area where we keep rolls of fencing, a rebar supply, long pieces of lumber, irrigation piping, etc. The problem has been maneuvering a short slope covered with easy-to-slide-on rocks. New volunteer Barry Gillaspie who has had experience building park trails, has resolved this safety issue by building a functional and attractive set of steps of treated timers and natural looking flagstone. We all thank you, Barry!
A replacement for our fallen Twisted Acacia tree has finally been planted. A young Mexican Ebony with a similar shade pattern as the Acacia was gifted to the garden to provide afternoon summer shade to the Trichocereus Cactus area.
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A "grouping of gardeners" at the club's Annual BBQ in the shady
grove at Historical Canoa Ranch
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Perfect weather, delicious food, and good friends enjoying the BBQ
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Footnote:
Remember that when you garden, you grow!
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Desert Meadows Park
by Chuck Parsons
Newest enhancement made this past month was the addition of plant signs in the Rainwater Garden. We partnered with Tucson Audubon to include bird information on these signs. Charlene Westgate designed the garden selecting plants that would be habitat or be a food source for native birds.
The concept of providing bird information on specific plants was readily accepted, but turned out to be much more difficult than expected. We discovered nurseries typically identify plants as beneficial to birds, but do not provide specifics like what bird or why. After many hours doing Google searches the staff at Tucson Audubon joined our effort to edit the information before the signs were manufactured.
Upcoming presentation by Chuck Parsons:
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GVG Gardens at Historic Canoa Ranch (HCR)
by Raydine Taber, Bill Carley, and Jack Davis (emeritus)
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All indoor planters have been replanted and all holiday plants have been placed.
Several weeks ago, we had our first frost. Most of the plants made it through but a few were nipped. Especially the Chiltipens. Over the years, we have learned that whatever temperature we have in Green Valley consider the ranch to be 7 degrees lower. We have all our frost cloth out and ready to cover plants.
A rarity for our gardens was this visitor to the Sr. House Herb Garden. Think maybe he was looking for that Cotton Rat. One of the Site Stewards removed it to the south forty where it should find plenty of critters to prey upon. However, we think it is now dug in for the winter. It has been years since we have seen signs of snakes in our gardens. This guy was apparently cold and did not respond to any movement around him. So much easier to handle a "cold" snake than one who is warm and active.
We are very thankful for the almost two inches of rain recently received. When living in the desert, you learn to appreciate any and all rainfall.
Celebrate first-ever "Christmas at Canoa" Dec. 7
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The holiday season will be in full swing Dec. 7, 1-6 p.m., for the first-ever Christmas at Canoa
celebration at Historic Canoa Ranch, 5375 S. I-19 Frontage Road in Green Valley.
All are welcome to the celebration, which will feature food, music, arts and crafts, carolers, vendors, horse-drawn wagon rides, a tree lighting ceremony and, of course, pictures with Santa. Entry is free to children and $5 for adults.
The schedule for the day:
- 1-4:30 p.m.: Vendors, children's games, arts and crafts stations, visit with Santa, wagon rides, food trucks, artisans
- 1-3 p.m.: Danzacultura Mexicana Ballet Folklorico performance
- 3-4 p.m.: Mariachi Milagro de Tucson performance
- 5 p.m.: Community caroling on the lawn in front of the Manning Jr./Schnaufer House
- 5:30 p.m.: Tree lighting, with desserts and hot drinks to follow.
Are you interested in, want to learn about or are you an expert with vegetables, ornamental plants, indoor plants, herbs, cacti, succulents, plants for the pollinators and/or fruit trees, then, for you, Historic Canoa Ranch is the right venue? We have a variety of plants to meet everyone's gardening preference. You can choose to volunteer working on all the gardens or just the ones you prefer. Want to be a part of our garden restoration projects,
join us, on Tuesday's, to play in the dirt, meet gardening friends, learn something new and have some gardening adventures. Our early birds arrive around 7 a.m., at the Sr. House Herb Garden. You are welcome, at any time, to join us.
We want to wish everyone a very merry and safe holiday season.
Co-managers: Raydine Taber, Bill Carley and Jack Davis (Emeritus)
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ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
by Steve Curtis
No news from Steve this month.
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Membership
by Mark Thompson
November was another busy month in the membership department. We welcomed in 15 new members and we now stand at 573.
The new members joining in November were:
Roger and Nancy Miller
Lois Kilburn
Patti Purcell
Gwenifer Law
Diane Howley
Edie Mulesky
Michael Karl
Jane Bilicki
Bruce and Penny France
Jan Nash
Ruth Ross
Richard and Carla Job
The membership renewal for 2020 will start on January 1, 2020, and you will be reminded of that at the end of December. Please do not send in payment before that time. If you joined on or after September 1, 2019, your membership is good until January of 2021. Remember, you can order club branded clothing from our supplier in Tucson, Check out our website for details. Thanks for your support. I hope to see you at the annual dinner in January.
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If you have some favorite photos you've taken at one of the club's projects, please submit them prior to the 28th of the month to be included in the newsletter for all to enjoy.
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| Hummingbird at Desert Meadows Park. |
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