January 2020
Established in 1980
|
|
In this issue you will find:
- Message from the President
- Upcoming Events
- Seminars
- Member Tours & Events
- Spring Garden Tour
- Work Calendar
- Feature Articles
- "In Your Plot"
- Make a Donation to GVG via AmazonSmile
- Expectations of the Board of Directors
- Project Updates
- Allen J. Ogden Community Garden
- Arid Garden
- Desert Meadows Park
- GVG Gardens at Historic Canoa Ranch
- Elementary Schools
- Committee Updates
- Member Photos
|
|
|
|
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
|
Due to continued medical issues resulting from falling this past September I am resigning from the Green Valley Gardeners Board of Directors and thereby from the President's position. This would have been my sixth and last year serving on the Board of Directors and while I am reluctant to walk away early, it is necessary for me to attend to my medical issues involving brain injury from my passing out and falling in the Green Valley Friends In Deed parking lot. In the December 2019 Club Board meeting, Patricia Simpson was nominated and accepted the position of Vice President. With my announcement regarding resignation from the Board of Directors, Patricia has generously agreed to take on the responsibilities as Club President starting January 2020, a year earlier than planned. I will assist as wanted and I encourage all Club members to step up and introduce yourself to Patricia and let her know your interests and how she can best facilitate those interests becoming a reality. I thank you and have appreciated your support and assistance over the past five years as President.
Bill Berdine, President
Green Valley Gardeners
|
|
|
|
1/2/2020
|
|
NEW MEMBER ROUND TABLE
|
|
Mark and Marita
|
DESERT HILLS REC. CENTER
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1/9/2020
|
|
HUMMINGBIRDS
|
|
Jennie MacFarland
|
DESERT HILLS REC. CENTER
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1/14/2020
|
|
CACTUS
|
|
Mark Sitter
|
QUAIL CREEK
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1/23/2020
|
|
CITRUS
|
|
Glenn Wright
|
DESERT HILLS REC. CENTER
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1/30/2020
|
|
DISCOVERING NATURE'S CLUES
|
|
Pinau Merlin
|
DESERT HILLS REC. CENTER
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Please note that the Cactus Seminar is on Tuesday at Quail Creek. Also be advised that the 9, 14 and 23 dates are extremely poplular topics. Seating at Desert Hills is limited to the FIRST 240 people. Fire code prevents any standing room.
Pinau Merlin's talk on the 30 is a new presentation she has developed. A brief synopsis of the talk is as follows:
Nature speaks in a wide variety of clues and signs that tell us so much more than just what animals are around. All the tracks, scats, broken twigs, feeding sign, sounds and scents reveal stories, activities and the daily dramas of wildlife everywhere we look.
Seminars start at 9:30 A.M. Doors open at 9:00 A.M.
The seminars will be held at Green Valley Recreation Desert Hills auditorium, 2980 South Camino del Sol.
|
|
|
MEMBER ACTIVITIES
by Marita Ramsay
Please join us on Sunday, January 5, for our annual meeting and dinner. This is your opportunity to meet the new Board of Directors, hear an update on our Club's activities, and celebrate the Club's 40th year of community service. It's also a good time to meet our new members.
The event will be held at the Green Valley Recreation Las Campanas Social Center, 565 West Belltower Drive. Dinner will start at 5:00, but come as early as 4:30 to socialize.
Menu will be Italian Caesar salad, beef and pork lasagna or veggie lasagna, and garlic bread.
Dessert will be our special 40th anniversary cake.
Beverages will include iced tea, coffee, tea and wine.
The cost is
$10.00
per person, and reservations are
required
. The reservation
deadline is January 1. You can reserve:
-
by p
urchasing tickets by credit card at our online store:
- or by mail. To reserve by mail, please send a check, made payable to GV Gardeners to: Marita Ramsay, 217 Placita Arcos, Green Valley AZ 85614.
Our tour for January is to B&B Cactus Farm and Nursery on Thursday, January 16th at 9:30 am. Watch for an eblast providing all the details.
As usual we will carpool from El Rodeo parking lot in Green Valley.
|
|
|
Spring Garden Tour Volunteers Needed
by Cynthia Surprise and Stacie Meyer
The Green Valley Gardeners' Spring Garden Tour will be Saturday, April 4, 2020 from 9 until 3. We need your help to make the tour a success. This is a great opportunity to become involved in the club, meet new people, have fun and help with this important fundraiser.
We need Greeters. They are seated at the entrance to the garden to welcome visitors, check off their tickets, and hand out surveys. The greeters work two-hour shifts.
We also need Hosts. These are typically knowledgeable gardeners. A team of three or four hosts is assigned to each garden. The team works with the homeowners before the tour to identify the plants in the garden and compile a list. Other club members are always willing to help with plants that are difficult to identify. After being given the signs with the plant names, the hosts place them in the garden the day before the tour. Hosts are present at the gardens during the tour to answer visitor questions. Hosts typically work three or four-hour shifts. In addition to helping the club, being a host will give you an opportunity to work with homeowners who are passionate about their gardens and to interact with visitors to the gardens.
We need Ticket Sellers. Tour tickets are sold at the weekly seminars, at the spring plant sale and on the day of the tour.
|
|
|
|
"IN YOUR PLOT"
by Lorna Mitchell
Happy New Year! Winter is upon us - Yes, this is winter - temperatures dipping near freezing at night and cloudy rainy days. Protect your water uprights with insulation and waterproof coverings to prevent burst pipes during a hard freeze. A wet towel or blanket is no longer an insulator.
November plantings are languishing but early September's broccoli was the star at Christmas dinner. Timing our plantings is critical if we want to have continual harvests from our vegetable garden year round. Keep an eye on the calendar and plan ahead.
If you like to eat, then vegetable gardening is for you and January is the time to plan your summer harvest. The list of what you can grow in the summer is almost endless and includes beans of all kinds, cucumbers, radishes, melons, eggplant, leafy greens, okra, pumpkins, squash, herbs and more. First, think of vegetables you like to eat and second, recall what grew well around the garden last summer. If you like salsa, eggplant parmesan, marinara sauce, enchiladas, tomato soup, chicken cacciatore, chili, or BLT's then you need to plant tomatoes and plenty of them (you can give away the excess). If you like the zing of peppers in your morning eggs be sure to put in pepper plants that will give you just the flavor you crave, and so on.
Next, you need to procure the seeds or transplants to produce these treasures. Look carefully through seed company's offerings; every company has their own varieties they have developed and tout as the best. I can't stress the idea of variety strongly enough. Variety of a plant means the predictable characteristics of the plant as to growth habit, flower and fruit type, length of harvest, abundance of fruit, etc. That's what plant breeding is all about. If you plant heirloom seeds that are open pollinated you can't predict as closely what your harvest will be because there are a lot of different genes inside that plant that can express different characteristics. Hybrids (often labeled F1 in catalogs) will be very predictable and usually produce very vigorous plants. They have been trialed and the grower can tell you exactly what kind of fruit and growth habit to expect. Compare to predicting characteristics of dog breeding.
To order seeds means you grow seeds. For peppers, eggplants, and tomatoes that means planting those seeds before the end of January in little pots and keeping them warm indoors until April. But - the reward is knowing what you will get in harvest. Buying transplants off the shelf may or may not yield the product you imagine.
Those are my plot thoughts for now,
Happy Gardening,
Lorna Mitchell
|
|
|
|
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/
.
Through Amazon Smile, the GVG has earned $97.12 this year. Thank you all for the support!
|
|
|
|
Expectations of the Board of Directors:
We want to provide this information in case you are wondering what the Board of Directors do or if you have interest in serving on the board.
Directors provide overall policy, planning and financial guidance to the organization. They are expected to be an advocate and spokesperson for the organization in the community, and always be on the lookout for potential members, volunteers, donors and board members.
Directors should plan to spend on average 1-2 hours per week on GVG business. Many activities peak near the date of each major event. Club activities are especially busy in March and April. Responsibilities include:
- Attend Board meetings. They are held September through May, usually on the 2nd Tuesday of the month, 1-2:45 pm at Friends in Deed.
- New Board members take office at the end of the November Board of Directors meeting.
- Attend the annual Board Retreat (Fall) and Annual Meeting (January).
- Commit initially to a 3 year term (unless otherwise stated). The Bylaws allow board members to be re-elected to serve a one additional 3 year term, if interested.
- Serve on at least one board or other committee or serve as an officer. In addition, volunteer for one or more GVG projects. Serve as a Board Liaison to at least one other committee or project.
- Committee work can involve, but is not limited to, phone calls, emails, meeting with volunteers, committee meetings. Some planning may take place during the summer.
Board Committees:
Executive - Board officers (President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer)
Financial Review- Treasurer, Assistant Treasurer, one additional board member
Board Development & Bylaws Review - Vice-President + 1-2 additional directors
Other Internal Committees:
Membership
Member Activities
Technology-Communications (Sand 'n' Seeds- E-blasts, Website, E- Ballots)
Nominations/ Elections
Major Community Projects:
Seminars Committee and Seminar Hospitality
Arid Garden
Ogden Garden
Historic Canoa Ranch
Desert Meadows Park
Fund Raisers:
Spring and Fall Plant Sales
Garden Tour
Art-In-the-Park
Onion Sale
Other projects:
Median Green
Education Committee
|
|
|
 |
|
Allen J. Ogden Community Garden
b
y George Stone
George and Kathy are on a Holiday vacation, visiting family. We wish them a wonderful trip.
|
|
|
|
Arid Garden
by Mary Kidnocker
Why do so many horticulturists disapprove of planting African Sumac trees for residential shade? The large, old African Sumac at this garden is now in the midst of yet another bloom cycle this year. It is loaded with many tiny greenish flowers, which will again distribute an overwhelming amount of allergenic pollen throughout the area. Although this fast grower produces a uniquely dense shade, it is also invasive, mostly from an abundance of sucker growth from its roots, branches, and trunk. This is one tree in the garden that we do not readily recommend.
Volunteers have completed the seasonal cold protection plan. Water faucets have their wraps on; the cold-sensitive totem pole cactus has its frost cloth in place; and the climbing cacti have their winter coats carefully secured.
From all of the special folks who volunteer in this garden... have a happy, healthy new year filled with many gardening successes!
|
|
|
Up to the first frost, Zexmenia did its best to continue a
profusion of yellow flowers.
|
|
|
| Yellow, yellow everywhere... Desert Marigolds show off just prior to December's pre-winter cold spell. |
|
|
|
With as much yellow as can be packed onto a small bush, this Turpentine helped to brighten our small part of the world.
|
Footnote
:
You're a true gardener if you keep worms in your laundry room!
|
|
|
|
Desert Meadows Park
by Chuck Parsons
Being near the river it gets pretty cold some mornings in December. We experienced a few days below freezing which caused a few irrigation line problems but most noticeable was the collapse of some prickly pear. Most susceptible to the damage is our opuntia ficus-indica, especially new plants and new growth on mature plants. Park visitors initially thought the park had been vandalized. Fortunately that was not the case, just a night below freezing.
An early morning walk in the park this past month might have been chilly, but often rewarding. The sunrise can really be spectacular! The following photo was taken about 7 am.
Click link below for the recent channel 13 interview with Charlene Westgate. It was in recognition of her small business award ~ part of the interview was done at DMP ~ she gives a good description of her landscape philosophy. The 'Rainwater Garden' that she designed for DMPark is an example of that philosophy.
|
|
|
|
GVG Gardens at Historic Canoa Ranch (HCR)
The first Annual Christmas at Canoa was festive and well attended. The horse drawn wagon rides were the highlight of the day. The draft horses earned their keep with continual rides from the beginning until the end of the event. Amazing what holiday lighting and decorations can do to enhance the beauty of heritage buildings. Manning Junior House, Guest House and Grijalva House were aglow with many holiday lights and decorations. The Junior House front lawn was the site for communal caroling, nativity scene and the Christmas tree. Santa lighting the tree closed out a perfect holiday event.
As the holidays wind down and the weather turns more winter-like, it's time for us to get back to gardening. With our winter rains, we will need to be on alert for weeds. But also allows us to turn off the irrigation. On our schedule for January and February will be pruning the orchard trees, pruning pomegranates around the Junior House front lawn and dividing some of the indoor plants and potting them up for placement in the Foreman's House, Guest House, Grijalva House and the new Welcome Center (Tradesman's House). Pots and potting soil are awaiting us in the Manning Sr. House, utility room. Additionally, we will, with the help of the Pima County, NRPR crew, be removing the Texas Mountain Ash and the Brown Mission Fig trees from the Junior House Courtyard. Both have grown too large for this area. The fig tree will be moved to the Tradesman's House courtyard. Unfortunately, we do not think the mountain ash will transplant.
As Pima County, NRPR moves closer to completing the remodel of the Tradesman's House, we will be assisting with the landscaping of that courtyard. A very big undertaking. This area will contain mostly Arizona native trees, shrubs and flowers. There will be a small pollinator garden and quite a few pots, scattered throughout the courtyard filled with annual flowers. Mid-to late-March (Heritage Day tentatively scheduled for March 21rst) is the projected opening day for the new Welcome Center (Tradesman's House).
Historic Canoa Ranch offers an enormous assortment of gardening venues. If you are interested in, want to learn about or are you an expert with vegetables, ornamental plants, indoor plants, herbs, cacti, native plants, 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 one 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, have some gardening adventures and be a part of restoring Canoa Ranch to its past splendor. Our early birds arrive around 7:30 a.m., at the Sr. House, Herb Garden. You are welcome, at any time, to join us.
HCR Project Manager: Raydine Taber and Jack Davis (Emeritus)
|
|
|
|
ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
by Steve Curtis
No news from Steve this month.
|
|
|
|
Membership
by Mark Thompson
It looks like we are closing out 2019 with 582 members which is 66 members more than last year. We added nine new members in the last few weeks:
Linda Albers
Margaret Marshall
Diann Shivley
Joe and Cheryl Wolowsky
Val Palacios
Donna Knutsen
Tom and Diane Rensberry
Please make these new members feel welcomed. This is an exciting time of year for our members. On January 2, we will have our second new members Open House/Round Table which allows new members to meet the board of directors and the project chairs. And, we get to learn from the new members just how they found us, and what they want from us. On January 5th, the ever popular annual meeting takes place. If you have not made your reservations yet, there is still time to do so.
This is our 40th year of service to our community, and we are kicking it off in style with a brand new service project to commemorate our 40th birthday.
Membership renewal will start online on December 31 for those who would like to renew their membership with a credit card. If you prefer to write a check, you can send that along to PO Box 86, 85622 at any time. Or, you can renew with a credit card, check, or cash at any seminar. The annual fee remains the same - $25 for an individual and $35 for a household.
I look forward to seeing you soon.
=========================================================================
|
|
|
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.
|
|
| Christmas in Arizona 2019 |
|
|
|
|
|
