July 2020
Established in 1980
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In this issue you will find:
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Happy 4th of July! |
- Message from the President
- Upcoming Events
- Seminars
- Member Tours & Events
- Work Calendar
- Feature Articles
- "In Your Plot"
- Make a Donation to GVG via AmazonSmile
- Project Updates
- Allen J. Ogden Community Garden
- Arid Garden
- Archives
- Desert Meadows Park
- GVG Gardens at Historic Canoa Ranch
- Elementary Schools
- 40th Anniversary Project
- Committee Updates
- Member Photos
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MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
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I have been on vacation in beautiful Tennessee for three weeks. The weather was perfect. I have to say the travel was not bad. All the gas stations and rest areas were using social distancing and most people were wearing masks. Hotels were mostly empty and roads were sparsely traveled. Gas prices were extremely low. Overall it was a good trip and I got to see my daughter, Jennifer, and her family. I worried that might not happen this year because of the COVID-19. One thing I was grateful for back east is I don't have to mow lawns like they do in Tennessee. Seems they mow a lawn once or twice a week. I prefer my gravel.
Another board vote was taken by email on whether to have a fall festival at Desert Meadows Park and the fall plant sale. Marilee Crumley and David Duffy stepped up to handle the voting since I was on vacation. My gratitude to both of them. So, we are proceeding with a fall festival, similar to Art-in-the-Park only smaller scale, and the fall plant sale. We all know that this could change if the COVID-19 gets worse in Arizona. It is so hard to plan anything due to the current situation.
I have three of these Saguaro cactus in my from yard. I am just in awe of their beauty. They are just full of flowers and the birds are loving them. One of the beauties of living in the desert is that something is always blooming.
Email to: pats@greenvalleygardeners.com
Patricia Simpson, President
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METHODS FOR MAKING A MONETARY DONATION TO THE CLUB
Square offers a direct link to make a credit card donation to the garden club. Simply click
here ~
you will be asked for an amount, your contact information and credit card information.
Donations made to this link go toward operating expenses. If you want your donation to go to a specific project or in honor of an individual, please indicate your intention in the comment area.
You also can mail in a donation to:
Green Valley Gardeners
PO Box 86
Green Valley, AZ 85622-0086
Link for square donation:
Link for club store:
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Seminars are cancelled until fall.
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MEMBER ACTIVITIES
by Marita Ramsay
Member activities are cancelled.
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"IN YOUR PLOT"
By Lorna Mitchell
Harvests of fresh vegetables are filling our kitchen counters. It's delightful to be among our plants early in the morning picking fully ripened food for dinner. Red tomatoes, yellow banana peppers, green beans, zucchini, and purple eggplant contribute to eating the rainbow.
Water is the key to gardening harvests in our desert. Try to visit your plot 2-3X a week to pick fruit at its peak flavor and texture and to check irrigation systems for leaks and adequate delivery. Just one or two days without water can have negative effects but too much water is also negative if it is pooling and attracting wasps.
If your tomato plants are wide and bushy with thin stems and small fruit they will benefit from pruning out the spurs or axial sprouts. Tomato plants are vigorous growers but only have so much energy and resource available through one root system. If an indeterminate plant is not pruned, its energy will be divided out over so many new starts of stems and leaves that the fruit will suffer. If you choose several main stems to grow and pinch out the new starts near the leaf bases the plant will channel energy into more and larger fruit.
Monsoon rains traditionally start in July and pests come in abundance with the rains. We have been fortunate that for the last two years we have not had many tomato hornworms but we should have a plan when they do arrive. The tomato hornworm is the larva of the hawk or sphinx moth which overwinters in the soil as a dark brown pupa and emerges in late spring or summer. The adult lays its eggs on the underside of tomato leaves, which serve as food for the newly hatched caterpillar. In the heat of summer it will grow to 3-4 inches in 2-3 weeks, consuming tomato leaves almost constantly. Look for the signs of leafless sticks of stems and little black droppings on leaves and ground. The caterpillar itself can be very difficult to see as it is 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. It is effective for only 2-3 days so must be repeated every week to treat the new hatchlings. Bt - short for Bacillus thuringiensis - is a naturally occurring soil bacteria. It is organic and is found under names such as Thuricide, Monterey Bt, Garden Safe Bt, and Dipel Dust.
Seeds of fast growing, heat loving plants can go in the ground now: squash including acorn, butternut, spaghetti and 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 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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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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Allen J. Ogden Community Garden
b
y Erin Walker
No news from Erin this month.
If you would like information on the Ogden Garden, please contact Erin at
erinflanery82@gmail.com
Be Well.
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Arid Garden
by Mary Kidnocker
On a recent Friday morning, "Mr. Irrigation" Bill Carley took the lid off the timer box and was promptly greeted by a herd of angry Africanized bees. After a couple of stings and several frantic phone calls, the "Bee Whisperer" arrived on scene and resolved the issue.
A certified arborist from Bartlett Tree Experts recently did a walk-through at the garden giving us an in-depth appraisal of the health of the garden's old trees. Although all were determined to be in good form, it was advised to slowly deep soak each of the large pine trees for five hours once a week. It is also advised to prune native Mesquite, Palo Verde, and Desert Willow now, when the heat allows these varieties to heal more quickly.
On most Friday mornings, the volunteers have been spending their time with garden hose or sprinkling can in hand. Certain plants ask for water by showing their wilting mode; others may refuse to set buds, or do not fully open their flowers. It's the time to keep thinking: "good monsoon season!"
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The Yucca flowers at The Arid Garden seemed to be especially
dense this year.
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This shade structure built by Arid Garden volunteer James Tyrer is protecting small cactus varieties in the LaScala raised bed from spring's direct sun.
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Archives - For the year 1983, Club Plant Sale profits totaled $146.00.
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Desert Meadows Park
by Chuck Parsons
Our park furniture has been in storage since April so in June we gradually returned some of the park furniture. We started with some benches and the ever popular swings. The following week we replaced some of the small 2 person tables. We then replaced tables for 4 to 6. Park visitors have been observing safe practice. It is nice to see 2 to 4 people back enjoying the park for morning coffee. We are not accepting reservations for group events.
There have been some significant improvement projects to mention. We were all excited to see Pima County tear up the pot-holed La Huerta street and repave. The handicap crossing was placed in an unusual spot ~ I have observed covey of quail using it to cross La Huerta.
Each year the wildlife population at the park seems to increase. We have had record numbers of baby squirrels, bunnies, quail, mice, etc. this year. It has caused grief among the plot holders in the community garden for sure. We have also had a battle with squirrels in our equipment shed area. They undermined the paved storage shed to the point the floor collapsed. We hope to have remedied this situation by laying a concrete pad in and around the sheds. We suspect the squirrels have convened to plan a counterattack.
James Tyrer has made a success of the nursery operation at the park. You can find him working in the nursery nearly everyday of the week. Plant propagation requires supplies. The rest of us have been busy creating storage for pots, soil components, potted inventory, etc. Most recently we expanded upon the railroad tie storage bins so we can manage more soil and landscape materials.
Dave and Jane Grondin delayed their return North this year due to the virus. They spent the extra time in Green Valley by rebuilding their garden plot at the park. They repositioned, replaced and added raised beds to their plot. Their plot now contains six Durable Greenbed raised beds. They also replaced the irrigation system. Their work has been recognized by the manufacturer ~ their plot was named "Garden Bed of the Month" in May:
https://durablegreenbed.com/garden-beds-of-the-month-may-2020/
ARIZONA VIRTUAL PLANT FESTIVAL
The University of Arizona Campus Arboretum and the Arizona Community Tree Council have launched the Virtual Plant Festival.
The festival will be online until October 2021 with updates and new material posted each month. Check it out ~ you'll find lots of interesting and perhaps useful information:
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GVG Gardens at Historic Canoa Ranch (HCR)
by Raydine Taber, HCR Project Manager
Hope everyone, including your family and friends, are remaining safe from COVID-19.
Work continues on the Tradesman House, soon to be the Welcome Center for ranch visitors. This week, the final coat of outside paint was being applied. There is still some work to be done inside, including the flooring. A new septic system was laid in to accommodate both the Welcome Center and Junior House. (This impacted our garden in the Jr. House Courtyard and which will require a few replacement plants.) The retention pond, with the Desert Willow, has been downsized. However, it still leaves us an opportunity to add a few more native plants. Trees will be the first phase of planting in the large courtyard. Phase two will be medium size shrubs and other plants, some landscape around the house and the entry way. The final stage will be flower beds and potted plants for color and display.
More plants and trees were added to the Cienega. Pathways through and around have been completed. The "large" (acres) pollinator garden has been planted. The lake area is bringing in many birds, fowl and small critters. During this pandemic, many of our GV neighbors come out to walk and enjoy the beautiful environment.
"A little birdie" told me that, soon, work will begin on the Howell Manning, Sr. house. Designed, in 1935, by Tucson architect John Smith, the 4,700 sq. ft. house was completed in 1936 and was considered to be a "state of the art" structure. The front of the house, with its wall of windows, provides an excellent panoramic view of the Santa Rita Mountain range. This house had sustained extensive damage during the 1983 Santa Cruz river flood. Can't wait to see the restorations.
Located on the southwest corner, of the Sr. House, is a very large shrub. (Now twice the below picture.) Most of the year, all you see are the silver/green stems and thorns. We do mean thorns. They average about two inches long. This week, the Arizona, Crucifixion Thorn (castela emoryi) is in full leaf and full bloom. The bees are having a feast.
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| Crucifixion Thorn castela emoryi |
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| Crucifixion Thorn (close up) |
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ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
by Steve Curtis
Schools are closed so nothing happening here.
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40th ANNIVERSARY PROJECTS
MEDIAN GREEN PROJECT
It has really been hot out there, but our median volunteers have been hard at work watering and weeding. There was a couple of unexpected events. Median NE 16 had a visit from a very mischievous squadron of Javelina. A big thank you to Russell and Cheri Smith who did a great job of cleaning up after them.
NW17 had a century plant fall over from the weight of the flower stalk. Thanks Chuck for quickly clearing it away. Joe and Cheryl Wolowsky will be coming up with suggestions for a replacement plant.
A few plants have died which is to be expected and will be replaced when cooler weather arrives.
A big THANK YOU! to all our our median volunteers for their efforts in this heat.
The median committee is still working on the permit applications for the rest of the medians on Abrego. Hopefully they will be submitted in July, so that work can begin in the fall.
Phyllis Barboza
Co-Chair Median Project
503-515-3483
THE WHITE ELEPHANT PARADE PROJECT
Not surprisingly, the White Elephant has decided to cancel the parade this year. Thank you to all of the club members who volunteered to help with our entry. We hope we will be able to participate in a 2021 parade, so please keep thinking of ideas that we can implement at that time.
Cynthia Surprise and Marita Ramsay
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Membership
by Mark Thompson
I hope all our members are enjoying this fantastic heat. It certainly makes the garden grow. I read something on the internet the other day that suggested that the reason we have so many heat waves now is that so many people have thermometers. Without thermometers, we would not know how hot it is and would likely be cool as a cucumber. File this under food for thought.
This month, we get to welcome the following 12 new members:
Patti and Tom Ballowe
Kathy and Todd Arnold
Nancy and Reese Kane
David Snider
AJ and Ramon Hernandez
Marlene Charron
Ludlow Hallman
Daryl Ragan
So, if you see any of these new members around town, welcome them and help them get involved. You will be glad that you did and we will become a better organization.
It's time for a contest. We are now midway into 2020 and have 578 members on our roster. We closed out 2019 with 582 members. When will we hit 600 members? Email
memberships@greenvalleygardeners.com
by August 1st with your best guess and the member who comes the closest to the date that we hit 600 will receive not one, but two much coveted Green Valley Gardeners 40th Anniversary Totes.
If you have any changes in your contact information, please email me at
memberships@greenvalleygardeners.com
. And don't forget to order some GVG branded clothing or get you fresh herbs at Desert Meadows Park. Happy Gardening!
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Nominations
by Bill Carley
"As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands - one for helping yourself, the other for helping others." - Audrey Hepburn
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
920-344-6563.
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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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| Cactus blooming at Arid Garden photo by Bill Carley |
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| Upclose of the cactus bloom. |
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