SAND'n'SEEDS
July 2021
Serving Our Community Since 1980
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Message from the President
by Marilee Crumley
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June was a trying month for many of us still in Green Valley. The Phoenix-like temperatures have been a frustration, especially in the garden. I know I’m not the only one who has lost plants in the last few weeks. A true gardener feels the loss of a plant personally, as if we could have done more to change the weather conditions for our plants. I did move several of my potted plants indoors by the light so they didn’t have to suffer through the intense temperatures. Several of them have rewarded me with increased leaf production as a result of being in a cooler place.
At least we are, hopefully, past the highest temperatures and can start focusing on our fall gardens. We hope to get some good monsoon rains soon to help with our gardening efforts. We also look forward to the return of the club’s activities! The seminar committee has created an appealing schedule for seminars in the fall. The prospect of meeting in person with others with a shared interest in gardening is exciting. We have our “Super Saturdays” incorporating plant sale, art, music, food trucks, raffle, and silent auction event to anticipate. Everything is looking up for all Green Valley Gardeners!
Happy gardening!
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We Accept
Charitable Donations
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You will be asked for an amount, your contact information and credit card information.
Donations 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
Donations to a 501(c)(3) are tax deductible. Please check with your tax accountant for more information on this deduction.
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Would you like to help, have fun and meet new people?
Arid Garden:
Fridays at 7:30 a.m.
Contact: Mary Kidnocker
520-648-7959 or jdkidn@aol.com
Canoa Ranch:
Tuesdays at 7:30 a.m.
Contact: Raydine Taber
rs_taber@msn.com
Desert Meadows Park:
Wednesdays at 7:30 a.m.
Contact: Chuck Parsons
520-904-9020 or chuckp.dana@gmail.com
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Ogden Garden Plot Available! |
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This Is Your Opportunity to Get a Garden Plot |
Ogden Community Garden has an opening of one of their plots, which is 10' by 40' in size, and in ground, not raised bed. Garden club membership and full time residency is required, and those currently on the waiting list at Desert Meadows Park who contact me and want the plot will take priority. Current fees for a 10x40 are $30 a quarter. It's a great spot, and great people.
Please contact: Harry
269-330-5365
Leave a message with your email and phone contact information. I'll get back to you quickly.
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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
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GVG Seminars ... by Rhonda Rinn
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In-person seminars are starting again in September!
We have found some great speakers with topics we hope are of interest to all our members. We also will be inviting the public to join us.
The seminars will be at the Desert Hills Social Center Auditorium.
September 30th - Basics of Desert Gardening by Deborah North. Deborah is a master gardener in Pima county who is extremely knowledgeable and easy to listen to.
October 14th - Cool Weather Veggies by Lorna Mitchell. Lorna is a GVG member who is deeply knowledgeable of vegetable gardening in our area. She made significant contributions to the Green Valley Gardener’s “Plot to Plate” cookbook where many of us have found wonderful recipes.
October 28th - Plant Sale Preview. One of the primary nurseries that will providing plants for our sale will bring plants to share and talk about.
November 4th - Wildflowers of the Southwest by Gary Maskarinec of Nighthawk Nursery.
November 11th - Holiday Decorating with Succulents by Kathy Stone. Kathy is a GVG member who creates beautiful pottery that she artfully fills with plants. She will share fun and beautiful ideas to adorn our homes.
December 2nd - Use of Natural Pigments in the San Xavier Restoration by Edna San Miguel. Edna is the author of "Mission San Xavier: A Story of Saints and Angels, Art and Artists." As part of her work on the restoration of the artwork at the mission, Edna researched the pigments used by the Spanish, Mexicans and Native Americans at the time the mission was built. Many of these pigments were derived from natural materials found in the local desert. Edna will talk about her research and the restoration process.
December 9th - Frost Protection for Plants in Our Gardens by Ursala Schuch. Ursala teaches at the school of Agriculture and Life Sciences at the U of A. She is an expert in plant production, propagation and management.
More information about these seminars will be included in eblasts and the Green Thumb column in the Green Valley News.
We hope to see you there!
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In Your Plot ... By Lorna Mitchell
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Water is the lifeblood of the garden and hope of the monsoon rains is on the horizon. Do keep your irrigation timers and tubing in good working order as the rains can be spotty and unpredictable. Tomatoes, squash, green beans, peppers, eggplant, pumpkins, melons, and corn are abundant already and they will flourish as the humidity climbs.
Pests can wreak havoc at any time and will come in abundance with the rains. Tomato hornworms can devour enough leaves in one day to almost destroy the plant. Look for their signs, leafless stems near the growing ends and little black droppings on leaves or ground. The caterpillar itself can be very difficult to find as it is the same color as what it eats. Spray Bacillus Thuringiensis (Bt) on the entire crop of tomatoes, this can be repeated up to the day of harvest. Bt – short for Bacillus Thuringiensis – is a bacteria which causes the caterpillar to stop eating, once it is ingested, and our plants are safe. It is effective for only 2-3 days so must be repeated every week to treat the new hatchlings. Bt is a naturally occurring soil bacteria and is organic. It is found under names such as Thuricide, Monterey Bt, Garden Safe Bt, Dipel Dust.
Bt can also be sprayed on the inner stems of zucchini plants to help prevent the stem borer caterpillar from burrowing into the stem and causing collapse of the plant. Spray it on 2-3 times each week over all the stems.
Seeds of fast growing, heat loving plants can go in the ground now: squash (including pumpkins) radishes, corn, beans and melons. Transplants of tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant will give a harvest before fall, but if you buy them remember they have been grown in a greenhouse in California. Keep them on your covered porch for several days to allow them to adjust to the heat before planting outside in the sun.
Now is the time to plan your cool season garden. Think of cold nights and lots of broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts, and cauliflower. Transplants will go into the garden the middle to end of September. If you grow your own from seed, allow ten weeks from seed to plot; that means by the second week 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. Plan ahead for fresh broccoli for Thanksgiving dinner!
Open your Plot to Plate cookbook and have a delightful new culinary experience with your fresh harvests. There are some real treasures in there!
Those are my plot thoughts for now, Happy Gardening.
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Arid Garden … By Mary Kidnocker
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Desert & Moss Verbena with fallen
Palo Verde blossoms
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Our little garden is feeling the effects of past weeks’ drought and extreme heat. More and more heat stress is being detected, even among native plants that commonly adapt to desert conditions. Under prolonged high temperatures, water loss from the plants and soil is accelerated. With this in mind, garden volunteers have been busy distributing extra water to those plants showing the most stress. Also irrigation timers have been re-set for more frequent automatic watering. So far no plants have been lost; however, there are some that do not look happy.
Wildlife is also more abundant as they frantically search for moisture. Among recent visitors have been bands of rabbits, Gambel quail, thrashers, nest building doves, bees, butterflies, and a beautiful Gopher snake. Each leaves evidence of the visit which often requires volunteer cleanup.
Barry Gillaspie and Jerry Sampson have taken on a new project in the steep southwest slope area. Soon there will be a gently winding, picturesque flagstone path which will allow safer, easier access to the top. Stay tuned.
Stop by early some Friday morning (before 100-degree temperatures) and greet our hardy volunteers.
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This bench makes a wonderful new addition to the Arid Garden
Donated by Family and Friends
Thank-you,
Mike will always be with us!
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Desert Meadows Park … By Chuck Parsons
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Last month I reported that our new shed was near completion. We are now enjoying the completed shed, the better organization of our tools and having our yard tractor and trailer properly protected from the elements.
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Garden tools for park maintenance : Green |
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Garden tools for community garden: Orange |
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An old tool shed is now used to park the yard tractor |
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We are moving on two more projects with completion expected by mid-October ~ just in time for the first “Super Saturdays” event at the park. Henry Garcia is currently fabricating a 3rd panel for the Memory Garden. This panel will be dedicated for plaques honoring garden club volunteers. The last project will be to replace all the entrance signs into the park ~ we have seven primary entrances that are used by park visitors. I refer to this as our “last project” ~ some folks smile and think “Oh sure!” I believe these last two projects do complete the “building phase” of the park. It’s a great time for the club to celebrate completing this community service project in just under eight years! In reality we shift into maintaining and enhancing as we go forward, as Mary Kidnocker and her team of club volunteers have been doing at The Arid Garden since 2005. |
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The community garden team ~ LtoR Kim Tompkins, Karen Gabriel, Elissa Dearing, Nancy Lucas, Sue Kenney and Betsy Smith-Schatz |
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Elissa Dearing and the volunteers working in the community garden at Desert Meadows Park achieved a milestone recently. In 2015 this team began donating produce to the Sahuarita Food Bank ~ a non-profit partner listed in our 2014 Freeport McMoRan Foundation grant application. Since that first donation, the team has now donated over 10 tons of fresh produce. Most, but not all, has gone to Sahuarita, but some of that volume has been donated to the Green Valley Food Bank.
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Also adding interest in the community garden were the artichoke plants in Karen and Jim Dougherty’s plot. They were huge and beautiful ~ Karen was unhappy with the culinary value at the dinner table, but they made for a beautiful picture!
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Historic Hacienda de la Canoa ...
By Raydine Taber
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Temperatures the last few weeks for those who volunteer at the ranch, have been brutal. We really need to recognize our hardy volunteers. Here is a very grateful THANK YOU to: Larry Bennett, Jim Campbell, David Duffy, Christine Hansen, Eddie Jean Kriedeman, Jerry Sampson and Carol Zychowski. All of you are tremendously appreciated and you are the ones who keep our gardens growing and blooming.
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One of the Sr. House Herb Garden residents came out of hiding. We definetly know plants better than aphians but this large guy is one of Arizona’s Sonoran Desert frogs or toads who hibernate for 10 months a year but appear in time to enjoy the monsoon. We hope he is telling us that rain is on the way.
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Not to be outdone; one of the resident squirrels decided to enjoy the cool tiles. |
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They both were greeted by the Mexican Oregano (Poliomintha longiflora) in full bloom. The hummingbirds were also enjoying all the flowers. It was a good day at the ranch working among the flowers and observing all the critters.
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Speaking of hummingbirds, we discovered our feeders’ metal base coatings were peeling back and exposing metal. In a few places rust was beginning to form. The old feeders were removed and, thanks to some of your donations, the new feeders pictured below, were hung. This time we selected feeders with plastic bases that, if damaged, can be replaced. Both the hummingbirds and the Historic Canoa Ranch Project THANK YOU for your generous donations. Your donations allow us to do a little extra in our gardens.
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We meet on Tuesday’s at 7:30 a.m. Please join us! If you want more information call me at 520-625-0961 or email rs_taber@msn.com
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Medians ... By Phyllis Barboza and Ruth Tamminga
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We are finished with the medians until fall! Yeah! Have a great summer!
We want to thank all the volunteers that helped the last two weeks cleaning up the medians:
Thank-you!
- Jerry Sampson
- Karen Clouse
- Gene Van Dyken
- Chris Arundell
- Nancy Gould
- Mark Westrich
- Rick Adshead
- Bob Stenz
- David Duffy
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Membership ... By Mark Thompson
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Our Membership Roster continues to grow as we added five new members last month and are now showing 519 members on our roster. Please welcome our new members:
Hilary Hamlin
Sheri Paseka
Alexis Jacques
Sandy Wahl
Mary Ball
Jayne Reiter
If you see any of these new members around town, welcome them and encourage them to get involved. Things are a little slow now, but will be picking up soon.
Like most new gardeners here in Green Valley, they really want to learn how to garden here in the Sonoran Desert. Let’s all help them to do just that.
Don’t forget to order your Green Valley Gardeners’ branded clothing and get your fresh herbs at Desert Meadows Park.
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Mailing Address:
PO Box 86,
Green Valley, AZ 85622-0086
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