'A Way We Grow'
Martha's Vineyard Garden Club
August 2022
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From our President...
Just a few weeks ago we were trapped in what seemed to be an endless hot, humid summer,
but then August took hold. Beautiful weather, two wonderful activities and Labor Day looming.
Jane Bradbury’s Edgartown garden tour was an elegant, informative gem of a fundraiser for the
Old Mill. Kudos to Jane and Donna - hopefully we’ll have an encore next year! For the tour Jane
and Donna chronicled Mrs. Meikleham’s activism, in founding the Garden Club, saving the
Old Mill and protecting the island’s natural environment.
At the Ag Fair several Garden Club members, including Judy Bryant, Jackie Hokenson,
Laurisa Rich, Nancy Weaver, Jennifer Blum and me, led by Alysa, worked the “SLASH THE
TRASH” stations, where we instructed attendees on separating their food waste for
composting, recycling or landfills. I was blown away by the amount of food waste that will
be saved for Island Grown Initiative’s 13-ton, 45-foot-long composter, and proud that the
Club helped with this effort.
The Garden Club was the island’s first conservation organization. Today many specifically
chartered conservation groups help protect our fragile, complex ecosystem, and with Sheriff’s
Meadow, Vineyard Conservation, Trustees of Reservations and Vineyard Community Lands, we are tenants of the Wakeman Conservation Center, but our focus is informal.
A Garden Club Conservation Committee could inform us all on best practices for gardening and our households, liaise with other organizations, identify events and speakers. The re-formation of a Conservation Committee within the MVGC is a goal this Board has for 2022/2023, but we need several members to step up and take this on. It is an opportunity for a small group of conservation activists to impact our Club and the Island in a positive way, while respecting the foundation of conservation the MVGC was built on 98 years ago. Thank you, Jennifer Blum, for being our first volunteer! Do let a Board member know if you have an interest in working with other like-minded members to create a Conservation Committee within our Club.
I hope to see you at this week’s “4:00 Friday” social, August 26, 4:00-5:30, at the Old Mill.
- Susan Hobart, President
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A Warm Welcome to our
New and Returning Members!
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Nancy Corvese OB
Kara Donahue - VH
Patricia Giumarra - E
Diane Kraus - E
Edward McFarland - OB
Michele McFarland - OB
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Book Lovers Corner by Ty Johnston
For all those book-lovers out there, welcome to a new addition to the monthly newsletter! Each month I'll recommend and review a book about gardens or gardening that inspires, educates, and/or entertains. This month I'm starting with Paths of Desire: The Passions of a Suburban Gardener (2004), by Dominique Browning.
This is an entirely entertaining, amusing, and oh-so inspiring book about one woman's “project” in her yard. To call it a project is really a misnomer... it was an all-out re-structuring of a very overgrown and uncared for garden. Browning, as the editor in chief of House and Garden magazine, lived in
Westchester, New York and commuted each day into the big city. She owned the house and raised her two children there after her divorce. She loved the yard and garden – she named each of the sections of her land – and constantly re-worked the beds and areas in her head and on paper, but not in reality.
Then one day an enormous retaining wall that held up her hilly lot and separated it from one of her neighbors, collapsed completely into the much loved garden behind her house (she had named it the Back Bed.) “As I stood, dumbfounded, in front of my poor rose of Sharon, the wall gave off a terrible cracking noise,..... A wave of muddy water from the uphill neighbor's yard, which stood six feet higher than mine (hence the retaining wall), came tumbling off the concrete edge, and pooled around my feet. And thus begins a wonderful and amusing and very instructional journal of Browning's work in her new garden. Because how can you re-do one bed without thinking of the others? How can you call in a professional (a “helpful man”, as she labels him), without looking at the sweep and needs of the whole property?
Anyway, the book unfolds in its thoroughly entertaining way. I love the writing and the sense of her
being DEEP into the garden, and into all the things we also have to be into and solve in our work with our little patches of the earth. - Ty
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Third Place Ribbon! The Ag Fair Committee did themselves and our Club proud by winning a ribbon at the Fair last week! Laurisa Rich, Irene Ziebarth, Fern Vaughan, Fawn Hurwitz, and Nancy Kilson created a beautiful, clever and interactive display to represent the MVGC at the 2022 Agricultural Fair! The idea was for visitors to take their pic in one or several of the flowery frames at the display and post the pics on social media! Esther Brandon stepped up and aided by taking the display pic as the ladies were setting things up. A great display of Teamwork and here are some pics of the action along with the final result!
CLICK HERE to see some fun pics that visitors took!
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The kind and creative Jesse Ausubel created an absolutely FANTASTIC booklet for us on cherries! Its packed with information, photos and so much of what he shared with us on the day of his presentation!
You can download it from our website under the 'Resources' tab by using THIS LINK. Once you're there, click on the direct link and you can download it to your computer. Thanks so much, Jesse! You're a star! |
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REFRESH YOUR GARDENING LIBRARY JUST IN TIME FOR WINTER PLANNING!
The October meeting is scheduled for our GARDEN BOOK SWAP! Please bring your well-loved garden books to the September and/or October meetings.
We'll keep track of who has donated as they will get priority in choosing a new book. The SWAP will take place at the end of the October meeting.
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Jane Bradbury's Edgartown Garden was such a treat for us to visit on August 11! The Fundraiser brought in close to $2000.00 for The Old Mill Preservation Fund. We learned the history of the property, strolled the luscious gardens and listened to stories about the founder of the MV Garden Club, Mrs. Meikleham and her family. To view pics and get a recap of the day, visit this link via our website. |
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Kudos to Margaret Curtin for her good work in updating the Endangered & Rare Wildflowers plant list for the AG Fair book this year!
Nice mention for the MVGC!
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On the topic of the Ag Fair...
If you participated in the Ag Fair by submitting an entry and won (or even if you didn't!) do send a pic of your entry with a bit of background! Wouldn't it be fun to see what our fellow GC members created? If we get enough submissions, we'll create a great Ag Fair page which can act as a source of inspiration for other members and it may even encourage non-members to join this creative and diverse Club!
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COMING UP AT POLLY HILL!
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PART OF POLLY HILL LECTURE SERIES:
Learning How to Be on Wampanoag Land
WHEN: September 14, 2022 @ 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm
COST IS FREE
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PART OF POLLY HILL LECTURE SERIES:
Design for Habitats, Gardens, & Landscapes of Refuge on Randall’s Island
WHEN: September 21, 2022 @ 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm
COST:$10; $5 for PHA Members
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Giving Back to the Community!
On Monday morning, August 8, Weit Bacheller, Susan Hobart, Susie Wallo, Sarah Lolley, Anna Edey, Gay Smith, Fawn Hurwitz, Paula Craft and Caroline Taylor joined up at Farm Neck Golf Club to create 32 centerpieces and 8 miscellaneous bouquets for the Annual Hospice Summer Soiree'!
Visit our website via this link to see more pics and a little blurb about the morning! |
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Thank you to Norah Kyle Messier for her awesome August program,
'Planting The Past'
Our Annual Meeting was held at the Old Mill on August 16 and was well attended with Chilmark/Aquinnah members supplying the snacks and refreshments.
What a treasure trove of information Norah shared with us, both about 'historical horticulture' AND the recent goings on at the Cooke House and Legacy Gardens (and part of the MV Museum) , located in Edgartown. Anyone who has not visited the property, really should. It is a little gem in the center of town and Norah is there every Saturday hosting community-friendly events. View the Gardens or enjoy doing a simple garden-inspired take-home craft. Beginning in September, take a guided tour of the Cooke House, from 12-4pm on Saturdays. For more info on the Saturday visits, check out this link.
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The Old Mill was a perfect venue for this historic and informative presentation! |
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Norah shared her love of history, agriculture and horticulture in her own special way. |
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Yummy snacks and refreshments ended our August meeting nicely! |
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Thanks, Gay for sharing your sweet garden with the Club! |
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Thanks to Ty and Nancy for sharing these pics with us! |
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Fern Vaughan captured this special moment! |
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Thank You to Greg Palermo for sharing your beautiful Garden! |
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Many thanks to Joan Eville for sharing these pics of Greg's garden! |
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To see pics from all the 2022 walkabouts, click here to be taken to the posts! |
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Our Next Meeting is
Tuesday, September 20, 2022 - 1:00pm
@ The Wakeman Center
The Presentation is:
Flowers and Foccacia Art
with
Teri Culletto /Vineyard Baker
Teri Culletto uses focaccia as a canvas to make incredible bread-based art. At our September meeting she will tell us her story and demonstrate how she turned a passion for baking into a well-loved and flower-filled art project.
Check out this article and some of Teri's handiwork CLICK HERE...
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COME TO Four O'Clock FRIDAY...
our next one is AUGUST 26!
Let's meet new members and/or rekindle friendships with existing members! Come to
Four O'Clock Friday at the Old Mill!
The only rules are ... Carry In / Carry out, (just like when you go to the beach), whatever snack and drink you want to enjoy and/or share with others, bring it along! Time is 4:00 - 5:30 and the vibe is extremely casual! Four O'Clock Friday will be held the last Friday of each month and will continue through the warm months, hopefully until October!
We hope to see our new members there!
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Send Us your Pollinator (or your favorite garden) pics! |
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Please send us your favorite garden pics and/or suggestions for what you plant to get more beneficial insects to visit your garden! Also looking for folks who like to write and tell garden stories with nice pics we can share in future newsletters...especially with fall and winter coming...we all will need some informative reading! Send to news@marthasvineyardgardenclub.org
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So, I'll go first...and confess that until I became a Master Gardener (in NJ) I never realized the importance of beneficial insects, but since then I hold them in the highest regard! My pics, my garden, enjoy. - Donna Arold |
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A little recap of JULY's Four O'CLOCK Friday gathering
at the Old Mill!
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July's Four O'Clock Friday was a lovely and breezy evening where we met up and also made a few new friends! Club member, Chris brought some ladies along that she thought would enjoy the evening and they wound up joining the Club! |
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Snacks and libations were shared while members swapped stories about friends and family visits that passed and are upcoming. We talked gardens (of course!) and the trials and tribulations of keeping things growing without the much needed rain. |
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All in all it was a great evening...so if you've never come, do plan on attending in August! Its super casual and always a special time with like minded and friendly folks!
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Do join us for the next gathering...August 26 from
4:00 - 5:30 at the Old Mill.
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The residents at Woodside are asking for suggestions as to what can be planted and/or removed from the large center garden amidst the raised beds within their Community Garden.
Anyone who is willing to suggest and/or assist with this project, please reach out to me! We can coordinate a day to head over there!
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