THE ISLAND GARDENER
SEPTEMBER ~ 2021
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Welcome to the 2021/22 Orcas Island Garden Club season!
Applause for all of you who helped us through last season’s challenges: the energetic board members, the renewing and brand new members, the garden owners and the many volunteers who made the Garden Tour possible. In spite of the obstacles, the Orcas Island Garden Club is alive and well! We trust you and your gardens thrived this summer, and that you’re getting ready to enjoy the next lovely season.
We’d hoped by now to be announcing that we’d be seeing you face-to-face at our September meeting, but it looks like this pandemic is not over yet. So to keep all of us out of harm’s way, we’ll continue with virtual programs each month and hope you can join us online. We’ll continue to monitor the safety guidelines and recommendations and will resume meeting in person when it is safe to do so.
Although we've missed being able to meet in person, this pandemic situation has forced us as a Club to rethink ways we can serve and be of benefit to our members. Many of you have told us how much you appreciate being able to view the recorded presentations at a time and place that's convenient for you. We hear you -- and we're investigating ways we can continue recording our future in-person programs so everyone still has access to the presentations. We've also heard from you that the newsletter is appreciated and valued for the wide range of topics and personal connections. So we plan to continue reaching out to you through the monthly newsletter as well. The Garden Club has grown and been transformed in positive ways through the past 18 months, and we're pleased to have discovered more ways to bring Garden Club goodness to all our members.
Our first virtual program is this week, Weds. Sept. 15 at 10:30 am, with Karen Chapman. This program will NOT be recorded, so please try to attend on Wednesday morning. You can read more about Karen and her presentation below, as well as find the link to connect to the Zoom meeting.
We’ve had some turnover in the make-up of the Board of Directors. A huge, heartfelt thank you to Linda Armstrong (Past President) and Jan Jacobson (Secretary) for their dedicated service to the Club. Helen Huber has graciously agreed to continue as Communications Chair. Yay! And we’re excited to announce that Margaret Payne is returning to the Board, this time as Board Secretary, and she will also be assisting Cyndi Hawkins with A/V when we return to in-person meetings. So thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
The ISLAND GARDENER (this newsletter) will continue to show up in your email box each month. In this issue, you’ll read about membership renewals, a Garden Tour report, yummy recipes, book recommendations, gardening stories and advice from Board members, the Seed Library at the public library, and so much more. If you’d like to be part of the team working on the newsletter, read about how YOU can get involved.
And now you’re probably longing to be on your way to get at the goodies inside the newsletter, like the “piled firewood” in Mary’s Oliver’s poem at the end of the newsletter. So, enough talking. ENJOY and WELCOME BACK!
Nita Couchman, President
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SEPTEMBER 15 OIGC PROGRAM
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Wednesday
Sept. 15 @ 10:30am
via ZOOM
The Orcas Island Garden Club presents . . .
KAREN CHAPMAN
Touchstones:
a journey of healing and discovery
Zoom Meeting Link:
PLEASE NOTE: This program will NOT be recorded.
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Karen Chapman is a garden plant specialist and the owner of Le jardinet, https://lejardinetdesigns.com/, a custom landscape design company specializing in creating artistic plant combinations with a four-season foliage framework, functional outdoor living spaces, and deer-resistant designs. Her articles and designs can be found in many national gardening publications. She is the author of Deer Resistant Design: Gardens that Thrive Despite the Deer and co-author of the books Fine Foliage and Gardening with Foliage First.
In her presentation Touchstones: a journey of healing and discovery, Karen will discuss gardeners’ needs for continual reassessment, modifying plans – and plants, in response to unexpected circumstances. She will consider that not all of life’s changes are welcome or easily adapted to. She will show ancient villages, stately homes, and the rolling English countryside from her perspective as an expat turned tourist. We’ll see the private gardens and the grand estates that Karen explored on a recent trip, looking for ideas we can use in our own gardens while being immersed in the rich history. Drawing on her personal story and reflections on the past year, Karen will describe finding strength in connections.
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IT'S MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL TIME
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By Karen Hiller, Co-Chair, Membership
We are Perri Gibbons and Karen Hiller, and we share the membership position on the Board for Orcas Island Garden Club. When COVID hit with a vengeance a year and a half ago, the Board went into very serious discussions on how we were going to keep the Garden Club alive. It became apparent immediately that our wonderful programs, as well as our in-person meetings, would have to change.
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First, the Board decided to create a monthly newsletter that would include links to online educational programs and resources, personal stories about club members, recipes to inspire using your garden goodness, raffle prizes for renewing members, articles with gardening tips, poems, book and movie reviews, and so much more. Our goal was to keep a flow of communication going with our members even if we couldn’t gather in person. And guess what? It worked!
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And then, when it became apparent that quarantine was going to last much longer than we at first thought, in January we began offering a monthly virtual program, with the support and collaboration of the Orcas Island Library, which gave us one more avenue to connect with one another.
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The Board decided that we would carry over all memberships from the previous year, which relieved Perri and me, but we figured we wouldn’t get many new members. BOY, were we wrong!! Not only did we get new members, we ended up getting more than three times MORE new members --13 new members in year 2019/2020 versus 46 in year 2020/2021!! Perri and I have noticed this electronic communication has reaped memberships from places far beyond our usual Orcas Island base!! Although the majority of our members live on Orcas Island, we now have members who hail from the following: Boise, ID; Seattle, WA; Lopez Island, WA (we have 2); Bellingham, WA; Puyallup, WA; Burien, WA; Bellevue, WA (we have 2); Palo Alto, CA; West Linn, OR; Lake Forest Park, WA; Bainbridge Island, WA (we have 2); Crane Island, WA; and Kirkland, WA! In addition, some of our members divide their time between two locals!
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For this current year -- 2021/2022 -- we were hoping to be able to go back to in-person meetings, since a high percentage of our Island population is fully vaccinated. BUT then along came the Delta Variant, and now it appears that for the time being, we will continue with last year's format! However, we are going to proceed with our annual membership renewal campaign starting now!
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If you are a long-time member, we hope you will renew; if you are one of our new 2020/2021 members, we are eager for you to renew as well. As a bonus, we'll continue raffling prizes each month to renewing and new members. Please consider renewing or becoming a new member for the yearly rate of ONLY $25 for an individual, or $35 for a couple!!
I want to close by saying Perri & I feel very privileged to have you in Orcas Island's largest and friendliest club! If you have any questions or comments, you can email Perri at gibbgroup@aol.com or Karen at khiller333@yahoo.com. Thank you for being a member of such a great club!
Forever in Gardening,
Karen and Perri
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We've Made it Easier for You to Become a Member
Last year's Garden Club members should have received a renewal letter and membership form in your snail mail recently. Please complete the form and return it with your check in the included envelope. If you did not receive a form in the mail, or if you would like to become a member, you can print a membership form from the button below and mail it in with your check. To make it even easier for you, we are happy to announce that memberships and donations can also be done directly from our website (www.OrcasIslandGardenClub.org/membership.html) where you will find an electronic membership form and a PayPal option.
To renew your membership, become a member, or make a donation,
please select whichever method works best for you.
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AND THE
WINNER IS
. . . . .
SANDI FRIEL
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Karen Chapman's
book:
Deer-Resistant Design
Donated by Darvill's Bookstore
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AND THE
WINNER IS
. . . . .
VICTORIA PARKER
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Aster Magic Purple
Aster novi-belgii
from
Driftwood Nursery
(more plants like this are available at
Driftwood Nursery)
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AND THE
WINNER IS
. . . . .
KATE KIMBALL
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Karen Chapman's
book:
Gardening with
Foliage First
Donated by Darvill's Bookstore
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Send in your membership renewal now
to be eligible for next month's great raffle prizes.
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UPCOMING EVENT : Sept. 16 at 6:00 pm ~ Orcas Library
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Orcas Island Public Library presents:
Barbara Bentley (Professor Emeritus, Dept. of Ecology and Evolution, SUNY Stony Brook) will speak about gardens and climate change on the Library's South Lawn on Thursday, September 16th at 6pm. Her research focused on the effects of global change on lupines. She will be talking about the cascading effects of elevated CO2 on a nitrogen fixation by bacteria in the root nodules. It's actually a positive take on a serious problem!
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The summer of 2021 brought us some delightful and some difficult moments. Our Safe Garden Tour was very successful thanks to the hard work of all the wonderful garden owners and volunteers. By offering a rare opportunity during this pandemic to gather together safely in the outdoors, our 2021 Garden Tour helped us reconnect with fellow garden lovers as we shared the beauty of plants. Our great new signs brought over 300 visitors to enjoy the Garden Tour, generating over $6000 to fund GC speakers and community grants. And our own gardens offered us many happy moments as we nurtured flowers, veggies, trees and herbs to grow and survive record-breaking heat and drought.
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As the fall weather arrives to cool us and bring much needed rain, we are beginning to plan for next year’s garden tour. This summer, we learned that we can create a fun, safe and successful garden tour despite the challenges. As we go forward, we’ll incorporate some of the most successful and popular elements into our 2022 Garden Tour such as special activities at each garden, raffle baskets, online ticket purchases, designated photographers, Master Gardener tables, plants sales and free starts.
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Gardens for the tour should offer interesting plants (annuals, perennials, fruit trees, veggies, natives, woodland, bird/insect friendly, deer-resistant), features (greenhouse, garden pond, rain catchment, berry cage, raised beds, drip watering, garden art), and/or creative design ideas that our fellow gardeners would enjoy seeing and might like to use in their own gardens. Gardens also have to be accessible to cars coming and going, have some parking available, and pose no hazards.
If you know of any gardens that might be good possibilities for our 2022 Garden Tour, please let us know.
Sally & Laura
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OCTOBER PROGRAM --
Kristy Bredin ~ October 20, 2021 @ 10:30 am via Zoom
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The Orcas Island Garden Club is pleased to invite you to Kristy Bredin’s virtual (Zoom) presentation Wild Plants of the Field, Forest, and Sea: Medicinal Plants of the San Juans on Wednesday October 20th, 2021 at 10:30 am. This presentation will be recorded.
For her presentation, Kristy will discuss some interesting wild plants found in the San Juans and their medicinal uses. Plants may be found in the field, forest, and sea, as well as in your own garden.
Kristy Bredin began her journey as an herbalist in 2009, when she began a two-year apprenticeship with herbalist Robin Rose Bennett in New York. For the past decade she has worked with Ryan Drum, wildcrafting medicinal herbs and cultivating an in-depth knowledge of traditional Western herbalism and local plants and seaweeds. Since 2013, she has been sharing plant remedies of the PNW through Mermaid Botanicals.
Kristy practices as an herbalist on Orcas Island, and is passionate about exploring the natural world and working with wild plants in ancient and creative ways. Please mark your calendars and attend Kristy's presentation on October 20.
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San Juan County
WSU Master Gardeners
2021 Gardening Workshop Series
Oct, 16, 19, 21 and 26.
Registration Fee: $35 for 8 hours of webinars
Webinars will be provided by Zoom.
Registration closes October 12.
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2021-22 MEET THE BOARD: THEIR ADVICE TO NEW GARDENERS
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Nita Couchman - Madam President, Newsletter Co-Editor and Chief Team Cheerleader
My first attempt at gardening was in 1980 in southeast Alaska. I carefully planted bean seeds and then waited impatiently for sprouts to appear. Eventually little green shoots popped up, which I nurtured with excited tender loving care. I was so proud of my little garden patch. My neighbor, a vegetable gardener of many years, dropped by one day and gently informed me that I'd been cultivating some very healthy weeds that had choked out any possibility of the beans growing. Live -- and learn!!
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Helen Huber - Communications Extraordinaire and Clever Creative Cooking Queen
When I started growing a cutting garden, I was reluctant to pinch off new growth so the plant would branch out and flower more. The thought of stopping the growth of my rapidly growing plant somehow seemed counterintuitive. Yet time (and reality) have shown that pinching many flowers like dahlias and cosmos result in more flowers over the season.
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Karen Hiller - Manager of Membership and Garden Tour Sign Placement Expert
When I moved here 23 years ago from Southern California's oppressive HEAT and desert dryness, I was anxious to have a "proper" garden, but I've had MANY challenges in completing my goal. I have a very steep rocky property with no soil to work with; I have a lack of water from a low producing well; AND I was surrounded by fir trees and their encroaching roots. I now have terraced raised beds and large pots, I have a rain catchment system installed, and I've had trenching with barriers installed to block the fir roots AND/OR added sealed inner liners on some planters to keep fir roots OUT! My advice: don't give up to achieve your goals and turn your negatives into positives, I actually like the look of terracing with the view beyond the steep slope!
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Lene Symes - Programs Imagineer and Backyard Bird Advocate
When we first bought our Orcas property we had numerous madrone (Arbutus menzieii) seedlings but none that survived to their second year. A friend put a fun flag near one tiny seedling and when the seeding was still there several months later we put a temporary fence around it. Ten years later that seedling in the picture is 15 feet tall. I learned to protect certain self-sowed plants.
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Margaret Payne - Grand Secretary and English Garden Inspiration Officer
My gardening tip is to prune back shrub roses (such as David Austins) significantly after flowering in June. You'll get a second flowering in late August, less substantial but roses anytime are a joy! :)
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Sally Hodson - Garden Tour Champion and
Volunteer Coordination Rockstar
When I moved to Orcas Island, I planted my first garden, ever. For twenty-five years, I had lived in the Colorado high country at almost 9,000 ft where the growing season was barely two months long. So, when I started my first garden on Orcas, I had to learn everything from scratch and I made all the common gardening mistakes.
The best advice that I can offer a new gardener is to learn about YOUR garden location – its ecosystem and plant environment. Wait a season to get to know your garden before you start planting. As we all know, each garden is different and our little island contains a wide range of gardening ecosystems from wet and shady to dry and sunny. Within each of our gardens, we all have different mini-habitats that will support different types of plants, so find plants that will work best in each habitat.
What are your garden’s unique characteristics: How much sun and shade? How well does the soil hold moisture? What type of soil and how deep? How rocky? How much
exposure to wind? How many big trees grow nearby that will compete with the roots of your garden plants? Do you have a fence to protect plants from hungry wildlife?
I wanted to grow lots of beautiful roses, but my semi-shady garden isn’t the best habitat. Tree roots from the beautiful nearby evergreens compete fiercely with delicate perennials. And the cost of bringing in enough soil to grow vegetables on my rocky hillside would be more expensive than purchasing them at the market. Instead, I found lots of shrubs, perennials and flowers that do well in my garden’s ecosystem to create a beautiful woodland garden habitat for me, the birds, bees and butterflies.
Some plants will do well in your garden but others will struggle. With careful planning, gardening amendments and site preparation, you can adjust some of your garden’s characteristics to expand the range of plants that you can successfully grow. Learn from other gardeners, ask lots of questions, keep trying new gardening techniques and choose plants that will thrive in your garden’s habitat so you can create a wonderful garden that will delight you.
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Perri Gibbons - Manager of Membership and Director of Fun and Games
I heard somewhere that pet hair would deter critters in the garden. Having several fuzzy companions, I was able to apply in abundance, and was rewarded with hair all over my veggies. The green beans, in particular, appreciated disguising themselves as caterpillars!
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Laura Walker - Garden Tour Apprentice, Newsletter Co-Editor and Engagement Hero
This year and most certainly next year will be all about experimentation for me in my botanical lab of a new garden. My dear neighbor, Jen, has been very inspirational to me and last year toured me through her beautiful flower garden which included jaw-dropping gorgeous towering dahlias. I wondered if I could be so lucky as to grow them in my garden too?! I ordered my tubers, anxiously awaited their arrival and when they came I eagerly opened the box labeled “FRAGILE”. As I peered inside, I found several plastic bags that seemed to be filled with dead oblong potatoes.
Undeterred, I took to the Google machine and researched a way to give them a head start in my greenhouse to start the growth process in the hopes they were truly alive just dormant as advertised. Two weeks. Nothing. One month. Nothing. Ugh, I was shaken, immediately intimidated and called through the fence to my friend. She smiled and encouraged me “Don’t give up on them just yet!” Discouraged I gave it a bit longer and thought, what do I have to lose? I’m going to just see what happens. I tagged and planted each of seven varieties following Right Place Right plant guidance. Nearly every day I would walk by the bed looking for any tiny evidence of growth then finally one day to my surprise, I saw a shoot of green, then another and another. I was overjoyed! The moral of the story for those that venture into new floral territory - be patient, believe in yourself and don’t hesitate to ask a friend for advice and encouragement!
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Many thanks to the commitment of our new 2021-2022 Orcas Island Garden Club Board!
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NEWSLETTER VOLUNTEERS NEEDED ! ! !
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I know what you're thinking -- "There's already a whole team of Garden Club members who work hard each month to put together THE ISLAND GARDENER. They don't need me." But -- you're wrong! We can always use more help. Come on, why should WE be having all the fun?!?
- Perhaps you have photographs of your garden that others would love to see.
- Perhaps you have a lot of expertise or burning interest in some garden-related topic and could write up an article for the newsletter.
- Perhaps you are an IDEA ! person who is constantly thinking of something interesting that we could include in the newsletter.
- Perhaps you have a gardening success (or disaster) story to share
- Perhaps you have another interest or talent that would enhance the newsletter?
This is YOUR newsletter and we want it to be a true reflection of the gardening interests of the broadest spectrum of our members. If any of this rings true for you, we'd love to hear from you. Don't wait! Click on the button below and send us an email today!
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THIS MONTH'S RECIPES -- Tomato Galette & Some Sauces
by Helen Huber
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I’m excited that it is August/September and people who are not me have an abundance of tomatoes in their gardens. I planted and nurtured five varieties. One plant has produced two tomatoes that have been fist-sized and green for a month. There is a cherry tomato plant that produces two small golden-orange gifts a day—a sweet treat on my way in or out but is not recipe-worthy. There’s something growing that is hard, harder than any tomato of my past, that is purple and long and very pointy. It could belong in a fairy tale and will transform into something, but I don’t know if it is going to be edible. I’m lowering my expectations and I encourage you to do the same.
Like so much of life these days, I can’t spend too much time lamenting the goodness of the past, the abundance I used to take for granted. That’s true for tomatoes and for people, travel, activities, tutoring… I’m looking for goodness and graceful acceptance of what is, rather than what I wanted/expected/decided I needed.
Regardless of where you get your tomatoes, these recipes should be a delight. In the worst of all worlds or in non-tomato season, for any of the tomato sauces, but not the tart, use canned San Marzano tomatoes which are sweeter, less acidic, and have more tomato flavor. Any canned tomato will work but we strive for excellence regardless of the reality that cloaks all garden goodness.
-Helen Huber, (Looking for goodness and mostly finding it)
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FOR YOUR READING PLEASURE
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By Perri Gibbons
My first review last year was Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, so it seems right to circle back around and highlight another personal favorite from her -- Prodigal Summer. This story revolves around several unique characters set during one humid summer in the Appalachian Mountains. Three stories weave in, out, and together to create a surprising tale of nature, love, and family. Kingsolver is the master of lyrical descriptions of the natural world:
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"When the rain and thunder died and the wind had gone quiet, coyotes began to howl from the ridge top. With voices that rose and broke and trembled with clean, astonished joy, they raised up their long blue harmony against the dark sky. Not a single voice in the darkness, but two: a mated pair in the new world, having the last laugh".
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Some Kingsolver books have seemed a bit preachy to me, but this one found just the right note of environmental enlightenment, softened by empathy for other views. And the ending hit me right in the feels. Prodigal Summer might be just the book to help you bid goodbye to the season and get ready for fall. You can check the book out from the Orcas Library, or you might choose to listen to the author's narration available through the Washington Anytime Library.
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SPOTLIGHT ON OIGC MERCHANDISE
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The Garden Club has gift-worthy bags we introduced and sold at this summer’s Garden Tour. Since we will continue remote meetings via Zoom for everyone’s safety, we’re offering these bags to you for your shopping pleasure as detailed below:
Garden Club Deluxe Tote Bag $20
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Sturdy, attractive and highly functional!
- 12 oz. canvas tote bag
- 14" H x 18" W with a huge 7" gusset
- Durable cotton canvas
- Snap closure
- Front pocket with the stylish Garden
. Club logo
- Cotton-bound inner seams
- 22" handle
**Apples not included.**
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AUTUMN AT THE SEED LIBRARY (Orcas Public Library)
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As we head into harvest season, the Seed Library at the Orcas Public Library has much to celebrate. It’s stocked with over 130 varieties of flowers, veggies and herbs, which you can always browse in the inventory or in person. This year, there were 42 adoptions of beans alone, among many other seeds that were brought into your gardens throughout the season.
To keep this up, we have two requests:
1. Please fill out this feedback form to help guide the direction of the Seed Library! What would make it work better for you? How can the Seed Library contribute best to the vibrant community of farmers and gardeners here on Orcas?
2. Please contribute to re-stocking the seed library! Return seeds in the “Returns” drawer, labeled with as much information as you have about them -- what they are, where you grew them, any tips you have? A seed librarian will file them into the main inventory. Seeds for greens, both tender and hearty, seem to go fast and would be deeply appreciated!
Happy Harvesting!
Marisa Hendron, seed librarian
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"Zut alors! I missed one!"
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Song for Autumn
by Mary Oliver
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Don’t you imagine the leaves dream now
how comfortable it will be to touch
the earth instead of the
nothingness of the air and the endless
freshets of wind? And don’t you think
the trees, especially those with
mossy hollows, are beginning to look for
the birds that will come--six, a dozen--to sleep
inside their bodies? And don’t you hear
the goldenrod whispering goodbye,
the everlasting being crowned with the first
tuffets of snow? The pond
stiffens and the white field over which
the fox runs so quickly brings out
its long blue shadows. The wind wags
its many tails. And in the evening
the piled firewood shifts a little,
longing to be on its way.
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IF YOU ENJOYED THIS MONTH'S NEWSLETTER,
WE'D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU!
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PRESIDENT:
PROGRAMS:
MEMBERSHIP:
MEMBERSHIP:
GARDEN TOUR:
GARDEN TOUR:
SECRETARY:
TREASURER
COMMUNICATIONS:
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Nita Couchman
Lene Symes
Perri Gibbons
Karen Hiller
Sally Hodson
Laura Walker
Margaret Payne
Tony Suruda
Helen Huber
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Orcas Island Garden Club
P. O. Box 452
Eastsound, WA 98245
oigc376@gmail.com
www.orcasislandgardenclub.org
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