SAND'n'SEEDS
May 2022
Serving Our Community Since 1980
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Message from the President
By Marilee Crumley
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May brings a promise of warmer days, of planning for summer excursions, and saying goodbye to the last of our seasonal visitors. It means being outside to enjoy the sunshine and breezes, seeing the colorful blooms in our yards and parks, watching the many birds, lizards, and other little creatures.
In the garden it means getting to enjoy more blooms and fruits amongst our vegetables. It’s been a good spring in the garden, with plentiful broccoli and cauliflower, beet tops to use as spinach, and abundant snap peas. My citrus trees have bloomed or are still in bloom so I’m looking forward to good crops of fruit this year.
Our club is still looking forward to one spring event, our onion sale. I hope you support it by volunteering for the harvest or loading of onions into cars, and by your purchases. It will be sometime late May. Volunteers are still needed through the summer at the four garden projects, especially since our seasonal visitors are fewer in number, so help if you’re here and can do so. We are also looking for a new person to take over doing our member tours to local garden related sites. If you have an interest in this fun position, please let me know.
Happy Spring and 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
Canoa Ranch:
Tuesdays at 7:30 a.m.
Contact: Raydine Taber
Desert Meadows Park:
Wednesdays at 7:30 a.m.
Contact: Chuck Parsons
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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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Opportunities to Serve
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Education Chair - Help us coordinate with local school district activities and to meet our mission of providing learning opportunities to the community.
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Member Activities - Tour Coordinator This would be someone who likes to visit area garden-related sites with a group of GVG members. It would require coordinating the trips on a monthly or every-other month basis.
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Board of Directors
The Nominating Committee is looking for members interested in serving on the Green Valley Gardeners Board of Directors.
The Board of Directors are leaders who help our volunteer gardeners grow. As a board member you will have an opportunity to establish and administer club policies. You will also have input into the establishment of new 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 have questions about serving as a board member contact Aliceann at the email or phone number listed below.
If you would be willing to serve or would like to nominate a member, please contact Aliceann Christy at aliceann@provisioncoaching.com 402-312-7308.
“The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit.” –Nelson Henderson
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Seminar Committee
Join the Seminar Committee and help us develop innovative programs for the upcoming year. The gardening seminars play a vital role in fulfilling our mission of educating the public about gardening. As a member of the seminar team, you will help develop fresh ideas for seminar topics and contact potential speakers. We also need writers to help us announce our seminars in the Green Thumb column of the Green Valley News.
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Seeking Gardens for the April 2023 Spring Garden Tour
The Garden Tour Committee has already started searching for wonderful gardens for the next tour, but we need your help in finding those hidden gems. If you have a garden you would like us to consider or know of any gardens that might be good additions to the tour please contact either Stacie Meyer at staciemeyer24@gmail.com or Cynthia Surprise at cjsurprise@verizon.net.
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Spring Garden Tour - A Thank you
... By Stacie Meyer and Cynthia Surprise
Strolling through a garden - what a wonderful way to spend a beautiful April day! Multiply that by 6 and you have the Spring Garden Tour. Over 600 people enjoyed the sights and sounds of the varied gardens during the April 9 Garden Tour. Smiling greeters welcomed visitors and checked their tickets while helpful hosts and homeowners answered gardening questions. Plants in each garden, labeled with the common name as well as the botanical name, provided a great way to identify plants! Local musicians added to the festive ambiance.
This successful tour would not have been possible without the efforts of so many volunteers who did everything from greeting visitors, labeling plants, answering questions to selling tickets. We hope you had the opportunity to enjoy the tour.
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FALL SILENT AUCTION DONATIONS
We are now accepting donations for the Fall Silent Auction.
Donations can be dropped off at 1010 S. LaHuerta (Chuck Parsons’ screened front porch), or call Sheri Paseka at 406-672-7035 to arrange a time for pick up.
Thank you all in advance for your generous donations!
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In Your Plot ... By Lorna Mitchell
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May turns spring into summer in the desert which means hot weather blankets us before the end of the month. We need to have a lot of growth on our plants so they can survive the stress of 100+ degree days; keep soil moisture consistent.
Everyone loves a vine ripened tomato and tomato plants are in almost every plot. They are either determinate (growing like a bush) or indeterminate (continuing to grow and produce fruit all season). Determinate plants are easier to maintain because they bush and stop growing as they set fruit. Indeterminate plants are more common and will benefit from some pruning and support. Place supports now while the plants are small. Pruning consists of snipping out “suckers” at the leaf axials (all season long) which helps channel energy into the leading stem to produce fruit. I suggest reviewing a video on pruning tomatoes at johnnyseeds.com. The idea is to identify two or three central leaders and make them produce fruit instead of extra vines.
Pests we need to watch for are the tomato hornworm and squash borer and both have a larval stage so we can use Bt to control them. Bt stands for Bacillus thuringiensis, a natural organic bacterium which is selectively toxic to many caterpillars and found under names such as Thuricide, Monterey Bt, Garden Safe Bt, and Dipel Dust. It is applied in water solution, has no residue, and is exempt from tolerance requirements. Repeated applications may be necessary to control new populations. Spraying all squash stems twice a week beginning when they are very small helps prevent their collapse from the vine borer caterpillar.
Cold temperatures this winter slowed onion growth resulting in fewer leaves but the day length has already caused growth in the bulb. So, our onions will not be as large as in some years but keep them well-watered as they grow in girth. Onions are supposed to have a biennial life cycle – grow leaves the first year and then seeds the second year – but some want to send up flower stalks now. Bolting monopolizes energy and creates a hard core in the onion; it is best to pull and eat a bolting onion right away. The bulb will not get any bigger and breaking off the stalk opens the center of the onion to disease and pests.
Onions can be eaten at any stage in their development but need taken after their leaves bend over at the neck, the signal that they are done growing. If you want to harvest all at once a good time is when half of your crop is folded over. Cut back on water and let them dry in place for a few days before digging them out of the ground.
Replenish the soil in that empty space and plant seeds of beans, melons, radishes, cucumbers, okra, black eyed peas, leaf lettuce, or squash or plants of peppers, sweet potatoes, and eggplant.
Here is one of my favorite recipes with fresh onions:
Caramelized Onion and Bacon Tart
- Pastry dough for 10” tart or crescent dough rolled together to fit 5 strips bacon fried and crumbled (or sausage).
- 4 cups thinly sliced sweet onions, fried in 1 T butter till tender and caramelized, about 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Combine 1 cup Ricotta cheese with ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese and add black pepper and Italian seasonings to taste
- Pre-heat oven to 400°F.
- Roll Pastry into 12” circle and place on baking sheet.
- Spread cheese mixture over pastry leaving 2” border all around.
- Spread onion mixture on top of that.
- Crumble bacon over top.
- Gently lift 2” edge of pastry and fold over filling, working around creating folds as you go. Center of filing will not be covered.
- Brush folded edge of pastry with egg wash and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or till golden brown.
Enjoy!
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Those are my plot thoughts for now,
Happy Gardening!!
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Arid Garden …
By Mary Kidnocker
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Early spring is such a happy time, especially when choosing and planting new selections for the garden! Recently added to The Arid Garden were: already-in-bloom Desert Sunset Gaillardia, fragrant Mount Lemmon Marigold, Damianita, Desert Milkweed, Elephant Food, and a blooming Passion Vine.
Despite extremely dry conditions, the garden has burst into flower and is a riot of color. Camera buffs have begun stopping by periodically to check on the progress of our many Trichocereus Cactus buds.
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Still a work-in-progress at The Arid Garden, another resting area is centered at the bench donated by members Phyllis & Hans Hohle and built by Barry Gillaspie.
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Moss Verbena and Fleabane |
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Damianita Daisies brighten up a cloudy day in the Arid Garden. |
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As has been seen around the area, Agave plants are beginning to push their flower stalks high toward the sky. In the garden, we currently have two large Agave ready to bloom… one, a very old variegated variety plus a 20-year-old Weber Agave. It is always great fun to watch the development of the fast-growing stalk prior to the actual flower. |
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New club member Janice Duran recently spent a Friday morning getting acquainted with our little garden and its devoted caretakers. Welcome aboard, Janice! |
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Desert Meadows Park …
By Chuck Parsons
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April was a busy month at the park. Easter and spring break bring a lot of visitors to town and to the park. The picnic tables get used in the morning, noon and evening. We booked 45 events in the 3 venues that can be reserved. These included french classes, a circle of spinning wheels, rock painting sessions, Easter events, birthday celebrations, a memorial, book groups, Charlene Westgate workshops, the GVR Canine Club, and a taco party for park volunteers hosted by Carmen in the Barrio Garden. The Tucson Garden Club booked a tour of the park, a first for that group.
The trees and perennials show off and the birds are active during April attracting artists and photographers to the park. The new Birding Checklist was timely and has been very popular.
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The park has several palo verde trees which have burst into a glorious blaze of yellow.
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Blooming is late this year for some species at the park. This Alta prickly pear is normally in full bloom by the second week of April. This year it might hit its peak at the end of April if not early May.
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The volunteers have noticed that some plants are flowering later this year than normal. In particular, the Opuntia engelmannii v. alta (Alta prickly pear) is just beginning to bloom as April comes to an end. Typically this plant has been in full bloom at the time of the Spring Garden Tour. |
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Our volunteers get a lot of work accomplished during the favorable weather of April. We now say goodbye to our winter-resident volunteers for the summer. Always a bit sad, but we look forward to their return in the fall.
Nursery sales have been excellent this year. We welcome donations of plants, cuttings and pottery. The volunteers can ‘up-cycle’ your old cups and bowls by drilling a hole in the bottom and planting a small cactus or succulent. These make excellent gifts. Donations of decorative pots, lawn furniture, yard equipment and garden tools are also effectively recycled at the nursery.
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Historic Hacienda de la Canoa ...
By Raydine Taber
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It’s that time of year when the plants come alive with color. This year’s Palo Verde trees seem to have more blooms and they appear brighter than I have ever seen. What a joy, that is, unless you are allergic to them. Yes, Palo Verde trees are one of the allergens that tend to cause, us transplants, to sneeze a lot. We also have the beginnings of the Pomegranate blooms, pear, apple and plum tree blooms, Iris, Chihuahuan Orchid trees, Crossvines, Salvia, Tulips, Daffodils, and several of the cactus. Here are a few of our blossoms.
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The “County” has started renovations on the Manning Senior House. First phase is a new septic field. However, they are also working inside. For safety measures, the Senior House has been fenced off to everyone but the construction crew. In the month of May, we have been informed, that the wells will be shut down, possibly as long as two weeks. During this period of time, the NRPR crew will help us get water to all our plants. We will continue our Tuesday, Volunteer days, at the ranch.
Additional information for the month of May: All events and tours, scheduled for the “compound area” have been cancelled. This is being done for safety reasons and the inconvenience of not having water. Port-a-Potties have been brought in for those people working and/or visitors walking the grounds.
We have an order of plants coming in from the Pima County Native Nursery. This should help complete the Visitors’ Center and add to the Care Takers’ landscaping.
We want to thank all of our “part time volunteers” for their time, energy, and suggestions. You truly add to the success of our project. Have an enjoyable and safe trip home. See you, again, in the fall.
Come join us, for some of our interesting adventures, or take advantage of events offered by Pima County, Natural Resources Parks, and Recreation. The fun part about volunteering, at Historic Canoa Ranch gardens, is our variety of plant life and learning a small part of Southern Arizona’s history. We are not just all native and drought tolerant plants, but we also have herbs, vegetables, fruit trees and indoor plants. Each garden, we work, enhances one of the Ranch’s historic buildings. Take a step back into Southern Arizona’s History.
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We meet on Tuesdays 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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Allen J Ogden Community Garden ...
By Bob Laux-Bachand
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Here in the desert, March showers (if we’re lucky) bring April flowers. Ogden’s new look in 2022 has been enhanced by a 32-foot bank of fragrant sweet peas bordering Mary Norton’s plot. Calendulas, lavender, hollyhocks, marigolds and other blooms are scattered among the other garden beds. There’s a new sign, too, fashioned by Henry Garcia, whose metal creations have helped to beautify Desert Meadows Park and the Arid Garden.
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As with our sister gardens, Ogden is updating its equipment inventory. Old rakes, clippers, and other tools were replaced in April, and the garden’s supply of fertilizer was replenished. Manager Harry Jepkema and volunteers continued their work on the newest plot, which is connected to a water line installed in March. This 10-by-20-foot plot will have three raised beds and should be available this month. One other site is available — a 10-by-40-foot in-ground plot. Any club member interested in becoming an Ogden gardener is asked to contact Jepkema. There is no waiting list. |
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Harry Jepkema, Ogden Garden manager, helped to construct raised beds in a new 10-by-20-foot plot.
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Sweet peas hugged the eastern fence of the garden in April. "
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40th Anniversary Median Project ...
by Phyllis Barboza
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The medians on Abrego between Continental and Esperanza are finally finished. If you get a chance, drive by and see what your fellow Green Valley Gardeners have accomplished. The median volunteers worked hard and have certainly made a big difference in the community. A big, thank you, to co-Chair of the project Ruth Tamminga, who is also Median Green, (part of the Green Valley Council), she has put a lot of time and hard work into making this project a big success.
Our volunteers who water the medians, once the work has been done, will be watering the plants for about 2 years. If you happen to see them watering honk your horn and give them a big wave.
Pick one or more of the Green Valley Gardeners projects and volunteer, you can make a difference!
I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to
Jim and Karen Dougherty
who water NE23 (4th median North of Continental on Abrego).
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Jim and Karen moved to Green Valley in October 2019 after buying a home in Desert Meadows, sight unseen. They lucked out though, finding themselves directly across from Desert Meadows Park (DMP), and enjoy the breathtaking views daily. Never having been to Arizona, they were looking for an adventure after retiring in 2019. Since arriving, they have been very active getting acclimated to life in Green Valley. Both volunteered for 2 years at the animal league of Green Valley.
Karen is a member of the RN group in Green Valley and participated with them administering Covid vaccines at several local sites. She is a member of the Glass Artist Club and co-manager of the glass store. In the past Karen has participated with the club in several Art in the Park events. In her spare time she is also a Director on the Green Valley Gardeners Board and is involved in Membership oversight.
Jim is a volunteer with the Green Valley Liter Patrol, which picks up liter every Tuesday morning on I19 and the Frontage Road. He has regained his love of golf and manages to play at least 2-4 times a week.
They both volunteer Tuesday evenings at the American Legion Post 66 Burger Night, doing food service and clean up. Karen and Jim currently have a garden plot at the DMP, which furnishes them with fresh vegetables.
Thank you both for all the community service you do to keep Green Valley a wonderful and beautiful place to live.
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Membership ... By Karen Dougherty & Mark Thompson
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We are pleased to report that our membership roster now stands at 577. Since the beginning of the year, we have added 44 new members and the 14 new members joining in the last month are:
Ken Miller
Cecelia Pier
Ken Brown
Barbra and James Thompson
Cindy Lucas
Casey Funk
David Scwobe
James Brooks
Robert Campbell
McCray Wimpsett
Lillian Snider
Davis Bettcher
Maureen Kirk-Derberner
An interactive garden tours for new members was held in April at Desert Meadows Park both for the Park and for our 40th Anniversary Median Project. Over 20 new members attended and got to learn first hand on what it takes to make these projects work. More of these informal gatherings are planned. Don’t forget to order you GVG banded clothing; get your fresh herbs at DMP.
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Mailing Address:
PO Box 86,
Green Valley, AZ 85622-0086
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