Garden Clippings November Calendar
McMinnville Garden Club
PO
Box 386, McMinnville, OR
503-434-4344
November 16–
MEETING
Hillside Retirement Community “Activity
Room” at the Manor
900 N. Hill Road
PLEASE DON’T FORGET TO PARK IN THE CHURCH PARKING LOT
*Remember: “The
Making a Difference Campaign” is a national garden club project. Our Pioneer District is collecting inkjet,
laser printer cartridges and cell phones that will be recycled. If you have any that you wish to contribute
to the project please bring them to a meeting and we will forward them to the
Pioneer District. They take clean bottle caps, the plastic ones. No
medicine bottle caps. *Also bring your magazines to share
with others.
Laura is an interpretive naturalist who leads hands-on nature
workshops for kids, loves birds and is also a local author. Her parents were well-known in scientific circles,
at Linfield College and beyond. Her father, the late
Kenneth M. Fender, was an entomologist - someone who studies insects. She
spent her childhood immersed in the natural world of the Willamette
Valley. Laura can recognize a pileated woodpecker by its call, long
before it wings overhead. And she knows where to look for the rare red-legged
frog. Her lifelong experiences in the outdoors impelled her to form
Nature's Way, a business designed to encourage stewardship of the Earth through
education and consultation. She
has worked with the Yamhill County Parks Department to develop an outdoor
educational program. This led her to
co-author and co-illustrate "An Educator's Guide to Teaching Nature and
Ecology - Featuring Six Yamhill County Parks," which is available in local
school libraries. Her aim is to introduce people of all ages to the
wonders of the natural world and to mentor a new generation of guides.
She is also the co-author of the book, Kaleidoscope; An Introductory Guide
to the Yamhill River Watershed. A self-described
Yamhill Valley interpretive naturalist, nature guide and storyteller,
she combines a passion for native plants, birds, learning, and learners with science
and art and her enthusiasm is contagious.
November Canned
Please
bring canned food to our NOVEMBER meeting to share with the local food
bank.
After the November meeting
we will be filling small Ziploc bags with birdseed to hand out as part of the
Rakette’s activity. If you can stay after the meeting for a bit, please
do and help us fill LOTS of bags!!!
November 27
- HO HO
HO – DON’T MISS THE FUN
Come join the Santa Claus Parade and become
one of the famous (infamous) Rakettes. We’ll hit 3rd Street at 1PM on November 27th
(the day after Thanksgiving).
Outrageously decorated rakes and hats are de rigueur.
Bring
your decorated rake to share at the November meeting ... inspire
Flowers
to Share
At the October meeting a new meeting project was
announced. For each meeting, members are asked to bring along cuttings
from their yards. This can include flowers, branches, bulbs, etc.
There will be a flower container for you to add your finds to and help
arrange. During the meeting, we’ll select someone to take home the great
bouquet all ready for their house.
December 4th – Christmas Wreaths – Craft Group
The Arts and Crafts interest
group is going to create Christmas wreaths using the wreath machines of several
members. These were used previously by the club when we sold wreaths
for fund raising. Meet at the Bethel Baptist parking lot at 9:30.
Dress warm; bring lunch and any ornaments you want to add to your wreath.
Cost will be between $3-4 per wreath depending on the size. If
you have evergreens or bushes with berries to prune, please wait until
right before this activity so we can use your greens for the wreaths.
October Field Trip
About twenty of our members
braved the rains on October 26th and had a great visit at Bailey
Nursery in Yamhill. Thanks to Patti Gregory for organizing this fun field
trip. It was pretty amazing to see plants grown on that large of a
scale!! And greenhouses FULL of healthy starts for next Spring!
October President’s
message
“Dig In”
Develop Skills, Increase Civic Service, and Grow Friendships by Involvement & Nurturing
I can’t believe we are already doing the November newsletter!!!
Wasn’t it August just yesterday? The recent rains are reminding us that
it is time to DIG OUT the gardens, annuals, and move our plants
around. Consider leaving some of your plants in place for the
birds. They need additional protected areas to survive winter. http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?articleid=1307
Before we know it, we’ll be having lots of rain and freezing
temperatures. Then it will be time to DIG IN to the idea books and
catalogs. Be sure to check out the websites section for some great online
catalogs.
I’m trying several new things in my yard this
Fall. I planted a cover crop in my veggie garden area, bought decorative
purple Kale for some of my outdoor containers and I actually got my bulbs DUG
IN before Halloween. Last year I got them in mid-December….. I even
have some bulbs in the process of being forced for Christmas. Yeah for
retirement!!!
Plan to DIG IN to our fun activities this
month: November 16th we’ll enjoy learning more about
naturescaping for birds at our monthly meeting, the 23rd
we’ll be creating our own Thanksgiving centerpieces and we can’t forget that
the RAKETTES will be having a great time raking away at the McMinnville
Christmas parade on the 27th,
which starts at 1 o’clock.
Every year we collect cans of food for the Yamhill
County Food Bank. Since our luncheon is so close to Christmas this year,
we are going to collect cans at our NOVEMBER meeting. Please bring
some cans of food to our meeting this month to share with others who are not as
fortunate as we are this year.
Christmas? Yep, Stephanie is already taking
reservations for our Christmas Luncheon on December 21st.
We’ll be having roast beef and salmon for $15. Hopefully this year we
won’t be snowed out! Paid reservations are due by December 15th.
If you love decorating, be sure to volunteer at our November meeting to help us
decorate for the luncheon!
Backyard
Habitats – Marilyn Coats
Oregon’s
Native Western Gray Squirrels
Western gray squirrels are the largest tree squirrels in Oregon. They are silvery gray with a white belly. White tips on their gray hairs give them a silvery appearance with a bushy, silvery gray tail enhanced with black hairs. They can be as long as two feet, including their tail.
Autumn is a great time to watch and learn about the gray squirrels because they don’t hibernate, but spend much of the fall gathering and storing food for the coming cold months. They are listed as a sensitive species as their numbers are declining. Competition with other species and loss of oak woodlands and older trees may be contributing to their decline.
Squirrels eat a variety of foods. They prefer fungi, acorns and seeds from trees such as Douglas fir, true firs, spruce and pines. They are beneficial in helping new trees grow by storing nuts and seeds in the ground, hoping to eat them later. If they forget where they hid them, the seeds sprout into new trees. Squirrels also help plants by eating aphids. It is best not to feed squirrels. Feeding squirrels can attract the nonnative eastern gray squirrel rather than the more shy native western gray squirrels. Too many squirrels in one area can drive away birds and other desirable wildlife.
Active in the daytime, the squirrels sleep at night. The best time to watch these native squirrels is an hour or two after sunrise. As the day warms up, they spend more time resting by sprawling on their belly on tree limbs with their legs and tail dangling.
Preferring wooded areas with lots of oak trees, they may also be found near streams and in forests. They also live in urban parks and orchards near forested areas and visit the backyards with many trees.
Enjoy watching the antics of the squirrels if they visit your yards. Sometimes they can be pests but they can also be a lot of fun to watch.
Norma Parker – Successful Digging Tips
Healthy soil is the foundation
of successful gardening! Effective Fall garden “shut down” is
key to healthy soil. Healthy, happy plants happen when we
learn to feed the Soil, rather than the plants. Remember, soil is
a living thing - Not a chemical sponge! Organic matter (compost) is
the best answer to all soil problems. So as leaves begin falling, remember they
are a great source of free organic matter. Spreading a layer of
leaves on your garden plot will increase the soils health by adding
organic matter, and also reduce soil compaction during the winter storms.
So if you want someone to take away your leaves, call me! (503-474-7349) and I
will gladly take them to my garden. ;-)
Healthy plants depend upon the soil’s ability to
quickly drain away excess water. If water
fills all the pores in the soil, oxygen cannot get to the
plant’s roots and it will drown. Very few plants tolerate boggy soil
conditions. So if you have noticed puddles remain in your lawn or
garden long after a rainstorm has ended you may have a drainage
problem. To be sure, perform this drainage test:
1. Dig a hole in the ground about the size of a gallon jug. Record your
start time, then fill the hole with water and let it drain.
2. As soon as the water has drained immediately fill the hole with
water again. If it takes more than 6 hours for both fills to completely
drain, you have a drainage problem that needs attention.
The best answer to a drainage problem is to work Lots of organic
matter into the top 24 inches of soil. You may also need to
move plants to a better location.
Yellowing plant leaves are often the result of lack of oxygen to plant
roots either from over watering or poor drainage. Healthy soil produces
healthy plants and actually requires less water because it utilizes and distributes
the water more effectively. Ideal soil has a large population of
microorganisms (because it is not over-tilled) and is composed of at least 5 %
organic matter.
Meet Virginia Klein
On
Virginia herself became a teacher of math, English and
physical education. While teaching in
garden is smaller these days as her husband and both
of her sons have passed away. She has one granddaughter and one grandson
to feed occasionally, though.
Virginia has always known her plants and served as our
club’s horticulturist for many, many years. She is not sure what year she
joined, but is probably our longest serving member. She was our club
President from 1977-79 and was very instrumental in our club’s supremely
successful fund-raiser of assembling and selling Christmas wreaths for so many
years. She has so successfully lived her life that she still drives
herself from her home of almost sixty years to our club meetings every month
and frequents as many other club functions as she can manage.
Maybe all her success comes from her inKLEINation
to:
Kindly
Love
Everyone
In the
Neighborhood
Roving
Reporter: Jacci Reed
Internet Links
Pioneer District
Newsletter
http://gardencentral.org/oregon/pioneerdistrictnewsletter/
State web site
http://oregongardenclubs.org/default.htm
Favorite mail-order websites: http://www.gardengatemagazine.com/extras/090/favorite_websites.php
Plant your own Pumpkin Bouquet http://www.gardengatenotes.com/2009/10/27/
Mike Darcy’s radio show, In the Garden. You can actually listen to past episodes too!
http://www.kxl.com/KXLShows/IntheGarden/
Curious about blogs? Check out these Oregon gardening blogs.
http://www.iloveplants.com/dir/Regional_Gardening/Oregon/Garden_Blogs/