Garden Clippings June 2007

McMinnville Garden Club Vol. 6 No. 10

June 18, 2007

It’s Garden Visits and Party Time! We will be meeting at the Bethel Baptist Church at 10:15 to carpool to three of our club member’s homes on Monday, June 18. What fun! At 1:00 we will then meet for lunch at Hillside with the installation of officers to follow. Reservations for the lunch must be made by June 12^th to Beverly. Cost is $8 and the meal will consist of 3 salads; pasta, turkey and fruit, along with assorted muffins, lemon bars and coffee, tea and water. Remember that if you are unable to attend that day but have made reservations you are still responsible for the $8 since this is a catered event. Call 503-472-6972 for reservations/cancellations before June 12^th!

President’s Message Gaye Stewart

Dear Gardening Friends,

Our 2006-2007 Garden Club Year is drawing to a close with two major events yet to come. The first is June 18^th with a tour of three gardens proudly shared with us by Marilyn Coates, Sharon Gunter and Georgia Queens (meet at Bethel Baptist Church by 10:15 a.m.). We’ll later enjoy a catered lunch at the Hillside Activity room at 12:30 p.m. with installation of officers by past State President, Marcia Kay Whitlock. This will be a delightful day so plan to attend. Call Beverly to RSVP if you didn’t already sign the clipboard at our last meeting

The second big date is June 24^th with the Garden Tour and Garden Faire – McMinnville’s annual “Signature Garden Event.” Please invite everyone you talk with about the events, the beauty, garden ideas, special plants for your garden from growers, and yard art. Sell, or buy and “gift” tickets, to this outstanding event. Call Kim if you need more tickets. Let’s try to sell all 700+ tickets by the end of the day, June 24^th. See you in the Garden!

New Officers for 2007-08

We officially voted and now look forward to next year’s Garden Club Leadership Team:

President: Gaye Stewart

Vice-President: Cathy Burdett

Secretary: Amy Eads

Treasurer: Marilyn Coats

“Backyard Havens” Garden Tour June 24, 2007

These last few weeks/days before our signature event, my motto is Communicate, Communciate, Communicate. Please be sure that you know the dates and times of any volunteer activities that you have signed up for. If you are unable to attend one of the activities, please communicate with the chair of that committee so we have full coverage for all events. Stephanie J. is the chair for the Farmer’s Market booth. Others are listed below.

THANKS so much for all your work to get us through this great community activity.

Tour Chairs/Gophers Patty S., Georgia Q., Jean L.

Garden #1 10am to 1pm 1pm to 4pm

Mary W. – Docent Stephanie B.

Ruth E. Sylvia S.

Amy E. Joan F.

Garden #2 10am to 1pm 1pm to 4pm

Rosemary V. – Docent Bernice B.– Docent

Cindy M. Sandy B.

Joan K. Arlene K.

Bob V.– Parking Mel K. – Parking

Les B. - Parking Parking attendant needed

Garden #3 10am to 1pm 1pm to 4pm

Lynne D. – Docent Jan E. – Docent

Marion M. Jan H.

Jan P. Rosina M.

Garden #4 10am to 1pm 1pm to 4pm

Linda F. Karen S.

Mary Jo C. Elsie C.

Jeanne B. Need one more volunteer here

Garden #5 10am to 1pm 1pm to 4pm

Sue H. Ruth M.

Marilyn C. Marion B.

Ann S. Stephanie J.

Rick S. – Parking Stuart O. - Parking

Garden #6 10am to 1pm 1pm to 4pm

Sharon G. Anita R.

Alicia D. Esther S.

Anita R. Sue H.

Substitute workers: Rose G. and WE NEED MORE….Please call Kathleen Bennett

Garden Faire Margaret R., Judy E., Gaye S.

Garden Club Booth at Faire Barbara L., Jean L.

Lunch Delivery Beverly M., Sandy F.

Day of Chairs/Gophers Kathleen B., Cathy B., Barbara P.

Saturday, June 23 PreTour

All Garden Tour / Faire workers and homeowners are invited to visit the Gardens the day before the Tour, June 23. This is not time for the general public but for those who will be working on Sunday. We will meet at the Rite-Aid parking lot at 10AM and carpool to all the gardens.

PLEASE NOTE PARKING LOCATION is at Rite Aid by 99W., not the church. Save the date!

Sunday, June 24, after the tour/faire…..

Between 4:00 and 5:00 the Garden Faire area needs to be cleaned up, Tour signs picked up, and our items at gardens picked up/returned and the homeowners THANKED!

There will be a no-host get-together at the Golden Valley Brew Pub at 5:00 PM after the Tour/Faire. We will have something to eat, congratulate ourselves on another successful tour and relax! Invite your spouse to join us.

Photo Album Hunt Goes On

The 2 photo albums for the 2006 Garden Tour/Faire have still not been located. If you have them, please call Stephanie Janik. We have the ones for 2005.

Garden Author To Visit Mac June 14!

Thursday June 14, 7 p.m., Third Street Books, 334 NE Third Street, McMinnville 97128.

Third Street Books And The McMinnville Garden Club are co-sponsoring the Book Release Party

For Married To My Garden by Barbara Blossom Ashmun, who will read an excerpt. Wear your garden hat and you may receive an autographed copy of the book. Please Come!

June Yard of the Month

Liz Farrens, 765 SW Russ Lane, McMinnville Watch the website for the picture of the June Yard of the Month. Directions: Take W 2^nd St. West to Fleishauer Lane South, then turn West on Russ Lane.

Garden Clean-Up Committee

Cleans Up Mrs. Ramsey’s Yard.

Habitat Committee Plants

Their First Yard!

Dues Were Due

Jacci will be encouraging those who did not pay their yearly dues to please do so. She is hoping to trun over the books to our new treasurer, Marilyn Coats, with all of the dues paid! Thanks.

New Sprouts Mary Whinery

Welcome to FOUR new Garden Club members!

Harriett Barnett Interests:  container gardening, perennial, fieldtrips, backyard habitat.
Catherine Olsen Interests: herbs, landscape, perennial, fieldtrips, backyard habitat.
Sharon Johnson Interests:  herbs, landscape, container gardening, perennial, horticulture, field trips.
Jeff; Keri Doty Interests: water gardening, landscape, backyard habitat.

July 11^th Field Trip Judy Eggers

Destination Garland Nursery - Corvallis.  We'll leave Bethel Baptist Parking lot at 9:30, planning on arrival around 10:30.  We've chosen a Wednesday for this field trip as Garlands rewards their senior customers with a 10% discount.  We'll have lunch and then start our way back. If the cars have enough room for more plants, we'll stop at other nurseries on the way. Sign up sheet will be at the June meeting.

Sunshine Joan Friese

Jean Lierman had foot surgery in late May and is reported to be recovering well. In fact you may see her at the Farmer’s Market before this even gets published! Let’s hope she sits!

Julie Hughes also had foot surgery and has been reported as on the mend.

Website to Check Out

The Artfull Garden is the business of our speaker from last month’s meeting. Wasn’t Kay great!

Horticulture Julie Maahs

Tomato- Solanum Lycopersicum is a plant in the Solanaceae or "nightshade family," close cousins to: tobacco, chili peppers, potatoes and eggplants.

There are so many to choose from in your local Farmers Markets and Garden Nurseries, from the everyday to Heirloom and Organic varieties. Now's the time to plant!

  5 Tips for Growing Better Tomatoes

    Don't' plant too early! Flowering and pollination that occurs when temperatures are below 55 degrees can result in malformed, poor quality fruits.

    Plant deep. Remove the lower leaves and plant your tomato about 1" deeper than the seedling sits in the pot. New roots will develop along the buried stems.

    Tomatoes prefer a slightly acidic to neutral soil pH of 6.0-7.0 rich in phosphorous and calcium. To increase calcium, add crushed eggshells or a spoonful of bone meal when planting.

    Tomatoes don't like irregular moisture levels. Water consistently and cover the soil with mulch to retain moisture. Avoid overhead watering; it encourages leaf disease.

    Staking is important to expose leaves to sunlight and keep fruit off the ground where they come into contact with soil borne diseases. Get the stakes in early so you don't have to worry about damaging mature root systems.

    Finally when your tomato vine had reached its full fruiting cut back on the watering, this will help to continue the maturity of the fruit, very little fruit if any will grow on the tips of the vine.

* Plants that are extremely tall can be planted on their sides up to the last 6" or so of the plant top, remove all the leaves as this area will become roots for a bigger stronger tomato plant.

Scholarship Winners

The following two young ladies are each receiving a $1,000 scholarship to continue their education after High School graduation.

Samantha M. from McMinnville High School will be attending Chemeketa Community College majoring in Forestry. She grew up on a farm nad has done a lot of camping and traveling that have nurtured her love of the forest and horticulture. She worked a lot during the school year and has been a huge support for her family. We are proud of her accomplishments and desire to further her education.

Heather Bennett from Willamina High School will be attending Oregon State University and is planning to major in agriculture with an emphasis on education. She has been active in FFA and won many contests from Public Speaking to Master Showman. Her advisor said she is a gifted speaker. We look forward to her future accomplishments and are proud to help support her.

Hospitality Goes Over the Top

A big THANK YOU to Julie Hughes and Cathy Burdett along with ALL the club members this year who treated us to INCREDIBLE snacks. Cathy also graciously brought some beautiful raffle prizes. We are looking forward to next year’s treats now. The bar has been set HIGH! Make that a lemon bar.

Due to space limitations this month, the History article will appear in our next issue. This is the last newsletter for this year. Your next edition will be at the end of August to begin our new Garden Club Year. Have a great summer gardening, enjoying family and friends, pulling weeds, and looking forward to our future meetings and field trips!

“A weed is a plant that has mastered every survival skill except for learning how to grow in rows.” Donald Larson

McMinnville Garden Club Organized in 1926 PO Box 386 McMinnville OR 97128 http://mcminnvillegardenclub.org Information: 503 434 4344 Meeting Information Meeting Day: Third Monday September through June 10:30-11:00 AM Social Time 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM Optional Brown Bag Lunch Hillside, Activity Room, 900 NW Hill Road, McMinnville, OR Meetings are open to the public. Executive Board President Gaye Stewart Past President Kim Jongedyk Vice President Beverly Mulkey Secretary Mildred Reppeto Treasurer Jacci Reed Conservation Pledge I pledge to protect and conserve the natural resources of the planet Earth, and promise to promote education, so we may be caretakers to our air, water, forests, land, and wildlife. Ongoing Projects Summer Garden Tour The Oregon Garden Support Scholarships for Horticulture National Garden Week Garden of the Month Blue Star Memorial Marker City Beautification “Garden Clippings” is a monthly publication of the McMinnville Garden Club. Contact Gaye Stewart or 503-434-4344 for info.

Committee Chairs Backyard Habitat Alicia Dimond Field Trips Judy Eggers Garden Tour 2007 Patty Sorensen Garden Tour 2008 Jean Lierman Georgia Queen Garden Faire 2007 Margaret Roberts Judy Eggers Historian Dorothy Mathiesen Horticulture Julie Maahs Hospitality Julie Hughes Cathy Burdett Library Plant Care Sandy Ford Membership Mary Whinery Newsletter/Website Patty Sorensen Newsletter Asst. Sandy Bolmer Parliamentarian Sharon Gunter Post Office Landscape Joanne DeWitt Publicity/PR Beverly Mulkey Scholarship Ann Silverthorne Sunshine Joan Friese Telephone Vicki Brink Yard of Month Evelyn Mundinger Yearbook/Photography Kim Jongedyk The newsletter deadline for submission of articles for our monthly newsletter is the 25th of each month. Please send them to Patty Sorensen. Do you know of any prospective Garden Club members? Be sure to let Mary Whinery know names and addresses. We would love to send them our newsletter for two months.