Fishing Creek Herb Guild
 
The Firefly is the Pennsylvanla State Insect
The Fishing Creek Herb Guild is committed to being environmentally friendly.
Lemon Queen variety of Sunflowers are so beautiful.
Lemon Orzo salad with fresh tomatoes - YUM!!!

                                                              GOOD THYMES

The Publication of the Fishing Creek Herb Guild

JULY & AUGUST 2012                               Vol. 23 No. 3

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ANNUAL PICNIC on July 19th at 6:30 pm

Please note that this meeting “event” is an earlier time than usual.


Detailed Information is Below***

The picnic will be held this year at PPL’s Montour Preserve, Danville PA. The picnic will be at the Goose Cove picnic area in Pavilion 1.  Enter near the Visitors Center; follow the road back to the pavilions. There will be signs.  Parking and bathrooms are close to the pavilion.  In case of rain, the meeting may be moved to St Matthew Lutheran Church. A decision will be made by 3:00 p.m. Please check the website for details or call one of the officers.

 

Everyone, please bring a covered dish to share with all members. The picnic committee will provide drinks. Guests and family are welcome. Please bring your own place setting. You may wish to bring a sweater or jacket in case it is cooler in the ‘country’ than in town.

 

Betty Deaner will present a short program on “Making Herbal Floral Waters.”

 

Meeting: August 16th at 7:00 P.M.


Program: “Refreshing Treats for a Sizzling Day”, presented by Herb Guild Members

Herb of the Month and Herb Study: Wintergreen will be presented by Toni Farides

Host/Hostesses: Janet Dalberto, Cecilia Kondrchek, Brunina Reilley, Marion Krum, Ruth Vaughn, Joan Silver and Margaret Wettling

Greeter: Bess Kline

 

Remember to check the Guild’s website on a regular basis for more timely member information, photos and lots of great graphics and information   fishingcreekherbguild.org


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*****ANNUAL PICNIC’s Location Details****

 

 

For directions and more information about the preserve go to www.pplpreserves.com and click on Montour. Some information from the website follows.

Montour Environmental Preserve is surrounded by two long, rolling ridges — Montour Ridge to the south and Muncy Hills to the north. PPL chose this low-lying valley, with its favorable environmental and economic conditions, as the site for the Montour power plant. Built in 1972, the coal-fired power plant is located three miles south of the preserve near Washingtonville. In the center of the preserve is 165-acre Lake Chillisquaque, developed to provide a backup reservoir of cooling water for the power plant. The preserve now offers a variety of educational and recreational opportunities, including hiking, nature observation and photography, birding, boating and fishing, as well as hunting nearby.

The preserve is located in Montour County four miles northeast of Washingtonville, Pa., and is accessible from Route 54.

Directions: From Interstate 80: Take Exit 224 and drive west on Pennsylvania Route 54. At Washingtonville, turn right as if heading toward Strawberry Ridge. At the first intersection, turn left onto PPL Road. Continue north on PPL Road past the Montour power plant and a group of greenhouses to the intersection with Preserve Road. Turn right onto Preserve Road. Montour Environmental Preserve's office and visitors center will be on the left.

From Williamsport: Take Interstate 180 east to Exit 5, Route 54 east toward Turbotville. Continue on Route 54. Watch for the intersection with state Route 44. Continue on Route 54 past the intersection. About a mile later, turn left onto Preserve Road. Continue past the intersection with PPL Road. Montour Environmental Preserve's office and visitors center will be on the left.

Visitors Center. The Visitors Center serves as a nature and history museum. It is open daily 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Memorial Day through Labor Day including holidays. During the rest of year, weekend and holiday hours vary with public programming. Inside, visitors can view mounted birds of prey, the Lake Chillisquaque fish and wildlife exhibit, fossils, reptiles of Pennsylvania, a "discovery corner" and local history displays. Songbirds can be seen at a feeding station outside the observation windows


BARTON HOUSE GARDEN UPDATE: The committee members report that many of the perennial plantings survived the devasting floods of last year. Stop by and see the garden re-emerging.

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CAN YOU NAME PENNSYLVANIA’S STATE INSECT?

It’s the Photuris Pennsylvanica, commonly known as the firefly.


 

JUNE’S MEETING had a change of Speaker….

Ron Burger of George Burger & Sons garden center presented “Growing Herbs Organically and Vertically”. He showed two new products which are on trend of vertical gardening: the Mini-garden from Earth Box [mini-garden.com], which is stackable on ground or can be mounted and the Grow Vert, sections of which may be attached to walls. He also spoke about Dr. Earth organic products, sold directly in stores, of which his is one of three in this area. Unlike soils, he said Dr Earth soils have living ‘pro-biotics’ in them. He claimed that organic soils grow veggies with more flavor, are insect resistant and withstand hot or rainy weather better than bagged or dug “dead soil”. Organic feeds for soils have a ratio of 5-7-3 which is 90% more nutrient rich than conventional feeds [like the dread M[iracle Grow] feed which has only 10% nutrient enrichment. 

Ron is featured on WYLN TV Tuesdays and Thursdays at 5 pm. If you want to explore more info with him and others at the center, stop by 429 S. Mountain Blvd, Mountaintop. Online the site is burgergarden.com


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Just like Romeo and Juliet, these herbs love….

to be planted with these vegetables

Basil                       loves     Tomatoes

Bay Leaves                           Beans

Borage                                   Strawberries & tomatoes

Catnip                     loves      Eggplant

Chamomile                            Cabbage & onions

Chives                                     Carrots

***Cilantro                              All vegetables***

Dill                                            Cabbage

Feverfew                loves      Roses

Garlic                                      Raspberries & roses

Hyssop                                   Cabbage

Mint                                         Cabbage & tomatoes

Nasturtium             loves     Cabbage, pumpkins, & radishes

Oregano                                Brassicas [mustards and cabbages]

Rosemary                             Beans, cabbage, & carrots

Sage                                       Cabbage & carrot

Thyme                    loves     Cabbage  



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Calendar of Coming Events


JULY 14:  The Penn State Master Gardeners of Montour County have a full day of activities planned with the Iron Heritage Festival at PPL’s Montour Preserve.  9 am to 4 pm. Visit this website for the brochure:  http://nepamg.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/53770445/MontourMG_IronHeritageExpo_2012b.pdf

 

JULY 19: Petals and Pods Garden Club invites you to “The View.....From the Garden” at
Ponduce Farms, 270 White Church Rd. Elysburg, PA 17824  (Numidia) Cost: $5.00. R.S.V.P. before July 12
799-0591 or fairygardenqueen@gmail.com. 11:00 - 11:30 Registration 11:30 - 12:30 lunch12:30 - ? Program Succulents…in the garden, on the porch, on the windowsill by Sharon Miller. Stocking the Root Cellar – potatoes, cabbage, winter squash and pumpkins by Joella Socko. Lunch buffet $8.95.

 

Country Cupboard in Lewisburg has posted its 2012 series of gardening events.  Some are free; some have a fee.  Many feature instruction by Penn State Master Gardeners.  Visit their website:  http://www.countrycupboardinc.com/2012greenhouseworkshops.pdf  

 

SEPTEMBER 20: Sustainable Landscapes Bus Tour in Luzerne County. Registration information is available at the links.  All program fees include lunch and program materials. For more information, contact Vincent Cotrone, Penn State Forester, at (570) 825-1701; or Diane Madl, DCNR State Parks, at (570) 403-2006


FROM THE PENN STATE MASTER GARDENERS:

Begin planning this year’s garden with Penn State’s new publication for home gardeners, Vegetable Gardening, ARGS-115.  It is available for $10 or as free .pdf download from:  http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/freepubs/pdfs/agrs115.pdf

 

The Great Sunflower Project, an established citizen scientist project monitors the pollinators that visit ‘Lemon Queen’ annual sunflowers and a few specific perennials.  Visit www.greatsunflower.org to learn how to participate.

 

Penn State Extension Master Gardeners of Columbia County. Bloomsburg Field Office Ag Services Building702 Sawmill Road, Suite 102Bloomsburg, PA 17815. (570) 784-6660 ext. 18 ColumbiaMG@ag.psu.edu



14 More* GARDENING TIPS

*continued from May/June’s newsletter

1. Use a plastic colander for a winter bird feeder. String it from a branch & fill with seed.

2. Use a hollowed out pumpkin filled with cracked corn and birdseed for ground feeding birds.

3. To make a birdbath sparkle, toss a handful of sand and scrub with a brush.

4. To cool a birdbath’s water in summer, place a frozen water container [like cottage cheese] in it.

        5. To keep squirrels fed, set out whole ears of corn. When finished, spread cob with peanut butter and

        roll in birdseed for birds.

6. To eliminate compost smells, mix leaves or dry materials into the pile to dry out and eliminate

odors.

7. Easy compost: Rake broken up leaves and pack them into plastic leaf bags with holes, water the

leaves and tie the tops of the bags. After winter you should have compost.

8. Reduce the size of compost materials with lawn mover or shredder. Turn pile once a week to

circulate air and speed decomposition.

9. Beckon earthworms to the compost.

10. Pull noninvasive annual weeds that have not gone to seed and pile them to use as water

conserving mulch.

11. Bury vegetable scraps in your garden, covering with an inch or two of soil.

12. Mulch around perennials and veggies with a 2 inch layer of herbicide free grass clippings. They

add growth boosting nitrogen as they decay.

13. In fall, let wind blow leaves on soil around perennials and under shrubs and hedges to provide

insulation over winter and decay into compost in spring.

14. Spread and till compost and manure on the garden then cover surface with newspapers and    

         straw. In the spring there will be no weeds and the garden is ready to plant.

          

                                    Thanks to Deb Bagis for the magazine from which these came


 

FAVORITE GARDEN BOOKS: 

Janet Dalberto recommends Karel Capek’s The Gardener’s Year, first published in 1931. Capek is most famous for inventing the word “robot”. But…..this book, a month-by-month personal journal, is wry and sage and sweet about his true passion--gardening. 

Deb Baigis recommends: Paul Fleishman’s Seed Folks and Hal Borland’s 12 Moons of the Year [her favorite book]. Check ‘em out!



A RECIPE from June’s Meeting………………………………from Shirley Herb


ORZO SALAD

1 c cooked orzo      2 c fresh yellow corn [4 ears] cooked slightly    2 c chopped tomatoes

½ c sliced red onion                ¼ c chopped basil

Cook orzo with 1 bouillon cube and 1 c of water. Add water as orzo is cooking.

                  

Dressing:                 2

 T lemon juice      1 T olive oil             1 tsp red wine vinegar           

½ tsp salt                                    ¼ tsp pepper            3 garlic cloves, crushed

 

Pour over cooked orzo.



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MAY’S PLANT SALE netted $373.10, a decline of $103.35 from last year.

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The Fishing Creek Herb Guild is committed to being environmentally friendly.** Please remember to bring your own utensils and reusable plates. **Please do not park in the Church’s parking lot. **If you are able, at the end of the meeting, please place your chair on the stack at the back.

 

Enviro-friendly thought---If 2.5% of U.S. families used 10 fewer plastic bags each month, the savings would add up to over 2.5 billion bags a year.    


Plastic water bottles under a gallon have been banned from Grand Canyon National Park. Small bottles make up 20% of all garbage removed from the park.                                                

  [from Time Magazine, Feb & Mar. 2012]