Fishing Creek Herb Guild

 
Most gourds are annuals. They have long, rough vines with tendrils. The fruit is a large, fleshy berry called a pepo.
Gourds thrive without cultivation in warm, moist, rich soil. The vines climb rapidly on trellises or other supports, or sprawl on the ground.
Rhubarb (Rheum rhabarbarum L.) is a cool season, perennial vegetable, grown for its leafstalks that have a unique tangy taste used for pies and sauces.

Good Thymes

     The Publication of the Fishing Creek Herb Guild

        September & October 2012  Vol. 23, No. 4

 

Next Meeting: September 13th at 7:00 p.m.

Program: “Make Your Own Birdfeeder Wreath”, presented by Herb Guild Members

Hostesses: Karen Musitano, Dotty Moore, Cathy Holdren, Terry Carr, Betty Carr, Joanne Fogelman

Greeters: Terry and Betty Carr

Herb of the Month and Study Presenter: Lovage presented by Bobbi Fleming

 

Meeting: October 18th at 7:00 p.m.

Program: “Gourds from Start to Finish” presented by Meadowbrook Farms

Hostesses: Joanne Hock, Joanne Reichart, Emily Shultz, Karen Reigel, Loretta Fulton, Barbara Craig, Sandy Downs

Greeter: Joanne Reichart

Herb of the Month and Presenter: Cumin, presented by Shirley Herb

 

Attention------The Herb Guild Needs You--- for 2013

It’s getting to be the time of year for all Guild members to think about volunteering to participate and take responsibility of becoming officers, committee chairs, and active members of committees for 2013. Offices and chairmanships, which will need to be filled, include President, Secretary, Nominating chair, Newsletter Editor, Historian and others. Please do your part and volunteer when nominations and planning ideas for the coming year are solicited.

 

LOOKING FORWARD TO THE BLOOMSBURG FAIR….

It's always fun to see members' best gardening efforts on exhibit. And…

Look for the Guild’s exhibit, as always, in the Agricultural Building. The Fair Exhibit committee’s theme is “Growing and Using Herbs” and has members Bonnie Burke, Joan Silver, and Shirley Herb but they would welcome other guild members to volunteer to help! Call one of the members to volunteer.

 

Just jottings on random items:

July’s picnic, scheduled for Montour Preserve, was changed to an ‘indoor picnic’ due to threateningly inclement weather. A good thyme was had by all!

 

The annual bus trip north to NY and MA was lots of fun. Anyone who took photos on the trip of the gardens and places visited and wants to share them and add to the guild’s pictorial history, please send them to Shelley Crawford for the website. Shelley will forward print copies for Archives. [As an aside, the trip included a visit to the Mount, Edith Wharton’s home, which is featured in a story in September’s issue of Vogue on a soon-to-be-released movie on Edith and her circle of friends].

 

Bess Kline is looking for a roommate for a trip to Holland April 13 to 21, 2013. It's called Holland Tulip River Cruise. One afternoon is spent at the famous Keukenhof Gardens, said to have more than 7 million tulips and other flowers. You can call her at 784-7094.

 

At the August meeting Sharon Reichart and Joanne Hock shared their visit to Buffalo NY’s annual Garden Walk held every year the last weekend in July. They participated in the self-guided tour that featured over 380 private gardens open to the public free, as well as associated events. Perhaps Sharon and Joanne can be

persuaded to present their photographs and experiences there in a program for the entire Guild next year. It sounded fabulous!

 

Coming events calendar

Thursday, August 30th -  10 Best Gardens of Bloomsburg, 2 hour walking tour with Deb Baigis.

Meet at 6:30 pm on the front steps of St. Matthew’s church, Bloom. Wear your walking shoes and bring a bottle of water. Shine only. For more info, call Deb at 784-6185.

 

Saturday, Sept. 15th. - Fall into Gardening, program from Columbia County Master Gardeners, Penn State Extension. 9 am to 3:30 pm at Penn State Extension, 702 Sawmill Road [Ag Center]. Program includes “Fall Fantasies, Foibles and Follies” by Karl Zimmerman, Historian and Gardener; “Organic Gardening Made Easy”, Ron Burger, George Burger and Sons Nursery; “Bulbs to Plant in the Fall”, Iris Haseloff, Red Poppy; “Basics of Growing Quality Tree Fruit”, John Esslinger, Extension Horticulturalist; “Caring for Your Christmas Plants,” Mary Jo Gibson, Master Gardener; “Creating Bird and Butterfly Gardens with Native Plants”, John Nemeth, Ornithologist and more. Pre-registration $12. At the door, $15. For information and registration call 784-6660.

 

COLLECT SEEDS for your garden this year 

and then plant in the next!

 --Harvest seeds that form in pods after they have dried on the plant or cut of stalks or stems and dry them inside before removing seeds.

--Seeds of annual, herbaceous perennials and herbs scatter easily when          ripe. Pick them on a dry day. Separate the seeds from the plant by running them through a screen or shaking them in a paper bag. Or tie a ventilated paper bag around the flower heads to catch seeds as they scatter.

 --Seeds encased in a fleshy fruit, like tomatoes, need to be separated from the pulp. In the case of fruit containing a single seed, the pulp can simply be pulled off. For fruit with many seeds, scrape out the fruit’s seeds section, add some water and let the mix sit for a day or two. Then put the mixture in a strainer and run water through until the seeds are clean. Spread the seeds on a glass or ceramic plate and let dry,

--Large seeds need about a week to dry; smaller seeds are usually day after four days. Store the seeds in a well-ventilated, cool, dry place. 

from an American Horticultural Society’s Seed Exchange info sheet

 

Recipes from August’s meeting

Rhubarb Ice Cream                ……………….               Louise McCormick

2 cups rhubarb                           

1 cup sugar                     

1 cup water

Red food coloring, if desired         

2 tsp lemon juice             

1 c fat free sour cream/yogurt

1 ½ c miniature marshmallows

           

Combine rhubarb, sugar, water and marshmallows. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add food coloring and lemon juice. Chill mixture. Fold in sour cream. Pour mixture into 1 qt Donvier ice cream maker. [Donvier ice cream makers come in 1.5 pts or 1 qts. You can buy them new at Amazon for $59.99 new, also check for used on Amazon or Ebay].

 

Peach Brandy Slush………………………………           Louise McCormick

1 6 oz can orange juice concentrate             

1 qt. water         

1 c sugar

3 cups tea [2 teabags]                              

2 c peach schnapps

 

Mix orange juice, water, sugar and tea. Heat until sugar is dissolved. Cool and add peach schnapps. Pour into a container to freeze. As it freezes, break up the ice crystals with a fork until it is frozen. Spoon into glasses and serve. Stir in 8 hrs, frozen in 24 hours.


Some Environmentally Friendly Suggestions….

  • Switch off all unnecessary lights                            
  • Use “gray” water to water the garden and wash the car
  • Switch off all appliances with stand by lights   
  • Grow three herbs. 
  • Grow ten flowers
  • Shower for one minute less every day                    
  • Walk instead of using the car once a week
  • Take a vacation at home                                             
  • Recycle all your paper
  • Only use recycled toilet paper                                                                    
  • Buy local, buy seasonal                                             
  • Read labels, not for calories, but for green credentials
  • Buy products made or grown by organic methods              
  • Cook from scratch using what you have grown

 

               --from Christina Strutt’s Guide to Green Housekeeping

 

A Conversation Between God and St. Francis

God: Francis, you know all about gardens and nature. What in the world is going on down there? What happened to the black-eyed Susans violets, goldenrod and stuff I started eons ago? I had a perfect no-maintenance garden plan. Those plants grow in any type of soil, withstand drought and multiply with abandon. The nectar from the blossoms attracts butterflies honey bees and flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a vast garden of colors by now. But all I see are these green rectangles.

 

St. Francis: It’s the tribes that settled there, Lord, the Suburbanites. They started calling your flowers ‘weeds’ and went to great lengths to kill them and replant them with lawn grass.

 

God: Lawn grass? But it’s so boring. It’s not colorful. It doesn’t attract butterflies, birds and bees, only grubs and sod worms. It’s temperamental with temperature Do these Suburbanites really want all that grass growing there?

 

SF: Apparently so, Lord, They go to great pains to grow it and keep it green. They begin each spring by fertilizing grass and poisoning any other plant that crops up in the lawn.

 

God: The spring rains and warm weather probably make grass grow really fast. That must make the Suburbanites happy.

 

SF: Apparently not, Lord, As soon as it grows a little, they cut it, sometimes twice a week.

 

God: They cut it? Do they then bale it like hay?

 

SF: Not exactly, Lord, most of them rake it up and put it in bags.

 

God: They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?

 

SF: No, Sir, just the opposite. They pay to throw it away.

 

God: Now let me get this straight. They fertilize grass so it will grow. And when it grows they cut it off and pay to throw it away?

 

SF: Yes, Sir.

 

God: These Suburbanites must be relived in the summer when we cut back on the rain and turn up the heat. That surely slows the growth and saves them a lot of work.

 

SF: You aren’t going to believe this, Lord, but when the grass stops growing so fast, they drag out the hoses and pay more money to water it so they can continue to mow it and pay to get rid of it.

 

God: What nonsense. At least they kept some of the trees. That was a sheer stroke of genius, if I do say so myself. The trees grow leaves in the spring to provide beauty and shade in the summer. In the autumn they fall to the ground and form a natural blanket to keep moisture in the soil and protect the trees and bushes. Plus as they rot, the leaves form compost to enhance the soil. That’s the natural circle of life.

 

SF: You better sit down, Lord. The Suburbanites have drawn a new circle. As soon as the leaves fall, they rake them into great piles and pay to have them hauled away.

 

God. No. What do they do to protect the shrubs and tree roots in the winter and to keep the soil moist and loose?

SF: After throwing away the leaves, they go out and buy something they call mulch. They haul it home and spread it around in place of the leaves.

 

God: And where do they get this mulch?

 

SF: They cut down trees and grind them to make mulch.

 

God: Enough. I don’t want to think about this anymore. St. Catherine, you’re in charge of arts. What movie do you have for us tonight?

 

St. Cath: “Dumb and Dumber”, Lord. It’s a really stupid movie.

 

God: Never mind. I think I just heard the whole story from St. Francis.

 

From Penn State Extension Natural Resources publication, read by John Shott at the August meeting.



 

*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.

Home-made bird feeders
 can be fun to make and sooooo awesome for your
 feathered friends.