GOOD THYMES
Publ. of The Fishing Creek Herb Guild
MARCH
& APRIL 2011 Vol. 22, no. 1
It’s a new spring and a new year for the Herb Guild, and it
seems appropriate to begin this year with a quotation: “Gardens and flowers
have a way of bringing people together; drawing them from their homes.”
(Clare
Ansberry)
So… let’s
look forward to all our members brought together this year to share the “good
thymes” and adventures of gardening.
Congratulations
to our New Officers
President; John Shott, 929-2659, johnny.8@verizon.net; Vice President;
Bonnie Burke, 275-6090, bonnieburke1@verizon.net;
Secretary; Carol Fraind,
759-1130
Treasurer; Louise McCormick, 275-4930
lmccorm@jlink.net.
The yearbook will be available at the
first meeting with the full year’s programs and committees. Please remember to
look at the committees, the host/hostesses, greeters, and the herb study
presenters and volunteer to do your part. Please be a helpful herb, not a
wallflower this year.
Check
Our Website for All Information
Our website contains the full
newsletter and back issues. It also showcases garden events &
information locally and further afield, as well as Herb Guild pictures and
news. The website address is http://fishingcreekherbguild.org/
or search by key words, “Fishing Creek Herb Guild”, and you should find the
link. John Shott recently posted pics showing the steps he takes to grow geraniums
in his greenhouse. If you have something you wish to share with others on the
web, please send it to Shelley Crawford’s email address. We are also on Facebook with current information. Please visit
and become a friend.
First
Meeting Thursday March 17, 7 pm
PROGRAM:
Patrick O’Neill, “The
Garden in Art”. Welcome the garden year as we visually
“stroll” through beautiful gardens in great works of art in an illustrated
slide lecture. When I think of gardens, Monet’s famous French gardens at
Giverny come to mind; further to the east, the Persians depicted “paradise as a
garden.” We’ll look forward to seeing the artists’ visions selected by
Professor O’Neill, instructor of Art History at Penn State University at
Hazleton.
Herb
Study: Garlic; Presented by: Theresa Wojton. Hostesses: Joan Silver, Jennie
King, Linda Weibel, Judy Keck, Dolores McCormick, Liz King, Kelsey Horkey,
Susan Brook [Please remember to bring copies of your recipes]. Greeter:
Diana Beishline
Garlic Trivia… Garlic is
known as “the stinking rose”. The smaller you chop garlic, the stronger it
becomes. The time to plant garlic is in the Fall!
Meeting
April 21, 7 pm
PROGRAM: Jessica Walliser, “Organic
Vegetable Gardening.”
Learn
from Jessica, a former organic market grower, all the tips and techniques
you’ll need to have a high-yielding, beautiful vegetable garden without a lot
of fuss. Favorite varieties for organic growing as well as topics from
amending your soil to pest control will be discussed. You’ll be taught
about the 4-cycle crop rotation schedule and some simple ways to attract
beneficial insects to the garden.
Jessica,
a nationally known organic gardener and garden designer, was the featured
speaker last September, presenting “Forgotten Garden Combinations”. Her
entertaining and dynamic lecture last year energized and engaged guild members!
She is in such high demand as a speaker; this was the only date she could be
booked. Don’t miss this presentation!
Herb
Study: Sorrell; Presented by: Margaret Wettling. Hostesses: Charlene Samsel,
Carol Guise, Irene Fisher, Nancy Kruzberg, Nancy Houck, Bob Houck, Nancy
Dennis, Norma Chest [Recipe
copies, please]. Greeter: Linda Weibel
About
Your Herb Guild Membership…
Please review & correct all your member information on
the form on the last page.
Decide if you wish to read this
newsletter on the web site or continue to receive a printed copy in the mail.
The newsletter on the web can be longer than the printed one sent; more space
for more stuff.
National Herb of the year 2011--Horseradish
Herb Guild “Herbs of
the Month”
MARCH:
Garlic
APRIL: Sorrel
MAY: Salvia Divinorum
JUNE: Lavender
AUGUST: Mint
SEPTEMBER: Bergamont
OCTOBER: Horseradish
NOVEMBER: Cardamom
Herb Guild Annual Trip: Bus Trip May 4 & 5 to the
Philadelphia Area.
The Trip Committee, JoAnne
Fogelman, Marie Gardner and Loretta Fulton, have selected:
Mt. Cuba Center: Mt. Cuba Center is a non-profit
horticultural institution in northern Delaware located on nearly 600 acres. It
is dedicated to the study, conservation, and appreciation of plants native to
the Appalachian Piedmont Region through garden display, education, and
research. Its woodland wildflower gardens are recognized as the region’s
finest. The former home and family estate of Mr. and Mrs. Lammot du Pont
Copeland, it is a Colonial Revival manor house built in 1935 near the village
of Mt. Cuba, near Wilmington, Delaware.
Chanticleer:
Originally, the estate was known for its majestic trees and verdant lawns.
Today, the trees and lawns remain, but the focus is on plant combinations,
containers, textures, and colors, often relying on foliage more than flowers.
Tens of thousands of bulbs clothe the ground in spring, followed by orchards of
flowering trees with native wildflowers blooming in the woods.
The Highlands Mansion and Gardens is a 44-acre historic site with a late
18th century Georgian mansion and two-acre formal garden. Surrounded by massive stonewalls, the gardens
offer a beautiful example of early 20th, century estate gardening with an
unusual blend of horticulture and architecture. www.highlandshistorical.org/garden
We're also looking into Winterthur
and Shofuso, a Japanese House and Garden in Fairmount Park in
Philadelphia.
We will have all the final information
at the March meeting. A $50.00 deposit will hold your seat on the
bus. The trip is open for Herb Guild Members only until March 31.
Non-members may sign up April 1st
Mark your calendars…for these
Events
To Travel
March 6-13, 2011. Philadelphia International Flower Show.
March
and April are Cherry Blossom bloom times.
March
18-27. Macon,
Georgia has over 300,000 Yoshino cherry trees. Their Japanese street
festival is March 21st.
March
26-April 20. Washington,
DC has over 3,000 cherry trees. The Japanese Street Festival, Sakura
Matsuri, and Cherry Blossom Parade
are on April 9th. The first gift of cherry trees from Japan occurred in
l912 to President and Mrs. Howard Taft. An additional gift was accepted in 1964 by First Lady, Ladybird Johnson.
March
28-April 1.
Japanese Culture Week. Philadelphia
has 1,000-2,000 cherry trees. The Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival stretches from March 4-April 10.
April
30-May 1. Brooklyn
Botanical Garden celebrates Sakura Matsuri with 42 varieties of cherryblossoms; the first cherry tree was planted in 1912.
Late
April through May 2011 will be the last dates ever to see the U. S. National
Arboretum’s fabulous Azalea Collection in bloom. The Arboretum, just outside
Washington DC on NY Ave., is scheduled to remove and destroy its historic collection
after bloom time this year 2011. For the full story of this
disastrous event details, please go to the websites, especially: savetheazaleas.org/
The
earliest average bloom date is circa April 15th, but weather can make the
azaleas bloom later and into May.
The Arboretum’s webpage, with its description of its collection, makes no
mention of this impending destruction; it was last updated 2005.
April
9. PA Herb and
Garden Festival. York Expo Center, York PA.
Mechanicsburg Herbal Events:
April
20. “Introduction
to Herbs and Herb Gardening” at Rosemary House and Sweet Remembrances.6:30-8:30, $18 per person. Located 118-120 S. Market St,
Mechanicsburg
April 30. Mechanicsburg Earth
Day Festival. 10-4 pm.
May 4. “Celebrate National Herb Week”.
Free tour at 7:30 pm of over 300 varieties in herb garden.Featuring
horseradish [the herb of the year] recipe samples from Rosemary House and SweetRemembrances,
Mechanicsburg.
Closer to Home
Saturday, March 12, 2011.
The Home Gardeners' School will be held in Milton. It includes
presentations by a keynote speaker on gardening and fruit trees as well as
sessions on edible herbal bonsai, wreath making, container gardening, using
native plants as weed retardant and more. Registration is due March 4 and is
$35; for late registration add $10. For more info go to http://gardeningpa.blogspot.com/ or contact
the Columbia MG@ag.psu.edu
Saturday, April 16, 2011.
The Penn State Master Gardeners in Columbia County, Spring Open House.
Programs: Using Garden Produce in a Healthy Manner; Tree Problems:
Insects & Diseases; Square Foot Gardening; Container Gardening; and an
encore presentation by John Esslinger on Tomatoes, Peppers, & Cukes.
$5 per person; pay at the door. Ag Services Building, 702 Sawmill Rd, Suite
102, Bloomsburg. 570-784-6660 ext. 18
The Horticulture Hotline will be staffed during the Open House.
Bring in your questions & specimens. Soil Test kits and Penn State
publications will be available for purchase.
View the flyer for
details: http://nepamg.pbworks.com/f/SpringOpenHouseColumbia2011.pdf
Garden Tips:
Herbs
to attract “Beneficial Insects” or Gardening without Chemicals
Coriander [cilantro] attracts braconid wasps, hover
flies, lacewings
Cosmos attracts hover flies, lacewings, ladybugs, spiders
Fennel attracts braconid wasps, hover flies, lacewings,
ladybird beetles
Flowering buckwheat attracts hover flies, lacewings,
ladybugs, minute pirate bugs, predatory
wasps, tachnid flies
Horehound flowers are attractive to
braconid and ichneumonid wasps, technical and syrphid flies
Mint attracts hover flies, spiders
Queen Anne’s lace attracts hover flies, ladybugs,
spiders
Rosemary shelters predatory ground
beetles
Sweet alyssum attracts braconid wasps,
chalcids, hover flies
Tansy attracts insidious flower flies, lacewing,
ladybugs, parasitic wasps
Yarrow attracts bees, hover flies, ladybugs, parasitic
wasps
The Vegetables with the
most “Bang for the Buck”
According
to a Virginia Cooperative Extension study, you can save substantially if you
grow your own tomatoes, while winter squash is priced relatively low at the
market and hogs a lot of garden area. The following are the most economical to
grow for yourself: tomatoes, beets, green bunching onions, leaf and head
lettuce, turnip [greens and roots], summer squash, edible-podded peas, beans,
beets, cucumbers, peppers, broccoli, Swiss chard
Source
: Newspaper, Pennies, Cardboard & Eggs for Growing a Better
Garden,
by Roger Yepsen and the Editors of Organic Gardening
It’s not
too early to start thinking about starting, rooting or dividing plants for the
May Plant Auction!
From the Guild’s Archives…
The newsletters of previous years have wonderful articles
and information. Just in time for Easter and Easter activities, here is an
“oldie” from the May/June 1995 newsletter.
Natural Egg Dyes….from
Kathie Shafer [1995]
Red---juice
from fresh beets, alkanet root, woad, madder root, logwood
Tan—yellow onions, paprika
Yellow—saffron, tansy flowers, turmeric, marigolds,
nasturtiums, lady’s bedstraw, meadowsweet, goldenrod, hickory bark
Green—red Spanish onions, lily-of-the-valley, nettles,
tansy leaves, birch leaves, rhubarb
leaves, moss, elderberry leaves
Blue—blueberries, red cabbage
Pink—spinach
Lavender—yellow apple peels.
Directions: Put the dyeing material in a
saucepan and add 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then simmer 20 minutes or
until it achieves the desired color. Add eggs and leave in dying solution until
colored.
Think
Green—reuse & recycle
The Fishing Creek Herb Guild is
committed to helping preserve the environment and the world we live in. Please
remember to bring your own utensils—cup, plate, silverware and napkin —to the
meeting so we don’t have to use and throw out paper or plastic.
Also, please remember not to park in the Church parking
lot; use other nearby parking areas.
Newsletter News, Events, Tips,
Articles, etc. on herbs and gardening are always welcome. Please share
your experience and expertise by sending them to Janet Dalberto, your humble
editor.
HERB GUILD DUES in the amount
of $15 are to be paid by the May 2011 meeting. You may do this in either
of two ways. The preferred way is to send a check by mail using the
envelope enclosed along with your pre-printed Membership Information card*
to our treasurer:
Louise McCormick
26
Vine Street
Danville, PA 17821
If you have any changes, or wish to not receive the
newsletter in printed form, please make changes below and send or give this
changed page to Louise McCormick with your dues.
*Name_____________________________
*Address__________________________ *Please print your information
here & enclose w/dues,
*Telephone Number___________________ if different from the pre-printed card
*Email_____________________________
You may pay your dues in person at the March, April, or May
meetings. Please make your checks out to "Fishing Creek Herb
Guild". If paying at the meeting, please come early. Louise will be
available at 6:15 pm in March and April. Dues paying should not interfere with
the Guild meeting, which begins at 7:00 PM.
[ ]
Please place an “X” in this box if you wish to READ your newsletter on
the WEBPAGE [www.fishingcreekherbguild]. You
will receive an email reminder to check the Newsletter on the webpage, so
please maker sure that your email address is correct.
