October General Meeting - Native Edibles and Kale/Pansy Wreath

Eat from your yard and your door decor

At our October General Meeting 47 members and friends enjoyed a program presented by Chelsea Soneira on Native Edibles. With an engaging power-point, videos and even food samples, she described native plants that are readily available to all of us, their uses and nutritional benefits.
You can see the prsentation HERE

Then we switched gears to make an adorable door wreath. A wire form was covered with dried moss and small clay pots were attached with wire, then filled with a combination of pansies and kale plants.

         Laughter abounds as we arrange the pots plantedd with kale grown by garden club members.

Working steadily to our finished product

Voila!

W

Sale Alert: Johnson's Garden Center has perennials 75% off!!

All About the Greens Workshop Calendar

Greens Workshop and Description of Activities

The Greens Sale is the Garden Club's major contribution to the Sandy Spring Museum. The various Holiday Greens are sold through pre-orders and at the Museum's Annual Family Holiday Party on December 7.  Instructors are available at all workshops.

Friday, Nov 21          9am-1pm       Boxwood Breakdown               Pat Ebnor  
 This involves taking the branches of boxwood that have been cut by our mighty volunteers, breaking them into standard sized pieces and standing them in tubs of water.

Saturday, Nov 22     10am-4pm     Boxwood Breakdown                 Andrea Mohr, Jan Baweja
 More of the same of this very important task. Talking and snacking are highly encouraged!!

Sunday, Nov 30        12-5pm          Kissing Balls                              Amy Cohen, Andrea Mohr
Using the boxwood that was meticulously broken into the correct size these are then put into an oasis and formed into a sphere, adorned with a red ribbon hanger and streamers. Each person can make one Kissing Ball for the Greens Sale and one to take home!!

                                 5pm to 8pm    Boxwood Trees                          Pat Ebnor, Penny Sidell
                                                         Boxwood Wreaths
We switch gears to use the boxwood for wreaths and trees. These are for the Greens Sale or to make and purchase.

Monday, Dec 1       1 to 5pm          Boxwood Trees                          Amy Cohen
                                                         Boxwood Wreaths       
More trees and wreaths.                                                                                

                                5 to 9pm          Boxwood Trees                           Jan Baweja, Penny Sidell             
                                                        Boxwood Wreaths
 Trees are adorned with tiny red bows, red ribbon streamers and a red bird. Wreaths get a beautiful red velvet bow.

Tuesday, Dec 2      1 to 5pm          Hurricane Arrangements           Audrey Forrer
Mixed greens arrangements are made, centered with a beautiful hurricane and candle and adorned with bows.
                                 5 to 9pm        Mixed Greens Wreaths               Kathy Gaskill, Mary Dominique
Beautifully crafted wreaths are made from a variety of evergreens and pine cones and topped with a bow.

Wednesday, Dec 3  1 to 5pm       Mixed Greens Wreaths                Lynne Mahoney
                                                       Swags 
                                                       Arrangements
More wreaths, swags - a mixture of greens built in a vertical shape and table a variety of table arrangements, with or without candles....take your pick. 
                                                   
                                   5 to 9pm      Swags                                             Penny Sidell
                                                        Arrangements                               
The fun continues.
                                                       

Thursday, Dec 4      1-5pm           Arrangements                                 Ellen Feeney
                                 5-9pm           Arrangements
We need lots of arrangements.

Friday, Dec 5          1-5pm            Fill orders and Set up for Sale        Sunny Banvard
                                 5-9pm            Fill orders/Set up

Saturday, Dec 6      9am-1pm       Pick up Orders
                                                   
Saturday, Dec 13                          Clean -up Basement          All hands on deck!! 

Please contact the leaders for the day/time you would like to help. 
Contact email:  garden club@sandy srping museum.org

Greens Cutting and Workshops.....Preparations for the Greens Sale

Greens Workshops and Sale

Now that the Ghost, Goblins and Witches are gone, it’s time to start thinking about the Greens Workshops.  Prior to making of the wreaths and arrangements, the Garden Club members collect their materials from our beautiful surrounding area. Then we break down the boxwood and greens by snipping small branches & placing them in water. Finally we are ready to make wreaths, miniature trees, centerpieces and sprays. No experience is needed. It is a great way to meet people, socialize and have fun!! You’ll want to get out your calendar and finds a few hours to join us. Details are below:

Gathering Boxwood and Greens 

Mary Dominique is coordinating the gathering of the boxwood and Kathy Gaskill is coordinating the gathering/cutting of the greens. 

Gathering/Cutting boxwood:  Tues. Nov. 13th,  Mon. Nov. 17^th,   & Wed. Nov. 19th (rain date if needed)

Gathering/Cutting greens:      Tues. Nov. 18^th,   Thurs. Nov. 20^th,    & Sat.  Nov. 22nd (rain date if needed)

For Gathering/Cutting of greens & boxwood, meet at the museum at 10:15 each day.  Please bring garden clippers.

Breaking down greens: Tues. Nov. 18th 12 - 4pm and Thurs. Nov. 20th 12 - 4pm  

Breaking down boxwood Wed. Nov. 19th   1 - 4pm, Fri. Nov. 21st 9 - 1pm and Sat. Nov. 22nd 10 - 4

This will take place at the museum either at the back entrance to the basement or in the basement.

Please let Mary and Kathy know which days you plan to join them.

          Any questions, contact  gardenclub @sandy spring museum.org.

Greens Workshops

Workshops will begin on Sunday, November 30 from noon until 8 p.m.  Volunteers are encouraged to come early.  Monday, December 1st through Friday, December 6th, workshops will begin at 1:00 p.m. and last until 9 p.m.   Volunteers may come at any time during the workshop hours and work as their time allows.  You will find friendly folks and refreshments.  We’ve attached a detailed schedule. Please contact the workshop coordinators and let them know that you will be able to help. Following is the schedule of activities and their description:

1.          

Spooky Workshop...Boo-tiful Bows of all Sizes

Big Bows, Little Bows, Fat Bows, Skinny Bows!

We sure made a lot of Bows at the Spooky Workshop. Special thanks go to our 2 Bow Making Instructors, Ann Petzold and Dayna Tucker. We couldn’t have made all the bows without their help.

The popcorn, veggies and other festive treats gave us a lot of energy. We really appreciate our wonderful refreshment committee.

 

We can’t forget to thank Lynn Mahoney and Connie Wilson for organizing today’s fun Workshop.

Thanks to everyone that participated in the Spooky Workshop!

Sandy Spring Museum Fall Festival

The SSM's Fall Festival was on October 18th. Everyone had a wonderful time. The ambiance was amazing. The music was great and the food was delicious. The Garden Club members contributed in many ways to make the evening a success.

Sunny Banvard lead a team of Garden Club members and friends in decorating the museum in Fall colors. Some of our members who helped with the decorating include Amy Cohen, Ginny Singhaus, Miichele Harde, Barbara Gibian and Betty Hiner. 

Kathy Gaskill and Michele Harde helped with the set-up and coordinating the food. Nancy Aldous, Sandy Velsor and Kathy Leiberman were volunteers extraordinaire. They helped to make the evening special.

Everyone seemed to enjoy both the silent and live auctions. The Garden Club's "Fall front Porch Display and Hydrangea" was a popular silent auction item. Thanks to the team of people that worked on this effort including Penny Sidell, Mary Dominique, Leslie Cronin, Andrea Mohr and Amy Cohen.

The Garden Club was well represented at this event.

.

Fall Garden Chores, Hints and Techniques

It's time to put the gardens to bed for the winter. Here are some hints and techniques, please feel free to add more hints to the comments below.

Fall garden chores from Mary Dominique:

1) Dig amaryllis - pot them up and put them in the garage. They want 8-10 weeks of cool dry conditions. Then bring them in the house, they will bloom during the winter.

2) Dig caladiums and dry a few days. Cut off leaves and store in a bag in the basement.

3) Dig a few annuals - lantana, begonias diamond frost euphorbia, geraniums - into the grrenhouse for the winter.

4) Patio pots go into the garage or the all season porch - spray with horticultural oil and keep watered through the winter. There's plumbago, tender ferns and diamond frost, as well as new gardenias.

5) Patio pots with hardy perennials stay outside and can withstand freezing temperatures.

6. Tunnels in the garden produce lettuce, kale, broccoli, spinach, arugula, radish, turnips and bok choy into the winter.

7) Rest of garden is covered with leaves or straw to keep the weeds down, or a cover crop is sown.

8) Tomato, squash, pepper plants go in the trash so as not to spread diseases

9) Save seeds: pick blossoms when dry and pit into envelopes for junk mail, label and date.
10) Dig dahlias after frost and store, as Adrian Higgins, suggested with a dusting of cinnamon.  He said cinnamon is an anti-fungal.  

From Jan:

For plants that are coming inside, I dunk the whole plant, pot and all into a tub of water for an hour or so. Hopefully it will kill or chase out the ant nests, potato bugs and toads that like to live in my pots on the deck.

Then I spray them with soapy water and let dry another day.,.

Here’s an easy recipe for Organic Dormant Oil Spray : Mix 2 Tbs ultrafine canola oil with 1 Tbs  baking soda and a gallon of water in a container and shake well, then pour into a spray bottle to apply.

This and other tips on facebook: Our Fairfield Home and Garden   Tucking the garden in for winter

Winter Garden Preparation from Empress of Dirt

Please share your hints in the comments below

Autumn is a Second Spring when Every Leaf is a Flower

Fall is a great time in the garden and an exciting time for the SSM Garden Club.

Next Spring we will be holding a seed and plant exchange. As you clean-up your garden this Fall keep this in mind. Separate your plants and collect your seeds so that you have something to share in the Spring.

Looking forward to seeing everyone at our fun Fall events:

Garden Club – Spooky Workshop

October 26 @ 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm

No Ghosts Allowed, but we’ll have lots of Ribbons and Bows.  In this workshop, we will continue with our preparations for the Sandy Spring Museum Garden Club Holiday Greens Sale.  Come and learn how to make many different bows of various sizes and shapes.  We will also make other trimmings to brighten the Holiday Greens.   Costumes are optional and treats will be served.   Please contact Lynn Mahoney, lynnmahoney1@verizon.net or Gloria Galyon gloriagalyon@verizon.net if you have any questions.

Native Edibles and Kale Wreaths

November 9th, 2pm-4pm 

As winter closes in, the Garden Club will turn our sights to the wild side as we learn about the historic and modern use of native edibles and sample some culinary delights from our own back yards.  Crafty gardeners will display their close-to-home food knowledge by assembling a decorative wreath of live winter kale during our featured project. A small fee to cover supply costs will be collected at the door: $5.00 for members and $7.00 for non-members. Everyone is welcome and  RSVP's are appreciated by November 2 to Chelsea Soneira chelsea.soneira@gmail.com.  Please contact us if  you have any questions.