Orcas Island Garden Club

P. O. Box 452 ~ Eastsound, WA 98245

www.OrcasIslandGardenClub.org

As you settle down in your slippers and robe, sipping your warm cocoa, this month’s newsletter will offer you plenty of joy and inspiration as you envision your summer gardening ahead. Enjoy Carol Miles’ program on growing veggies from seeds, watch the video SEED—THE UNTOLD STORY, browse through the book VEGETABLES LOVE FLOWERS. Visit our website to view last summer’s Garden Tour photos [https://www.orcasislandgardenclub.org/gallery.html]. Ponder your gardening resolutions as well as consider what type of gardener you are. [You can take a quick one-question survey afterwards.]

The Orcas Island Garden Club

and the Lopez Island Garden Club

present

Click HERE to join the live presentation.

We still have a number of wonderful programs to look forward to this season. Four of the speakers are from our county, and Linda Gilkeson is from a west coast island, so all of them understand the issues of gardening on our islands. Their presentations are sure to be informative.

At this time, the annual Garden Tour is ON — June 25 & 26, 2022. We’re excited to include some new and varied gardens, as well as revisiting a favorite. It’s promising to be one of the best tours yet, so mark your calendar.

It’s easy to join or renew! Click HERE to print a membership form. Fill in the form and mail it with your check to OIGC Membership, P. O. Box 452, Eastsound, WA 98245.

OR . . . you can go to our website — www.OrcasIslandGardenClub.org/membership.html and fill in the online form and pay your membership fees through PayPal.

As an added bonus, names of new and renewing members are automatically entered into our monthly raffle drawing.

If you have any questions or can’t remember

whether you joined or renewed already, send us an email:

Perri at gibbgroup@aol.com OR Karen at khiller333@yahoo.com

Members as of Dec. 1 —--------— 142

Renewals (Dec. 1 - Jan. 14) ------— 3

New Members (Dec. 1 - Jan. 14) — 6

TOTAL MEMBERS - Jan. 14 --— 151

Join or renew NOW

to be eligible for next month’s great raffle prizes.

Inspired by Emmy Gran’s presentation last month on making wreaths from materials available in our own backyards and woods, OIGC members sent in photos of their festive creations. Thank you, Mother Nature! Well done, everyone!

THANKS to Abby, Karen, Kathy & Laura for sharing their creations with us!

JOURNAL — Celebrate and keep records of your accomplishments and note where improvements can be made.

SHARE — Harvest and give excess fruits, vegetables and seeds to others, as well as gift your flowers to friends and neighbors to gain big smiles.

CLEAN — Sharpen, oil and sterilize your tools so they will serve you for a long time.

RESIST — Make a commitment to use the least amount of chemicals to address concerns and problems.

APPRECIATE — Try not to obsess too much over the aesthetics of your garden by spending less time working and more time enjoying.

INCORPORATE — Select native plants or those that thrive in our environment, upholding the concept of “Right Plant, Right Place” for your success and theirs.

CREATE — Research and make an intentional plan to include plants that benefit our wildlife partners so they may in turn help you in your garden endeavors.

PLAN — Make a monthly garden plan and follow through with it.

ENRICH — Enhance or start a composting process to benefit your plants and the environment.

LEARN — Create a developmental goal for yourself — take a class, read a book, volunteer or try something new — just GROW!

MENTOR — Cultivate interest in gardening by finding someone to mentor and inspire the next generation of gardeners along — Plant a Seed!

The Orcas Island Garden Club has an Instagram account called orcasgardenclub.

Click HERE to view an increasing array of Orcas’ garden photos.

The Orcas Island Garden Club will be delighted to consider any photo submitted for inclusion to our Instagram page, so please — send photos of your garden to communicationsOIGC@gmail.com. A caption for your photo is appreciated but not necessary. Please include your first and last name, or first name and last initial, or no name, in your email.

Striken with painful eczema and dry skin, Carol tried to find products that would ease her symptoms, but nothing seemed to work. Out of frustration and pure need, her pursuit to create medicinal remedies for herself was born in order to care for her skin.

“I had not a clue what I was doing,” she admitted. With no formal training, just deep motivation to find solutions, Carol researched, experimented and taught herself. She made products as she needed them to address extreme chapped lips, eczema of the scalp and even menopause side effects. She tried different ingredients and observed what they did. Eventually, she made products for friends, and suddenly, her successful Magic Island Herbals business took off.

Kelly Larson, a great friend and Magic Island Herbals supporter, partnered with Carol for a few years and helped create her famous Healing Skin Salve. She reminisced how nice it was to have a friend to help grow the business. “It unfolded for me,” she said. “I don’t think I chose it. The same with the jewelry. I count my lucky stars that I get to play with herbs and gem stones. I hadn’t planned for this and I am very grateful.”

WELCOME NEW MEMBER:

We are so pleased to welcome new OIGC member, Dixie Budke, resident of Lopez Island. Through our recent collaborations with the Lopez Island Garden Club in co-hosting virtual programs, we’ve had the pleasure of getting to know Dixie, current President of the Lopez Island Garden Club. We wanted all of you to get to know her as well. Here’s what Dixie wrote about her perspective on the WHY of gardening.

“I have been gardening on and off for most of my adult life. I knew nothing about seeds, soil, what to plant, where, and why when I first started. I knew that I loved and embraced the natural world and was intrigued by the beauty and practicality of flowers, trees, crop vegetables, and all the companion critters that make them grow. I was also not afraid to fail, which I did many times, taking my lessons with me as I tried again. My common refrain is, ‘Well, THAT didn’t work!’"

“No home was complete until gardens and grounds were enhanced to reflect the natural world in which I lived. Fortunately, my husband is as avid about this dream as I am. Perhaps even more so."

“When we moved to Lopez Island after retirement in 2011, my gardening learning curve took a steep spike upwards. It was clear that years of gardening in California would not help me in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. So, I turned to the experts for help. I took the WSU Extension Master Gardeners certification program in 2012 and joined the Lopez Island Garden Club shortly after that. I realized that I was not alone in my quest to make peace with deer, rabbits, raccoons, soil, and the weather."

“Now, ten years into our gardening odyssey on Lopez Island, we have created a labyrinth of connection to our natural world that includes a variety of fruit trees, vegetables, herbs, flowers, and the pollinators that make it all possible. It’s good to have friends."

“When people visit our labyrinth for the first time, they often state, ‘This is a LOT of work,’ knowing that we are the only gardeners for this project. And we smile with delight as we respond, ‘Oh, is it?’”

WELCOME, DIXIE!

Can’t wait to visit your labyrinth!

Here’s what Sandra wrote in response to our request for an introduction about herself to share with you:

“Bruce has been on Orcas since July 2019 and I just moved to Orcas in June 2021. The picture I am sending is on 6/28/21, the day we left our house (which we sold) in Colorado Springs, CO, to head to Orcas by car. It was a long 3-day journey but we are happy to be here."

“My gardening experience consists of 10 years in Florida and 30 years in Colorado. In FL, I had a vegetable garden at the U of FL experimental gardens. In Colorado Springs, it was mostly organic landscaping (fruit trees, evergreens, ornamental bushes, perennials, herbs, and annuals) to adapt and/or accommodate poor soil on top of granite, wildlife (birds, big mule deer, raccoons, skunks and squirrels), extended droughts, wind, and hail. I did try some vegetable gardens but quit to support farmers’ markets instead, who had better success than I did. Having grown up in the Caribbean, I love flowers of any kind but have a special place in my heart for native plants, galanthus, all spring bulbs, peonies, lilacs, and Oriental poppies."

“I had heard of your programs through the Orcas Library. My new garden passion is to learn as much as possible about gardening on Orcas Island. Our new house on the island is under construction and it offers a fresh canvas for a new garden.”

Welcome, Sandra & Bruce, and best of luck in your new home!

My mother bought white bulbs she called garlic, although they were nothing like the ubiquitous powder that my friends shook over pizza and their mothers used with abandon for flavoring dinner.

It was the 1960s, and my mom thought fresh garlic, properly prepared, gave a better flavor to the vast array of foods on dinner rotation and the multicultural foods she served at dinner parties. She would carefully remove the green center, warning it was bitter and potentially dangerous, although she couldn’t say how.

I now know that the center is called the germ, and as garlic ages, the germ turns green and becomes bitter. Buying or growing garlic that is more fresh is one solution or you can do as my mom did and cut out the green portion. Once removed, the garlic has a variety of flavors depending on whether the garlic is left whole, how it is cut, and if it is roasted.

Eager to share their garden spaces with guests, this gardener loves to host parties and considers their garden an extension of their home. They work extremely hard on their gardens. You’ll likely find beautiful furnishings, decorative elements, dining spaces and strategically placed outdoor lighting. It’s designed with the goal of relaxing, socializing and dining in a lovely garden setting. These gardeners seek plants that complement their hardscape with plenty of garden art featured through their garden paths. They may monitor their gardens frequently and remove any plant that appears unhealthy, ugly or seemingly out of place.

These eco-conscious gardeners have a strong ethical approach to seek sustainable, environmentally friendly ways of gardening. They consider wildlife and native plants in their design and admire the round holes left in their leaves by leaf cutter bees. They strive to grow organically, utilize composting and collect seeds for the following year's planting. You may even see a chicken or two next to their beehive. They praise the practice of permaculture with a goal to create a community of plants, soil, people and insects that influences all garden operations. They are grateful for what harvest they receive and also recognize that nature will choose to take some of it.

Specimen gardeners are collectors with a specific interest and are always on the lookout for unique varieties within a species of plant. Using the scientific name to identify and label particular plants, botanists and horticulturists would fit into this category. These gardeners become really focused and thrilled about new hybrids, colors, scents, and slight differences. Drawn to extensive research, they often become experts and enroll as society members, attend conferences and even competitions. Roses, dahlias, rhodies, bonsai and succulents are all common focuses for the niche gardener.

These gardeners rarely take a break. They embrace succession planting to ensure there is a crop of some vegetable or flower coming on continually through each season which is second nature to this year-round gardener. When the weather is dreary, they are busy preparing or dreaming what type of tomato to plant and where to put the witch hazel they’re about to order. You can expect them to readily share with others their plans, successes, failures, and dreams. For them, the garden is a reason for living, in Italian, ‘una ragione di vita’. They love telling the history of each plant and object in their garden and how they got there. You’ll find a great balance of beauty and function here.

Showing boundless enthusiasm, this gardener loves to learn and experiment. Their new-found knowledge influences where interests take them. Everyone has experienced this gardener type at some point of their journey. This is often a first-time gardener and the results of their first gardening experiences will form their future relationship with gardening forever. Every year means a new opportunity to grow a different variety of sweet pea or squash. A fan of diversity, they seek out as many different types of plants to try as possible. Resilient, if it doesn’t work, they try something else.

Curbside visual appearance and low maintenance are what motivates this gardener. You may find them to be advocates of natives due to their low maintenance attributes. They may not be familiar with the botanical names of plants but they’ll do their homework to be sure that their plants are well suited and happy in their planting zone. Pragmatic, these gardeners have a critical eye for ascetics and view landscaping as a necessary task that will increase the value of their home. They typically invest a lot of money and time on the front end to ensure the end result gives them a trouble free, low maintenance yard that looks good year-round.

Gardeners that design and utilize their garden for food are very proud of their harvests. They are disciplined planners and grow edible plants that they will eat and enjoy, often sharing their excess bounty with neighbors, friends and local food banks. They are focused on production and education, always striving year after year to improve their growing practices thereby increasing their quantity and quality. You will see companion planting, crop rotation, composting and most likely edible flowers in these gardens. These gardeners are active in the community and may possibly sell their produce at local markets.

Sometimes constrained by their living situation, this gardener tries to get the maximum joy out of the limited space they have to work with. They embrace container gardening and seek out ways to utilize beautiful and utilitarian planters. To them, greenery brings both health and happiness so they take advantage of colorful ceramic pots and hanging baskets. They are very creative and determined to find slivers of sunshine and you may find indoor herbs growing on their window sill. These gardeners choose their plants carefully, check in daily with their ‘babies’ to make sure they are well cared for and even offer them words of encouragement.

Each spring, I hold a tiny tomato seed on the tip of my finger, use my handmade and treasured dibble (thank you, Marlyn) and push it into a cell pot. And every time, I'm astonished by the first little leaves (cotyledons) that push their way out of the soil and reach for the light. Every. Time.

So, with seed catalogs filling my mail box and inspired by the upcoming presentation, I borrowed the DVD Seed: the Untold Story from our Library. It's a beautiful documentary including the history of seed collecting and the complex interdependency between agriculture and people. Some of the film is heart breaking --the loss of diversity and precious heirlooms. Much is infuriating -- the indiscriminate use of chemicals and the power of big corporations striving for a choke hold in the food supply. But, there's encouragement as well -- people farming organically, building seed banks and our own ability to make informed choices. As gardeners, we can make an impact in our little corner of the world.

P.S. Check out Orcas Library's very own Seed Bank. Try "borrowing" a few seeds to grow in your garden this year, and then return a few seeds at harvest's end for next year. An easy, fun way to contribute to island sustainability!

by Lisa Mason Ziegler

This book will certainly change how I garden and most certainly will increase the flowers, vegetables, and herbs I grow in raised and terraced beds.

In clear, accessible language and supported by full-color photos on every page, Vegetables Love Flowers explicitly shows how companion planting cool-weather annual flowers with vegetables planted at the right time and in the right way enhances pollination, reduces garden pests, and increases production.

Suggestions for specific flower varieties along with color pictures, growing instructions, maintenance, and harvesting information all pave the way to a more productive and ecologically sound garden.

I’m inspired by the strategies and suggestions and have completely reorganized my terraced beds which used to have a row of dahlias and loose groupings of seasonal annuals and reseeded perennials. This next growing season will feature kale with cool annuals such as bachelor buttons and love-in-a-mist, zucchini with dill and borage, lettuces with pansies and godetia, and carrots with nasturtium.