NAUSET GARDEN CLUB’SWinter 2011-2012, VOL XXVII, No. 2, Issue 123Bev Singleton, Editor

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE – Mary Ellen Sussman

Well, the autumn was really, really nice this year.  You can tell because even the usual complainers aren't complaining.  I finally got my tulips planted, and as much organic material piled on my beds as I had time for.  When the tree guys come around after Thanksgiving to prune the "green screen" in my backyard, I'll be ready for whatever winter brings us.

Meanwhile, our club's year seems to be off to a rollicking start.  There are so many plans being made, emails flying back and forth and meetings being held for the June flower show and for Crosby Mansion, my head spins sometimes.  The extraordinary level of competence and dedication in our club is evident to me every day. 

I am excited to see our new educational mini-grant program get off the ground in record time, thanks to Mary Ellen Bower, Bev Singleton and Debby Saliba.  Stay tuned.  I think we're going to see good things happen there.

This coming year my New Year's resolution will be to shorten up our meetings a bit.  Both the September and November meetings were very long.  Perhaps trimming the speakers' time might be the answer.  If you have a suggestion about the order in which we conduct the meetings, or anything else for that matter, please let me hear from you.  I'd really be interested in your thoughts.

All my best for safe and happy holidays.

RECEPTION FLOWERS for CCMNH – Debby Saliba Each week one of our members supplies a plant or flower arrangement to be displayed on the reception desk of the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History. Assignments are made alphabetically.  The arrangements are to be delivered on Thursday in a disposable container, if possible.  If the container is not disposable put your name on the bottom and the member delivering flowers the following week can pick it up and return it to you at the next meeting.  A card with the names of the plants should be tucked under the container. No artificial plant material may be used. A quarterly schedule of museum flower assignments is published in the Grapevine and on the web site. If you are unable to fulfill your assignment, please find someone to replace you and notify the chairman, Debby Saliba, at 508-255-8652.

DECEMBER 1 – Sieglinde Hughes JANUARY 5– Janet Lascher FEBRUARY 2 – Fran McClennen 8 – Gloria Jaccarino 12 – Ella Leavitt 9 – Sue McFarlane

15 – Judy Johnson 19 – Joy Long 16 – Kate McNulty 22 – Joan Karter 26 – Sandra Marshall 23 – Elizabeth

Mead 29 – Deborah Kimball

The club is looking for someone to replace Bev Singleton as editor of the Grapevine and Yearbook. If you have editing and publishing skills, experience with graphic design, page layout, and mailing lists, maybe you’re the one for this job. The time commitment is two tor three days during the third week of August, November, February, and May for the Grapevine, and several days at the end of August for the Yearbook. Bev will walk you through the process as she prepares the Grapevine in February and again with the summer issue in May. If you’re

interested in volunteering for this job, please contact Sharon Davis by email at sharon@.gardengatedesign.net or by phone at 508-255-9820.

CALENDAR

DECEMBER

7 BOARD MEETING: 9:30 AM* – Hostess: Peg Sheehan*Refreshments at 9:00 AM

All Board meetings will be at Cape Cod Five (CCF), 20 West Road, Orleans

14 REGULAR MEETING: 11:45 AM – Church of the Holy Spirit (CHS), Orleans (Horticulture and Design entries due at 11:30 AM)

Program: “Santa’s Workshop: Four Holiday Design Workshops by Members for Members” presented by Irene Mitchell and Carol Newsome.

Design: No design entries this month.

Horticulture: No horticulture entries this month.

Member’s Choice Exhibit No member’s choice entries this month.

JANUARY 4 BOARD MEETING: 9:30 AM* –at Cape Cod Five, Hostess: Debby Saliba

* Refreshments at 9:00 AM

6 WORKSHOP: 9:00 AM - CCMNH“Oriental Design” – presented by Mary Finan, Past President, 2006-2008Please bring your workshop toolbox and a low sided container and pin holder; flowers and branches will be provided; fee $15.

11 REGULAR MEETING: 11:45 AM – CHS, Orleans (Horticulture and Design entries due at 11:30) Program: “Beautiful Ornamental Trees of Cape Cod” by Dave Chalker, Bartlett Tree.

Design: “Winter’s Wonder” – a miniature design, not to exceed 5” in height, width, and depth. Dried and fresh plant material may be used. (Handbook pages 203-204, 1-16)

Horticulture: “Beautiful Begonias” – a houseplant, container grown. Two categories, one entry. (Handbook pages 82-84 and 125)

5” Miniature DesignMember’s Choice Exhibit: “Something Special to Show or Tell” – not to be judged; describe on a 3x5 card with your name on the front.

FEBRUARY

1 BOARD MEETING: 9:30 AM* –at Cape Cod Five, Hostess: Mary Ellen Bower*Refreshments at 9:00 AM

8 REGULAR MEETING: 11:45 AM - CHS (Horticulture and design entries due at 11:30)

Program: “Shopper’s Guide to Plant Greed” by Carol Stocker, Garden Writer, Boston Globe

Design: “Art Interpretations” – in coordination with Nauset Middle School Art Club.

Horticulture: “Tantalizing Terrariums” – create a miniature landscape in a covered transparent container; may include one or more accessories.

(Handbook pages 112-114)

Interpretive Design Member’s Choice Exhibit: “Something Special to Show or Tell” – not to be Based on Artwork judged; describe on a 3x5 card with your name on the front. 8 GRAPEVINE DEADLINEHOSPITALITY – Carolyn Dowd

Hospitality assignments are being made alphabetically, so that everyone participates in making sandwiches, cookies, a fruit platter, or a centerpiece. Members will be called in advance of the meeting as a reminder of your upcoming assignment. Please list the ingredients on a 3x5 card and bring your contribution on a serving plate to the hospitality area by 11:30 AM. Members bringing sandwiches are expected to set up the luncheon table and serve beverages. Those bringing cookies are responsible for cleanup. If you are unable to fulfill your assignment, it is your responsibility to find a substitute. In that case, please call the chairman, Carolyn Dowd at 508-240-0071 with the name of the person who will be taking your place

SANDWICHES (4 dozen) DESSERTS (2 dozen)

DECEMBERLynn Farber Carrie GuilianoMary Finan Susanne HamiltonDevon Foley Sally HerbstJanet Gagliano Nora HerseyJane Geiger Barbara HoadleyDinny Goodwin Beth HoldenBev Singleton Sieglinde Hughes

JANUARYGloria Jaccarino Fran McClennenJudy Johnson Sue McFarlaneJoan Karter Kate McNultyJanet Lascher Elizabeth MeadJoy Long Phyllis MeadCarol Marsh Sherry MetzSandra Marshall Nancy Miller

FEBRUARYIrene Mitchell Diane PavelchakJudy Mitchell Nancy PhelpsPaula Moran Heidi QuillStacey Morgano Kathy RidellCarol Newsome Janet RobertsGretel Norgeot Barbara RoessnerCarolyn Otis Pam Russell

MARCHDebby Saliba Stephanie GrayJudy Saulnier Diane SmithKaren Schwalm Anne StawiarskiPeggy Sheehan Elizabeth SuraciHelene Simon Mary Ellen SussmanAnn Sinclair Sally Taylor

APRILEdith Ward Ellen BernsteinMarty Williams Carolyn DranginisTina Williamson Karen HalliwellJanie Wilson Deborah KimballJoyce Wood Ella LeavittKay Nagle Martine AdmundsonBarbara Blanchard Janet Brink

MAY

Abby Summersgill Virginia BarkerHolly Trevisan Marcia BechtoldMarilyn Bornemeier Wendy BellevanceSally Dewing Connie BenderMary Ellen Bower Jeanne BerdikBeth Bradanini Janet

ChappelEunice Burley Susan

ChristieMEMBERSHIP – Sue McFarlane/Jan Crabtree

Please make the following changes to the Membership Roster in your yearbook:

Conrad-Cooke, Melinda: mailing address should be South Dennis 02660 (not East Dennis)Moran, Paula: new email address is paulamoran@comcast.net

TEACHER MINI-GRANTS “GO GREEN” – Mary Ellen Bower/Debby Saliba/Bev Singleton

The goal of our new Teacher Mini-Grant Program, “Go Green,” is to connect classroom learning with environmental issues. Teachers in the public schools on the Lower Cape can apply for grants of up to $500 each, or up to $1000 for teacher teams. Our committee found great enthusiasm when we presented the guidelines to the schools in November. We expect to receive many quality applications by the January 20, 2012 deadline. Please go to our club web site (nausetgadenclub.com) and click on the heading “Teacher Mini-Grant Program” to see all the details of this brand new and exciting community outreach program.

“HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS,” CELEBRATE THE SEASONS AT CROSBY MANSION – Heidi Quill

Celebrate the Seasons at Crosby Mansion 2012 is off to a good start. The Steering Committee has met and laid the groundwork for our work at Crosby Mansion.  In the next few months we will be completing the room assignments and filling out the boutique, hospitality and preview party committees.  Our theme this year is “Home for the Holidays” with Celebrate the Seasons at Crosby Mansion replacing Christmas at Crosby as the title for the event.   

Steering Committee:Chair: Heidi QuillBoutique: Sue Christie, Lynn Farber, Oonie Burley

Hospitality: Janet Chappel, Kim von ThadenPreview Party: Martine Amundson, Wendy Bellavance, Mary Beth Kelligrew, Anne StawiarskiPublicity: Mary Ellen Sussman, Janet Lascher, Holly TrevisanRoom Chairs: Kay Nagle, Kate McNultyScheduling: Sue McFarlane, Debby SalibaTickets: Phyllis Mead, Gretel Norgeot

”I heard it through the Grapevine…” Editor’s Note: As time and space permit, we will include items of personal interest in this column. If you have a special gardening story, recipe, poem, photograph, helpful hint, or special event in your life that you would like to share with our members, please mail it to me at 6 Viking Road, Orleans, MA 02653-4624, or email it to seafarms@gmail.com.

MODERN LIBRARY GARDENER SERIES, Michael Pollan, Series EditorSuggested reading from Jan Roberts

Famous for his book and TV presentation The Botany of Desire, this Editor has chosen the books with an eye to providing insight, information, revelation and humor. And more: From his introduction: “Gardening …engages us with the natural world, as actors rather than passive spectators.” “…I read to garden, and garden to read…”

By the time the introductions have been read, readers know that the authors are rather more than gardeners and that’s what makes the books unique. No pedantic instructions here. In our somewhat enforced leisure in winter, these books might just see you safely through from January through March.

The List:We Made A Garden, by Margery FishThe Gardener’s Year, by Karel Capek

The American Gardener, by William CobbettIn the Land of the Blue Poppies, by Frank Kingdon Ward

Green Thoughts, by Eleanor PerenyiMy Summer in a Garden, by Charles Dudley WarnerThe Gardener’s Bed-Book, by Richardson Wright*

Old Herbaceous, by Reginald Arkell

*Editor’s Note: I have read The Gardener’s Bed-Book many times and have given it to shut-in friends. It is a well-written, very folksy commentary on gardening, with an entry for every day of the year. If every book in the series is as much fun to read as this one, they will indeed “…see you safely through from January to March.”

Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed our Most Alluring Fruitby Barry Estabrook

A book review by Mary Ellen SussmanWe have all picked up a rock-hard shiny red tomato at the supermarket, knowing for a fact that it would have no flavor, but decided to buy it anyway. The need to have something resembling a tomato in a sandwich in January is sometimes too hard to resist. But after reading Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed our Most Alluring Fruit, by Barry Estabrook, Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC, 2011, you might think twice. In fact, I might never buy another Florida tomato again.

From October to June, virtually all of the fresh tomatoes sold in the U.S. come from Florida, and specifically from the area south of Naples, around Immokalee. This has everything to do with marketing and transportation

costs, not because Florida is ideal for growing tomatoes. In fact, it might be one of the worst places in the country since its sandy soil is devoid of nutrients and the wilting humidity causes rampant fungal diseases. Florida growers must pump the soil full of chemical fertilizers and blast the plants with more than 100 different pesticides and herbicides, including some of the most toxic known to agribusiness. The USDA has found residues of 35 pesticides on tomatoes destined for our supermarkets.

That’s reason enough to forego Florida tomatoes, but only part of the sad story. The book is largely devoted to documenting the appalling treatment of the migrant workers who labor in the fields around Immokalee. They suffer from eye and respiratory ailments and many of their children are born with horrible birth defects. Because they are paid on a “piece” basis for every bushel basket they gather, they are not paid for days when it rains, or when the fruit ripens too slowly, or when the trucks don’t arrive to take them to the fields. IN CASE YOU DIDN’T SEE IT ON THE FRONT PAGE…

The club is looking for someone to replace Bev Singleton as editor of the Grapevine and Yearbook. If you have editing and publishing skills, experience with graphic design, page layout, and mailing lists, maybe you’re the one for this job. The time commitment is two tor three days during the third week of August, November, February, and May for the Grapevine, and several days at the end of August for the Yearbook. Bev will walk you through the process as she prepares the spring issue of the Grapevine in February and again with the summer issue in May. If you’re interested in volunteering for this job, please contact Sharon Davis by email at sharon@.gardengatedesign.net , or by phone at 508-255-9820.

Winter

NAUSET GARDEN CLUBP.O. Box 103South Orleans, MA 02662