“Fostering the love of Gardening and the Beautification of our City.”

October 2008

President's Message:

It’s hard to believe that our year is quickly coming to an end as we have only two meetings left for this year. But, we are already looking forward to next year as great ideas for programs and events are well underway.

As our committee works to collect nominations for new executive members for next year, I would invite you to really consider the different positions that are available and ways that you could use your talents to help continue the success of this society. The success of each and every segment of this organization depends on the effort and the diversified creativity of our members. It takes many hands and minds to continue the good work that has made this society what it is today.

Please let me remind you that our October meeting will be one of our finest. First, there’s our Autumn Harvest Potluck with fine food as everyone knows our potlucks are the best, a fine demonstration on creating beautiful containers from one of the talented people at Boutique D’amour and then our last silent auction for this year with some fine Christmas baking and other great items for you to purchase in time for Christmas.

It’s not just about flowers!!

Darlene Lecour
President

Next meeting:
Tuesday, October 28th

6 p.m. HARVEST POTLUCK
Silent Auction begins

7:00 General Meeting

This month’s speaker

Mark from Bouquet D’Amour
How to Create Beautiful Winter Outdoor Pots

November 25, 7 pm – Annual general meeting
Waterfront Update with Rod Johnston

Help us protect the environment!!
Please bring your own plate, cutlery, and cup.

Membership Renewal Form for 2009
Memberships expire each October.
Please fill out and bring to general meeting with your payment, or mail to:
North Bay Horticultural Society, PO Box 1482, North Bay, ON P1B 8K6

Single Membership…………$10.00 (please circle desired membership)
Family Membership…………$15.00
Child’s membership ………..$ 5.00

Name………………………………..............................................................

Address………………………………..........................................................

Postal code ………………….. Phone number………………………………..
If you would like your Green Thumb emailed, please include your email address
………………………………………………………………………

Your Horticultural Society
is hosting a Silent Auction
Treat yourself and your friends to a wonderful evening of
handmade specialty items
just in time for the holiday season!
Auction Suggestions:
Baked goods – cookies, muffins, breads, pies Christmas cake
Preserves Dried Floral Arrangement
Gardening Tools Handmade Jewelry
Gift Certificates Embroidery – Needle
Wood or metal crafts Christmas decorations
Wine Basket
How Do I participate in a Silent Auction?
Members bring an “auction item(s)” to place on the table.
Bring a friend.
Non-members bring an auction item or no item and participate for $5.
(Remember, you can put the $5 towards your new membership!)

Funds raised tonight help support the beautification of our city
as well as our educational programs.
For further auction information call Darlene at 752-3728

Mid October to Mid November
Complete fall garden clean up.
Continue mowing lawn until grass stops growing; drop blade one setting for last mowing.
Fertilize deciduous trees and shrubs after leaves have fallen; applied now, it is taken up by the roots and stored for next spring.
Make notes about garden successes and disasters.
Clean and oil garden tools and power tools before storing. Winterize gas mowers.
Wrap burlap or plastic mesh around evergreens and thoroughly water evergreens before ground freezes.
Shut off outdoor faucets to prevent pipes from freezing. Disconnect garden hoses, drain and store in a frost free location.
Mulch roses, strawberries, bulbs and perennials.
Plant amaryllis, paperwhites, crocus, daffodils and tulips to force indoors for winter blooms.
Make Christmas wreaths and gifts with dried flowers, cones and branches.

Bulb planting Tip:

Mix 2 Tbsp. Dettol in 1 gallon of water. Dip all your fall bulbs in this solution, then plant them. This solution will deter the squirrels from digging up your bulbs!

Herbal Butters Recipes from Audrey and Geri

Herbal butters are colourful and fragrant spreads for warm biscuits, vegetables, fish, poultry or meat. Add a dab to rice or pasta or use them to baste grilled or broiled fish. Most herb butter recipes call for sweet (unsalted) butter. To reduce cholesterol, use margarine instead. Let it soften at room temperature, then beat in the herbs and other seasonings by hand or electric mixer. You could also use margarine or cream cheese. Experiment!
For best flavour, chill for at least 3 hours before serving. Pack flavoured butter into small mason jars, or crocks, or form into a roll using plastic wrap and twist ends to seal. Store herb butters (which are stored in plastic wrap) in ziplock bags for up to one month in fridge or keep frozen up to three months.
General recipe: Two tablespoons of fresh herbs (or 1½ teaspoons dried) herbs to ½ cup of unsalted butter. Fresh herbs are the preferred choice.
Basil and Sundried-tomato butter : 1/2 c. butter, 1 Tbsp. finely chopped parsley,
2 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh basil, 1 Tbsp. minced and hydrated sun-dried tomatoes, 2 tsp. minced shallots, 1 small clove of garlic. Great on bread, pasta, green beans and zucchini.
Roasted red pepper/marjoram butter : ½ c. butter, 2 Tbsp. minced roasted red peppers, 1 Tbsp. finely chopped marjoram, 1 minced small clove garlic. Delicious on top of any vegetable or pasta.
Fines herbes butter : ½ c. softened butter, 1 Tbsp. each of finely chopped chervil, chives, parsley & tarragon, 1 Tbsp. finely chopped garlic or shallot. Add to fish, chicken, eggs, veggies or potatoes.
Tarragon/Dijon butter : ½ c. softened butter, 1 Tbsp. finely chopped tarragon, 1 Tbsp. finely chopped parsley, 1 clove garlic, 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice, 1 tsp. Dijon mustard. Use on grilled steak, fish, mushrooms and other veggies.
Summer savory (or sage) butter : ½ c. softened butter, 1 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh parsley, 2 Tbsp. finely chopped summer savory or sage, 2 Tsp. finely chopped shallots or garlic, 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice. Use with pork, chicken, turkey, veal, corn, and other veggies.
Rosemary butter : ½ c. softened butter, 1Tbsp. finely chopped parsley, 1 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh rosemary, 2 tsp. grated orange or lemon zest, ½ tsp. black pepper. Add zing to your lamb, beef, chicken, squash, or mushrooms.
Butter with a zip : dried tomatoes, fresh basil, parsley, ½ minced garlic clove, dash of Worcestershire sauce and 1/2 c. butter .
Parsley butter : ½ c. butter, 2 Tbsp. fresh parsley, 2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice, a clove of garlic and a pinch of black pepper – great with plain rice, pasta
Scarborough Fair herbal butter : 1 tsp. each fresh parsley, rosemary, thyme, and ½ tsp. sage, and ½ clove minced garlic and 1/2c. butter. Great added before roasting to meats, fish or freshly cooked vegetables.
Tarragon/Dijon butter : ½ lb. butter, 1 Tbsp. fresh minced tarragon, 1 Tbsp. fresh minced parsley, 1 crush clove of garlic, 1 tsp. Dijon mustard, 1 tsp. lemon juice, and a dash of pepper – great on chicken, fish, vegetables (tastes like béarnaise sauce).
Chive flower butter : ½ c. butter, 2 Tbsp. chive flower florets, 1 Tbsp. finely chopped parsley (optional)
Create your own blend : Use herbs singly or try them in combination, i.e. mint and dill, dill and garlic, chives and lovage, marjoram and garlic.

Thinking about keeping some plants growing indoors this year,
but don’t have good light?

The Horticultural Society has a 3 tier light stand with fluorescent bulbs
ready to help you out!
If you are interested in using it (at no charge), please call Geri at 476-1894.

Want some timely gardening tips?
Find out what is happening across the province in gardening?

Read Ontario Horticultural Association’s
Quarterly newsletter Trillium
Is available online at www.gardenontario.org

The Conservation and Environment Committee of the Association has adopted, as its 2008 project, the revival of rain barrels.
Roll Out The Barrel romances the idea of bringing back the rain barrel. The booklet outlines the benefits of using a rain barrel. Two of the benefits included are reducing rainwater run-off and reducing the load on municipal water systems. Anecdotal articles by several rain barrel users from across the province will convince the most reticent of gardeners that using a rain barrel is both easy and a good thing to do.
The rain barrel has come into its own.
http://www.gardenontario.org/docs/Rain_Barrel.pdf

TREASURER'S REPORT - September 30th, 2008
By Ruth Wright

Investment Savings $3,630.78

Bank statement as of Aug 31/08 $1,753.38
Add deposits 640.00
Subtract Expenditures 806.94
Subtract last months outstanding cheques 25.00
Add this month's outstanding cheques 25.00
TOTAL CURRENT ACCOUNT $1,586.44

EXPENDITURES

Civic beautification $267.67
OHA 200.00
Green thumb 102.74
General office 127.05
Gifts and social 13.53
Bank Charges 4.95
Travel expense 91.00
TOTAL EXPENDITURES $ 806.94

RECEIPTS

Memberships $235.00
Workshops 30.00
Honorarium and Donations 375.00
TOTAL RECEIPTS $ 640.00

Need to contact us with comments, questions or suggestions?
North Bay Horticultural Society
P.O. Box 1482, North Bay, ON P1B 8K6
Website : Go to www.gardenontario.org and follow the links!
Email : [email protected]

President : Darlene Lecour
First Vice-president : Louise Cicci
Secretary : Betty Foy
Treasurer : Ruth Wright
Civic Beautification : Ruby McLeod
Plant Sale : Pat Madill
Flower Show : June Charette
Youth : Janet Vos
Membership : Maureen Ranger
Social :Judy Watling
Telephone Committee : Audrey Morton
Green Thumb : Geri Openshaw
Assistant directors : Lorne Cutts, Daphne Andrews, Vickie Wiemer, Sue Finnis

Our meetings are always the 4th Tuesday of the month
(except January, July, August and December)
At Christ Church Anglican
890 Vimy Street

The North Bay Horticultural Society
General Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, Sept 23, 2008
Held at Christ Church, 890 Vimy St.

Geri Openshaw chaired the meeting tonight sitting in for Darlene Lecour and called the meeting to order at 7:05. 39 members were in attendance and Geri welcomed everyone.

Business
Minutes of the June 24, 2008 General Meeting Minutes as presented in The Green Thumb, were moved to be adopted by Helen Bannerman and 2nd by Debbie Caldwell. Cd.
The Treasurer’s Report was moved to be adopted by Ruth Wright and 2nd by Debbie Clark. Cd.
Congratulations to Vickie Wiemer for becoming the 2nd VP of the OHA at the Convention in Brampton on August 21, 22 and 23.
Louise Cicci, our past secretary, and her husband, Dino, will be moving to Anchorage Alaska as a posting with the Military. We wish her a great gardening season when there will be 6 months of daylight.
Our North Bay Nugget Supplement was not very good but it was still better than Sudbury’s segment.

Nominating Committee – Maureen Ranger is looking for a committee of members to phone the membership for nominations.
Phone Committee - needs one more person. Thank you very much to Rupert Wiemer for volunteering.
Program - There will be a walk in Laurier Woods with Lucy Emmot talking about edibles in the woods, entrance to Laurier Woods by Stradwicks on Brule Street on Saturday October 4 at 1:30. Sign up with Maureen. $10.00.
October 24 will be the Autumn Pot Luck and Silent Auction. This auction will be a Bake Auction and Mark Boutique D’Amour will be our guest.
On Nov 25, Rod Johnson will update us on the waterfront.

Meeting interrupted by questions for Master Gardener – Adrian van der Bijl
- Prune potentilla anytime, they bloom all summer, and are hard to do any damage.
- Prune a burning bush in the spring
- At the first signs of mildew on helianthus, delphinium, lilacs, phlox and bee balm, mix 1 Tbsp baking soda and 1 tsp Murphy Soap and spray all leaves on top and underneath because mildew is an airborne fungus, especially in wet weather and this summer we’ve had so much rain.
- Prune Anna Bell hydrangea every 2nd year and Pee Gee hydrangea every year.
- apply lime on moss, but rake it up a bit first.

Back to the Meeting
Carol Ann Gingras is moving to Whitehorse in the Yukon. She wishes to thank everyone, especially Ruby McLeod for being so welcoming.
Pat Madill needs everyone’s volunteer hours
In an effort to save your plants for the spring plant sale, just pot up your plants and bury them in the ground to the top of the pots and in the spring when the ground thaws the pots are ready for the plant sale.

Break at 7:40 – with our Guest Speakers
For our coffee break, guest speakers Audrey Morton and Geri Openshaw provided goodies, such as herbal butters, cheddar and sun-dried tomato bread, marinated mushrooms with herbs, and lemon balm cookies. Their presentation also included information and hand outs on how to grow herbs and recipes.

Adjournment
MOTION to adjourn by Geri at 8:35 - CARRIED.
The next general meeting will be on Tuesday, Oct 23, 2008.

A Vagabond Song by Bliss Carman

There is something in the autumn that is native to my blood --
Touch of manner, hint of mood;
And my heart is like a rhyme,
With the yellow and the purple and the crimson keeping time.

The scarlet of the maples can shake me like a cry
Of bugles going by.
And my lonely spirit thrills
To see the frosty asters like a smoke upon the hills.

There is something in October sets the gypsy blood astir;
We must rise and follow her,
When from every hill of flame
She calls and calls each vagabond by name.