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

September 2008

President's Message:

It’s hard to believe that summer is already behind us. And what an unusual summer it was. Hopefully, most of you were able to enjoy the fruits of your labors from the season. I am afraid to admit that I planted about 12 heirloom tomato plants and yielded only a few “still green” tomatoes. Unfortunately, stories from other people are the same. However, the trees and shrubs look beautiful and lush!

We hope that you enjoyed both “Gardening Tips” and the “Beautiful Yards” segments published in the Nugget this summer. The Nugget has already asked us to do both publications again next year. We are so pleased to tell you that our Gardening Tips articles are very popular. People are saying that they are informative, interesting with apersonal touch. Thank you again to all those great writers in our membership.

I hope that you have signed up for the upcoming inspiring workshops and meetings. Chef Daniel will be cooking with us in October, as well, join us for a Nature Walk with Nature’s Bounty on October 4th and next month for our Tuesday meeting on October 28th we have a full evening planned with an Autumn Potluck, Boutique D’amour teaching us how to decorate with Winter Containers and a Silent Auction.

Looking forward to fall colors, great workshops and another NBHS delicious potluck!!

Darlene Lecour

Next Meeting:
Tuesday, September 23rd 7:00 p.m.

Speakers : Audrey Morton and
Geri Openshaw
“Herbs in the Kitchen : how to harvest, and use all your herbs”

Our event schedule for 2008

[Sat. Sept. 20th – Painting flowers workshop with Helen Whitehead - postponed
due to unforeseen circumstances]

POTLUCK HAS BEEN CHANGED TO OCTOBER MEETING.
*Pressed flower workshop with Dorothy Antram has been cancelled*

September 23, 7:00 p.m. Herbs in the Kitchen with Audrey Morton and
Geri Openshaw

Sat. October 4, 1:30 pm - Gathering Nature’s Bounty (edible wild walk in Laurier Woods): with Lucy Emmott - $10
Meet at the entrance to Laurier Woods, Brule Street past Stradwick’s Carpeting
If really rainy, walk will be postponed; you will be called that morning.

October 28, 6 p.m. meeting – AUTUMN HARVEST POTLUCK - & How to Create Beautiful winter containers – Mark from Bouquet D’Amour
Also a Christmas ‘Treats from the Kitchen’ SILENT AUCTION

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

Silent Auction - Thank You

Thanks to all those who brought things for our June silent auction as well as those who purchased some items. We were overwhelmed by its success and raised $257 for Society projects. Thanks also to all those who brought the mouth-watering strawberry treats

Garden guide for mid September to mid October

Begin fall garden clean up. Clear garden debris and rake leaves as they fall.
Put all discarded annual plants, vegetable plants and leaves in the compost pile as long as they are not diseased.
Compost layers should be approximately 70% dry material - leaves etc. - to 30 % green material - fresh grass and plants, kitchen wastes etc. (no animal products - eggshells OK).
Lift all frost sensitive bulbs - e.g. gladiola, dahlia, begonia, canna, calla. Dry thoroughly, dust with fungicide, and store in a cool, dry basement.
Complete pruning of shrubs and vines.
You can cut back perennials or if you prefer leave them over the winter to help trap snow as protection against freezing and thawing cycles.
Place nets over ponds and water gardens to prevent the water from becoming polluted by falling leaves.
Plant garlic sets out in a well-drained location and mulch well after frost. They will get a head start for next year’s crop.
Harvest squash and pumpkin before the first frost. Leave 1” to 2” of stem attached to prevent rot.

Ella’s Picnic –July 22

Another beautiful day at the waterfront – Ella always makes the sun shine on her picnic. We had three tables full of members who joined us for lunch and Ella’s special picnic cake. A great day with gardening friends!

Wear your Name tags
We would love to try to get out members to wear their name tags to each meeting so we can all figure out who is who. When you grab your mug for the meeting, please remember you tag too!

PLEASE, PLEASE REMEMBER TO LUG YOUR MUG!!
To all our meetings
Help us protect the environment!!

North Bay Blooms

Congratulations to Carolyn Haist, Nancy Nubel, Grazyna Hurley, and Aurelia Khey for their award-winning gardens.
Thanks for beautifying our city for all to enjoy and for your inspiration.

Don’t forget about the North Bay Blooms Sunflower contest!
If you know a junior gardener who has planted sunflowers this year, remind them to enter the contest by contacting
Chris at 474-1536 or [email protected]

We say a sad Goodbye to our First Vice-president (and past secretary)
Louise Cicci who is moving to Alaska.
Thank you, Louise, for all your hard work for this Society, all with your trademark smile!

Ontario Horticultural Association Convention (OHA) notes (Aug. 21-24, 2008)
(paraphrased from report by Betty Foy)

This year’s convention in Brampton was attended by 486 registrants from Horticultural societies all over Ontario. Ken Fink was elected the new President, Kees Stryland is first vice-president and our own Vickie Wiemer is the new second vice-president. Congratulations Vickie!

Alex McIntosh, who has looked after the “In Memoriam” book (donations made in memoriam go to tree planting all over the province) for 13 years has stepped down.
Thank you, Alex.

This convention was blessed with speakers on a great variety of subjects, from Fabulous Foliage and Green Roof Gardens to European Hand Tied Bouquets.

The OHA has adopted its support in the promotion of rain barrels to help conserve water throughout the province. It has produced a booklet outlining the benefits of using a barrel, reducing rainwater run-off and reducing the load on municipal water systems.
Go to this part of the OHA website to your copy of the booklet or you can pick one up at our next meeting!
http://www.gardenontario.org/docs/Rain_Barrel.pdf

"In the garden, Autumn is, indeed the crowning glory of the year, bringing us the fruition of months of thought and care and toil.
And at no season, safe perhaps in Daffodil time, do we get such superb colour effects as from August to November."
- Rose G. Kingsley, The Autumn Garden, 1905

Living Green ideas

Herbs For Your Kitchen Garden
By Audrey Morton

Do you enjoy a good meal; yes, don’t we all. I’m talking about delicious food without additives or too much salt. It is possible with your own home grown herbs. Garden centres carry a wide variety of seedlings that you can transplant into containers or directly into your garden. The ones near the kitchen door are the ones you are more likely to use regularly. Choose the ones you know you will use and the ones you find have a nice aroma.

Growing your herbs from seed is so easy and rewarding, especially if you need a large quantity or want to try many varieties. Begin with a good seed starting mix. ProMix is a brand I have used successfully. Fill trays or pots right to the rim making sure the mix is quite firm otherwise it will sink after seeding and watering. The planting depth of seeds varies. Large seeds deeper, smaller seeds barely covered and very fine seed simply sprinkled on the surface. Check your seed packets for more complete instructions. Water carefully and gently with lukewarm water and label each pot or row in your trays. They will not all germinate at the same time. Put in a sunny window or under grow lights. This does not have to be fancy. A work bench with a fluorescent fixture fitted with a fluorescent Gro-light will do nicely, especially if you raise your plants so they are very close to the light. Turn plants regularly so they are not leaning to the light. Only one application of a dilute mixture of fish emulsion or seaweed is required after the seedlings have developed several small leaves. A plant mister containing lukewarm water is helpful for watering so as not to flood away the seeds or tiny seedlings.

Basil, chervil and cilantro benefit from being sown in peat pots, as they don’t transplant well. Water thoroughly before putting out in the garden then break off the rim of the pot to prevent the rim from wicking the moisture from the plants in the pots. Then plant peat pot and all in the garden or outdoor containers. Do not use peat pellets as they constrict roots and prevent plants from growing properly. These herbs are particularly tender so do not put them out until weather has settled. The last frosty weather usually occurs the first or second week of June. Even a cool breeze will damage them until they have toughened up. …continued…
In the fall, when temperatures turn cooler, it is best to start new plants indoors over the winter; the herbs dug up from the garden do not usually acclimatize well.
Use herbs daily for good health and great flavour!

Bringing in your houseplants

Start moving them in gradually when temperature reaches 50F,. Place plants near an open window inside so change in light and humidity is not too dramatic.
Spray each plant with soap and water (40 parts water 1 part soap) to remove bugs and soil and spray with. Rinse with water after 10 mins. Let dry outside for the day before bringing in.
To keep fungus gnats under control, scratch up surface of the soil with a fork after each watering.

Is it time to repot?
The answer is yes if:
Roots are coming out of the drainage holes
Water runs out the bottom of the pot rather than be absorbed by soil
Soil dries out very quickly
White crust forms on soil surface and at drainage hole
When plant is pulled up out of pot, it is all roots, very little soil

Disappointed with your squashes this year - all flowers, few fruit?
Next year try hand-pollinating
Take paint brush and rub on (Q-tip shaped) anthers of male flowers. Rub pollen coated brush on (bulbous slightly sticky) stigma of female flower. Pollen from 1 male can pollinate 3 female flowers.
You know you are successful when female flower falls off and immature fruit begins to grow.

For October’s meeting (October 28th)
An Autumn potluck and Silent Auction

Treat yourself and your friends to a wonderful evening of Homemade delicacies and specialty items!

Auction Suggestions:

Christmas Cakes Photography
Christmas Baking Seasonal Preserves
Dried Floral Arrangements Stained Glass
Handmade Jewelry Christmas Gift Items
Gift Certificates Embroidery – Needlepoint
Wood or metal crafts Cheesecakes
Wine Basket Fancy Baked Goods
Homemade Wind Chimes Christmas Gift Items
Spring bulbs

How Do I participate in a Silent Auction?
Members bring an “auction item(s)” to place on the table.
Non-members bring an auction item or no item and participate for $5.
(Remember, you can put the $5 towards your new membership!)

For further auction information call Darlene or Maureen at 752-3728 or 472-6086

Website of the month
www.cityofnorthbay.ca/library

Your local library has lots of books, magazines, online journals,
as well as DVDs and videos on all aspects of gardening –
all free to borrow to North Bay residents!
Show ID with your North Bay address to get your card
(out-of-town residents must pay $40 for their card)
Don’t throw out those old gardening magazines and books-
Bring them into the library to be either added to the collection
or sold in our book sale!
For more information, call 474-4830.

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

TREASURER'S REPORT - August 31st, 2008
Submitted by Ruth Wright, Treasurer

Investment Savings $3,630.78

Bank Statement as of May 31/08 $3,210.60
Add Deposits 597.03
Subtract Expenditures 1,425.63
Subtract Last Month's Outstanding Cheques 653.62
Add this Month's Outstanding Cheques 25.00
TOTAL CURRENT ACCOUNT $1,753.38

EXPENDITURES

Horticultural meetings $25.00
Civic beautification 1,044.27
OHA 15.00
Flower show 10.17
Green thumb 80.09
Plant sale 107.34
Gifts and social 5.67
Donations 52.05
Bank charges 14.85
Miscellaneous (T-shirts) 71.19
TOTAL EXPENDITURES $1,425.63

RECEIPTS

Memberships $ 40.00
Plant Sale 5.00
Workshop 10.00
T-shirts 90.00
Youth Program 95.00
Silent auction 357.03
TOTALRECEIPTS $ 597.03

General Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Held at Christ Church, 890 Vimy St.

President Darlene Lecour called the meeting to order at 7:05. 48 members were in attendance. Darlene welcomed the membership to our Silent Auction meeting.

Business
Minutes of the May 22, 2008 General Meeting Minutes as presented in The Green Thumb, were MOVED to be adopted by Helen Bannerman.
Darlene asked for a motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report as printed in The Green Thumb. MOTIONED by Betty Foy. SECONDED by Debbie Caldwell.
Announcements
North Bay Blooms has been created to promote the beautification of North Bay. This committee has asked our Society for volunteers to help judge some local gardens. The commitment will take about 2 hours and will be done in pairs, during the first two week in July. Judging guidelines will be given to each pair and volunteers will visit about 10 gardens in an area to choose their favourites. Five names were submitted for volunteer judges. Geri asked members to nominate yards for The Front Yard Garden Contest.
Congratulations to Vicki Weimer winning the most prestigious District Service Award.
Orders can be made for HS Shirts. See Kathy.
NBHS Greeting cards will be on sale in September (6 cards for $10).
Committee Reports
Workshop Update – Painting Plein Air with Carol Romaine on Sat, Sept 6. Chef Daniel in September date TBA.
Flower Show - The Flower Show scheduled for Saturday, June 21 at Northgate Square from 10:00am – 2:00pm has been cancelled due to Northgate Square booking oversight. The Flower Show Booklet has been updated and is available to the membership this year.
Publicity Report - We have 123 members to date.
Youth Report - Finishing 2nd session for the summer. Another success.

Adjournment
MOTION to adjourn by Debbie Emerson. SECONDED by Louise Cicci. CARRIED.
Guest Speaker: Jim Aldridge on “Bees”
We held our 1st Annual Silent Auction was raised approximately $300.00 for the Society.
The next general meeting will be on Tuesday, Sept 23, 2008.