January 2024 garden clippings

President’s Corner

The holidays are over. I hope yours were joyous and bright. A New Year. New beginnings. New hopes and dreams.

Any day now our new website will be launched!! Ken, our marvelous webmaster, has been working for three months to create a website that functions, with heightened security so we are once again connected to the world and the world to us. We will be able to share all we do.

The Winter Solstice has passed. Although it can be gloomy this time of year with seemingly endless fog and rain, it is possible to catch hints that there are a few more minutes of daylight day by day.

While our gardens sleep we can make new plans. There must be room for another plant or two or three! Seed catalogs begin to arrive with news of new varietals of old favorites. Soon those of us with a sunny window can start our seeds indoors. Spring is only three months away!

Now is also the time we begin to seriously prepare for our annual fundraiser, the Garden Tour and Faire on June 9th. Linda and Colleen have been working diligently, laying the groundwork for the Tour. Thanks to Dorothea, we have five lovely gardens and a backup. The Faire reports we already have forty vendors signed up. Soon, the rest of us will be able to volunteer. There are many jobs to fill. Working together we will once again make the Tour and Faire a success.

We must not sweep away all the old in our enthusiasm for the new. We honor our traditions. Those of us who didn’t travel for the holidays gathered together for our annual holiday luncheon. Kay did a wonderful job making the arrangements. Harvest Fresh once again provided a delicious meal. The tables were festively decorated by our members. Everyone enjoyed the food, the company, and the conversation. In fact, everyone was having such a great time that we were surprised when noon arrived, and we had to leave.

We honored Sally Thompson with a lifetime membership. Sally has been a member of garden clubs for over thirty years. She is a past president of our club and has been active in the district and state organizations. When you see her, be sure to thank her for all she has done.

We also collected for YCAP, made donations to A Family Place, Juliette’s House, and Henderson House and gave winter clothes to the First Presbyterian Church for distribution at their Saturday suppers. We may not be able to do much outdoors this time of year, but we can still help our community.

So, we plan. Relax and enjoy the down time. The gloom will lift. Soon we will again be working at the various sites we maintain throughout McMinnville and we will be busy preparing for the 2024 Garden Tour and Garden Faire.

January Program: Winter Wellness

Jennifer Orona will present a program about simple and affordable herbal preparations for Winter Wellness. Jen will cover several suggestions for warding off colds and flu, dealing with insomnia and common ailments such as arthritis that can be harder to deal with during the cold rainy months.

Jen is a member of the Garden Club, current membership chair and daughter of long-time member Betty Balentine. She is retired from MD Anderson’s Center Research Center in Smithville, Texas, where she worked as a researcher managing a molecular biology laboratory for 23 years. During her career she has always been keenly interested in nutrition and holistic healing and considers herself to be an amateur herbal enthusiast.

Good Eats by Betty Ballentine

Crispy Rice Bowls With Fried Eggs

Makes 4 reg. or 2 large servings

For dressing combine:

• 2 ½ C cooked white or brown rice 1 t fresh grated ginger
• 11 oz package baby spinach
• 1 T lime juice
• 4 eggs
• 1 ripe avocado, sliced
• 1 C julienne carrot
• 4 radish, thin sliced
• 2 green onion, chopped
• sriracha or any pepper sauce to taste
• sesame oil and canola oil

Add a little bit of the combined oil in a non-stick skillet and cook rice until crispy. May season with a little salt and pepper. Divide into shallow serving bowls. Add about 1 t sesame oil and 1 T canola oil to pan. Add ginger and spinach until greens wilt; add lime juice and divide among bowls. Add a bit more canola oil and pan fry eggs until a bit crispy on the edges; add to each bowl. Top bowls with avocado, carrot, radish and onion. Serve with pepper sauce or whichever sauce you prefer.

Photo by Momo King

2024 Garden Tour: Sunday – June 9, 2024 (Linda H. & Colleen M.)

Mark your Calendars: Sunday – June 9, 2024

Serenity Garden Update

We are SO EXCITED!!! In mid-October we applied for a grant from the National Garden Club’s Plant American Community grant program for $1,054 to purchase plants for the Serenity Garden. Applications are judged by specific criteria then only two grants in each of the 50 states may be selected. Read more about it at: Plant America – Community Project Grants.

We recently received notification that our project was selected! This means we will be planting trees and shrubs this Spring after some of our cement pathway and benches are installed. Get your shovels ready! YEAHOOOOOOO!

YSWCD’s Native Plant Sale

Check out all the details at: YSWCD 2024 Native Plant Sale

Their online sales begin Jan. 1 – Don’t Miss Out!

Many of these native plants will sell out quickly, so don’t wait too long to order yours! Can’t beat their prices. Preorders will be available at the sale for pickup on March 1 or 2. You can also purchase plants on those dates at the Yamhill Valley Heritage Center on Durham Lane/Hwy 18.

Chamber of Commerce Greeters Meetings 8:00-9:00 am Fridays

We are looking for club members to represent the club by attending these 8 – 9 AM meetings. Many months, there is no one from Garden Club there! Bring $1 and a business card for the door prize drawings. Garden Club has business cards. It is important that we support our chamber and its members! Please check with Elaine.

• January 5 News Register: 1315 NE Miller Street. Park on back side of the building at opposite end of the lot from drive in entrance. Look for the signs. Visit: The News Register
• January 12 LOAM Kitchen: 306 Ferry Street, Dayton Visit: Loam Kitchen
• January 19 GLOW Studio: 1300 NE Adams Visit: GLOW Studio
• January 26 CodeDesign: 117 NE 5th Suite C Visit: CodeDesign

Beverly Mulkey

Long time, active member, Beverly Mulkey, moved to Bend a few years ago to live with her daughter. She passed away December 13 at the age of 95. Many members will remember her dedication and involvement with our club.

A memorial service will be held here in McMinnville in April. Hopefully some of us can attend.

Websites to Explore | Patty Sorensen

• National Garden Club
• Pacific Region National Garden Club
• Pioneer District Website
• Oregon State Garden Club
• Yamhill County Master Gardeners
• McMinnville Community Garden
• Serenity Garden
• Winter Design Tips
• January Garden Chores
• Winter Vegetable Production
• Monrovia Monrovia’s website is full of lots of information. Be sure to scroll down to the video and enjoy dreaming about Spring.
• Garden Design Gardeners’ New Year’s Resolutions
• Ecological Resolutions
• Jeff Stoven’s YouTube Video about “Working for Bailey Nurseries” He is the West Coast Propagation Manager of Bailey Nurseries. You will be amazed at the technologies that are being implemented (a robot planting teeny tiny lilacs) and more. The speed and accuracy of this robot is astonishing. You’ll learn about the various means of propagation (i.e. Tissue Culture) and the real surprise is the new hydrangea, Eclipse, that Bailey’s will soon have on the market.

Gardening With Pacific Northwest Native Plants

• When: Saturday, January 27 , 2024 10 a.m. – noon
• Where: PCC Rock Creek, Bldg. 4, Room 103 and WCMGA Education Garden PCC Rock Creek Campus, 17705 NW Springville Rd., Portland, OR 97229
• Cost: Free In Person Class – No registration needed.
• Contact: Harriet Ottaviano WCMGA Publicity Chair [email protected]

Attend the Washington County Master Gardener Association to learn about the native plants that thrive in the PNW garden. Learn how to naturescape in support of wildlife and pollinators and consider the possibilities the Backyard Habitat Certification Program offers through its customized yard assessment.

The class will be led by Robin Carpenter and Jack Shorr, OSU Extension MG Volunteers.
Robin was certified as a Master Gardener in 2022. Her interests lie in native plants and the guidance provided by the Backyard Habitat Certification Program. She also volunteers at the Portland Audubon Society and as a Master Recycler. Jack became a Master Gardener in 2006 and a Master Naturalist in 2012. He volunteers with the Backyard Habitat Certification Program, the Master Gardener Speakers’ Guild and the WCMGA Education Garden at the PCC Rock Creek Campus. For more info, visit: Washington County Master Gardeners | ORG

Quotable

From the National Garden Club’s end of year email

Be like a tree. Stay grounded. Connect with your roots. Turn over a new leaf. Bend before you break. Enjoy your unique natural beauty. keep growing.

Joanne Rapits