This Month's News...
2022-23 Garden Club Board:
- Elaine Pollak – President
- Kay Fitkin – Vice President
- Charlene Drake – Treasurer
- Dian Berg – Secretary
Dates to Remember 2023-24
- October 2: Arts & Crafts. Pumpkin Arrangements. See paragraph below for details.
- October 3: Serenity Garden Daffodil Planting 9:30 am
- October 3: Deadline to register for the District Luncheon on the 19 . See info below.
- October 16 Club Meeting Topic: Help us grow The Plastic Project, Jeri White Linda Werner
- October 19: District Luncheon, North Plains. Reservations required.
- November 6: Arts & Crafts 10 AM Bug Hotels See below for details.
- November 20 Club Meeting – Speaker: Heather Miller, Farmers Market
- December 18 Club Meeting
President’s Corner
Children are back in school. There are fewer hours of daylight. The nights are colder. Sometimes it tries to rain. Leaves are changing color and floating to the ground. The smell of pumpkin spice is in the air. It must be Fall.
Fall is one of my favorite four seasons. It is a great time to plant, transplant, and trim and tidy before we tuck our gardens in for their winter slumber.
The Club will be busy outside of their gardens in October We are decorating pumpkins on the 2nd as our craft project. We are planting 470 daffodils at the Serenity Garden on the 3rd. We are participating in the Downtown Association’s scarecrow contest. Our scarecrow will be attached to a lamppost after October 9th. Be sure to vote for our entry so we can win a prize. Voting is online at the McMinnville Downtown Association’s website.
We made great strides at the September meeting. We will have a whole new website at the beginning of the year that will be easier to navigate and will have many many more capabilities. Our current website will be maintained until the new one is ready.
Eleven new members joined! Not only did they join but they brought a lot of positive energy and volunteered to fill many of the empty committee chairs.
The Tour’s theme will be “Bursting into Blooms”. We have five gorgeous gardens and a beautiful backup garden just in case. The artwork for the poster is being developed. With the New Year and the new website, we will roll up our sleeves and produce the best (depending on
the weather) Tour and Faire ever!
Enjoy these beautiful Fall days. See you at the October meeting. Our speaker will be Geri White from Zero Waste.
Kay F. installed as VP.
October Speaker
For our first program, Geri White, co-founder with Linda Werner, of the Plastic Project will present an entertaining and inspirational “show and tell” program. Founded in 2021, the Plastic Project began collecting those hard-to-recycle plastics that can’t go in curbside bins. It soon became apparent that the mission needed to be expanded to not only recycle more and better but to educate the community to slow the flow of plastic waste in our county. Sharing ideas with many groups encourages more awareness and involvement to become better stewards of our beautiful planet.
We are looking forward to seeing you on October 16.
Good Eats by Betty Ballentine
Pumpkin Maple Muffins
Makes a dozen or 1 loaf
Ingredients:
- ¾ C buttermilk Soak oats in buttermilk in a small bowl for 15
- ½ C quick oats
In a mixing bowl whisk together and then add the soaked oats.
- 1 C canned pumpkin
- ½ C good maple syrup
- 1/3 C canola oil
- ¼ C dark brown sugar
- 1 t vanilla
- 2 eggs
Combine dry ingredients in another bowl, then add to wet mixture.
- 1 ¼ C white whole wheat flour
- 1 T pumpkin pie spice 1 t baking powder
- ½ t salt
- ¼ t baking soda
Spray muffin tin. Pour batter into tin. Top with some toasted pumpkin seeds or turbinado sugar for crunch. Bake at 375 degrees for about 22 minutes. You can make this into a 9×5 loaf of bread; bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.
Photo by Sebastien Lapointe on Unsplash
2024 Garden Tour: Sunday – June 9, 2024 (Mark your Calendars)
Theme: Bursting into Blooms
Five amazing, unique and beautiful gardens have been selected for the 2024 Garden Tour. In addition, the Serenity Garden will be showcased to share all the great progress.
A HUGE THANKS to Dorothea Lee for leading the Garden Selection team. And, for all her time, dedication, expertise and enthusiasm in this year’s selection o f gardens.
The wonderful Art Design has been selected and we are developing the contents for the PR (posters, bookmarks, etc.).
More information will be forthcoming for the 2024 Garden Tour and Faire volunteer opportunities.
Serenity Garden Update
Hope to see a LOT of members onsite on Oct. 3 at 9:30 to help plant our 470 Daffodil bulbs. Wear your aprons, bring tools…shovels, rakes, brooms, bulb planters…, water and laughter!
Chamber of Commerce Greeters Meetings 8:00-9:00 am Fridays
We are looking for club members to represent the club by attending these meetings. Bring $1 and a business card for the door prize drawings. Please check with Elaine
- October 6: Real Deals on Home Décor 125 NE Hwy 99W
- October 13: Henderson House 610 SE 1st Street
- October 21: Pacific NW Tire 920 NE 99 W
- October 28: First Federal 118 NE Third Street
October 2 Arts & Crafts – Kirsten Browne/Colleen Moxley
Hello! Our October craft project will be making Autumn Succulent Pumpkin arrangements. They are beautiful, long-lasting, and when pumpkin season is over consider planting your pumpkin into your succulent garden!
A signup sheet will be at the September 18th meeting or call Kirsten (619)944-0409 to be added the list.
Materials supplied: succulents, moss, seeds, pods, dried buds, coffee, tea
When: Monday, October 2 Time: 10:00-12:00ish
Where: Colleen’s place, 15548 NW Orchard View Road Cost: $5
Bring: a pumpkin and mug
* Optional: Treats to share and/or additional seasonal embellishments for your arrangement or to share.
November 6 Arts & Crafts – Kirsten Browne/Colleen Moxley
Hello Creatives,
Our gardens are home to a huge range of living creatures. It’s estimated that the average garden contains 2000 insect species!
Insects play a very important role in the garden. They eat pests, pollinate p lants, contribute to the ecosystem and attract other wildlife like birds.
But their numbers are dropping because of a lack of habitat. So it’s up to us gardeners to help them out.
That’s why our November craft will be… Bug Hotels!
When: Monday, November 6
Where: Colleen’s place Time 10:00-12ish
Cost: $5
A sign-up sheet will be at our October 16 meeting or text Kirsten and she’ll add your name to the list: (619) 944-0409
Supplied Materials: The “house”, foraged items, twine, some bamboo, wood burning tools. *Start collecting paper towel rolls, aluminum cans, bamboo stakes, and anything you’d like to add to give your hotel a personal touch.
Refreshments: Bring a mug- coffee and tea will be provided and bring a treat to share (optional).
Location: Colleen Moxley 15548 NW Orchard View Rd, McMinnville
Too Much Zucchini? | Wendy
With all of the apples, plums and vegetables this time of year, Think YCAP. I remembered something I saw on “Growing a Greener World” on PBS. is a website where food banks and people with excess produce connect with each other. YCAP is a participant.
Five Oaks Garden Club
