September 2024 garden clippings

Hello everyone, Happy September!

It’s time to gather for the 2024/25 Garden Club year and …. It is also time to catch up on your club dues if you haven’t paid yet. Remember that the dues are $25 per person or $40 per couple.

Payment by the end of September is needed to guarantee that you are represented in the club directory. I will be accepting payment at the meeting but if you think that you might miss the meeting you can send your payment to the club PO box at:

McMinnville Garden Club, PO Box 386, McMinnville OR 97128.

If you are unsure whether you are up to date you can contact me HERE and I will let you know or get back to you with the answer.

Enjoy the last of summer and see you in September.

As of the October newsletter, Christine Pitts will be our editor. We are grateful that you are sharing your time and skills!

Please send your articles to her from her profile page HERE by the 25th of each month.

Thanks to everyone who has faithfully made our newsletter valuable to our members. I’ve enjoyed working with you to create your newsletter.

I now look forward to continuing to lead the Serenity Garden through the next phases of its growth!

A very special thank you to all of the 15 members who volunteered at the IPNC event on July 26th and 27th at Linfield College. We provided the setup and cleanup each day for the Grand Seminars. Everyone had a great time greeting visitors from around the world. And, some volunteers were able to stay in between the shifts to listen and enjoy the amazing speakers.

We received a donation in the amount of $500 for the Serenity Garden.

Attention all members! Please send any name or contact information updates to Betty Ballentine
Also send me a jpeg photo if you wish.

Please check with our Treasurer Charlene Drake to be sure that your 2024-2025 membership dues have been paid! You have until September 30th to pay dues or risk deletion from the directory.

Books will be made available at our November meeting; one per member. An excel spreadsheet will also be available for you to download and print at home by request.

Hope this summer everyone has been either taking their plastic items to Lisa Binner’s house or saving them to bring to the September 16th Garden Club meeting! We will be collecting the items as listed on the Zero Waste McMinnville website and get them ready for the October 5th collection event at the First Baptist Church.

We have heard from Zero Waste McMinnville that there are some changes – all good! They now have a processor that will take #6 items, so if you have been saving those, please bring them to the club meeting. The other good news is that they will also take Styrofoam blocks, meat trays, food and beverage containers and non-squishy packing peanuts! This is really good news!
More good news. There are three new Oregon laws that will help with recycling. SB545, effective July 1, 2024, allows food establishments to use a customer’s own containers to package prepared foods. Restaurants are also permitted to provide their own reusable containers for take-out, which are then returned by the customer, sanitized and reused again and again. We may also use our own containers to purchase bulk items at grocery stores and at deli counters.

Future good news! SB543 takes effect January 1, 2025, and will ban Styrofoam food ware, including #6 polystyrene used in a lot of food service products! The Recycling Modernization Act will begin on July 1, 2025, and will standardize recycling for the whole state. No matter where you live, everyone will be able to recycle exactly the same in all communities.

We will continue to keep you informed of any changes to the plastics we are helping Zero Waste McMinnville collect and recycle. In the meantime, THANK YOU for bringing in your plastic recycling – it is good for our community, state and the world.

Our August field trip to Monrovia’s Dayton location was a learning experience!

We enjoyed seeing some of their recent automation upgrades to a conveyor belt which automatically filled a plastic pot with dirt, punched the hole for the plant, after the plant was inserted by workers, it added bark mulch which workers then leveled off and added the tag, went on down the line and were lined up perfectly for the forklift to carry them directly to their designated spot in the fields. AMAZING!

We then toured their display area and drooled over the gorgeous plants. Attendees were able to order plants at a 20% discount. There’s going to be a lot of Monrovia grown plants in our members yards!

Here’s a twist: a bread dough recipe for your garden. It’s no-bake; it’s simple; and it’s perfect for fast-approaching Autumn. It will definitely help you to ready your garden for nearly slug free spring because now is the time when you’ll want to begin preparing your garden for winter.

Soon all those slithering garden slugs will come out to lay their eggs for next year. That makes Autumn the perfect time for making this Bread Dough Slug Slurry. Serve it up soon so you can interrupt the slug cycle to reduce Spring’s slug hatchlings.

Read the full article here.

The team from Mac Leadership through the Chamber of Commerce almost completed our gazebo before the storm arrived. It was a lot of work! Thanks to them and to Barb H., Lisa B. and Patty S. for working on the garden while the crew toiled over the construction. The SG team is looking for a team or leader to pursue PR opportunities. We need to promote the accomplishments and future goals of this incredible project. Please consider sharing some of your time and networking to help us complete our vision.

AND a HUGE thank you to Elsie C. and my grandson, Nathan, for helping keep a section of the newly planted garden watered where the irrigation has not been working for months. Bring on the rain….

Members enjoyed working at the Hopewell Hub on the pottery project they are donating to our garden. All the pieces are ready for the kiln and will be onsite later this Fall.

If you are headed to Salem or just going on a quick drive, drop by this artist haven and thank them while you browse. Enjoy all the handmade art pieces, coffee, tea, and a variety of foods. Check out their website for some FUN classes!

Hey Creatives! We are excited to announce this year’s series of garden-inspired crafting classes.
Workshops include glass mosaics, wet felted fiber, ceramics, wreath-making, to name a few. Held on the 1st Monday of the month at 10:00 AM, the sessions usually last 2 hours. Class fees range from $5-$12 to cover materials. To learn more, attend our monthly meetings where you’ll get to see the art samples firsthand and be able to sign up. You can also check our monthly newsletter and/or website for upcoming classes.

And now…
Let’s make Hypertufa Mushrooms!
Hypertufa is a mix of porous rock, moss, and bonded together with cement to make faux-stone pottery and Old-World garden decor.
When: Monday, October 7
Time: 10:00 AM

Where: Kirsten Browne’s house. Contact Kirsten for directions.
Cost: $10
*Required: A small bucket or medium-sized mixing bowl, 3 plastic bags, wear comfy clothes
* Optional- bring a mug or cup (iced tea provided) a treat to share, non-porous gloves (black Latex gloves provided).
Other stuff: This is an outside craft, rain cancels, wear comfy clothes, registration/sign-ups close 48 hours before class.
Finally, we understand last-minute issues can come up, please contact one of us by phone or text ASAP. This will help us if there’s a waitlist and/or we can better gauge supplies needed. Thank you and Happy Crafting!

Future Arts and Crafts dates- Mark your calendars Nov 4, Dec 9, Feb 3, Mar 3, Apr 7