Business Meeting
July
26, 2016
President,
Mary Anne Kurtz, welcomed members and visitors on a beautiful summer
evening.
·
Members
have a wide variety of blooms in their gardens plus a few weeds.
·
On
a recent hike at Moraine State Park, Dianne Machesney saw an endangered native
orchid, spotted coralroot/Corallorhiza maculata. At Ohiopyle she saw a water
willow, Justica americana.
·
Program
updates. August field trip to Eden Hall starts
at 7 p.m. See information below.
Presentations for September and October have been exchanged due to
scheduling conflict for one of the speakers. Please make the change in your
Handbook.
·
Top
two spots on the officer list for next year are blank. Mary Anne said being
president is not that difficult and is a great learning opportunity. A brief
discussion followed regarding the pros and cons of having a public website; No
decision made. Esther Nagy, LAGC blogger, will not be moving. Marlow Madeoy is
in charge of the Handbook for next year. Dues are due in September.
·
Lynn
Betts mentioned that Larry Grundler has a full yard of day lilies in bloom and
encouraged everyone to visit as soon as possible. Many club members have
purchased Larry’s lilies and enjoy visiting his Summerhill Farm. Lynn suggested
that we schedule a field trip there in April 2017.
·
Marilyn
Gurtner said the July 5th bird banding at her home went well and
shared a photo of her grandson holding a woodpecker before release. Bird
banding at the Gurtners is an annual event held the first Tuesday after the
July 4th holiday. Marilyn also shared photos of her new method for
deer proofing her tomatoes; grow them in high, hanging pots!
·
Evan
Fingal’s father died July 25th; Colleen Fingal thanked members for
the cards she received after her mother’s passing.
·
Mary
Anne thanked Sharon Walston for the lovely picnic at her home and thanked Peggy
Elizeus and Rose Mary Highman for arrangement and dessert respectively.
Program: “Organic Pest
Control”
Colleen Fingal
introduced speaker Pat Morgan, Penn State Master Gardener, Bidwell
horticultural and pest management graduate, avid gardener, fig tree grower, and
church organist. Pat was an
enthusiastic and knowledgeable speaker who urged us to think sustainable and
keep on learning.
Take home points:
·
A
pest is any living organism whether bacteria, fungi, mammal, bird or weed.
·
Integrated
Pest Management (IPM) means prevention and observation and sustainable
procedures. Use three steps:
o Outwit—know plant and
pest, then monitor.
o Outlast—know your
predators and wait two weeks for them to show up.
o Outplay—know your
tolerance and resources. Pick appropriate control measures. Sanitize tools, use
a physical barrier, plant the right plant in right location, use companion
planting, and intercrop.
·
Enhance
soil with compost, use mulches to prevent heat or drought stress, water in a
timely manner, use natives where possible.
·
Biological
controls such as BT, milky spore, diatomaceous earth, capsicum, etc., are
available. READ and FOLLOW the label noting its effectiveness.
References:
Good Bug
Bad Bug by
J. Walliser, Good Weed Bad Weed by
N. Gift, Attracting Beneficial Bugs to
Your Garden by J. Walliser, What’s
Wrong with My Plant by D. Deardorff,
Rodale’s Vegetable Gardening and
Problem Solving, Mac’s Field Guide
Bad Garden Bugs of the Northeast, and Rodale’s Organic Gardening Handbook of Natural Pest and Disease Control.
Calendar
·
August 23 – Tour of the Eden Hall Campus Farm and Greenhouse of Chatham University,
6035 Ridge Road, Gibsonia, PA 15044. The focus there is on sustainable living,
conservation, green development, energy, and water management. Colleen will
email tour information in the next few weeks.
She will need to know if you will be carpooling from the church at 6:15 p.m. or meeting at the farm before 7
p.m.
·
September 27 – “The Truth about Ferns: Sex, Lies, Betrayal, Bad Attitude and a Gone
Gay Generation” by Len Lehman.
·
September 27 – Pay
membership dues, $15.00 per person
·
October 25 – “Why Don’t My Hydrangeas Bloom?” by Sandy Csikari.
