Business Meeting
May 24, 2016
President,
Mary Anne Kurtz, welcomed members and nine
visitors on a beautiful, warm evening.
·
May
14th Plant Sale – Mary Anne thanked members for their 700+ plant
donations and for working so well together. Despite being a cold, rainy day,
106 customers purchased plants and helped raise $1645 for LAGC. Unsold plants were donated to the North
Hills Art Center and the Wilkinsburg Community Garden. Mary Anne asked for
comments and suggestions regarding the plant sale. Members agreed that having coffee available should continue.
Other comments included: let member pricing plants to it without kibitzing; add
a third pricing team; keep the plant organization (sun, part sun, shade);
include plant tag information regarding sun exposure, color, size, and bloom
time; create new plant sale signs that are water proof. Claudia Hickly’s
sister-in-law made three new street signs and these were definite pluses as
were the flyers. Claudia gave kudos to Mary Anne and Ron Kurtz for all of their
work, sung and unsung, to make the sale successful.
·
LAGC
officers and committee chairs are needed for the 2017-19 term. Mary Anne sent a
signup sheet around. Another signup sheet requested taking a turn weeding the
Passavant Chapel Garden.
·
The
$150 donation paver for Ross Township’s Evergreen Community Garden saying
“Longvue Acres Garden Club established 1950” has been paid per Denny
Brown.
·
Picnic next month—See information below.
Bring program ideas.
·
Marilyn
Gurtner invited interested members to her home for bird-banding on July 5th.
Drop in anytime between 6-11 a.m.
·
Lynn
Betts brought a sample of a yellow fragrant iris from her garden. Let her know
if you’d like one for your garden and she’ll dig one up for you.
·
Thank
you to Heidi Sestrich and Anita Wagner for desserts and arrangement
respectively.
Program: “Weeds: Friend
or Foe?”
Colleen Fingal introduced speaker Andrea
Jackson, retired nurse, Penn State Master Gardener,
and avid weed and herb
collector. Andrea was an enthusiastic
and knowledgeable speaker. She told an entertaining and informative story about
each of the sixteen weeds she brought for her presentation. She also willingly
identified the weeds members and guests brought to the meeting. In one of her
stories, an esteemed herbalist asked a prospective student to bring him a plant
without a medicinal purpose. The student searched high and low and sadly
returned empty handed. However, he passed the test since all plants have a
medicinal purpose! Today most people are ignorant of the medicinal uses of
weeds and herbs, but not Andrea. She’s
always on the lookout for them as she walks or drives.
Take home points:
·
Learn
the Latin names as these give great identification clues.
·
Know
what parts of weeds can be used and when. E.g., jewel weed when chopped and put
on a rash soothes poison ivy; dock is good for stinging nettles.
·
Learn
to identify poison hemlock --- its juice is poisonous.
·
Many
weeds can be eaten, again know when, what part, how to prepare, and be aware
some people might be allergic.
·
Japanese
knotweed shoots can be eaten IN THE SPRING.
References:
Peterson
Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs by Foster and Duke
Wild
Edibles by
S. Boutenko
A City
Herbal by
M. Silverman
Weeds—Friend
or Foe by
S. Roth
Just Weeds
by P.
Jones
Pods—Wildflowers
and Weeds in Their Final Glory by J. Conrader.
Calendar
·
June 28 – Annual LAGC Picnic 6:30
p.m. at the home of Sharon Walston.
Bring a chair and covered dish, appetizer or dessert to share. Bring
suggestions for 2017 presentations.
July 26 –“Organic Pest Control” by Pat Morgan
Submitted by: Rose Mary Highman
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