January 2018 Meeing Notes

January 23, 2018
Attendance: 22 members, 2 guests

Claudia Hickly, LAGC President, welcomed members and guests to our garden club’s 68th year. She thanked officers, committee chairs, and Passavant Garden volunteers for their work in 2017 and she looked forward to 2018.

• Handbook – The handbooks will be distributed at February’s meeting.
• Programs – The speakers are nearly complete per Jenna Noker.
• Plant Sale -- New plant sale signs were approved last year and have been ordered; the club banner was refurbished. Mary Ann Kurtz reminded club members that we are in need of mini blinds which we use as our plant tags. Please give them to Mary Ann. 
• Member news -- Dianne Machesney’s “New Varieties of Indoor Plants” was published in Post-Gazette, Sunday, January 14th.
• Treasurer’s report – Denny Brown presented 2018 budget compared to 2017 budget  actuals.  Donations for North Area Environmental Council, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, and Botanic Gardens of Western Pittsburgh were approved. Other donations to be considered after our Plant Sale. 
• Officers and Committee Chairs -- Esther Nagy will not continue as our LAGC blogger. Best wishes and thank you card sent to her. Blog/Historian jobs have been separated with Claudia also being historian. There was a question about whether we want to continue to have the blog.  It was determined that our members do read the blog and that a volunteer would be needed to continue. Our new member Mary Lou Hermann volunteered and Rose Mary Highman will be the backup. They will plan to meet with Esther for training. Claudia said several club officers are in their last terms and according to our by-laws we will need to select new officers by July 2018 for the 2019-20 term.  We will need volunteers for Treasurer, President, and Recording Secretary. Please consider serving. She asked for member input regarding job combinations and why officers did not include recording secretary.  There was discussion about making the Recording Secretary one of the officers.  A vote will be taken in the future.  Claudia asked Officers and committee chairs to compile a folder or binder with essential information about their position by June 1st.  This will make for a smoother transition for the members taking over the job duties. 
• Facebook -- Anita Wagner will begin and manage the new LAGC Facebook page. Facebook is for the public and will have tabs like Home, About, Events, Photos, Posts, Community. We will NOT post private information on the Facebook page.
• Blog -- Discussion of how public our blog is followed. (Claudia learned, post meeting, it is public but site would be hard to find.
• Recording Secretary will email the business meeting minutes and program notes to Online Communicator for distribution after VP has reviewed them. Only the program notes and photos will be posted to blog.  Club business is for members only and should not be posted on blog or on Facebook.
• Historian will preserve the monthly meeting minutes & program summaries, photos, club correspondence, & other relevant materials by year in a file folder. Historian will take the yearly file folders to the McCandless Heritage Center every four years.  Files will be added to LAGC records already stored there.
• Publicity -- Patty is looking into why our meeting announcements haven’t been published recently when she has submitted in a timely manner.

Dessert and arrangement -- Thank you to Lynn Betts for dessert and Jenna for the arrangement.

Program:  “Winter Sowing” workshop lead by Janine Zink

Janine said she first became familiar with winter sowing when Peggy Elizeus mentioned she had done this. Who doesn’t want to start a little gardening in the middle of wintry days? 

• Start with a container such as l-gallon milk jug w/o lids and/or large rectangular clear plastic lettuce/salad containers. Add drainage holes in the bottom and "ventilation" slits in the top. An awl works well for bottom holes; use box cutter for ½ to 1 inch ventilation slits near top.
• Make the holes and slits BEFORE cutting lower third for soil, upper two-thirds for air and plant growth or cut a ‘door’ connected at top.
• Seeds—vegetable, wildflowers, annuals, and perennial flower seeds. Experiment.
• Soil—use potting soil mixed with peat moss to about 3-4 inch depth.
• Planting—add seeds on top. Cover large seeds with a bit of soil. Spray with water.
• Tape the container in several places or more to hold sections in place.
• Be sure to LABEL and protect label from the elements by covering with packing tape.
• Place outside in sun in the middle of winter. Let the rain and snow water the seeds naturally. Check monthly. Water if dry. Move to morning sun when days are hotter as this is a mini greenhouse. Cut away the plastic container as the seedlings grow and the weather warms up.
• Plant outside as appropriate. No need to harden as seedlings have been outside.

Resources: Check on-line demos, plus members Janine, Peggy, and Bill Goff have winter sowed.

Calendar:
February 27 -- LAGC meeting, “Wetlands” by Dianne Machesney. What makes a wetland and what are bogs, fens, marshes, and swamps? What plants/flowers grow in those ecosystems?
March 27 -- LAGC meeting, “Perennials” by Bill Goff.  Club photo to be taken.
April 24 – LAGC meeting, “How to Compost” by Kurt Malecki.
May 19 -- LAGC Plant Sale.

Other nearby events:
March 14-18  -- Phipps Orchid Show and Sale, Phipps Garden Center.