LAGC President Nancy welcomed members to the August 27th meeting. She thanked the committee chairs and board members for all the work they are doing for the garden club.
The sign-up sheet for hostess duty for next year will be available in September. Please consider signing up to bring the flower arrangement or dessert to one of our meetings in 2025.
Claudia spoke about the plans for next year's anniversary celebration.
· Mary Jo Clayton finalized the plans for the tree planting; 75 trees will be purchased and planted in partnership with the Allegheny County Parks Foundation Tree Fund. In the Spring of 2025, LAGC members will assist park rangers with planting in North Park in an area in McCandless
· At our 2025 Plant Sale, annuals will be given away to the first 75 to 100 customers
· The Honoring Our Past Celebration will be held on September 23, 2025 at the Heritage Center
· The Celebrating Our Future event will be held on October 28, 2025 at Northmont Church
· The keepsake edition of the 2025 handbook will be created by Claudia and Andrea
The garden that LAGC maintains at UPMC Passavant has had many names. Members voted to let it be known as “The Chapel Garden”.
Marlow announced that the holiday tour and luncheon will be held on Saturday, November 16th. The tour of the Kerr Memorial Museum, 402 Delaware Avenue, Oakmont, 15139 will begin at approximately 10:30 am. The luncheon will take place at Whisper's Pub located at 3400 Harts Run Road, Glenshaw, 15116. Members will be responsible for paying for their own meal. We will have to choose our meal from 3 choices. We'll have to sign up and pay for the meal prior to the luncheon. More details will be given next month. Please contact Marlow with any questions or concerns.
LAGC is making plans to get a new club T-shirt. Members voted for a crew neck style. Members were asked to vote for one of four T-shirt colors. Stay tuned for the results.
Chris brought a beautiful pink and purple flower arrangement created with flowers from her own garden. Colleen brought delicious homemade blueberry blondies and buckeye bars for members to enjoy.
Program --- Beth Kocis “Home Food Preservation”
This evening’s program was presented by PSMG, Beth Kocis who like many of us enjoys growing vegetables, fruits and herbs but also preserving the food items to enjoy when the garden has gone to bed for the winter. She discussed the many ways to preserve food such as freezing, drying and canning, but the most important thing to remember is to use safe practices to ensure that nobody gets ill. Beth said that it’s important to use a scientifically researched and tested recipe from a reputable source such as “So easy to Preserve” book rather than rely on a recipe handed down from our grandmothers.
It's best to consult a good resource to help identify which preservation method is suitable for which food that is to be preserved but always choose a fruit or vegetable which is blemish free and at the height of ripeness. This will ensure that the item is preserved at its peak flavor. Make sure that your hands, work surfaces and jars and containers are clean.
Here are some of the key points from the presentation:
· Vegetables should be blanched quickly when using the freezing method so that the enzymes are deactivated to keep item at their peak flavor
· Tray pack freezing is the name for freezing individual berries on a flat pan and then when each berry is frozen, they can be packed in one container. A few berries at a time can be scooped out to make smoothies or muffins rather than using the whole bag of berries at one time
· Herbs are traditionally air dried by hanging in bunches in a cool dark place. It's helpful to cover the herbs with a paper bag to contain them and keep them clean.
· Drying concentrates the flavor of herbs so you will need to use less of the herb than when using fresh herbs
· When using a dehydrator, the optimal temperature is 140°. Be careful of case hardening which happens if the temperature is turned up too high and causes the outside of the food to dehydrate and harden before the inside of the food gets a chance to dehydrate.
· When making jerky in a dehydrator, it's best to simmer the meat in a marinade before drying to kill bacteria
· The major concern with canning food is botulism. Use a scientifically tested recipe and follow the instructions precisely!
· Do not eat food items that contain mold or Mycotoxins. Besides for some hard cheeses, it’s not safe to remove the mold and then eat the food because there may still be mold spores that can’t be seen. The mold may make you sick and can build up in your body
· Contrary to what many people believe, tomatoes are actually classified as a low-acid food; be sure to use a recipe that processes tomatoes safely
Our speaker encouraged us to try the many different ways of preserving the food items that we grow or pick up at our local farm markets, but we must do it safely. She recommended that we sign up for the Let’s Preserve newsletter for additional information.
Home Food Preservation and Safety | Penn State Extension (psu.edu)
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