SAND’n’SEEDS | June 2022

We Appreciate your Donation

Message from the PresidentBy Marilee CrumleyWe’re enjoying looking for the many blooms on the saguaros this year. Usually, we only see the flowers at the tips of the arms and trunk, but again this year there are rows of flowers down the sides. I find the saguaros with downward tipped arms also have multiple blooms sometimes almost to the ground. The crisp white saguaro blooms are a bonus for those of us staying here during early summer days.Our cool mornings are the best time to be outside doing regular garden chores. We’re into our summer vegetables now. I was able to find people with new garden plots who needed my extra vegetable plants. That made less that I had to plant. Hope your garden or plot is doing well. Early morning is also a great time to enjoy a walk through the gardens of Green Valley Gardeners – Desert Meadows Park, Arid, Historic Canoa Ranch, and Ogden. This is a great way to start your day being in the serene tranquility of our gardens. Hope you see something to inspire and lift up your days!Happy Gardening!

Announcements

Green Valley Gardeners is now listed on AmazonSmile. When you shop Amazon, log into AmazonSmile, use your existing personal account login information, select Green Valley Gardeners as your non-profit of choice. The club will receive a small donation for each qualifying purchase you make. Thank you!To shop AmazonSmile go to http://smile.amazon.com/

Board of Directors The Nominating Committee is looking for members interested in serving on the Green Valley Gardeners Board of Directors. The Board of Directors are leaders who help our volunteer gardeners grow. As a board member you will have an opportunity to establish and administer club policies. You will also have input into the establishment of new programs and projects the club undertakes. The term of office for board members is three years. Board members are elected in October and take office in November. If you have questions about serving as a board member contact Aliceann at the email or phone number listed below. If you would be willing to serve or would like to nominate a member, please contact Aliceann Christy at aliceann@provisioncoaching.com  402-312-7308. “The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit.” –Nelson Henderson

Seminar Committee Join the Seminar Committee and help us develop innovative programs for the upcoming year. The gardening seminars play a vital role in fulfilling our mission of educating the public about gardening. As a member of the seminar team, you will help develop fresh ideas for seminar topics and contact potential speakers. We also need writers to help us announce our seminars in the Green Thumb column of the Green Valley News.

Spring Garden Tour 2023

It seems as if the 2022 Spring Garden Tour was just yesterday, but here we are on the hunt for gardens for the 2023 tour. It takes all year to find the gardens. While we have been known to knock on strangers’ doors, we do prefer getting a referral or a recommendation for an interesting garden. So if you come across a garden you think has potential, or if your own garden might fit the bill, please let us know so that we can check it out.  You can send the information to Cynthia Surprisecjsurprise@verizon.netStacie Meyerstaciemeyer24@bgillaspie

FALL SILENT AUCTION DONATIONS
We are now accepting donations for the Fall Silent Auction. Donations can be dropped off at 1010 S. LaHuerta (Chuck Parsons’ screened front porch), or call Sheri Paseka at 406-672-7035 to arrange a time for pick up.Thank you all in advance for your generous donations!

In Your Plot … By Lorna Mitchell

With prices rising all around us, it’s nice to know that something is abundant and free. Southern Arizona guarantees sunshine and heat in abundance this month, even without a receipt! It is the sun that fuels our harvest and the fruit of our labor will pour in this month. Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, squash, beans, melons, pumpkins, corn, okra, and cucumbers all love the heat and will produce their fruit for your dining pleasure.Heat calls for lots of water and that’s the key to gardening harvests in our desert.  Run every clock on your irrigation system every time you are in your plot to ensure adequate delivery; sediment can clog small ports. It is helpful to have standard irrigation parts with you to repair leaks on the spot. Watch for irrigation problems in the other plots and help solve their issues, too. ONIONS should be harvested and stored in a cool dry location. Allow air to freely circulate around each bulb, screened shelves in the garage can hold them for maybe a couple of months. Separate the bulbs that started to bolt and eat those first but regularly check for ones that begin to rot and deal with them immediately. Aspergillus niger is a common cause of black mold on onions during storage which may begin on the surface, between scales, or in the center. The onion is safe to eat by simply washing off the mold or discarding affected scales. The soil source of this mold cannot be completely eliminated so it will show up in stored onions.Alternatives to storing these juicy sweet short day onions can be freezing or dehydrating them. GARLIC should be dug out after the tops die down, keep it dry but it shrivels quickly. My favorite way to store it is to clean and peel each clove, stack them in a glass jar, cover completely with white vinegar, tighten the lid, and store it in the refrigerator. DO NOT cover with oil – this can lead to botulism! Garlic stored this way is always ready to use and doesn’t carry the vinegar taste. Another option is to chop and freeze it. TOMATOES  The stresses of dry heat may cause splitting and/or “blossom end rot”; this is not a disease but a condition characterized by a dark shriveled patch at the blossom end of the fruit. The best prevention is consistent watering. Continue to pinch out the suckers that form at the base of the leaves but don’t accidently pinch off the growing tip! Hornworms, the nemesis of tomatoes, will probably arrive this month. Handpick them but once they show up also apply periodic applications of Bt because we never find them all.

SUMMER SQUASH fruit (zucchini, yellow crookneck, patty pan, etc.) grows quickly once it is pollinated. Male and female flowers form on each plant but often male flowers appear first, so don’t be discouraged if fruit doesn’t set right away, female flowers will follow (the ones with the tiny squash behind it). They are open early in the morning and insects are needed to transfer pollen, or you can do it yourself to ensure squash production.The squash vine borer moth lays 2-3 eggs at a time on the outside of the squash stem; they are the size of a pin head and difficult to see. Spray the stems with Bt twice a week so when the eggs hatch, the caterpillar will ingest it and not eat your plant.

SEEDS TO PLANT  This is the best time to plant “winter” or hard skinned squash such as acorn, butternut, pumpkin, etc. We can still sow seeds of corn, melon, summer squash, okra, black-eyed peas, amaranth, green beans and yard-long beans. These all like the heat, just keep soil moist with a couple of short waterings during the day while they are young. It’s also time to put in those sweet potato plants for fall harvest, give them lots of room or plan on cutting back the vines (the leaves are edible). Remember to replenish the soil with organic matter and nutrients before planting a new crop.

Those are my plot thoughts for now, Happy Gardening!!

Activity Updates

Desert Meadows Park …By Chuck Parsons

Hopefully you took time to visit the park while picking up your Ogden onion order. The onions grown by the Ogden Community Garden volunteers looked great this year ~ and smelled great as Harry was unloading them at the tent at the park for your pick up.Onions were being harvested from the dedicated food bank plots at the park community garden in May too. The park volunteers made contributions to the Sahuarita Food Bank on more than one occasion during the month.

Several park volunteers have been involved in cutting back wildflower perennials or pulling annuals in the park. A messy job that causes distribution of seed for more color in the future. While doing this task they are capturing as much seed from the cuttings as possible too. We disburse these in the park also. Each year we enjoy the color of wildflowers. We have not had to purchase seed since the first couple of years. What we enjoy now is either self-propagated or a result of the collection done by the volunteers each year.

We are delighted to have some of our new volunteers adopt areas of the park and make enhancements. Monte Hunter adopted a section along the Anza Trail “The Peaks.” She has been adding new plants and making other improvements. Abby Owen adopted another section south of Monte’s, and with the help of Janice Duran, has made a huge transformation to that area, including the addition of another sitting area.

Joan Chapin has been helping Carmen Johnson maintain the Barrio Garden for a while, but recently adopted the large berm that separates the Native Grasses Garden from the Rainwater Garden. She has totally refurbished that area. It had little attention in the past. It’s looking great now.

Bill Keranen and George Mathes continue to improve the South Anza Trail entrance, and Carol and Vic Hudenko continue the improvement of the North Anza Trail entrance. All of these folks eagerly watch for new plants that come in from the plant rescue team. It pays off!

We had an interesting park visitor recently. David Kitchie works for an agency of the USDA. He is involved in exploring ways to encourage small farms in or near urban areas to establish pollinator habitats. It was reminiscent of the UofA hummingbird study that a few garden club members participated in several years ago that has evolved into the Audubon “Habitat at Home” program. David contacted the UofA Cooperative Extension. Bob Buehler suggested he visit with the park volunteers. David spent a recent Wednesday morning with us. He spent time with Nancy Lucas and saw the use of flowers in the community garden. He spent time with Greg Hugie and discussed the bee habitats, Greg now has three installed around the perimeter of the community garden. He also spent time with Karen Klein discussing the plants that attract butterflies. It will be interesting to see how this evolves.

Historic Hacienda de la Canoa …By Raydine Taber

On May 10^th, the well, supplying water to the compound and all the Gardens of Canoa, was shut down for maintenance and repair. Expectations were the well would be down for two weeks.

As most of you know, the ranch covers a lot of area. Even staying within the compound, we walk a lot between gardens. With the well shut down, that walking now includes carrying gallon jugs of water to provide for some of the more tender vegetation. The majority of our plants are native and drought tolerant. However, those annuals and vegetables need their water.  

Many, many thanks to our dedicated volunteers for walking from garden to garden, in this heat, carrying gallons of water to provide moisture to as many plants as possible. Unfortunately, we cannot carry enough water to provide the moisture depth for the Orchard trees. Jerry Sampson has kept an eye on the Orchard’s smaller trees and plants, giving them a few extra gallons. When the water comes back on, the Orchard’s trees will need to be flooded. Additionally, to keep the gardens thriving, the NRPR (Natural Resources, Parks, and Recreation) crew have been driving the mobile water tanks around watering the gardens. They have also, on Tuesdays, had one of the mobile water tanks available for us to refill our gallon jugs. Again, THANK YOU HCR VOLUNTEERS

We meet on Tuesdays at 7:30 a.m. Please join us! If you want more information call me at 520-625-0961 or email rs_taber@msn.com

Allen J Ogden Community Garden …By Bob Laux-Bachand

Seasonal crosscurrents were evident in May as fall-planted crops of cabbage, onions, and carrots were harvested and later plantings of tomatoes, turnips, beans and squash showed rapid growth. Some early zucchini and tomatoes were ready for picking as the month neared its end.

Maintenance projects at Ogden continued with early morning work sessions. Volunteers finished painting the main toolsheds and building three wooden raised beds. Manager Harry Jepkema has been importing dirt for those beds and is arranging for the shipment of three prefabricated beds to be installed at one of the open 10-by-40-foot plots. 

Volunteers picked this year’s onion crop on May 21, and the onions were prepared for sale on May 25. A crew of 10 trimmed and bagged the onions in a little over 90 minutes, with about 785 pounds of trimmed bulbs filling 143 bags. The total was somewhat higher than last year’s harvest, aided by a number of heavyweights (at least two topping the scale at 1.33 pounds), and by the addition of onions grown by Ray and Marysia Czachor in their plot at Ogden.

Looking ahead, the Ogden patio will be the site of a twice-a-week Tinkergarten for young children beginning in June. These classes will focus on outdoor play and instruction and will be run by Tara Menendez. Best of luck to Tara with her new venture.This activity is a wonderful example of the club striving to meet its mission!

40^th Anniversary Median Project …By Phyllis Barboza

Thank you to Karen and Jerry Sampson!

Jerry and Karen moved to Green Valley from their floating home on the Columbia River in Portland, Oregon in 2019. They had good intentions of becoming snowbirds. However, they fell in love with Green Valley and here they are full timers.

Jerry volunteers at Canoa Historic Ranch on Tuesdays and Arid Garden on Fridays. He is a member of the Ceramic Club. Jerry is talented in other areas as well; he makes beautiful Native American flutes. Jerry not only makes the flutes, he also plays them. Jerry is also a volunteer for the Art in the Park and Ogden onion sale every year.

Karen belongs to a knitting club and has recently joined a quilt club. If you ever get a chance you must see one of her quilts, they are gorgeous. She also makes all the decorative bead work on Jerry’s flutes. Karen is also an accomplished colored pencil atrtist.Both Jerry and Karen are volunteers for the Green Valley Median Project. They also volunteered to water one of the finished medians on Abrego. Karen is our flagger when we work on the medians, keeping us all safe. Jerry is great at moving rock and is always ready to do any job that needs to be done.Life is at its fullest when you can socialize with others and give back to your community, whether it is working in one of our gardens, on a median or at one of Green Valley Gardeners fundraisers. There are always spots available for Green Valley Gardeners to make a difference.Hope to see you in the fall when the medians will start up again. In the meantime have a great summer!

Membership … By Karen Dougherty & Mark Thompson

There is an inverse relationship between the outside temperatures and new members for our garden club. As the temperature increases in Green Valley, the number of new members decreases for the Green Valley Gardeners. For the month of May, we registered only two new members: Susi Partlow and Abby Owen. This is about the fewest number of new members for a month for several years. Not to worry, as the monsoons will see the number of new members each month rise.  Don’t forget to order you GVG banded clothing; get your fresh herbs at DMP. If you have any changes to your contact information, please email those changes to memberships@greenvalleygardeners.com