Gardeners getting together to enjoy catching up after summer . . . it was fun seeing one another . . .
Social Chair Jerre Anne Wagner and hostesses Virginia Moore, Marilyn Ellis, Betty Verdino, Linn Wells and Barbara Thompson had just the right amount of food and variety. And Betty Vickroy, past social chair, came and pitched in as well.
With the Quail Valley Clubhouse's recent remodeling, we had more room to spread out . . . and enjoyed the very nice remodel of the facility.
Shirley Renfrow brought us a beautiful yearbook again after her many
award winners . . .
and Jo Ann Mayhall passed out a new membership
benefit: 10% discount cards for all gardening merchandise at Texas Color
Plants, Enchanted Forest and Enchanted Gardens. If you know a supplier
that might be interested, nominate them to be asked to participate in the program.
Contact Jo Ann
Mayhall at 281 438-5064 to pick up your Yearbook and discount card good
until September 30, 2011.
Our guest, Joanne Gore, became a new member at the meeting, and Sharon Wright has joined us as well.
Joanne and her spouse William were our June Yard of the Month recipients. Sharon did our program on the Perfumes of Plumeria last January, and she and Mark were our July Yard of the Month with all their beautiful Plumerias. Mark was President of the Plumeria Society of Houston last year and both are active in that society.
We welcome these new members and their love of gardening! Click here to view their gardens.
Our speaker was John Ferguson of Nature's Way Resources who presented a fascinating program about the benefits to our earth of biological soil building. He was introduced by Penny Johnson, our program chair.
I'll hit some highlights, but I recommend you visit John's website that is linked above. John has in-depth information on composting, soil amendments, mulch and a variety of subjects from his 30+ years as a soil scientist. Penny is holding the screened 3/8" fine leaf mold compost that John brought for us--the "black gold" that build your soil in many ways.
John related his experience of being poisoned by a fungicide that has since been removed from the market, but this experience was part of his departure from the chemical and physics approach to soils.
He provided many interesting examples of the "Soil Food Web" -- for example, how a large crop of dandelions will eventually limit themselves with the calcium that becomes added to the soil. However, with dandelions long tap roots, they crack open and open our clay soils to break it down naturally.
Another example of the use of chemical fertilizers increase salts on your grass, which in turn promotes brown patch. Using microbes with natural compost is much less expensive and because it breaks down and starts to open our soils, also promotes deeper rooting and less watering.
Other benefits were more priceless than money saving. Agricultural run-off of fertilizers from farms and lawns is largely responsible for over 300 dead zones in our oceans, which are growing. No fish can live in these areas.
Many food sources are becoming depleted of B-12 vitamins due to lack of organic bacteria in soils.
However, the most disturbing fact to me is that while organic fertilizers are regulated, chemical fertilizers have not been regulated since 2002. That means "filler" from a nuclear power plant cleaning or anything else could be used in fertilizers . . . and direct links between contaminated fertilizers and A.D.D. in children have been established in Quincy, Washington.
John certainly gave us many reasons to think about how we treat our planet, our personal health, and our children's futures. I can testify that using a 50/50 mixture of organic compost and shale really breaks down clay soils and makes flower beds easier to work-- and benefit even more from mulch, which breaks down and provides natural composting material when replenished each year.
Thanks to John for bringing an enlightening program. He answered many diverse questions. A list of books follows at the end of this post.
Incidentally, John's products, as well as the MicroLife organic fertilizers he recommended, can be found at Enchanted Forest and Enchanted Garden (where you can use your QVGC 10% discount card)!
Prior to our business meeting, Ann Caraway thanked the group for our support during her surgery.
Linn Wells presented our new budget. And don't forget to promote our Caladium Bulbs and savings when you pre-order by October 31.
For information on our next meeting, press here . . . and press here for board meeting information.
Come grow with us and invite your friends to do the same!
Thanks, Juanita Ayers for taking pictures
Posted by Janice Scanlan . . . who shouldn't claim taking the next blurry picture, but it captures the fun and energy of our first meeting of the year! Don't miss our next meeting.
Press on any photo to enlarge it.
Books recommended in this program:
- Teaming with Microbes by Elaine Ingham
- The Organic Lawn Care Manual by Paul Tukey
- The Complete Compost Gardening Guide by Barbara Pleasant & Deborah Martin
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