Garden Club – Cedar Creek Inn

GARDEN CLUB

It was a great start to the new season of the Garden Club.

Approximately 30 participants enjoyed a delicious lunch, with plenty of choices on the menu, at the Cedar Creek Inn. The staff was very friendly.

After a leisurely lunch we walked over to the Mission. We got a very comprehensive history of the mission from two very well informed docents. The resilience and the inventiveness of the human spirit comes through in this history. It is wonderful to have such a place in our backyard!

For those who might have expected a guided tour of the gardens and missed receiving fresh tips, I am happy to oblige:

1. The next time you boil or steam vegetables, don’t pour the water down the drain, use it to water potted patio plants, and you’ll be amazed at how the plants respond to the “vegetable soup.”

2. Use leftover tea and coffee grounds to acidify the soil of acid-loving plants such as azaleas, rhododendrons, camellias, gardenias and even blueberries. A light sprinkling of about one-quarter of an inch applied once a month will keep the pH of the soil on the acidic side.

3. Use chamomile tea to control damping-off fungus, which often attacks young seedlings quite suddenly. Just add a spot of tea to the soil around the base of seedlings once a week or use it as a foliar spray.

4. The quickest way in the world to dry herbs: just lay a sheet of newspaper on the seat of your car, arrange the herbs in a single layer, then roll up the windows and close the doors. Your herbs will be quickly dried to perfection. What’s more, your car will smell great.

I am not sure I want our cars to smell like a herb garden!

 

And finally remember the next time you begin fixing a meal, what vegetable can tie your stomach in knots, “ String beans”!

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