Jan. 2012 Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a great Christmas. Unfortunately it was a green one, but a good one nevertheless.
We are very excited about our new venue: the Dunnville Optimist Hall. It’s located at the corner of Main Street East and Cedar Street. The address is 101 Main Street East, Dunnville, Ontario. It’s bigger and better –just like the Dunnville Horticultural Society! Please come out to see it, and be sure to become a member. General Meetings are the third Thursday of each month.
Our executive has been working hard to organize events for this year. We have a tentative agenda on the website. Things still need to be firmed up so please be patient. Check back often to see things as they are confirmed. We will have various speakers at our meetings and this year topics will be specific to the time of year. For example, our February meeting will cover tree pruning.
Our next general meeting will be Thursday, January 19th at 7:00 p.m. This is actually our “Annual General Meeting” so please plan to attend. This meeting informs the membership of how we are doing fiscally and what our plans are for the upcoming year.
I would like to start adding gardening tips with each newsletter. I would love to hear from you if you have any ideas of your own to contribute. Please send me an email at secretary-dhs@gardenontario.org. You can reach me by mail as well: c/o Dunnville Horticultural Society, Box 274, Dunnville, Ontario N1A 2X5. You can also write down your suggestions for garden tips and give it to me at any meeting.
My gardening tip for January is STAY INDOORS! It’s cold out there! I’m sure that we all have lots of houseplants that need to be cared for so that should appease the avid gardeners. But seriously, extra time this month might well be spent getting the garden tools ready for spring if you haven‘t already done so. Sharpen and oil tools such as shovels, shears, mowers and the like. It’s not too early to begin to think of a strategy for new spring plantings. You might want to create a small map of your garden, and use it as a guide for ordering plants and seeds. In the event of snow, be sure to shake or brush it off from the branches of your evergreens and shrubs. The light snow poses no real threat, but if it should become wet and frozen, the weight dramatically increases. Branches are more brittle when the plants are dormant, and the weight of the snow may snap them off. But if you don’t get out there in time, consider it Mother’s Nature’s pruning. If the ground is workable at all (not frozen and not too wet), and you really can’t wait until spring to work outside now is an excellent time to turn the soil. Doing this outside on a nice sunny day will also help you get your daily dose of Vitamin D! Not only will turning the soil expose insect eggs to the effects of winter and hungry birds, the freezing will help to break apart heavy clumps of dirt. This will also help stop weeds from taking hold.
If you know of any upcoming events such as garden shows, lectures, or workshops please feel free to let me know and I will make sure they get posted on our Website.
Sue Mazi, DHS Corresponding Secretary.
Essential advice for the gardener: grow peas of mind, lettuce be thankful, squash selfishness, turnip to help thy neighbor, and always make thyme for loved ones. ~Author Unknown