Spring Garden Club Programs for 2018

It's a new year! That means a whole new line-up of programs and activities for the Cottage Grove Garden Club.

Get out your calendars.... here's a list of what's in store this spring!

January 2: Organizational Meeting. Catch up with your garden club friends, pay your dues for 2018, and help us do a little New Year's planning.

February 6: Rain Gardens and Rain Garden Plants with Kathy Eva from the City of Eugene. Learn about rain gardens, swells, and the plants that do well in them.

March 6: Composting and Compost Tea, with Andrea Mull. Learn practical steps for making and using compost.

April 3: Chocolate Tasting, with Sanity Chocolate -- a locally owned and operated company which specializes in making bean to bar chocolate.

May 1: Improving Soil Health with Melissa Fery. Learn how we can improve soil health in our gardens.



All of these meetings to take place in the Friendship Hall at the First Presbyterian Church, 216 South 3rd Street (the corner of 3rd and Adams), Cottage Grove, Oregon, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. Guests and Visitors invited. Refreshments provided.

Opal Park Work Party

Thanks to everyone who showed up November 18th to work at Opal Park (a.k.a. All America City Square) to spiff it up before the holidays.

Thank you to Carlene Girouard, our new Main Street Coordinator for taking these photos!

Pesticides and Alternatives: November Program

Did you know that more than a billion pounds of pesticides are intentionally applied every year in the United States? Research has shown that pesticides have adverse health effects, including birth defects, cancer, and injury to reproductive organs.

On Tuesday, November 7, Cottage Grove Garden Club will host Ashley Chesser of the Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP). We'll learn more about why we should reduce our pesticide footprint and get some basic tips for managing weeds and pests in our gardens and homes without pesticides.

Ashley is the Communications and Membership Director for the Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides. Before joining NCAP, she worked as a crew leader for the Montana Conservation Corps and in graphic design/marketing for the outdoor gear industry. She holds a degree in graphic design from Portland State University and in her free time enjoys running, biking, rock climbing, backpacking, and gardening.

The Garden Club's informational meeting begins at 6pm and Ashley's talk on Pesticides and Alternatives begins at 7. We meet at the First Presbyterian Church, 216 South 3rd Street (the corner of 3rd and Adams).

All visitors and guests welcome.

Moving Toward Sustainability

Many of us are concerned about the impact humans have on the environment. We wonder how we can personally do something about overwhelming events such as climate change, bee decline. and pollution of our water and soil. Fortunately, we can be can be part of the solution by implementing a continuum of sustainable gardening practices when developing or renovating our yards and gardens. 

Please join Cottage Grove Garden Club on Tuesday, October 3rd as we welcome Master Gardener Carol Salami-Goswick. Carol will introduce us to the basic concepts of sustainable gardening in her talk Moving Toward Sustainability. She will also share some easy steps to help you get started.

The Garden Club's informational meeting begins at 6pm and Carol's talk will begin at 7pm. We meet at the First Presbyterian Church, 216 South 3rd Street (the corner of 3rd and Adams). All visitors and guests welcome.

Next Month
November 7: Pesticides and Alternatives with Ashley Chesser of NW Center for Alternatives to Pesticides

Garden Riches and Garden Art

What did you do in your garden this summer?

What varieties did you grow?

Did you learn anything you'd like to pass on?

Come to September's Garden Club meeting on Tuesday, the 5 as we share our Garden Riches and enjoy making Garden Art.

If you have them, bring samples of your garden bounty for the tasting table, including varietal names. This is a great opportunity to scout out the varieties you'd like to plant and use next year.

If  your flowers are in bloom, bring your favorites to show off.

Plus, plastic caps await your hands and imagination. Peggy will lead us in a garden art project to make  "Colorful Repurposed Non-Recyclables." Bring a silly attitude and you'll have a good time.

The Garden Club's informational meeting begins at 6pm and the tasting and art begin at 7. We meet at the First Presbyterian Church, 216 South 3rd Street (the corner of 3rd and Adams).

All visitors and guests welcome.

Coming up later this fall
October 3: Moving Towards a Sustainable Landscape with Lane County Master Gardeners
November 7: Pesticides and Alternatives with Ashley Chesser of NW Center for Alternatives to Pesticides

It's summer! That means members of The Cottage Grove Garden Club are out in our own gardens, or enjoying the gardens of others. We have no formal meetings until Tuesday, September 5.

If you are a Garden Club member and need the details of our July 11 potluck or August 1 garden hop, leave a comment below, or use the Questions feature (scroll down, it's on your right). We'll get back to you.

Meanwhile, these photos were taken by Andrea of a nursery tour Garden Club members took in May to Seabright Nursery, Adelman's Peonies, Mid-America and Schreiner's Iris all in the Salem area.

Homegrown Teas

Source your tea right from your own backyard! On June 6, please join Cottage Grove Garden Club as we welcome Abby Colehour and learn about growing teas at home.

During Abby's presentation, we'll tour some common weeds and easy to grow herbs, discover their medicinal and nutritional benefits, and learn ways of preparing them. We will sample hot and cold teas, vinegar and alcohol tinctures, and non-alcoholic fermented brews. Plus, Abby will have plants available for purchase.

Abby Andrus Colehour is a native Minnesotan, social organizer, plant enthusiast, traditional skills dilettante, and do-it-yourselfer living at Aprovecho Center for Research and Education in Sustainability. There, she works as Residential Steward--maintaining social harmony, wholesome eating, administrative duties, and program development. She is especially passionate about trees,  forests, and woodland crafts.

Please join the Cottage Grove Garden Club on Tuesday, June 6 as we welcome Abby Colehour. Our informal business meeting begins at 6pm and Abby's presentation begins at 7pm.

 Refreshments provided, all guests welcome.

Cottage Grove Garden Club meets at the First Presbyterian Church, 216 South 3rd Street (the corner of 3rd and Adams), Cottage Grove, Oregon. Garden Club members are encouraged to park in the lot behind the church, not along 3rd Street.

Upcoming Presentations:
During the summer, Cottage Grove Garden Club meets informally at member-only events. Guests and visitors are welcome to join us this fall for:
September 5: Garden Art & Garden Tastings
October 3: Moving Towards a Sustainable Landscape
November 7: Pesticides and Alternatives

The Allure of Lavender: May Program

Known to promote relaxation, improve sleep, and enhance blood circulation, many people associate lavender with soaps and lotions. However, it is also has many culinary purposes -- try, for example, lavender scones or lavender lemonade. The good news is that lavender grows well in gardens throughout the Willamette Valley as long as it has full sun and well-drained soil. 

On Tuesday, May 2, Cottage Grove Garden Club welcomes Carol Tannenbuam of McKenzie River Lavender. Carol will talk about the history of lavender cultivation and the history of her farm (located just 10 miles east of Springfield). She'll also share insights in growing, harvesting and maintaining lavender in Oregon, and explore lavender products and their uses.

Carol Tannenbaum

Carol Tannenbaum moved to Oregon in 1999 to retire on the McKenzie River and fly fish.  As an avid gardener for over 30 years she soon realized that their farm consisted of Class I & II Agricultural soil. Her desire to better utilize the soil led to starting McKenzie River Lavender in 2003.  Carol has been a member of the Oregon Lavender Association since 2006 and a charter member of US Lavender Growers Association since 2012. The Tannenbaums first opened their farm in July 2009 to visitors during the annual state wide lavender festival.

Please join the Cottage Grove Garden Club on Tuesday, May 2, as we learn about the Allure of Lavender. All guest and visitors welcome. Light refreshments provided.

Location: First Presbyterian Church, 216 South 3rd Street (the corner of 3rd and Adams), Cottage Grove, Oregon.

Time: Tuesday, May 2, 2017. Informal business meeting begins at 6pm, Carol's talk begins a 7pm.

Growing Veggies in Containers: April 4 Program

Eggplant growing in a container

Container gardening can be a wonderful way to enhance the versatility of our gardens’ available spaces. Whether we do all of our gardening in containers, or use them to make use of impervious surfaces like asphalt and decks, containers allow us diversity in planting times and maximize our micro-climates.

Please join the Cottage Grove Garden Club on Tuesday, April 4 as we learn about gardening in containers from our own Andrea Mull. Andrea will focus on growing vegetables in containers, but will broaden her talk to include general growing information. She’ll also talk about planting combinations that work well together and the secrets to container soil mixes.

Andrea has been living and gardening in the Cottage Grove area for over 15 years  and has worked for Territorial Seed Company for 5 seasons, assisting in Vegetable Trials/Research and Customer Relations. She is especially passionate for unusual vegetables, ornamentals, and flowers. If you’ve heard Andrea talk before, you know she is full of hands-on practical information. You are sure to leave with ideas for creating your own outstanding containers.

 Cottage Grove Garden Club meets at the First Presbyterian Church, 216 South 3rd Street (the corner of 3rd and Adams), Cottage Grove, Oregon.  Our information business meeting begins at 6pm, Andrea’s presentation begins at 7pm after we enjoy light refreshments. All visitors and guests welcome.

Pollinators: March 7 Program

Krista Farris

Cottage Grove Garden Club started 2017 with a brainstorming session of the topics we'd like to learn about this year. The topic which was was met with the most interest may have been "pollinators." As gardeners we are very aware of the role of pollinators for a successful garden, and as concerned stewards of the land, we are very aware of our impact on the lives of pollinators.

For our March 7 meeting we will welcome Krista Farris of the U.S. Forest Service. Krista manages the native plant program, the invasive plant program, and the threatened, endangered and sensitive plant program for the District of Cottage Grove.

Krista will talk about general plant biology and life history as it relates to pollination and co-adaptation of plants and their pollinators. She will also cover the use of native plants for landscaping in our area.

If you've walked around the Row River Trail or the Row River Nature Park recently, you may have noticed some of Krista's work. She recently received a grant to put in five pollinator gardens that will provide food sources and habitat to several species of birds and insects that are renowned for their work in plant pollination, including monarch butterflies, bumble bees, and Rufous hummingbirds. (To learn more about this work, see the March 30, 2016 Cottage Grove Sentinel.)

Pollinator garden at Row Point.

Krista received a bachelor’s of science in Botany and Zoology from Oregon State University and a Master’s of Science Degree in Plant Biology from Louisiana State University. After spending over a decade conducting plant community ecology research in Peru, Brazil, Panama, and the Southern Appalachians of Tennessee and North Carolina, she returned to Oregon and is now in Cottage Grove where she works as the district Botanist for the Umpqua National Forest.

Please join the Cottage Grove Garden Club on Tuesday, March 7 as we welcome Krista Farris. Our informal business meeting begins at 6pm and Krista's presentation begins at 7pm.

Refreshments provided, all guests welcome.

Cottage Grove Garden Club meets at the First Presbyterian Church, 216 South 3rd Street (the corner of 3rd and Adams), Cottage Grove, Oregon. Garden Club members are encouraged to park in the lot behind the church, not along 3rd Street.

Upcoming Presentations 
April 4: Growing Vegetables in Containers with Andrea Mull
May 2: Raising and Using Lavender with Carol Tannenbaum of McKenzie River Lavender

Biological Farming and Gardening

Gardening in a healthy and balanced soil is important for plant well-being and resilience. One way to promote healthy soil is the use of compost teas, which suppress disease causing organisms. Compost teas also provide nutrients, improve soil structure, and help plants stay healthy. Vermicompost, also known as worm castings, enriches the soil and is used as a high grade natural, organic fertilizer.

On Tuesday, February 7, Cottage Grove Garden Club welcomes Bruce Elliott to talk about Biological Farming and Gardening. Bruce’s company, Sustainable Agricultural Technologies of Cottage Grove specializes in compost tea brewers and vermicomposting worm bins.

Please join the Garden Club as we learn about improving soil health through biologics. Informal business meeting begins at 6pm, Bruce’s talk begins at 7pm. Refreshments provided, all guests welcome.

Cottage Grove Garden Club meets at the First Presbyterian Church, 216 South 3rd Street (the corner of 3rd and Adams), Cottage Grove, Oregon. Garden Club members are encouraged to park in the lot behind the church, not along 3rd Street.

Upcoming Presentations
March 7: Pollinators with Krista Farris of US Forest Service
April 4: Growing Vegetables in Containers with Andrea Mull
May 2: Raising and Using Lavender with Carol Tannenbaum of McKenzie River Lavender

January at Garden Club

Spring is coming!

It's a New Year and a new start for the Cottage Grove Garden Club!

Join us on Tuesday, January 3, 2017, at the First Presbyterian Church on Adams at Third. We are sure to have an entertaining evening...including officer installations and program development.

Come share your ideas about what you want to see in 2017! Healthy garden fresh refreshments await you at 6:00.

Hope to see you all there!