January 8 Organizational Meeting

The New Year is here! Gardeners everywhere are checking their mailboxes for garden catalogs, curling up with garden books, dreaming, and planning next year's garden. The same is true for Cottage Grove Garden Club.

On Tuesday January 8, the Garden Club will be gathering for an organizational meeting. We'll be electing officers, forming committees, and talking about programs and field trips.

Like our gardens, there are already some exciting things in place... we have some programs lined up, and field trips we've been dreaming about. Join your gardening friends to lend a hand and share your ideas.

Please note the change of dates, we are meeting Tuesday, JANUARY 8, from 6-8pm at the First Presbyterian Church, 216 South 3rd Street (the corner of 3rd and Adams).

Please bring your ideas, your enthusiasm, and your dues for 2019.

Gardening Forum: November 6

We all have questions about gardening, whether we are new to gardening or have been gardening for decades we all have questions. We all, also, have answers and experiences to share.

By popular demand, on Tuesday November 6, Cottage Grove Garden Club will be hosting a Gardening Forum. Bring your questions and bring your answers and experiences, because at this round-table discussion we will be answering each-others gardening questions.

This gardening forum is perfect for people new to gardening or new to the Cottage Grove area. It is also perfect for seasoned gardeners who have more specific questions.

Please join us. Our informal business meeting begins at 6 PM and the Gardening Forum runs from 7 to 8 PM. All guests and visitors welcome. Light refreshments provided. We meet at the First Presbyterian Church, 216 South 3rd Street (the corner of 3rd and Adams), Cottage Grove, Oregon, enter off the garden on Adams Street.

Our Native Bees: October Presentation

Pollination is necessary for most plants to reproduce, and pollinators—including bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, wasps, flies, and others—are happy to do the job.

When talking about pollinators, people often think about honey bees, however honey bees are not native to Oregon and their populations are in decline. Oregon is home, though, to over 500 native bees some of which are better pollinators than the European honey bee. As gardeners, we can support our native bees and encourage them to pollinate our plants by adjusting our gardening habits.

On Tuesday, October 2, Cottage Grove Garden Club welcomes Jimmie Rundall to learn about Oregon's native bees.

Jimmie's presentation will include general descriptions of the 560 species of pollinator bees in Oregon as identified by Oregon State University. Jimmie will also talk about the differences between bees and wasps, hornets, and yellow jackets.

Image from the Oregon Dept. of Agriculture
https://flic.kr/p/XbQ22p

Included in the presentation will be a short video to show what actually happens when a flower is being pollinated. And we'll learn the characteristics of honey bees, mason bees, and bumble bees which make them especially suited to pollinate different flowers.

Finally, Jimmie's presentation will close with suggestions on how gardeners can help save our native pollinators.

Our presenter, Jimmie Rundall grew up on a 40 acre fruit farm in eastern Oregon near La Grande, and graduated from OSU with a degree in structural engineering. After retiring in 1998, Jimmie took the Master Gardeners class and now teaches pruning and grafting, and supervises a fruit orchard with 115 fruit trees at the Grassroots Garden in Eugene.

Garden Club meets at the First Presbyterian Church (on the corner of 3rd and Adams). Our business meeting begins at 6pm, Jimmie's presentation begins at 7pm. All guests and visitors invited! Refreshments provided.

What's Your Sign? Garden Art Project

Free Weeds! Pull Your Own!

Gardeners know all the dirt

never enough thyme

bless my bloomers

Trespassers Will Be Composted!

time began in a garden

Come Gather in Our Garden

I don't remember planting this!

This is my happy place.

Whether it is funny, insightful, serious, or tongue-in-cheek, come join Cottage Grove Garden Club on Tuesday September 4 as we express ourselves creating signs for our gardens!

First, at 6:00 pm we'll be getting back into the grove of our regular monthly meetings, then at 7:00 pm resident-artist Peggy Severns will help us create garden signs to proudly display in our own gardens.

Are you more of a gardener than artist? Do not fear! Peggy will come equipped with all the supplies we'll need, including wood for painting on, stencils, paints and paintbrushes. You only need to bring your creativity and imagination.

A few things to note: although Peggy says the acrylic paint we'll be using dries quickly, be prepared to take home a sign that is still slightly wet. Also, due to time constraints, we will not be able to apply top-coats to our signs, so if you are wanting to expose yours to the elements, plan on applying a varnish later.

Please join us.

A couple of the signs hanging from the eves of Peggy's porch.

Garden Club meets at the First Presbyterian Church (on the corner of 3rd and Adams). Our business meeting begins at 6pm and our sign creation begins at 7pm. All guests and visitors invited! Refreshments provided.

Constructing and Caring for Container Water Gardens: June 5 program

Water hyacinths in a small water garden.

A small water garden on a patio or deck provides a focal point and a sense of tranquility. And the best part -- it can’t be overwatered! Plus, water gardens do not need weeding and with the right balance of plants and water they are relatively maintenance free.

On Tuesday, June 5, the Cottage Grove Garden Club welcomes Faye Forhan, who will talk about Constructing and Caring for Container Water Gardens. Faye is the past president of the Oregon Koi and Water Garden Society, the owner of two koi ponds and several water gardens, and a member of the Garden Club. Faye will demonstrate how to construct and care for a free-standing, pot-sized water garden, including how to pick the right container, how to select a pump, and the types of plants that work in our climate. Faye will also discuss potting material, dealing with mosquitoes, and water garden ornaments.

This program will be good for people interested in water gardening but who don't know where to start, or those who already have a water garden and are looking for tips and tricks. Plus, the Garden Club will be raffling off the water garden that Faye creates as well as other water-garden goodies.

Garden Club meets at the First Presbyterian Church (on the corner of 3rd and Adams). Our business meeting begins at 6pm and Faye's presentation will begin at 7pm. All guests and visitors invited!

Please join us for our last formal presentation before the summer break.

Living Soils: May 1st at Garden Club

When you consider what is living in your garden, you may think of plants, worms, or ground beetles. Or possibly pests like gophers, slugs, and aphids. Let’s go deeper than that.

On Tuesday, May 1, Cottage Grove Garden Club will host Melissa Fery from the OSU Extension Service to talk about "Living Soils: Microorganisms and Soil Health." Melissa will discuss the life teeming beneath the soil's surface—the amazing microorganisms that help create a healthy soil which is fundamental for growing plants. Soil microbiology play important roles in nutrient cycling and the quality of our soil. While often unnoticed, there are millions to billions of microorganisms in a single gram of soil. Melissa will help us to fully appreciate bacteria, actinomycetes, fungi, and other soil microbiology. She will also discuss ways to manage our soils to maintain healthy, biodiverse gardens.

About our speaker: Melissa Fery learned to enjoy gardening from her mom when growing up near Cottage Grove. After graduating from CGHS, she earned degrees in Crop Science and Environmental Soil Science at Oregon State University. Since 1998 Melissa has been working with Oregon’s diverse agriculture industry and has spent the last 13 years serving as a Small Farms Extension Agent with the OSU Extension Service. Melissa has also been enthusiastically supporting South Lane schools with farm and school garden educational experiences. She is in a happy place when kids are excited about soil, bugs, plants, and the natural world around them.

Please join Cottage Grove Garden Club May 1st at the First Presbyterian Church, 216 South 3rd Street. Our informal business meeting begins at 6pm, and we start learning about microorganisms and soil health at 7pm.

Next Month: Water Gardens with Faye Forhan on Tuesday June 5.

The Terroir of Chocolate: April 3

When is the last time you ate chocolate? Last night? Last week? If you are anything like the typical American -- who eats roughly 9.5 pounds of chocolate a year -- it probably wasn’t that long ago.

Cocoa pod growing in St Lucia
(photo credit Tee La Rosa)

Chocolate begins as the beans within the fruiting pod of the cacao tree, Theobroma cacao, which is native to Central America and parts of Mexico. Gardeners in Cottage Grove probably aren’t growing their own cacao (if you are, let us know!), because cacao trees grow in the tropics, within 20° to the north and south of the Equator. Today, while cacao is still grown in Central and South America, nearly 70% of the world’s crop is grown in West Africa.

Luckily for us, some of those cacao beans are making their way to Cottage Grove and into the hands of Mike Caven, owner of Sanity Chocolate. Mike began making chocolate from cacao beans more than 5 years ago as a hobby. His passion for “bean-to-bar” chocolate got out of hand and last fall, he and his wife Bob opened a store front on Main Street (at 1280 E Main St, by Rally Coffee).

Camino Verdé from Ecuador
(Photo from Sanity Chocolate)

Mike begins with the cacao beans that arrive in large burlap bags. Through a three day process which includes roasting, shelling, and grinding, the beans become chocolate bars. However, these are not ordinary cacao beans that may also end up in a chocolate bar at the local box store. "One of our core values is working with ingredients that are not just sustainable for us and the environment, but are sustainable for the farmer, and in most cases, their community,” Mike told KLCC last fall.

On Tuesday, April 3, Mike Caven will be joining Cottage Grove Garden Club to talk about chocolate. We’ll learn how climate and the environment can impact the taste of chocolate, Sanity’s relationship with its chocolate brokers and famers, and how Mike’s hobby transformed into a business. And, of course, we’ll be tasting chocolate! 

Please join us at the First Presbyterian Church, 216 South 3rd Street. Our informal business meeting begins at 6pm, and we start learning about and tasting chocolate at 7pm.

Making Compost & Compost Tea:March 6 at Garden Club

Experienced gardeners will tell you, we are not farmers of our vegetables and crops alone, especially if we are striving for productivity and health. We must be farmers of the soil itself, and most importantly, the organisms dwelling within that soil. For without those hard working soil microbes, our gardens just could not be productive and definitely not healthy. Compost is a big part of this story.

On March 6, at Garden Club we will be learning about the composting process with Andrea Mull. We'll learn what works and what doesn’t. Andrea will also discuss compost teas and the benefits we can gain from them.

Please join the Cottage Grove Garden Club on Tuesday, March 6 as we learn about composting from our own Andrea Mull. Andrea has been living and gardening in the Cottage Grove area for over 15 years and has worked for Territorial Seed Company for over 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.

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.

Upcoming Programs
April 2: Chocolate Tasting with Sanity Chocolate
May 1: Improving Soil Health with Melissa Fery
June 5: Water Gardens with Faye Forhan

Rain Gardens: February 6 Presentation

A rain garden is generally a small, planted depression or "sunken garden bed" in your yard where rain runoff from roofs, driveways, and other impervious surfaces is directed. Once in this garden, the rain water soaks into the ground naturally and is absorbed by plants and trees.

Rain gardens mimic the way that natural forests, meadows, and wetlands process rainwater. They are often planted with native plants, and besides being miniature stormwater treatment systems, rain gardens can also be designed to provide habitat for birds, butterflies, and beneficial insects.

On Tuesday, February 6, Kathy Eva, a public information specialist with the City of Eugene, will join Garden Club to discuss rain gardens, bioswells, and the plants that do well in them. Her presentation will include photos of rain gardens, discussion about soil types, plants, how to conduct a percolation test, and when and why a rain garden might be valuable.

Kathy's work with the city of Eugene focuses on informing and educating citizens about stormwater and surface water-related issues. She is also a member of the Lane Pollution Prevention Coalition, a multi-agency group, which works together to share pollution prevention tips about air, water, groundwater, drinking water, waste prevention and recycling. In addition, she on the steering committee for the statewide Clean Rivers Coalition whose mission is to help residents understand their role in protecting Oregon’s waters. This newly formed coalition is exploring how to reach and work with many groups and communities on a statewide and local level.


The Garden Club's informational meeting begins at 6pm and Kathy's talk on Rain Gardens 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. Memberships encouraged! ($15 individual, $20 couple).

Mark your calendars for these upcoming presentations:
March 6, 2018: Compost and Compost Tea with Andrea Mull
April 3, 2018: Chocolate Tasting with Sanity Chocolate
May 1, 2018: Improving Soil Health with Melissa Fery