Ro Reed Garden Tour

Ro gave a tour of her garden.  She has some really nice ideas.

Here are some shots of her "Fairy Garden"

They also sport a "Desert Tortoise" run.

Meetings

The Eastmark Garden Club meets on the 2nd Saturday of each month at "The Mark" (TYPICALLY).  Watch for updates on the "Eastmark Garden Club" facebook page.

Our goal is to have a garden tour at the home of one of the garden club members each month.  Watch for updates on the "Eastmark Garden Club" facebook page.

Sequoia Pathfinder School Service Project

A few members of The Eastmark Garden Club met Saturday August 5 and among the items discussed was an opportunity to help the Sequoia Pathfinder School organize a school garden following the suggested outline in "Az Gardens for Learning" book produced by the Western Growers Association that can be read at this link:  Az Gardens for Learning

The idea did not really take off at that time, however I have not given up on the idea.  Here are my plans.

1. Perfect my ability to grow starts under lights inside
2. Learn how to vermicompost in a bin
3. Identify a few persons willing to spend a lot of hours initially to work with the school to set up the program and gather materials and then a few people who can spend a few hours each month to ensure the program is working.  A teacher has to be a main force and parents from the school must be present.

8 March 2019 I am still working on #1.  

Please contact me if you want to contribute to this project.

Find me on the Eastmark.com community directory.
Wallace Haws

Jane the Rose lady

Jane, a member of the Eastmark Garden Club hosted a Club Garden tour 15 July 2017.  Here are some notes:
Jane has a great start for a pretty impressive Rose Garden.  Unfortunately, she wasn't able to plant them at the ideal time, but took a chance anyway.  She set up garden boxes with block from Home Depot, filled with Kellogg Planting/Bedding soil from Home Depot and a sprinkler system for watering.

She advised a lot of compost, avoid commercial fertilizers, use Fish emulsion and frequent waterings.

It is important to 'Dead head' the roses to keep them from going to hip.  You will have a longer and better rose production.

Aphids: Use a hand sprayer with water, oil, dish soap and spray in later afternoon.

Mesa Community College is the home of the East Valley Rose Society.  Jane encourages all of us to visit their incredible Rose garden.

A picture is worth a 1000 words, so here is a video report of our garden tour!

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO

Bolstad Garden Tour

A picture is worth a thousand words.  Here is a movie showing the tour we had this morning at the Bolstad home.  A big thank you to the Bolstad family for their hospitality.

GARDEN TOUR

INSANITY

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. - Albert Einstein

You might consider keeping track of what you do in your garden.  If you don't you may be INSANE as defined above and missing opportunities.

KEEP TRACK OF WHAT/WHEN YOU PLANT
One way to do that is using a spreadsheet.  Keep track of what you plant on a calendar.  Create symbols representing how you plant.  Insert comments for more detailed notes.

Here is a link to a sample spreadsheet:

                          PLANTING SPREADSHEET

Be sure to click "Open with" google sheets so you can read the comments

Purpose and Goals

The Eastmark Gardening Club was approved by Eastmark HOA 26 April 2017

We believe it is important each family produce some food within the confines of their own lot to somewhat stabilize availability of ready healthy food and to preserve seeds in the hands of people. 

We also believe gardening includes growing flowers or other plants that are pleasing to the eye and will gladden the heart.  

The Eastmark Garden Club has these goals:  G--E--S

Encourage as many people as possible to:

G =  Grow a garden and produce as much of their own organic food at home in home gardens (in-ground, pots, hydroponics, etc) and grow flowers to beautify homes and gladden the heart.  Particular attention will be given to small urban yard gardens to compliment the limited space and growing conditions of the community that we live in.  
E =  Educate club members so they have the skills to be successful

S =   Save seeds, particularly those indigenous to the Sonoran Southwest and Exchange seeds with club members and Share ideas.

METHODS:

·       Education:  Provide information where people can go to get educated on their own; invite speakers; produce blog posts, etc

·       Collaboration: Provide means for people to exchange ideas and encourage one another in their efforts to garden and save seeds.

·       Seed Exchange: Coordinate efforts to save seeds of as many varieties as possible and share with as many people as possible.

TOOLS:

·       Create a blog to post educational material, results of experiments by garden club members and links to education sites

·       Create a Facebook page so Garden Club members can interactively ask questions, receive comments and post successes and failures

MEETINGS:

·       Most information shared by the Eastmark Gardening Club will be via social media instead of face to face meetings.  However the following meetings are envisioned.

o   Monthly meetings/tours of different club member gardens.  They can demonstrate what they are going, share ideas, get advice, etc

o   Non-regular meetings where specialist are invited to speak.

o   Spontaneous meetings among garden club members

CLUB MEMBERSHIP:

·       Anyone can join, but residents of Eastmark will be the primary target

·       Members ‘join’ the ‘club’ by requesting their name, email and telephone # be added to the club roster and voluntarily participating in the Facebook page, formal meetings, sharing information, etc 

·       Level of participation in the club is totally voluntary, dependent on the person’s time, resources and interests and can range from a casual review of the blogsite and facebook to active participation in the seed exchanges, in seed diversity experiments, helping to organize club meetings, speakers, expos, etc

·       Nothing is purchased or sold by the club, so there will be no membership dues or fund raisers.

COMMUNITY GARDEN

·       The Eastmark Garden Club is not a typical “community garden” because of all the challenges and problems otherwise associated with real estate, finances, management, security, etc.  The success of a typical community garden usually depends on the efforts of a small handful of people who do most of the work.  It also detracts from the goals of the Eastmark Gardening Club.

·       The Eastmark Garden Club might be considered a "Virtual Community Garden".  Every family will have the opportunity to produce something within the confines of their own lot where success (rewards) or failure (learning experiences) depends entirely on the family involved.  Because the garden is just outside their kitchen window and will be seen every day, the garden is central to the family activities and won’t be forgotten.  Collectively, all the family gardens in the Eastmark Garden Club constitute the “Community” garden which is shared through the blogsite, facebook, visits by club members to individual family gardens, seed exchanges, sharing produce, etc.