Mill Bay Garden Club

General Meeting Minutes

Tuesday, January 27,2015

President – Cliff Stainsby

• 7:03 p.m. Call to order.

• Acceptance of agenda.

• No minutes for December meeting.

• Thank you to set up crew.

• Signup sheet for kitchen duty has been filled.

• There are a number of members stepping down from the general (executive) committee including:

• President (end of term)

• Vice President

• Plant Sales

• Treasurer

• Kitchen

• Newsletter

• Membership

Become an active member, meet people, get involved. Committee meets second Tuesday of every month, except July and August, for 1 – 1 ½ hours.

Joy Story is head of the search committee.

• Millennial Garden Clean up is Saturday March 7th 10 – noon. 5 or 6 volunteers required.

• Seedy Saturday is March 14^th 10 – 3 at Cobble Hill Agricultural Hall. A table has been reserved for the club. We need a couple of volunteers – contact Cliff. Come later, it will be less busy so you can chat to Vendors and get your questions answered.

• Membership Dues are due in September. If you can’t pay at that time, please pay by January as that is the cutoff date.

• Winter Tour at HCP organized for Saturday March 21, 2015. 43 members have indicated they will be going. Participants to meet at Mill Bay Community Hall at 10:15am for car pooling. The 2 hour tour will begin at 11:00am. Lunch at 2pm. Optional Nourish lunch menu for $19.50 includes soup & sandwich, tea, coffee and dessert.

Community Flower and Garden Show– Chairman Bernie Juurlink

June 12 & 13, 2015

Volunteers needed for:

• Organizing the judging which is done Friday night.

• Silent auction organizer.

• Printing of signs, programs and judging forms.

• Publicity and promotion

• Outside Vendor contact.

• Photographer/videographer.

Current committee members include

Janice Rose, Dianne Regan and Cliff Stainsby. Former Chairperson, Monika Morgan, is willing to help from the sidelines. First meeting is 7pm February 2^nd,. Donations from last year’s show included $2500 divided between the SPCA, Foodbank and Women’s shelter.

Vice President – Joy Story

• Apologies for not being able to make the commitment to be President next season. Please become part of the executive, they’re a great group and it’s lots of fun.

• February speaker is Ryan Senechal, Backyard Orchards. He will talk about fruit tree pruning.

• Consider adding your garden to the Spring & Summer Garden Tour.

• Dustin and Connie have agreed to be part of the executive search committee.

Treasurer’s Report – Gale McIntyre

• $1934.87 balance.

• $171 membership dues paid to BC Council of Gardens.

Membership – Arlene Dench

• 8 renewals

• 6 new members

Facebook: Pauline Dueck

• Send plant sales or garden tour information to post on facebook.

Library – Janice Rose

• Current Fine Gardening magazine article on how to make your veggie garden pretty.

Members Forum

• Mary Gale mentions the Victoria Horticultural Society event Sunday February 22, 2015 2:30pm, Salvation Army Citadel in Victoria. 200 tickets available for $20/each. A ticket is being raffled off tonight.

• Beth Lecheron tells us Carolyn Webb is Chairperson of Seedy Saturday and this year there will be a gardening recycling exchange, by donation with the leftovers given to the Cowichan Green Community Society.

• Grow Food gardening course with Joy Story runs in February, March and April 23 & 25. Grow sprouts by purchasing organic seeds. Use a mason jar with a screen on top. Rinse the seeds twice a day. Mung beans and sweet peas will sprout.

Sunflower seeds sprout, then you plant them out and eat the green tops.

Brag Table – Barb Kohlman

• Cosmopolitan rhodo has been blooming since November. Camellia Yuletide single flower is the best.

Q & A – Bill Herring

• Early season this year. Shallots and garlic are up. Get potatoes in now. Weed now.

• Slugs like mild damp weather. To discourage them use copper wire - slugs won’t cross over because it shocks them. Egg shells, soot and sand also work as deterrents. Bushy grass and rock piles encourage snakes and they eat slugs. Beetles like leaf mulch and will eat slugs.

• Seaweed is a good mulch to put on the gardens in October, November. It contains trace elements not found in cow manure.

Coffee Break

Speaker – Cliff Stainsby

• Year round greenhouse gardening.

• Slide show of Cliff’s polytunnel which provides food year round.

 Meeting adjourned 9:05 pm.