Category: News from National

    “There were three crows”

It is the time for me to crow…to crow first; about the marvelous work of the Tri-County Branch and their festive, accomplished 80th birthday party in Hartford, NY, home finally of our beloved Mrs. E. Frances King.  Audrey Ehrler and Betty Monahan waited in the warm sunshine at the local firehouse for us to arrive. Within the branch and mounted several articles and clippings from their 80 years of work that included photos of Henry Ford, awarding a Ford tractor to the winner of a horse pulling and plowing contest, and Mrs. King along with Mrs. Ford, helping with a flower show. They are, I believe, the only branch still mounting a flower show, annually. And behold, on a table was a collection of rocks, for our Ambler project. As you remember, each branch is asked to furnish a local rock to go into the rock garden or path, at the Headhouse / Ambler project. Members shared recollections of branch history.

After the meeting, presided over by Janie Thomas, we visited the home of Mrs. King on Route 40. The young couple, a Mr. and Mrs. Waring are struggling to keep it going but her gardens have all but disappeared. Mr. Waring greeted us most hospitably and gave us a rock for the Ambler project from the grounds, and a white rose bush from what remains on a slope. He promised that the bush would thrive and the fragrance divine. I’ll report to you if it survives the New England winter.

Crow number two; I’ve just returned from the “Bee-Fest” at the Ambler Branch a huge crowd had paid $35 each to attend the lecture, displays and lunch along the garden tours at Temple / Ambler, our official home. It was a most successful fun-raiser which had been painstakingly planned by Mrs. Jenny Rose Carey, our Vise-President, Linda Lowe, our liaison and development at Temple Ambler, Grace Chapman, staff there and all in partnership with the Montgomery County bee association. Part of this effort is to re-establish a bee keeping course there. Every Booth had a T-shirts with a bee-keeping themes, and all kinds of honey, tulip and iris bulbs, displays with live bees in conjunction with 4-H. Not only was this great financial, but a lasting gift to the community.

 
Crow number three; Mary Bertolini has come up with a final and favorable reckoning of our June, Natick meeting and is well advanced toward next June in the Niagara Falls area. Michigan, as usual has been doing its wonderful things. Now sorry I was to miss the International Tea, which was such a grand success. The up coming, the Greens Market, just past, a Pumpkin Festival. Soon you will be getting your magazine, filled with good information edited by our talented Kathy Beveridge, and with an orchard cover from Jean Ehlinger’s collection of Orchidae.

 And now, like those three crows, I shall flap my verbal wings, and fly away.
FAITH

“Curses…an unidentified plant…..”

           Under all trees and plants in Heaven, (or whatever your thoughts on final destinations for us farmers and gardeners) I’m sure there are plant labels with names and even Latin ones.  Ideally we should all have on our bookshelves, a copy of “Gardener’s Latin” or a similar volume.  Eleanor Perenyi, writing in her “Green Thoughts” (1981) wishes she had ordered her Lavender plants using Linnaeus…that way, she would have avoided the “Lavender Swindles.”

            Deer cure…or so someone claims…two cups of water, two eggs and a teaspoon of dish detergent.  Spray on plants.

            We are most grateful to Julie Siefker for offering to handle Registration for the next June meeting.  Jenny Rose Carey is swamped with her work at the Ambler Arboretum for the coming months but will of course be available if needed.

            Congratulations once again to the Tri-County Branch on their 80^thyear.  I will be there to help them celebrate, along with Audrey Ehrler and her husband.  I hope to see many of you, then.

            I mentioned in my message to you in the forth-coming magazine, of the death of Norman Borlaug, Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Father of the Green Revolution and native of Iowa.  He was important to all of us, although many people had little knowledge of him and his work with wheat that provided untold millions of families with food.  He said later in life that it was his boyhood on the farm that motivated him to pursue his career in intensive modern agriculture.

            As the Green Revolution continues, whole towns such as Franklin, Massachusetts have applied new techniques to help nature.  Franklin discovered how to deal with storm water pollutants, by using “tree pit areas,” which catch storm water.  The trees capture the pollutants, filter them and the clean water goes back into the soil.  The town has chosen an ornamental flowering tree for its tree-centric storm water drains.

            These could save thousands of dollars and help to beautify the streets of this New England town.

            Don’t forget to send me your memory stories for our book.

            I suppose, like a good labeling gardener, I should label this message with something Latin.  Hmmmmm.

 

            “Summertime … When the living is easy…”

                Such a telling, a beautiful line from Gerschwin’s Porgy and Bess.

                Summer gives all of us time to enjoy the abundance around us and the blessing showered on us.

                All the wonders of the garden become available to us, not only to eat, but I hope that some of you are not only storing, freezing and canning your harvest, but will write some of your memories down for our book. Public Broadcasting is so eager to promote agriculture that it is running series on the importance of farm and garden life.

            Trees are a great part of our lives. Kay Engelhart touched upon this subject which deserves our attention … the awareness of trees as part of nature’s life cycle. Few people realize the value of their trees from just a monetary decorative point of view. But there is much more than that.

                For instance, The Arbor Day Foundation reports that the largest white oak in the U.S. is in Lawrenceville, VA, 86’ high and 5’ diameter. The Foundation stated that it would cost over $84,000 in a season to replace the storm water control provided by this tree. It removes 24 pounds of pollutants each year.

                So we can sympathize with Kay’s mother-in-law, who has been keeping alive against all odds, an elm tree nearly 17’ in circumference, alas, despite all she could do, the tree succumbed, leaving Kay’s mother-in-law devastated.

            So, from trees to bees – 60 Minutes had a sobering section on a recent broadcast, concerning bees; there was nothing on it that you haven’t already read about and discussed, except that a prediction that the U.S. would shut down for lack of bees if we don’t succeed in fixing things.  I’m so proud of all of you and what you have done, are doing and will do, concerning bees.

                In fact, I’m just plain proud of Farm and Garden members.