Kingston Garden Club

Kingston Garden Club

February 17, 2010

Kim Schleis of Kim’s Gardens

Be Inspired!

Please make changes to your KGC Membership Book for the March meeting! There will be no garden tour in March. Instead, we will be going over to Linda M’s house after the business meeting to clean up and identify the plants in storage for the plant sale. Be sure to bring your gloves and garden shoes next month!

Program

Kim Schleis of Kim’s Gardens demonstrated how to start vegetable seeds. She explained the importance of using sterilized seed starting soil to start vegetables indoors. To test whether old seeds are viable and to start larger seeds like beans, place the seeds on a moistened paper towel, fold the paper towel over the seeds, and place the paper towel in a plastic bag in a warm place in your house. Within a few days to a week, the good seeds will crack and sprout. These sprouts can then be placed into soil in seed starting trays or direct sown into the ground in your garden when the soil temperature is 55 degrees or warmer. A soil thermometer is an excellent investment for checking soil temperature before planting outdoors in our area. Please go to her website at www.kimsgardens.com, visit her booth at the Poulsbo and Bremerton Farmer’s Markets this summer, or call her at 360-613-2882 for exceptional herb, flower, or vegetable plant starts!

Bess Bronstein, a Certified Arborist, will speak at our March meeting on pruning your ornamental shrubs.

Hospitality Report

Attendance: 37 members, 2 guests Jan E. and Will B. who became members, and 1 guest Catherine P.

Thanks to our hostesses: Debbie W., Mary G. and Holly G. and thanks to Bobbi W. for helping with setup and clean up.

Treasurer Report

Ann I. announced that we have plenty of money. She will be out of town in March and April.
Please remember to encourage education-related entities to apply for our Aloha Wright grants. Grant applications are due by the first of March. Dawn V. has 3 grant applications she will report on at our March meeting.

Sunshine Report

Elaine J. informed us Sharon N’s mother passed. Please offer her your condolences. Helen L. will be getting a pacemaker February 22 and would appreciate prayers and positive thoughts sent her way.

Elaine volunteers at Gordon Elementary School every Wednesday from 11:40am to 1pm with Project Linus teaching kids how to knit and sending knitted blankets to Seattle Children’s Hospital. Please contact Elaine to participate in this project.

New Business

President Maxine H. announced the upcoming Port of Kingston Garden Lights workshops will be held:

Thursday, February 25 10am to 12:30pm

Wednesday, March 24 10am to 12:30pm

Noel L. announced Spectrum will be offering their student yard workers again this year. Please contact Bob Geballe at 360-394-2866 if you are interested in hiring a student to help in your yard.

Maxine H. reminded us to check our copies of the Seattle Tilth’s “The Maritime Northwest Garden Guide” for tips on what you should be doing each month in your garden. The KGC will place an order for 25 copies of this publication to ensure we all have access to this important garden resource.

Kingston Garden Club Plant Sale

Plant sale chairperson Noel L. encourages members to pot up and divide plants from our gardens for the plant sale, as these were some of our best plants last year. Please look for the plant sale sign-up sheets at our March meeting.

Eleanor D. volunteered to be the new Volunteer Coordinator for the plant sale.
Wendy T. volunteered to be in charge of setup for the plant sale.
A volunteer is still needed to be in charge of clean-up after the plant sale.

Kingston Garden Club Quilt Raffle

Bobbi W. displayed our beautiful raffle quilt and sold raffle tickets. The quilt is registered in the annual Kitsap Quilters “A Quilter’s Journey” quilt show.

Kingston Community Beautification Committee

Kay P. reminded us the KGC is responsible for garbage pick-up around the Kingston Community Center. The committee is looking into purchasing Big Belly 100% solar powered trash compacting bins for downtown.

Kingston Village Green

Kay P. informed us the petition to start a Park Tax District to support the Village Green Community Center was completed. Thank you for your support!

Pearls of Wisdom

Elaine J. brought in a bough from her Christmas Cheer rhododendron.
Maxine H. brought in a bouquet from her garden of miniature rhododendron, Indian Plum, Hellebores, and Forsythia.

Speaker: Kim Schleis