February 17 meeting notes

Hello fellow gardeners- notes by Cindi
The February meeting started with Coleen going over issues and plans we discussed at the Feb. 03 meeting we had at Nancy's house. One item was about changing members dues to $10 a year starting in September 2010. This is in response to our current economy. The other item we discussed was about the advertising for sculpture contest for our Barrington Town garden. We still have the sculpture that Adam Pearson submitted to us last year titled "Tree" that is beautiful and has been a valuable addition to our garden. The information for this years sculpture contest is going into local newspapers and other media. April 10th will be the deadline for entries: April 22 selection notification.

The Selectmen have voted to have the Town Garden featured on the cover of the Barrington Town Report-- look for a copy around town! There will also be an article about the Barrington Bloomers.

Here is where we really need help. Maintaining the town garden and a few other areas where we have planted, but mainly keeping the garden looking great for this summer season ahead. We will have a sigh-up for weekly cleanup from June- August in the near future. We will do bi-weekly from late Aug- Sept. The spring cleanup is May 15, Saturday from 9:00am-12:00pm, please come and join us as this is truely a case of "the more the merrier". The date for the library garden cleanup is May 22 from 9-12 and we will also go to the Historical Sociaty, post office, and the fire/police. There will be a group cleanup on November 7, a Sunday 1:00.

Amy Antonucci, Vice President of the Seacoast Beekeepers Assoc. of NH, gave a slide show and presentation about Honey Bees: Premier Pollunators in the garden & eco system. She was a very enthusiastic speaker and you can tell she really loves her bees. Gave us great information about how to attract and keep bees coming back to our gardens for pollination.
Handouts: Honeybee Disappearance Threatens Food crops: 5 ways to help and a list of local Beekeeping Clubs. Very informative meeting! We even had a few new faces show up!!

Our next meeting is a fieldtrip to Studley's in Rochester for a workshop on Plant Propagation.
It will be on March 17th, St. Patty's Day.
The meeting will start at 6:00 (NOTE TIME).
We will be carpooling from the town gym parking lot at 5:30 (far end by school as there is a fitness class held in the gym at 6:15).
Please let me know if you will be joining us and if you would like to carpool*. Reply to this email or call 664.2747 by Thursday March 11.
*Their is a limit of 15 people.
The cost is free for members and $13.00 for non-members.

Jeff Meulenbroek is the owner of Studley's as well as the head grower for their greenhouses. He has been involved in the growing there for over 10 years. He will discuss both seeds as well as cuttings. "It is a great time of year for the garden club members to go home with several cuttings they've taken themselves that they can grow in their home and garden the coming year. It's a great refresher or inspiration."
Hope to see you on the 17th!

happy gardening! yes, gardening-- I can see bulbs popping their green heads out of the ground-- it's almost spring : )