I'm very pleased to see so much interest and enthusiasm in getting the club off the ground! Our first meeting was held at the Barrington Library on June 20 at 6:30pm. There were 22 people in attendance.
A name for the club was decided on... drumroll please... we are the Barrington Bloomers! Thanks to Kate for the creative name.
Officer positions were chosen:
President: Nancy K.
Co-president: Coleen S.
Secretary: Laura D.
Membership: Nancy K.
Refreshment coordinator: Paula R.
Help with program planning, etc: Lindy H.
The next meeting will be August 1, 2007 at the Barrington Library, 6:30pm– hope to see you there. Details will be posted shortly. In the meantime I will be checking out other options for a meeting place as space is an issue at the Library.
Many topics for future meetings of the group were talked about...
Visit other gardens (field trip), have another garden club come and talk about what they do for their towns, soil prep, natives, butterfly gardens, shade gardens, pest control– natural pesticides as well, plant division, invasives, have a speaker from UNH extension, master gardener Q&A, herbs for cooking, flower arranging, wreath making.
The idea of having non-members pay a fee to come to the talks/demonstrations was agreed to by all to help raise money (for town gardens, for speakers, a scholarship?). The club would also have a yearly dues for members, amount to be determined at next meeting ($5 or $10 or ?).
It was unanimous that Barrington needs some “curb appeal.” We'll be looking into what we can do to add some color to areas in the town. Some of the areas mentioned are the intersections of Routes 9 & 125, the triangle at the intersection of Province Road and Route 9, the post office. One major concern is how to get water to the site(s) and who will water the area. Newmarket came up as having a very nice display of flowers done by the garden club in town (a possible speaker on this topic?).
Once we get the details all set for the next meeting we will pass along the info for publication to Foster’s, The Rochester Times and The Town Common newsletter.
The meeting closed with a successful plant swap.
Looking forward to the next meeting. Happy Gardening!
4 comments:
This is SO fun. Hats off to Nancy for getting us started. Let me know when you want my help. Lindy
Pretty blog site, Nancy!
I spoke to Roseanne of the Newmarket Gardeners (NG) and she had the following to share:
Watering: they have all town water and sprinkler systems with the exception of 1 garden area which has large water barrels that the DPW fills and then they have a spicket attached and a person goes regularly and waters using water from these barrels
We could use soaker hoses and have them connected to barrels that the DPW fill, use lots of peat and have drought resistant plants. Also if a garden is on someone’s work route they could watch and water- keep gallon jugs in car and fill at home and work
Newmarket uses stewards for gardens. The steward is responsible for upkeep of “their” garden. Although at start of season they have a work day and all gardeners help get beds prepped for season. A good work schedule is key.
DPW (Division of Public Works) works with NG: they helped get beds ready and deliver mulch and water to barrels
Have UNH do soil samples- free service. UNH would be a great resource for us. They may also have grants for us as a start-up group. (I sent an e-mail to Master Gardener coordinator)
Work directly with the town: check ordinances in regards to barrels (for planting in) and window boxes, etc. Ask what areas they’d like us to plant, do they have any $ to help start our group? Town funding?
Speak to businesses- some businesses may want to sponsor an area or have us plant at their business place (in Newmarket by the golf course and post office). This may include planters or window boxes.
Businesses gain business from the aesthetics of nice gardens and the town benefits in the area of real estate, as people want to live in places that are nicely maintained. Realators in Newmarket have people say they chose to live in Newmarket because the gardens add so much to the town. People must care about their community if they keep it beautiful.
Fundraising: they raise most $ from Annual Plant Sale that includes bulb sales, raffles (gift certificates, donated floral arrangements, etc.) They have a gardener that photographs flowers and makes cards and frames photos. These are sold year round at the library. They also have a booth at town events and sell the above mentioned items.
Since our library has spring plant sale she suggested a fall one. Include bulbs, sedum, pumpkins, mums, cider, baked goods and a speaker on how to put beds to sleep for winter. They buy wholesale and if buy for 50 cents sell for $1.
When the NG have their work day, they started getting people stopping to ask what certain plants were. So they started having them available for sale and made $ while working on gardens and some folks simply stopped and gave donations. A sign that tells who we are and they we are volunteers may help with donations. Deadheading and donations!
When they have speakers they simply put out a donation box- They found they get more money this way.
Create a mission statement
She suggested starting with 2 gardens and then in 3 years when they are ready to divide use those plants to begin a new garden. Have a holding bed at someone’s home.
All their gardens were designed for them by a member (they have 2 master gardeners)
Lots of good info to digest- She’ll answer any other questions we have
Laura D
In looking for places to meet I have found that:
The town hall does not have a meeting room for us to use.
The schools are available during the day in the summertime and until 11pm during the school year. I'm thinking that we see how the next meeting goes with attendance and decide if we would like to keep the meetings at the library or move them to the school. The meetings at the school would mean that the Barrington Bloomers would meet September through June. We can vote on this at the Aug. 1 meeting. If you cannot make it to that meeting and have any other ideas for a place to meet or would like your opinion known, please email me or leave a comment here.
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