The Powisset Garden Club of Dover
Powisset Garden Club
2011 - 2012 Calendar of Events
OCTOBER
A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE
Meeting: Wednesday, October 5 9:00 a.m.
Where: Caryl House Barn
Our first regular meeting of the year: we’ll review some business as well as the schedule of events for the year. Following this we’ll take a walk in the Noanet Woods with Russ Cohen, professional environmentalist and wild foods enthusiast. We will be looking for wild edible plants – especially mushrooms. Please note the saying: There are old mushroom eaters and there are bold mushroom eaters, but there are no old, bold mushroom eaters. So we will follow Russ’s advice very carefully!
Guests are welcome to join the walking tour – beginning at around 10:00 a.m.
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Field Trip: Monday, October 17 9:30 a.m.
Kevin Doyle’s seaside garden in Kingston, Massachusetts. Details to follow.
Executive Board Meeting: Wednesday, October 26 9:30 a.m.
Location: TBA
NOVEMBER
“GARDEN TO TABLE” COOKING DEMONSTRATION
Meeting: SUNDAY, November 6 1:30 p.m.
Location: Rose Di Bartolo’s home
This workshop/demonstration has been inspired in part by the new "Garden to Table" program at Massachusetts Horticultural Society at Elm Bank. The program aims to increase awareness of the value of locally grown produce. Interest in growing and eating locally grown foods is spreading across the country and is more and more evident here in New England. Our own Rose will demonstrate how to preserve and cook these local foods in many delicious ways. Tastings and recipes will be available, as well as some local wines to sample.
Spouses, friends and potential members are welcome and encouraged to attend!! $5.00 per club member is appreciated to help cover the costs. Spouses and friends may attend as our guests.
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– Festival of Trees at Elm Bank
Volunteers needed to help with this fun and creative civic project. Please contact either Liz Marson or Cara Groman to sign up.
– Nursing Home visits
Please contact Anne Coster to volunteer to help out with flower arranging at one of the area nursing homes. This project always brings a smile to the faces of the elderly residents and is much appreciated.
– Soldiers Memorial Clean-Up
Volunteers are needed for fall clean-up and bulb planting. Please contact either Lorraine Sarafian or Karen Goldaber to sign up.
DECEMBER
DIY HOLIDAY ARRANGEMENTS
Meeting: Wednesday, December 7 9:00 a.m.
Location: Great Hall, Dover Town House
Last year we watched Betty Sanders create holiday baskets using greens cut from her own yard. This year we will make our own! Members will need to bring baskets or other containers of their choice to this meeting, along with whatever assorted greens they can find in their own backyards. Beth Paisner has volunteered to pick up flowers for us to use from the Flower Exchange. Members wishing to help Beth out should contact her. More information will be provided as we get closer to the date.
JANUARY
SLOW FOOD ~ SUSTAINABLE GARDENS
Meeting: Wednesday, January 4 9:00 a.m.
Location: Great Hall, Dover Town House
Presentation by John Forti, Curator of Historic Gardens and Landscapes at Strawbery Banke Museum, Portsmouth, New Hampshire and co-founder of Slow Food Seacoast
Inspired by the past, this talk helps to foster a better understanding of environmental stewardship, organic gardening, and the sustainable practices that will help us to live more sustainably in the future. The artisanal crafts known to gardeners through the centuries are once again taking root in the farmers markets, back yards and kitchens of the 21st century, and this talk helps to lead the way. We will explore Slow Food, Renewing America’s Food Traditions (RAFT), and the rare heirloom produce that helped to feed and medicate us 12 months a year from our own back yards. So sit back around the table and enjoy this exploration of the new “democratization of American food” with the co-founder of Slow Food Seacoast
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Executive Board Meeting: Wednesday, January 18
9:30 a.m.
Location: TBA
WINTER GALA!
Saturday, January 28 5:30 p.m.
Location: Jeanne Rafter’s home
This year we will have a yankee swap and pasta cook-off to create some cheer and help fend off the winter blues! Bring your party hats!
FEBRUARY
FANTASY ISLAND
Meeting: Wednesday, February 1 9:00 a.m.
Location: Great Hall, Dover Town House
For those of us not able to escape the winter, this will give us an opportunity to at least dream about a fantasy island. We will have some fun creating floral arrangements that take us – at least in our imaginations – to that tropical fantasy. We will break up into teams, choose an island that inspires us and set about using containers and flowers (maybe even sand and those little tropical drink umbrellas??) to bring the dream to life. Judges will determine which arrangements best exemplify the tropical island each team has chosen to depict.
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Executive Board Meeting - Wednesday, February 22
9:30 a.m.
Location: TBA-School Plant Project
Dover Middle School
MARCH
GARDEN BIRDS AND THEIR HABITS
MASSACHUSETTS AUDUBON SOCIETY
Meeting: Wednesday, March 7 9:00 a.m.
Location: Tina Greenfield's House
An expert birder from the Massachusetts Audubon Society will present a talk on our local garden birds, including information on their habits such as migrating, mating, nesting and raising their young and also what garden plants are most likely to attract them by providing food and shelter.
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Field Trip: Tuesday, March 13
8:30 a.m.
Logees Greenhouses
Location: Danielson, Connecticut
This is a self-guided tour. The Dover Garden Club has been invited to join us. They have seven greenhouses filled to the brim with fabulous tropical plants: passion flowers, angel’s trumpets, citrus, scented geraniums, begonias and more. A wonderful, colorful place to visit at any time of year, but especially in the gray days of March!
APRIL
MEMBERS’ DAY!
Meeting: Wednesday, April 4 9:00 a.m.
Location: Great Hall, Dover Town House
Three of our own members will talk to us about their passions, experiences and skills:
Anne Coster will share her knowledge and skill in the field of botanical drawing.
Maureen Dilg will talk about and show slides from her visit to Morocco – including some fabulous gardens!
Beth Paisner will describe her internship experiences in the floral department at the MFA
MAY
ARE THERE FAIRIES IN THE BOTTOM OF YOUR GARDEN?
Meeting: Wednesday, May 2 9:00 a.m.
Location: Great Hall, Dover Town House
Tulips and thyme, foxgloves and cowslips are among the fairies favorite flowers. In fact, many of our common garden flowers have been associated with the little people by story, song and tradition since the most ancient of times. What are fairies, where do they come from and what plants are they especially fond of? Hear the stories and learn the cultural requirements of the fairies favorite plants. Could there be faeries in your garden? Well maybe, if you grew some of these!
Speaker: Betsy Williams
Betsy is the author of several books on the uses and stories of herbs and flowers; she has lectured and taught at Colonial Williamsburg, the Ozark Folk Center and the New England, Rhode Island and Cincinnati Flower Shows. She created the first Fairy Festival, now replicated throughout the country.
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Board Meeting: Wednesday, May 16 9:30 a.m. – All are welcome to attend.
Location: Madge Casper’s home
– Soldiers’ Memorial Planting
Volunteers are needed for spring clean-up and planting annuals. Please contact either Karen Goldaber or Lorraine Sarafian.
JUNE
ANNUAL LUNCHEON AND AUCTION
Meeting: Tuesday, June 5 11:00 a.m.
Location: Jeanne Rafter's home
Come celebrate the year’s accomplishments and the beginning of gardening season (our favorite) at our annual luncheon and silent auction. This event will be held at Tina Greenfield’s beautiful home. A brief meeting and the installation of officers will precede the festivities.
All members, both Active and Sustainers, are asked to donate an item for the auction. This is a major fundraiser for the club. Get creative and have fun with your donations! Don’t forget to bring your checkbook – this is a multi-tasking event: we shop, enjoy lunch, and pay our Annual Dues
Soldiers’ Memorial – needs water and care over the summer – please volunteer to help out
