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Tuesday, August 25, 2015

August 25, 2015, Kim’s Weekly Garden Newsletter

August 25, 2015, Kim’s Weekly Garden Newsletter    © Kim Willis

Hi Gardeners

Is it fall?  I like cooler weather but not gloomy weather.  We got another inch of rain Sunday through Monday.  Looks like more might be on the way.  But the weather is going to warm up again this weekend so don’t worry.

The goldenrod and asters are blooming in the fields and in gardens.  My hardy hibiscus has yet to bloom but my Chinese hibiscus are putting on a great show, and I have a gorgeous new double Rose of Sharon in bloom that is a sort of plum-rose color.  I had a yellow water lily bloom in my small water feature.  It opens so fast you can almost see it opening, opens in mid- morning and closes in the evening.  I am still waiting for my brugmansia to bloom- although the buds are getting huge.  It has numerous buds for such a short plant- about 2 feet tall. 

Despite all the rain our pond is low again, I think it’s because we didn’t get much snow last winter.  I was down there for a look last night and was excited to see the shallow water was sprouting a new type of plant, water plantain.  Alisma subcordatum is a native plant that must have arrived with birds.  It’s not related to the plantain in the lawn although it has large, broad leaves.  It has tiny white flowers in clusters held above the water on long stems.  It grows in shallow, still water- that’s my pond all right.  Native Americans thought this plant could cure rattlesnake bites and rabies. I haven’t gotten any pictures yet but when I do I will share.

Double rose of sharon
We have been eating tomatoes and sweet corn almost every day.  I am giving tomatoes away and feeding them to the chickens. I have some damage from sun scald which results from early blight defoliating the plants.  The sweet corn is just about done however, which is a shame.  Our cabbage and carrots are making great coleslaw.  My melon plants are now growing quite vigorously and have lots of softball sized melons.  I hope they have time to ripen.  I actually got a couple of cucumbers from the garden.  I thought they had all succumbed to downy mildew but when I weeded (yep- I was negligent) I found a producing plant.

If you quit feeding the birds this summer it’s time to start again.  The birds need to fuel up for winter and fall migration.  Baby birds are quite vulnerable this time of year as mom and dad desert them and feeding helps them survive.  Keep those hummingbird feeders going too.

Let’s appreciate all bees, wasps and hornets

I am all for saving the honeybee and pollinators of all types.  But what many people don’t realize is that honeybees are not native to the Americas.  They were brought here by early Europeans and escaped and went wild.  And while they are great pollinators they do compete with our native bees.  And native plants are best adapted to pollination by native bees, although some plants seem to have evolved over time to make good use of honeybees.  And since many non-native crops that are adapted to honeybee pollination have also been planted in the Americas – such as apples and almonds, honeybees are needed here.  But don’t forget native bees, such as the bumblebee, have also adapted to pollinating foreign plants that were introduced here.

Wasps and hornets aren’t quite the same family as bees, but since they look similar and have the same ability to sting, people often lump them together.  Some wasps and hornets do pollinate plants but others are predators of other insects that harm plants, or they consume dead plants and animals.  As a whole all bees, wasps and hornets should be considered as beneficial creatures and we should be rooting for the survival of all of them, not just honeybees.

While many people do all they can to protect honeybees, they often go out of their way to kill wasps, hornets and native bees.  It’s understandable when people don’t want them in their homes and they worry about getting stung, especially if they are allergic to bee or wasp stings but that doesn’t justify the all-out war many people wage against these poor critters, especially in late summer.  Fear is no reason to kill things that aren’t hurting you and fear isn’t justified unless you are allergic to bee or wasp stings.  One sting won’t kill most people and it hurts less than getting a tattoo or your nose pierced.

While many bee or wasp stings could potentially kill you the reports of people being swarmed and killed by bees or wasps are exaggerated.  It’s unlikely to happen here in the US unless you go and stomp on a yellow jacket nest a few times.

While some bees, wasps and hornets are aggressive when you disturb their homes most leave you alone if you leave them alone.  And you shouldn’t disturb their homes if they aren’t in your home or in a place where you frequently need to go.  You may need to use poisons or mechanical means to get bees ( including honeybees) out of the home but you shouldn’t be spraying poisons on wasp nests way out in the yard, setting out yellow jacket traps in the yard or knocking down wasp nests that are under eaves high above the ground.

If the bee, hornet or wasp home is 10 feet away from where you need to pass by or you can detour around it then let it be.  These animals are far more beneficial to you alive than dead.

Why you don’t have to eat your weeds 

I belong to some groups on the internet that identify plants and discuss them.  It seems that with every ID someone has to mention that you can eat the plant, or part of it.  It’s like we are all starving and looking for sustenance wherever we can get it.  Now it’s nice to know that you could eat a plant if you were starving but a great many plants that are technically edible actually taste terrible.  You wouldn’t want to eat them unless you were starving, especially if there were more pleasant tasting plants around.  So if someone tells you should eat that weed rather than pull it and compost it- ask why. 

Don’t let people guilt you into making salads or soups and other concoctions out of absolutely nasty tasting wild plants just because they are edible or as they will tell you with earnest eyes- super nutritious.  Of course tastes differ, but there are reasons why some plants are cultivated and widely eaten and others remain- well- weeds.   And just because its “wild” doesn’t mean it’s better for you either.  There are plenty of cultivated, good tasting plants that you can get your carbs, fiber, vitamins and antioxidants from.  And if you are gathering those nutritious wild plants from along the road they may actually be worse for you than plants grown in the garden.

Yes the indigenous people of our area ate many different plants than what we eat now- although we do eat some plants that they introduced us to quite regularly. Did you know that the Native Americans of the woodlands, here in Michigan, never ate mushrooms of any type?  They considered all mushrooms “bad”.  Their children used the large flat mushrooms like shelf fungi to draw on with a stick.  Natives of the area did eat some lichens found on white pine.  They cooked these in fat and they were said to look and taste like scrambled eggs.

Lambquarters can be eaten but there are better tasting plants.
Some plants that we have lost over time, or seldom eat anymore, actually were pleasant tasting and good for us.  But indigenous people often ate certain plants only in times of scarcity or when they felt there was a medicinal reason to eat them.  They ate those plants because there was nothing else to eat, not because they were yummy or super nutritious.  Almost every plant that was native to an area had a use to Native Americans and they classified plants broadly by their use, but many of those uses were not food.  Some were for spiritual/magic use, some medicinal, some for fiber or dyes, some for building and so on.

And there’s another reason indigenous people were able to eat those food plants and digest them well enough to get the nutrition they needed from them.  They developed gut bacteria specifically designed to digest plants from their area that were regularly consumed.  Groups of people who live in specific areas have different gut bacteria than people who live in other areas. The gut bacteria develop over time and generations to digest foods efficiently that the people in that group eat regularly.  These gut bacteria are actually passed to children during childbirth. (Another good reason to have a natural childbirth if you can.)

So when people from another area eat foods they aren’t used to, their gut bacteria may struggle to digest them properly and this can cause problems.  A good example would be the starch inulin, which is found in things like Jerusalem artichokes or the proteins found in milk.  If your body doesn’t have gut bacteria designed to digest inulin or milk proteins you’ll have gastrointestinal problems like gas and diarrhea if you consume very much of them.  You probably won’t get the maximum nutrition from those foods and could even compromise your health if those products had to be a large part of your diet.   But in places where people consume a lot of milk or Jerusalem artichokes their gut bacteria will quite efficiently process them.

But it’s free!
There is some magic to some people about getting something for free-and no work involved just stroll around the woods and pick dinner.  Some of us would rather stroll out to a garden though- even if there is more work involved.  That doesn’t mean that some wild gathered foods aren’t worth the time to gather them.  Wild berries, maple syrup, and some mushrooms, for example can be quite delicious.  But most of us don’t have time to go hunter gathering every time we are hungry and many people don’t have ready access to a wild, public area to do so.  And if everyone did go out gathering their food everyday – what would that do to certain populations of wild plants?

There’s nothing wrong in trying some wild plant foods if you are absolutely sure that you have identified them correctly.  Its alarming when people ask someone else to identify a plant and then mention-  “It tastes sort of lemony- acidic.”  Don’t taste things until you are sure of its identity and know it’s harmless.  There are many plants out there that are not your friends.  But if you do know what it is and that it’s safe and you actually like the taste, then wild gathering may be fine for you. 

You don’t need to look at every plant growing in your yard, or the fields and woods next to it as a source of food or medicine.  Plants may have many benefits, such as controlling soil erosion, filtering water, providing food for pollinators or feeding animals that we like to eat.  The Native people of this area thought most plants useful, but ate less than 10% of them.  Even non-native plants can be beneficial to an environment, despite what some people think. 

You shouldn’t feel guilty if you don’t want to eat the dandelions from the yard or not use the purslane you pulled in a salad.  If you don’t eat the flowers you grow, you just want them to be pleasing to the eye, that’s fine. It’s not necessary to eat plants to appreciate them and if you don’t appreciate certain plants because they are competing for space and nutrients with plants you do like to eat or enjoy for their beauty its fine to add them to the compost pile. A plants worth should not be judged on whether it’s edible or medicinal.

Barberry- be brave and grow it

Barberries are excellent landscape plants, used in hedges, foundation plantings and as groundcovers. There are a number of foliage colors in yellows, burgundies and purples. Some varieties have excellent winter berry color as well as stunning fall color.  The thorny stems make them excellent to plant as barriers to foot traffic or around houses to dissuade invaders from hiding there.  The plants are easy to grow and care for and extremely winter hardy as well as resistant to deer browsing. 

Barberry in fall

Barberry berries are loved by birds and larger plants are used for nesting and cover.   Some people use a planting of low barberries in front of other plants to keep deer and rabbits away.  The thick thorny branches are quite a deterrent.  They were grown as hedges to keep farm animals confined in earlier times, but a fence might be safer now.  They can be used around chicken pens and houses to keep out some predators- or at least make it hard for them.  And if you don’t want kids to play in a certain area line it with barberry.

But among Midwestern and Eastern American gardeners there is some confusion about whether they are allowed to plant barberries. In the early 1900’s a program to eradicate barberries began in the Midwest and northern plains states because barberries can be a host for wheat stem rust, a serious wheat disease, that was causing huge crop losses. At that time the woods and fields were filled with common barberry, Berberis vulgaris, which was brought here from Europe by early settlers and escaped into the wild.  Even as early as the 1700’s European barberry was associated with disease problems in wheat, barley and oats in Europe and Russia but that didn’t stop people from bringing it to the new country.  There are also at least two native species of Barberry that are also hosts for wheat rust.  These were also eradicated.

Millions of barberry plants were uprooted and destroyed with patriotic fervor and a quarantine was imposed on importing or growing any varieties of barberry that could be infected with the wheat rust fungus. In states with cold winters the wheat rust fungus overwintered on barberry plants.  In spring the fungus oozed sweet nectar which attracted insects which then carried the fungus spores to wheat and certain other grain crops like barley and oats. ( Spores can also be carried by wind.) The eradication program was eliminated in 1975 by the federal government although some state continued programs longer. Recently there has been talk of a new program to eradicate wild barberry, since wild colonies of common barberry are burgeoning again and new strains of wheat stem rust are being found.

However if gardeners get their barberry plants from a reputable nursery they don’t have to worry that they will be infecting wheat fields with a serious disease or that the “garden police” will arrive to uproot their plants.  Every type or cultivar of barberry that is sold in the US has to go through a process of testing and registering that can take two years or more to make sure that that variety cannot get the wheat rust fungus.  Each cultivar is given a registration number that makes it legal to sell or grow it.  Most of these garden safe barberries come from Japanese Barberry Berberis thunbergii although a few species and hybrids of species from China and other places are occasionally seen.

Growing barberry
You will want to start with a plant from a good nursery of course, to make sure you are getting a legal variety.  Barberry can be started from seed but the seedlings will be highly variable.  There’s also a possibility that seed grown plants may be hybrids with common barberry or another cultivar that carries wheat rust as barberry plants interbreed easily.  Never dig up plants from wild areas, even horticulture varieties can be aggressive spreaders but you won’t know if these carry wheat rust.

Keep the green pruned out of red foliage barberry or
it will revert to green
Barberry will grow in full sun and partial shade.  They are not fussy about soil conditions.  They transplant well and are quite winter hardy.   They like fertile, well drained but moist soil but can tolerate sandy dry soil and moderate drought.  Most varieties are deciduous, dropping their leaves in the fall, leaving a show of berries beloved by birds.  A few varieties that are less winter hardy and grown in more southern areas have semi-evergreen or evergreen foliage.

Barberries have small rounded leaves that come in several interesting colors of chartreuse, lemon, gold, rose, pink, red, orange and purple.  Even green forms may have scarlet or orange fall foliage.  In spring they have small yellow flowers hidden under the leaves, which will turn into small elongated red berries in the fall and persist into winter or until the birds find them.

Green foliaged barberry is occasionally sold for hedges but most ornamental barberries will have some sort of interesting foliage color for the landscape.  Some varieties have lots of red berries for fall color but some are sterile or nearly sterile and don’t produce many berries.  Barberries with colored foliage have some tendency to revert to green foliage and when green sprigs appear they should be pruned out.

Since most barberries have small thorns on the stems you’ll want to take care where you plant them.  There are a few varieties that are thornless or nearly so but they are hard to find.  There are also several forms and sizes among barberries so chose what’s good for your space and needs. They range from compact groundcovers 18 inches or so in height to those varieties that are tall and narrow for hedges.  Many varieties have arching stems in a loose bush form.  Barberries take pruning well and can be shaped if needed to fit their space.

Prune barberries after flowering.  If you have overgrown, messy shrubs they can be taken down in a hard prune to 18 inches or so from the ground and will re-grow.  Most barberries look best however if allowed to develop a natural arching form.  Fertilize after a deep pruning and it’s also helpful to lightly fertilize barberry in early spring, especially in poor soils.

Barberries have a few minor insect and disease problems that generally don’t seriously harm the plant.  Anthracnose causes dark spots on the leaves with a yellow margin.  Sometimes barberries get powdery mildew in wet, cool conditions, which seldom kill the plant.  Barberry caterpillars are small dark worms that tie the leaf tips together with a fine web.  Barberries also get scale and sometimes aphids.  These can be controlled with insecticides.

Some gardeners think of barberry as a non-native invasive plant and its true birds will spread the berries and plants will pop up in unexpected places.  If this worries you locate varieties which produce few berries or are sterile.  Japanese barberry can invade woods and fields and when it’s seen should probably be removed.  However most modern varieties do not naturalize as easily as European barberry (B. vulgaris) or spread as quickly as native varieties, Allegheny barberry B. canadensis and Colorado barberry B. fendleri, which are actually getting harder to find since the great eradication event.  In many states it’s not legal to grow the natives or Common European barberry in gardens.

Varieties of Barberry
Northern gardeners ( Zone 7 and lower) will want to stick to approved registered varieties of Japanese barberry  Berberis thunbergii and possibly a few hybrids.  Here are some good garden varieties: B. atropurpurea, an older purple leaved variety from which many newer cultivars have been developed such as ‘Crimson Pygmy', red foliage, 2’ compact, and ‘Rose Glow’, rosy pink foliage spotted with purple, purple fall color, 6’ tall.

 ‘Aurea’ is a golden yellow foliage barberry which has little fruit.  'Kobold' looks much like boxwood, with green foliage and a tight 2’ mound of foliage that doesn’t need pruning. ‘Dart's Red Lady' actually has purple foliage that turns red in fall, 5’ high.  'Lime Glow' is a medium sized chartreuse foliaged barberry. 'Orange Rocket' has orange summer foliage, red orange in fall, 'Helmond Pillar' has green foliage, and a narrow columnar shape 2’ wide and 5’ high.

Culinary and medicinal use of barberry
The reason Common or European barberry was brought to America was because the berries were used for jams and jellies as a bonus to their being excellent hedge plants, often used to pen animals.  A yellow dye is made from the bark.  Barberries also had many medicinal uses. 

The berries have a tart, acidic flavor and needed sugar in quantity when making jam or jelly.  They were actually grown in rows for this purpose in medieval Europe but are seldom used for this today. They were used like lemon zest for flavoring some dishes also.  Mid-eastern cultures used the berries to flavor rice and candies and Iran still grows barberries for this use, although an epidemic of wheat rust disease in the Mid-East may change that.

Barberries contain the chemical Berberine, which inhibits bacterial growth and stimulates the immune system. Berberine also increases certain liver functions according to modern research.  Leaves, berries, bark and roots of barberry have been used in various folk remedies in Europe and the Mid-East and Asia.  Native Americans used their barberries less often for medicinal use but the berries were eaten as food, usually cooked with meat dishes or added to fat.

In Europe barberries seemed to be one of those all-purpose remedies, used for ailments from skin conditions, to stomach upset and diarrhea, for respiratory diseases, to induce abortion, and of course for liver and gall bladder problems.

Modern research has shown some effects on liver function and in the treatment of polycystic ovarian disease and diabetes.  Here’s a link to a study review –
which  found that barberry extract worked as well as metformin for polycystic ovarian disease treatment and lowered blood glucose.  Modern medicine is also studying berberine for use as a bladder infection remedy, skin disease and even cancer cures.

Before using barberry in home remedies be aware that many prescription medications interact with it.  Do not use if you are taking diabetes medications, antibiotics, blood pressure medications, blood thinners, Celebrex, diuretics, antihistamines- or just about any prescription meds.  Pregnant women should not use barberry medications because it can cause miscarriage and/or jaundice and liver problems in infants.

Don’t be afraid to grow barberries in the garden.  They are colorful, low care, hardy shrubs and registered varieties won’t upset the farmers in your area. 

Tomato and Bacon Jam- Got lots of tomatoes and want to try something different?

Tomato and bacon jam
A close scrutiny of the recipe reveals one thing- it’s basically a ketchup recipe with maybe a tad more sugar added and some bacon pieces thrown in.  Tomato jam isn’t bad though, and you may want to give it a try. One of the best ways to use this tomato jam is to slather it on some home fried potatoes.  It’s also good on crackers, meatloaf and grilled cheese sandwiches.

If do any canning and preserving you’ll know that this recipe is quite adaptable- you don’t need to follow it exactly.    You can make it less sweet- use a little more vinegar and a 1/4 cup less sugar, you can add finely chopped green or hot peppers, you can vary the spices to suit your taste.  Taste the product as you go and realize that as it cooks down the flavors will intensify.  Sugar is part of what makes the thick, jam like texture, so don’t use sugar substitutes.

Here’s a tip on cooking.  You can use a saucepan and slowly simmer this recipe until it cooks down. You’ll need to hover around the kitchen and stir occasionally, especially near the end when it’s getting thick, to keep it from scorching.  But you can also put the recipe in a microwave safe bowl- uncovered- and cook it.  You won’t have to watch it quite as closely although it will take almost as long to cook.   It helps to open the microwave door every half hour to let steam out and wipe off moisture inside with a paper towel.

The time will vary depending on a lot of things; expect at least an hour of cooking time.  It’s done when you have reduced it to about half; in the recipe below that would be about 2 cups of jam.  It will thicken as it cools too.  So here’s the recipe for tomato jam.

12 oz pkg. of bacon, cooked until crisp, drained and crumbled
4 cups of very ripe, finely chopped tomatoes
1 medium onion, finely diced
1 cup of sugar
2½ tablespoons vinegar
1½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon garlic power (optional)

Put everything except the bacon in a pan and cook until reduced to about half the volume and the jam looks thick and shiny.   This will take from 1-2 hours. Stir in the bacon pieces. Let the jam cool then divide into small portions.  Freeze what you don’t think you will eat within two days.  Refrigerate any jam that isn’t put in the freezer until used.  Jam in the freezer will keep for 2 months.
This makes about 2 cups of tomato and bacon jam.

What canning method to use for fruits and vegetables

It’s that time of year again in Michigan when fresh fruits and vegetables are abundant at farm markets and in the garden.  It’s great to be able to eat fresh and local now, but what about deep in a Michigan winter?  You can eat local if you can or freeze some of that abundant produce now.

Many people in Michigan are taking up canning for the first time and are a little unsure about what method to use when canning.  There are two major canning methods, water bath and pressure canning.  The old method of filling jars with hot food and just putting a lid on them and letting them seal as they cool is not recommended anymore.  Food canned in this manner is much more likely to spoil and cause food poisoning.

Water bath canning uses a large pot with a lid.  A rack sits inside to hold jars and keep them from bumping each other as the water boils.  The water bath canner sits on one of your stoves burners for heating.  Several sizes are available to hold 4 or more pint or quart sized jars. Water bath canners are fairly inexpensive and the pot can be used for cooking large batches of soup or chili.

These Michigan products can be canned using a water bath canner; tomatoes with added lemon juice or citric acid, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, gooseberries, cranberries, blackberries, cherries, apples, peaches, apricots, pears, plums, grapes, rhubarb, pickles, jams and jellies.

A pressure canner is also a large pot but it has a lid that seals and holds in pressure from steam.  Under pressure food can be heated to higher than the boiling point and that kills harmful bacteria present in low acid foods. There is a gauge at the top or weights to adjust the pressure.  It too uses your stove to provide the heat.  They also have racks to hold jars.  Many pressure canners can be used to cook meals too. 

Food that is canned in a water bath canner could be canned in a pressure canner.  However the pressure canner is necessary to safely can meats, vegetables and some mixes of things like relishes or sauces with meat.  These Michigan products need to be canned in a pressure canner; green beans, peas, carrots, potatoes, asparagus, peppers, corn, beans, spinach, squash, pumpkin, onions and mushrooms. 

All meat products need to be pressure canned.  Most mixes of vegetables need to be pressure canned.  Some tomato based sauces can be water bath canned; some need to be pressure canned.  Follow the recipe directions as to proportions and processing time exactly and don’t substitute ingredients unless the recipe gives suggestions.

Canning is not something to experiment with until you are very experienced.  Find a modern canning book like Knacks Canning, Pickling and Preserving and follow the recipes exactly.  Each recipe will tell you the time to process - or boil - foods in a water bath canner or what pressure and time to process in a pressure canner.  You count the processing time when the water begins to boil under a water bath canner and when the correct pressure is reached in a pressure canner.


Knowing the altitude that you live in is important in canning.  You adjust the time and the pressure involved in processing canned food depending on altitude.  Except for a few areas in Upper Michigan, most of Michigan is less than 1,000 feet in altitude, (elevation).  There are a few spots in Lower Michigan that are between 1000 and 1,500 feet.  You can check the elevation of where you live by going to the national weather site http://www.crh.noaa.gov/dtx/  and clicking on the map as close to your home as possible.  When the forecast for that area comes up there will be a box on the right side that lists your latitude and longitude and elevation.

Canning supplies are now available in most major stores.  You can often pick up used canners at garage sales and resale stores.  Make sure all the directions are included, especially with pressure canners, as there are several ways pressure canners can be adjusted and you must know how to do this.

Canning really isn’t hard and it allows you to preserve some of Michigan’s finest foods at their peak of nutrition and taste.  Just pick up a good canning book and some basic supplies and get started in preserving your own food for local eating all year round.

Looking for birdhouse gourds

The Lapeer Horticulture society is looking for birdhouse type gourds for a project.  If you have some or know where some can be purchased please let me know at kimwillis151@gmail.com

It’s a good night for soup or a nice pot roast.  Stay warm.
Kim Willis
 “He who has a garden and a library wants for nothing” ― Cicero


Events, classes and other offerings
Please let me know if there is any event or class that you would like to share with other gardeners.  These events are primarily in Michigan but if you are a reader from outside of Michigan and want to post an event I’ll be glad to do it.

Do you have plants or seeds you would like to swap or share?  Post them here by emailing me.

An interesting Plant Id page you can join on Facebook

Here’s a seed/plant sharing group you can join on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/groups/875574275841637/

Here’s a facebook page link for gardeners in the Lapeer area


Here’s a link to classes being offered at Campbell’s Greenhouse, 4077 Burnside Road, North Branch.  Now open.

Here’s a link to classes and events at Nichols Arboretum, Ann Arbor
Here’s a link to programs being offered at English Gardens, several locations in Michigan.

Here’s a link to classes at Telly’s Greenhouse in Troy and Shelby Twsp. MI, and now combined with Goldner Walsh in Pontiac MI.

Here’s a link to classes and events at Bordines, Rochester Hills, Grand Blanc, Clarkston and Brighton locations

Here’s a link to events at the Leslie Science and Nature Center, 1831 Traver Road Ann Arbor, Michigan  | Phone 734-997-1553 |
http://www.lesliesnc.org/

Here’s a link to events at Hidden Lake Gardens, 6214 Monroe Rd, Tipton, MI

Here’s a link to all the nature programs being offered at Seven Ponds Nature center in Dryden, Michigan. http://www.sevenponds.org/education/progs/springprograms/

Here’s a link to events and classes at Fredrick Meijer Gardens, Grand Rapids Mi
http://www.meijergardens.org/learn/ (888) 957-1580, (616) 957-1580

Exhibitors/demonstrators wanted
Seven Ponds Nature Center ( Dryden Mi.) Heritage Harvest Days, scheduled for September 19 and 20 is looking for additional artists and crafters who can demonstrate, display, and sell their work, especially that related to nature.  All exhibitors receive free admission to the event, as well as free lunch on one day of the festival. Please contact the center at 810-796-3200 if you would like to set up a booth or exhibit this year.



Newsletter information
If you would like to pass along a notice about an educational event or a volunteer opportunity please send me an email before Tuesday of each week and I will print it. Also if you have a comment or opinion you’d like to share, send it to me. Please state that you want to have the item published in my weekly notes. You must give your full name and what you say must be polite and not attack any individual. I am very open to ideas and opinions that don’t match mine but I do reserve the right to publish what I want.
I write this because I love to share with other gardeners some of the things I come across in my research each week. It keeps me engaged with local people and horticulture. It’s a hobby, basically. I hope you enjoy it. If at any time you don’t wish to receive these emails just let me know. If you know anyone who would like to receive these emails have them send their email address to me.  KimWillis151@gmail.com


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