February Newsletter 2020

Next Meeting...February 12th, 6:00 pm, Girl Scout Building, Speaker Amber Slauderbeck

Full Snow Moon...February 9th, Snow can host forms of algae that tint it red, green, orange, yellow, or gray.

New moon... February 23rd, When the North Star twinkles, expect stormy weather.

Jump for Joy

Celebrate leap year by planting flowers that seem to leap right out of the ground. Cheerful Johnny-jump-ups brighten garden beds and pathways, and they’re also edible! Johnny-jump-ups have a mild wintergreen flavor and can be candied to use for decorating cakes, frozen into cubes to dress up drinks, or eaten straight from the garden for a fresh treat.

Leap Day….

It was once thought that planting peas and beans in a leap year (or leap day would cause them to grow the “wrong way” in their pods.

Winter Bird Feeding – How To Help Birds Survive Winter

Helping Birds Make It To Spring…For a gardener, there is nothing more pleasant than the sound of chirping birds in early spring. Their beautiful songs are a signal that the long, dark, cold days of winter are at an end, and a glorious new garden season is upon us.But in order to make it to their spring-singing show, many birds are more than grateful to get a little help in the way of extra food and shelter.

Winter is tough on birds. Food is scarce, and water can be as well.The insects that were so plentiful in the spring, summer and fall have all but disappeared. So have many of the foliage, berries and other food sources that birds rely on for nutrition.

And when the temperatures drop below freezing, fresh drinking water is nearly impossible to find. That’s why it’s vital to help birds out wherever and whenever we can during the winter months. Here are a few simple winter bird feeding tips to help keep your neighborhood songbirds alive and well.

Winter Bird Feeding Tips.. Supply Birds with a high calorie/ high fat feed. Braving the cold burns up a lot of calories for birds. Supplying them with a steady diet of high calorie / high fat food throughout the winter can go a long way towards keeping them warm and healthy. Black oil sunflower seeds, millet seed and peanuts are all excellent choices for filling bird feeders in the winter. They provide the high fat and calorie content birds need. Be consistent when feeding. When feeding birds in the winter, the name of the game is consistency. Birds are creatures of habit. If they know there is an available food source, they will keep coming back to it time and time again. By keeping feeders filled consistently, you give birds a reliable and safe source of food. This is especially important when the weather turns extremely cold or snowy.

Birds Need Water, Even In The Winter.. Having a source of fresh water is important to birds in the summer, and the winter. Filling bird baths or setting out small pans of water during daylight hours can go a long in helping birds maintain their health.

Keep Natural Shelters In Place Birds need protection from the harsh elements of winter. One of the easiest ways to do this is to leave natural plant protection in place throughout the winter. Resist cutting back and pruning ornamental grasses, shrubs, bushes and other perennials until spring.

Go to thisismygarden.com for more information.

Club News…Board meeting will be held February 4th at 5:30, Grand Traverse Pie Company. Scholarship and Bus trip committees will be giving updates. Recruitment event will also be discussed. Board meeting is open to anyone to attend.

Meeting will be February 12th, 6:00pm at the Girl Scout council. Membership fees for the 2020 year will be due, $16 for single and $26 for couple. Please complete the membership application, we want to make sure we have your correct information. The speaker will be Amber Slauderbeck. She is an expert in invasive plants, will update us on the list of invasive plants for our area.

Spring Thyme Plant and Herb Fair Update…..We have 41 vendors so far, total deposited $1,770.00. We have 3 food vendors, Fi Fi’s Lunch Box, Butler’s Pantry, and Joe’s Garage BBQ. We are still trying to locate one more food vendor, preferable an ice cream, sweets vendor.

We received a letter from Alma (Praireland Gardens), she has started plants and they are doing well. She also needs to raise the price this year, just a $1.00 per flat. That is a $394.00 increase, which is not bad as we have not had an increase for at least 7 years. She also has ordered our blackberries and raspberries; she is not sure of the price for these as of yet.

Getting our name out there…We have been asked to do a presentation for the Home Extension group in Vermillion County. They are having a Spring Event on Wednesday May 6th with Herbs as their theme. They are asking for a 30 minute or so talk on herbs, it can be health, cooking, beauty or soaps, they are flexible. The event will be held at the Wayside Methodist Church and starts at 10:00. The speaker wouldn’t start until around 10:15 to 10:30. Sue Weber is the contact person. I will contact her after our February meeting.

Indiana State University has contacted us about their Earth Day. It will be held April 22nd starting at 11:00 am – 2:00 pm. We would be given a table in the middle of the fair, and would be able to hand out flyers, giveaways and such. But we could not sell anything. Both of these opportunities would be great to promote new members and our Spring thyme Plant and Herb Fair.

Kristen Gerau is the contact person, we need to let them know no later than March 11th.

Meeting Program Sign Up Reminder

Below is the activity meeting sign up calendar. Thank you to Verdeana Boyles and Connie Cooper for this month’s speaker, Amber Slauderbeck. When you have your activity or speaker set up please let me know so I can put it in the newsletter. I know this will help with meeting attendance. If you did not have a chance to sign up for a meeting, just ask someone on the list, I know they would always accept help.

Meeting Date Activitiy/Member in Charge

March 11th Open House/membership drive

April 8th Jeanne & Don LaVanne Debbi Ganz

May 13th Herb Fair Pizza Party

June 10th Larry and Julie Agee

July 8th Scholarship Picnic

August 12th Barb Fowler Vicki Cochran

September 9th Pat Woods

October 14th Treva & Virgil Cook

November 11th Sue Claycomb

December 9th Christmas Dinner

February 22nd George Washington’s Birthday

Did you know that one mature, standard size cherry tree (sweet or tart) will produce 30-50 quarts of cherries each year; a dwarf tree, about 10-15 quarts.

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2020 Wabash Valley Herb Society Calendar

Date Event Time Place

January 7th Board Meeting 5:30 Pie Company

February 4th Board Meeting 5:30 Pie Company

February 12th Meeting 6:00 Girl Scout Building

March 3rd Board Meeting 5:30 Pie Company

March 11th Meeting 6:00 Girl Scout Building

March 19th Garden Party 10:00 am Deming Park Garden

March 31st Board Meeting 5:30 Pie Company

April 8th Meeting 6:00 Girl Scout Building

April 16th Garden Party 10:00 am Deming Park Garden