November, 2015 - The Rake and Hoe Garden Club

november 2015
Bloomin’ Times
www.rakeandhoe.org
Member of the Garden Club of NJ and National Garden Clubs, Inc
November Program. . . .
“The King’s Gardener”
A national lecturer on horticultural topics, Kirk Brown will protray
John Bartram, America’s first and foremost botanist and collector,
at the upcoming joint meeting with the Garden Club of Westfield.
John Bertram, a colonial Quaker, is sometimes called the ’father of
American Botany’ He was a friend to many of the country’s
Founding Fathers and was instrumental to introducing many American plants into the English countryside. Enjoy a fun & informative
afternoon with our ‘sister’ club!
Notes from the October Program. . . .
“Flower Design on a Small Budget”
At our last meeting on October 11, 2015, our resident
award-winning, flower-arranging guru Barbara Mullin
presented a most enjoyable program on flower
arranging without breaking the pocketbook. She starts
with day old flowers she gets from local florist,
Christoffer's in Mountainside, plus other cuttings and
greens from her own garden. She always sketches her
floral designs, then her design talents kick in. Some of
her tips:
- Cover the oasis with ribbon or greens - in competition, no arrangement
mechanics can be visible.
- Measure twice - cut once.
- Put flowers in warm water to condition them.
- Use small displays for bathrooms.
- Use long BBQ toothpicks to hold and position fruit and veggies within
flower arrangements.
- If using flowering kale or similar materials, spread them out with your
hands.
- When designing centerpieces - judge the height by putting your elbow on
the table to be sure guests can see over the centerpiece when sitting.
As Barbara completed each design, the "oohs" and "aahs" filled the room. Not
only was Barbara's presentation informative, it was most entertaining as well.
Thank you Barbara!
- Richard P.
Upcoming Activities . . .
Community Service
11/10 Projects: Jardine Ornaments at
Mntnsde Community Rm.
12/8
Projects: Decorate at Jardine
Juniors
11/18 Small Terrariums, at Beth S.’s
12/16 Making Jewelry, at Beth S.’s
Meetings
11/2 Board meeting at Beth S.’s
11/11 Joint meeting with the GCW at
Presbyterian Church
11/30 (Dec) Board meeting at Pat W.’s
12/8
General meeting at the Westfield ‘Y’
Workshops
11/4
Horticulture: ‘Putting Your Garden
to Bed’ at Helen P.’s
11/5 Garden B’s: Bee House workshop.
Mountainside Community Room
11/23 Flower Design: Thanksgiving
Centerpiece at Mntnsde Comm. Rm
More to Do:
(additional info in GCNJ Newsleaf)
11/7
NJ Native Plant Society - The Birds
and Bees Conference; RVCC
Edward Nash Auditorium,
Branchburg, NJ. $55 fee.
11/14 GCNJ Youth Conference at Holly
House
12/5
Coming in December . . . .
Holiday Creations
Two of R&H’s creative & talented crafters, Tracy C. and Pat B.,
will guide us in a fun project for the upcoming season’s festivities. Enjoy an afternoon with fellow members as we get ready
for the Holidays.
Bloomin’ Times
-- November 2015 --
Short HIlls GC “Twilight Holiday
House Tour”. 2-6pm. $35
shorthillshomegardenclub.wordpress.com/
12/8 GC RFD presents a small Std Flower
Show at Middletown Arts Center.
1:30-4:30pm. tsgarden@comcast.net
12/10 GC of LBI 50th Annual House Tour,
Tea and Boutique, $45.
www.thegardencluboflbi.com.
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Announcements & Committee News . . . .
Letter of Thanks and Apology
from the Prez . . .
Thank you to Susan, Maryann and Inge for arranging
to sell allium bulbs also for
the veterans cause this
fall! ... and to all for their
kind donations by purchasing the bulbs!
To continue with our "Sharing with Our
Community" spirit, thank you to Carole
S. who arranged to purchase
the Challenge bulbs for the
Nancy Wallace competition
from the GCNJ which will
assist them in supporting the
State Flower Show. We had
lots of participation and the bulbs are
gigantic! We should have some spectacular flowers in February!
Speaking of February, are there any folks
who would like to do a Club Competition for the State Show? Stipends
awarded for plant material. [$200 for
windows and $100 for cars. See Barbara
Mullin or Kay Cross if interested in participating.] Decorate back end of a car
or do a window display. Lots of fun!
Looking even further ahead, registration
has begun for Montclair Art in Bloom for
May 2016. Diana has forms; we need to
know by January.
Dear Fellow Rake & Hoe Members,
Thank you all for your wonderful
response to the design program I did for
our club in October. However, I must
apologize for the blindfolded
arrangement that was included in this
program.
A dear and highly respected friend told
me that part of the presentation was not
an example of what floral design should
be. The purpose of presenting any floral
demonstration should be to show the
principles and elements of design and
how these are used to effectively to
create some thing of beauty. My friend
was right.
The blind-fold thing was something I
thought was clever, but it does not
equate to floral design it the true sense.
Light and color are two of the elements
of design and one cannot incorporate
these while blind-folded. Again, please
accept my apologies that I put this into
the program.
*****VETERANS’ HOLIDAY
BAG ALERT*****
November’s meeting will be the LAST
COLLECTION scheduled for your
holiday bags for the Veterans. If you
are unable to bring your bags to the
meeting you have 2 options. You may
either drop them at Mary Smith's home
or if you have a large number of bags
and cannot drop them off, Mary has
graciously offered to pick them up for
you. Please call Mary to make
arrangements BEFORE the next
meeting. THANK YOU to all who
were able to help this year!!!
A Big Thank You to everyone who
was able to help out with some of our
other projects this past (very busy)
month. Forty-five fall mini
With love and
affection,
Barbara Mullin
- Diana K.
A Note of Thanks from Samantha Feder. . .[sent to Irene G. to share with the Club]
I don't really know how to thank you for all that you have done for me, my mother,
and my family. The ceremony last month was beautiful. I know my mother would
have really loved it. She always said that the members of Rake and Hoe were so
thoughtful and kind. She truly got such joy out of being a member. I think that the
friends that she made in Rake & Hoe were some of the best in her life, you especially.
I am sorry that I didn't write sooner, but you can imagine that this is very emotional
for me. The tree you all picked is perfect and I know that my family will always enjoy
visiting it and that lovely garden that you have created. I want you to know that I
found a tremendous amount of comfort in the ceremony. Hearing the wonderful
memories reassured me that she will always be remembered for the terrific person
that she was. The same goes for your thoughtful emails and pictures that you have
sent. I am extremely grateful to you and the other members for honoring her in
such a beautiful and personal way.
You are a wonderful person and friend--I know that you were very important to my
mother and that she really loved you.
Thank you so very much--
Samantha
Bloomin’ Times
Community Projects . . . .
-- November 2015 --
arrangements were put together for
Mobile Meals, delightful arrangements
in jack-o-lantern containers were made
for the veterans and 162 hand -written
thank you cards were delivered to
Lyons Veterans Hospital for
distribution on Veterans day in
November. Pls. visit this issue’s R&H
Photo Gallery for some more photos of
these fun activities.
Our next event will be the
ORNAMENT WORKSHOP on
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10 at 1:30PM
at the Mountainside Community Room.
We will be making adorable deer
ornaments to decorate the holiday tree
at the Jardine Academy. Please call
Janet Gardner if you would like to join
us for some chit chat and of course
some holiday nibbles.
The HOLIDAY TREE decorating
will take place on Tuesday, December
8 at 10:30. Please look for the signup at
the November meeting.
- Lee P.
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More Committee News . . . .
Horticulture (cont’d) . . . .
Floral Design . . .
Eight members attended
a design workshop at
Barbara M's home. In
this workshop, each
attendee receives the
same components
(except for color) to
make a vertical design.
This workshop started
off with an already prepared demo
sample. Then as the instructor worked
on a fresh demo, each piece of plant
material was placed, then the students
did the same. Along the line, the
instructor reviewed the progress of
each student designer and asked
permission to correct any errors along
the way. In this way, the students all
produced a very nice vertical design.
Pls. view the Photo Gallery to see how
each student embellished with supplied
foliage and secondary flowers.
- Barbara M.
Trip to El Dorado Farm
‘Thank you’, Gayle! Members enjoyed
an annual trip to El Dorado farm. A
good time was had by all. Lisa, the
friendly goat was a favorite and afterwards we had a delicious lunch at the
Clinton Inn. More pictures can be
found in the Photo Gallery. - Jeanie P.
The Juniors celebrated October with a
Jack-be-little pumpkin fest led by Holly
S. First, the girls learned how pumpkins
grow. The girls seeded the little pumpkins and roasted them, then enjoyed
them with applesauce for a snack.
Winterizing the Garden
- Susan D.
Bloomin’ Times
Leonard Buck Gardens
Trip & Workshop
On October 20th, several Rake and
Hoe members attended the Leonard
Buck Gardens and Photography Workshop. It was a great learning opportunity for all participants. Lookout for
their entries in the Flower Show.
‘Thank you’ to Irene for organizing the
trip.
Juniors . . . .
Horticulture . . . .
A group of 18 members eagerly followed Helen P. around her fabulous
gardens on a
gorgeous day.
She is a dedicated gardener
and shared
many "tips" on
planting,
mulching &
pruning to help
our plants through the winter months.
It was fun to hear her explain how she
manages the abundance and constant
changes in her garden...even with the
hungry deer nibbling away. Pls. visit
the Photo Gallery.
Photography . . . .
While they were baking, the girls moved
on to new pumpkins for a lesson in
making small flower arrangements. Nina
S. showed them how to attach the
pumpkin top for a very nice effect.
The group started on their bugdominum
projects but more on that, and a full set
of 'how-to" photos next month.
- Beth S.
-- Address Change -Rosemary Atwell
9440 Holliday Drive
Indianapolis, IN 46260
702-335-0732 -- November 2015 --
Calling all
Rake & Hoe photographers!
The NJ State Show is coming up. It is
just four months away. Now is a good
time to start going thru your photo
files. Look for photos that will fit the
categories and classes on the Flower
Show Schedule. You can then concentrate on cropping and zooming for the
best view. Do not forget to buy the
frames if you need them [Contact Inge].
The show will be here before you
know it.
A Photo Brief
When taking pictures, I tend to play
with the aperture setting on my camera to change the depth of field. By
changing the aperture setting (also
known as the f/stop), the camera selects the right shutter speed. On some
point and shoot cameras, the aperture
setting is not as obvious. A ‘portrait’
mode or flower mode will give a shallow depth of field; likewise for a
’flower’ macro mode. On the other
hand if you select the ‘landscape’ mode
(usually a mountain), you will get a
deep depth of field. Of course, practice always helps.
-Margot P.
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The Rake & Hoe Photo Gallery. . . . . November 2015
October General Meeting
(photos by ‘Pelikan Pix’.)
Thanks!
. . . to the photographers
who contributed to this
issue of the Bloomin’ Times:
‘Pelikan Pix’ (Jeanie & Richard
Pelikan), Barbara M., Nina S.,
Susan D., Beth S., and Lee P.,
The R&H Photo Gallery can be viewed online or in
your e-mail.
Bloomin’ Times
-- November 2015 --
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The Rake & Hoe Photo Gallery. . . . . November 2015
El Dorado Farm
(photos by Pelikan Pix)
Leonard Buck Gardens
(photos by Pelikan Pix & Irene G.)
Bloomin’ Times
-- November 2015 --
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The Rake & Hoe Photo Gallery. . . . . November 2015
Joan Kylish
Barbara Mullin, Instructor
Beth Hanscom
Susan Dinan
Floral Design Workshop
(photos by Barbara M.)
Cathy Becker
Mary F. Smith
Carolyn Klinger-Kueter
Irene Greenstein
Garden Workshop
(photos by Susan D.)
Bloomin’ Times
-- November 2015 --
Paula Long
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The Rake & Hoe Photo Gallery. . . . . November 2015
Mobile Meals
(photos by Pelikan Pix)
Cards for Veterans
(photos by Lee P.)
Juniors
(photos by Nina S. & Beth S.)
Bloomin’ Times
-- November 2015 --
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The Rake & Hoe Photo Gallery. . . . . November 2015
Northside Train Station
(photos by Pelikan Pix)
Color Your World. . . .
Inspired by a beautiful bridal
boquet, shared by Kirsten’s mom,
Pam K.
Bloomin’ Times
-- November 2015 --
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