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There can be no other occupation like gardening in which, if you were to creep up behind someone at their work, you would find them smiling.
~~ Mirabel Osler

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OUR NEXT MEETING: January Business Meeting

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LAST MONTHS' PROGRAM:


Charles Moore presented a travelogue of that great state, Alaska, featuring glaciers, Native American culture, rain forests, gardens and more.









THIS MONTHS' PROGRAM:


Joe Flippen's SURPRISE! Come and find out what it is!


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NOTICE
Due to lack of usage, the Shoals Men's Garden Club website will be discontinued in the near future. When the website is discontinued, the Grapevine will continue to be published but in Word Format. It will be emailed to all the recipients on our new email list. If you are not on the list you will have received a "Final Notice" email notification. Should you wish to remain on our email list, you will need to send an email to jlingwersen@gmail.com.

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SBA 2010 GARDEN SEMINAR & WORKSHOPS
Date: Thursday, July 15, 2010
Time: 8:00 am until 4:00 pm
Place: Cox Boulevard Church of Christ.....Sheffield, Alabama
Theme: GARDENING POTPOURRI - IT IS EASY BEING GREEN - ENVIRONMENTAL GARDENING

Agenda:

8:00-8:30 Registration (Coffee and Juice)
8:30-9:00 Welcome (Sheffield Mayor and Housekeeping duties)
9:00-9:50 Leon Bates "Gardening with Natives"¯
9:50-10:10 Break
10:10-11 Cory Brown "Urban Gardening Legends and the Unusual"
11:00-11:50 Amy Rakestraw "Landscaping Small Garden Spaces"
12:00-1:00 Lunch
1:00-1:30 Chris Becker "Rain Barrels Lecture"

¯ Workshops
1:00-3:00 Container Gardens
1:00-3:00 Pruning Demonstration
1:30-3:30 Rain Barrel Workshop

Costs:

All 3 morning sessions including lunch ..........$30
Afternoon Workshops ...............................Cost TBD

There will be limited participation in the afternoon workshops with attendance based on a first ones to register with payment.

Stay Tuned. More Information to come !!!!

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The Incredible Edibles

The season of weeds is almost upon us again. They grow better than about anything in my garden so I thought maybe everyone would like to read about something different to do with them - eat them! These two articles I found quite interesting and have added some photos to wet our appetites!.


A FEAST OF WEEDS

by Dr. Leonard Perry, Extension Professor
University of Vermont
Courtesy of University of Vermont Extension Department of Plant and Soil Science


Do you ever think, when weeding each year, that there must be some use for all those weeds? Well there is. Some of our more common weeds can be quite tasty!





Most have heard of dandelion wine, made from the blossoms, but you can begin eating this plant raw in salads. Harvest the youngest plants, those not yet in bloom, for the best taste. You can steam the leaves as you would other greens such as spinach. If you are allergic to members of the aster family, such as ragweed and daisies, use caution when eating this plant or relatives such as chicory and burdock.





If you live near a field or have areas of unplanted soil, you may have burdock (i). Africans know it as "gobo" and Italians as "cardone." Roots can be steamed as a vegetable, but the best part is the young stems cut into half-inch pieces and steamed. Use them in stews, soups, or as a cooked vegetable with your favorite topping. Avoid this plant though if pregnant.







The leaves of lambsquarters (Chenopodium) can be steamed and eaten as you would spinach. Many who have eaten both actually prefer it over spinach. Try some in quiche. In New England it was traditionally canned for winter use. As with many weeds, the young shoots are best. Or you can keep harvesting new side shoots, promoting more branches and more young shoots.

Lambsquarters is another weed that has been enjoyed around the world, and through time. It was even cultivated in Neolithic times, seeds having been found preserved in archeological sites. Romans, and then later Europeans, cultivated it as a garden vegetable until the 18th century. Native Americans ate it, and Japanese still eat it, or preserve it in salt.

There are a couple of cautions with lambsquarters. If harvested from fields with heavy fertility, plants may contain harmful levels of nitrates. This is also true from herbicide-sprayed plants that should never be eaten of this, or any other weed. Those with arthritis, gastric inflammations, hepatic conditions, gout, rheumatism, or prone to kidney stones should use caution with lambsquarters and other similar plants containing oxalates. This would include dock (Rumex) and wood sorrel (Oxalis) among others.






Dock, also known as sorrel, has been used in French sorrel soup and cream sauces for fish. The lemony flavor is intense, so only use a tablespoon of chopped leaves. Enjoy in moderation, no more than once a week.










Young shoots of Japanese knotweed (Fallopia) are a favored vegetable in Asia, where they are steamed and served with rice. Or they can be used in fruit pies for their tartness. They contain Resveratrol, which has been shown to help prevent heart attacks.











Leaves of Ground Ivy (Glechoma) have a woodsy mint aroma, and slightly bitter taste. Use them in salads or in sauces. Until the 17th century when hops became popular to flavor beer, this plant was used.















Leaves of plantain (Plantago) can be eaten raw when young, cooked when older. Steam them as greens, or use in soups. Young flowering spikes can be sauteed in butter.
















Leaves and stems of chickweed (Stellaria) are popular in Japan, traditionally eaten in spring with rice. Harvest this plant, or purslane (Portulaca), before flowering and use fresh in salads. The latter has a sweet-sour flavor.















Chicory (Cichorium) has been enjoyed as a vegetable in Belgium, the cooked roots in Arabia, and as wild greens in Greece and Italy. Young leaves are the least bitter. The blue flowers can be eaten and add color to salads. Chicory roots have been used as a coffee substitute. Grow them in a dark cellar, or hill up earth around the roots, to yield white, tender leaves lacking in bitterness.

The next time you "harvest" any of these or other weeds from your garden, consider supplementing your meals with them. In general, don't make weeds a regular or large part of your diet. Doing so may interfere with your body's chemical balance, or may cause other side effects such as being a laxative. Be positive you know what weed you are eating, and that it is edible without unknown consequences! Doctors and herbal practitioners are a good source of such information.





DON'T EAT POKE SALAD!

Auburn University Release






Auburn, June 18, 2002---Pokeweed is probably the best known and most widely used wild vegetable in America and Europe. However, a food scientist with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System says no part of this plant should be eaten by a person or animal.

"The roots, berries, seeds and mature stems and leaves of pokeweed are poisonous," says Extension Food Scientist Jean Weese. There are at least three different types of poison in this plant -- phytolaccatoxin, triterpene saponins, an alkaloid, phytolaccin, and histamines.

Pokeweed, a herbaceous perennial native to America, grows from Maine to Florida and Minnesota to Texas. Indians introduced the first colonists to pokeweed, and they took it back to Europe where it became a popular vegetable. It grows along roads and fencerows, in fields and in open woods.

Early American settlers also made a crimson dye from the berry juice. Indians often used the pokeweed concoctions for a variety of internal and external medicinal applications.

The berries, which ripen in fall, are also popular with migrating songbirds, especially robins, towhees, mockingbirds, mourning doves, catbirds and bluebirds. Sometimes the birds get drunk on overly ripe berries and fly into closed windows or sides of buildings.

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DUES DUE!

Please note, if you have not already paid your dues for 2010, it is now due. And it as usual, that horrifically high amount of $12.00 (NO! Not per month! Per YEAR!).

GARDEN TRIVIA.






Question for February: What is the smallest mammal in the world?


Answer : "The smallest mammal in the world is Thailand’s Kitti’s hog-nosed bat, which is about the size of a bumblebee. One bat can catch over 1,000 mosquitoes in an hour"


Question for March: What is the largest flower in the world? (courtesy of Charles Dykes)




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GIVE A GIFT TO A FRIEND:

Know someone interested in gardening? Sign them up for the Grapevine - just send me their email address. The price is right (nothing) and everyone I've talked to who receive the Grapevine enjoy the expertise and quality of our feature articles.

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GARDEN NOTES:

March - For our area, THIS IS THE MONTH! Gardening time has once again arrived and we can celebrate the coming of warm days, cool nights, and (hopefully) good rainfall. It is time to get out all those wonderful spring plantings such as lettuce, spinach, radishes, onions, etc. etc. Have you ever used your lettuce and radishes to make my favorite - Wilted Lettuce? Do you have problems with a flooded garden - try raised beds. Interested in getting an herb garden started? Do you know what critters to dispose of in March? If you have a water garden, what do you need to know for this month? Read about winter preparations in our March Tips section.

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LINKS.

Time to get into gardening - check out our links to great gardening websites at "Links". Do you have a favorite gardening website? Then email me so I can include it on our website.

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Really Bad Puns:
I will cut the grass only when I get Mowtivated

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Calling all hands! I need your help in arranging for or writing one of our monthly features. This cannot be the quality publication we all want without everyone pitching in! Want to comment on anything in the Grapevine? Want to ask a question? Write an article? YES! YES! YES! Send me an email.

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Read this month's Grapevine in hardcopy using Word: March Grapevine.
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