September Newsletter(for(the(Nordonia(Hills(Garden(Club Since&2000,&and&still&growing we&dig&life!& A Message From Our President ~

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1 Our Board Members President Lilian Coluccio Vice President Kerry Wichert nd Vice President Carmen Park Historian Secretary Phyllis Kluber Treasurer Sandy Bednarik Our Committee Chairpersons By Laws Wayne Meyer Garden Tour Phyllis Kluber Membership Pam Bof psbof@aol.com Mary Chieffe Website Editor Bob Park Newsletter Editor Mary Chieffe Refreshments Joyce Stayanchi Bernadette Evans Sunshine & Raffle Elaine Nidy September 2013 A Message From Our President ~ We had a great turnout at our club picnic, with 38 members attending. Spennato s did a great job for us with the Chicken Parmesan and our members didn t disappoint either. We have some terrific cooks/bakers and we all truly enjoyed the feast. Sandy & Joe Wilick, along with Audrey Fisher, entertained us with fun games and Jan Rudder won $20 for the flower contest. Then we followed with a free raffle of Datura plants and a brief show & tell about a variety of tender succulents (Echeveria). It s easy to propagate them. Just combine potting soil with about one third portion of sand then mix well. Break off a leaf of the plant and place it on top of the soil. After about 2-3 weeks, you will start to see roots beginning to grow into the soil. Water the soil occasionally, not the leaf. They like to be dry, so don t overwater. After that, you will begin to see a tiny replica of the plant. Allow it to grow and then pot the roots in the soil. It s that easy!! If you have some and they begin to get leggy, just cut the top portion and leave about an inch of the stem. Allow the stem portion to dry a few days, then plant in the soil mixture noted above. They can also be grown inside, then, brought outside in the summer months. Take a look at the following website for some interesting selections of these tender succulents Enjoy! Lilian Ways & Means Alida Moonen moonena@summahealth.org Public Affairs Ann O Neal Photographer bear8071@gmail.com

2 2013 Club Programs Carmen Park, 2 nd Vice President cpark54976@gmail.com October 16 Cleveland Botanical Garden Speaker. Mark Bir, Glasshouse Horticulturist, will guide us through the indoor and outdoor growing seasons at the Botanical Garden. We ll see images of various states of growth and bloom, maintenance procedures, and some behind-the-scenes photos of their glasshouses. We will gather at the Faith Fellowship Church, Valley View Road, Macedonia, upstairs in the room straight ahead as you enter the front door. Please grab a chair on your way in. General parking is in the lower lot, or, if you can t manage steps, please park in the upper lot. This meeting is open to the community. November 20 Presentation on Making Christmas Wreaths and Slideshow. This meeting will take place at the Northfield Center Town Hall, 9546 Brandywine Road, Northfield. Please bring your 2 4 pinecone and sweet gum seed pod donations to Carmen for use in this activity! December 4 Annual Holiday Dinner and Installation of Officers. Please bring food donations for the Emergency Assistance Center. February 19, 2014 Organic Gardening. Greenwood Club House, Sagamore Hills. Lunch in Historic Ohio City Crop Bistro is located in the heart of Cleveland s historic Ohio City neighborhood and relies heavily upon local foods from the region s small farmers. The restaurant s home is grounded in the classical 1925 United Bank Building which features six massive arched windows, a coffered ceiling, bronze light fixtures ornamented in gold, artistic murals, and a dine-in vault. Crop s menu offers modern American cuisine complimented by flavor, freshness, and invention. Penzey s Spices shares the front portion of the building. Wednesday, September 25, at Noon Crop Bistro, 2537 Loraine Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio RSVP to mary.chieffe@gmail.com or Please plan to form carpools on your own. Be sure to call Mary if you need help finding a carpool to join and arrangements will be made! Park in the West Side Market s lot or valet in front of Crop Bistro. Learn more about this historic bank turned restaurant at Just across the street lies the West Side Market with origins dating back to Today the market is home to over 100 vendors of great ethnic diversity. You can find not only fine meats and fresh vegetables, but also fresh seafood, baked goods, dairy and cheese products, fresh-cut flowers, herbs, candy and nuts.

3 Picnic Fun! Thank you to all who helped make our picnic a success including, but not limited to, Joyce Stayanchi, Bernadette Evans, Lilian Coluccio, Audrey Fischer, Sandy & Joe Willick, Carmen & Bob Park, Sandy Bednarik and everyone who attended. The food was scrumptious, the games were fun, the Flower Contest was stunning, and the plant give away was generous!

4 Beautiful Blooms by Beautiful Gardeners Jan Rudder is the winner of the 2013 Flower Contest held during our membership picnic in August. Jan won first place for her gorgeous rose entry. Many thanks to everyone who submitted a flower for our contest. October Refreshments Refreshments for our October meeting will be provided by Jane Lebzelter, Jan Filmeck, and Leanne Schroeter. Please have refreshments to the meeting at the Faith Fellowship Church by 6:15 PM. October Board Meeting Macedonia City Hall 9691 Valley View Road Downstairs in the Community Room Monday, October 7, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. Please RSVP to Lilian if you can t attend! Board&Minutes&and&Treasurer s&reports&are&now&available& on&our&website!&&go&to& and&click&the&appropriate&link&in&our&secure&members&area& to&view&the&proceedings.& Step Up to a 2014 Board or Committee Position Per our garden club By-Laws, the Board chose a Nominating Committee for the 2014 officers at the September 9 th board meeting. Open positions include: President First Vice-President Second Vice-President Public Affairs Special Events. Many thanks to Sandy and Joe Wilick for volunteering to organize the 2014 Members Garden Tour!

5 Row Covers Easy to build row covers protect your crops from frost and other damage. It is the rare gardener who finds the growing season long enough. Fortunately, gardeners can satisfy the itch to plant early and to keep crops producing through fall by using row covers. Made of light, permeable material, usually polypropylene or polyester, row covers can be laid loosely on top of plants or supported with wire hoops. They re available in different weights that provide varying degrees of frost protection. Floating Row Cover: The lightest-weight row covers allow air, water, and up to 85 percent of ambient light to pass through. They provide only a few degrees of frost protection, but they are an excellent barrier against damage by a wide range of pests. Heavier Covers: Gardeners can use heavier row covers to protect plants from freezing and extend the gardening season. These row covers can provide as much as 8 degrees of frost protection. They also block more light, so plants underneath them may not grow as quickly. Or, you can get a similar effect to heavy covers by using two layers of a lighter-weight cover. Plastic Row Covers: Row covers made of plastic or slitted plastic require careful management because temperatures under plastic row covers can be as much as 30 degrees higher than the surrounding air. You will need to vent them on warm days and close them back up at night. Slitted plastic row covers don t require venting. Handling Row Covers: Working with fabric row covers may see awkward at first, because the lightweight fabric tends to blow around while you re putting it in place if there s even a small breeze. But with a little experience, you ll learn how to work with the material. ~ The quick and easy way to anchor row cover is with rocks or soil, but this also tends to tear the fabric quickly. Instead, try using plastic soda bottles partially filled with water as weights, or make sandbags by filling plastic shopping bags partway with soil. ~ Wire hoops, which you can buy from garden suppliers or make yourself from 9-guage wire, are perfect for supporting row covers over garden beds. Use hoops both under and over the fabric to hold it in place. ~ At the end of the season, shake the covers to loosen dirt and debris, and make sure they re dry. Fold or roll them and store them indoors or outside for winter. ~ If a piece of row cover is torn in several places, cut it up into small pieces for patching larger sections of cover that have small holes. Learn more at The Organic Gardener: Zone 5 September To-Do List ~ Sow seeds of next year s biennial flowers, such as forget-me-nots, sweet William, and foxglove. ~ Plant spring-flowering bulbs. ~ Dig up tender dahlias, cannas, caladium, and gladiolus before frost hits. Store tubers and bulbs in a cool, dry spot. ~ Start spinach and kale under row covers or in a coldframe (pictured right) for tasty winter salads. ~ Patch bare spots in the lawn and cover grass seed lightly with compost. ~ Plant perennials to take advantage of cool weather and rainfall. ~ Get fall compost cooking with the last of your grass clippings, spent plants, and leaves.

6 Elaine Nidy Raffle Join in our monthly raffles! We will issue a raffle ticket for each food item you donate to the Emergency Assistance Center. So, please remember to bring your canned items each month to help this worthy organization. You can also purchase raffle tickets. See the big blue box located near the end of this newsletter for a list of the most needed items. Raffle tickets sell for 50 cents or 5 for $2.00. Our thanks go to Jan Filmeck for transporting the monthly donations to the Emergency Assistance Center. Elaine Nidy To Our Newest Members Laverne Sestito Millstone Drive Sest32@aol.com Sagamore Hills, OH update for Janet Matherly: meadowyck@gmail.com Do you have a friend who likes flowers, friends, food and fun? Bring them along to an open meeting or activity. They won t be able to resist joining our fab garden club! NHGC Sunshine ctbear24@aol.com Best wishes to Kerry Wichert to continue a speedy recovery from her knee surgery. Please contact Elaine if you know of any member who could use a card of get well, best wishes, or congratulations from our club. October Meeting Bring Your Pinecones! We need pinecones for our November 20 Christmas Wreath craft activity. Please bring your 2 4 pinecones to the October 17 meeting at the Faith Fellowship Church, Valley View Road, Macedonia. Doors open at 6:00 PM. This meeting is open to the community. Don t Miss the Moving Sale! Our dear friends and long time garden club members Elaine and Gary Thompson will soon be moving back to Iowa. In the spirit of the Thompson s generosity, they will be holding a moving sale which our members are invited to attend. Elaine and Gary have collected a fortune in beautiful and unique lawn & garden items, containers, etc., so much that they simply can t take it all with them. If you re looking for something special for your yard that would also serve as a memento of friendship, plan to check out this sale. Specific details coming soon! September and October Birthdays Mary Ann Drier 9/22 Sue Jerabek 9/28 Donna Patz 9/22 Mary Jo Bohls 9/20 Laverne Sestito 9/26 Ann O Neal 10/7 The best way to remember your wife s birthday is to forget it once. Congratulations(to(our(Luau(Winners!( Wayne&Meyer&@&Best&Dressed&Man.& Gerry&Setele& &Best&Dressed&Woman& Mystery&Winner& &Hosta&Count& Please&let&us&know&who&won&the&Hosta&Count!&

7 Aloha!( Hula Time! Carmen and Bob Park were the hosts with the most at their September Luau. The party topped out with an island menu, colorful leis, fruity drinks, clever games, scenic slideshows, and tropical desserts. The group of fifty members and guests in attendance donned their island attire and partied the evening away!

8 Our Board Members Phyllis Kluber (Secretary), Sandy Bednarik (Treasurer), Carmen Park (2 nd VP), Kerry Wichert (VP), Lilian Coluccio (President) Reuse Reduce Recycle Keep it coming! Don t forget to bring useful household items to the next meeting and inspire Elaine Nidy to creatively transform and feature them in a future raffle. Imagine what we can do with the raffle ticket money collected from your donation! We Value Your Input! Please don t hesitate to contact any one of our Board members if you have ideas or suggestions for the club or newsletter. We want all of our members to be active, so please let us hear from you! Bob Park, Website Editor Mary Chieffe, Newsletter Editor Website and Newsletter Visit us at rpark21643@gmail.com mary.chieffe@gmail.com Don t forget, some of our pages on the website are password protected. That means, it is only accessible to Nordonia Hills Garden Club members. Please do not give out our password to anyone who is not a member. Have a suggestion, addition, correction, picture, or idea for our website or newsletter? Please contact Bob or Mary. We would love to hear from you! &&& Food Items Needed for the Emergency Assistance Center Members who bring a non-perishable food item to the meeting will automatically be eligible to enter their name in the club raffle for the evening. Just by bringing an item or items from the list below will provide you a chance or chances to win a raffle prize. (Donations for the raffle prizes are needed and welcome!) The food items collected will benefit the Emergency Assistance Center. Please remember to check the expiration dates on your food items. We will also collect items at the Christmas Party. Jan Filmeck has volunteered to take the donated food items to the Emergency Assistance Center. Items Always Needed: Peanut Butter & Jelly, Macaroni & Cheese, Instant Oatmeal, Pork & Beans, Spaghetti & Sauce, Boxed Rice, Tuna Holiday Food Items: Turkey Gravy, Instant Mashed Potatoes, canned Yams/Sweet Potatoes, Cranberry Sauce, Cherry Jell- O, box Stuffing, canned Pumpkin Pie mix, canned Evaporated Milk, Jiffy Corn Bread or Biscuit Mix, Chicken Broth, Cream of Mushroom Soup, canned Crushed Pineapple Holiday Baking: Flour, Sugar granulated or powdered, Cocoa Baking Powder, Sprinkles, Baking Chips (chocolate, butterscotch, etc.), Graham Crackers, Pie Fillings, Puddings, Jell-O mixes, Crushed Nuts, Hot Chocolate, Holiday Candies, Flavored Tea