Jeff and Julian Jones entertained garden club members yesterday during AGC’s Holiday Celebration. This father and son group has entertained club members often over the last 20 years, and they always delight us. Julian performed for garden member’s when he was just 9 years old. He has mastered his musical talents!
Ashland Garden Club Holiday Celebration: 2023
December 4th member’s met at the Bellview Grange to celebrate the Holidays! Member’s were introduced to Yurritzy, and her parents, who received our Rogue Community College Scholarship. The room was decorated with wreaths made by club members, colorful tables full of entrees, salads and desserts and lively festive entertainment was provided by Jeff and Julian Jones, of Generation Jones.
with President Sherri &
Amy, AGC Scholarships
introducing scholarship recipient
October Color
In the Garden: October 22
Photos by: Carlotta Lucas, AGC Member
October: N. Mt. Park’s Heirloom Garden
Heirloom Gardeners: October in North Mountain Park’s Heirloom Garden
Pictures by Lynn McDonald, AGC Member
Wildflower Seed balls For Butterflies
What are seed balls?
Introduced in the 70s, seed balls are a form of “guerilla gardening” whereby seeds, soil and clay are mixed together into tidy germination bombs that are said to have an 80% higher success rate than simply broadcasting seeds onto soil. Adding red potters’ clay to the mix protects the seeds from being blown away by wind or consumed by insects or birds. Generally, seed balls don’t require watering and you should NOT bury or plant them. Simply toss them in a vacant lot, your front yard, or a wildscape situation like a ranch or roadside. Wait for the rain to melt away the clay casing, and nature will do the rest.
Texas Butterfly Ranch Seed ball Recipe
3 parts local soil or potting soil
1 – 2 parts red potter’s clay powder, also known as “terracotta powder” at pottery supply stores
1 part native wildflower seeds
Water, as needed.
Newspaper and cookie sheets for drying seed balls
Stainless steel bowls or pots for mixing
****
1. Assemble ingredients.
2. Mix soil, clay and wildflower seeds together in bowl. Mix well.
3. Add water to attain dough-like consistency, much like tart or pie dough
4. Pinch off or use spoon to grab gumball-sized amounts of the mix. Roll between your palms to get round form. Drop onto newspaper covered cookie sheet to dry.
5. Sprinkle generously with red chili pepper. Let set for 24 hours.
6. Once the seed balls set up, usually after 24 hours, store them in paper bags for later use or toss them right away. Remember to use only native seeds for wildscaping situations.
SOURCE
‘Lasagna’ Sheet Mulching
Here’s how to create a lasagna bed, also called sheet mulching:
- Start in fall so the bed has all winter to start decomposing.
- Cut grass as low as possible. Or start a lasagna garden on top of an old planting bed.
- Loosen soil with a digging fork to increase aeration. Even punching holes in the ground will work.
- Remove weeds.
- Build a raised bed frame or just mound up the layers of organic material into an unframed bed.
- Put a layer of cardboard overlapped an inch or two and water it.
- Cover with 2-inch layers of green organic material like grass clippings, fresh plant debris, fresh animal manure and food scraps that provide nitrogen and brown materials like dry leaves, wood chips, straw and shredded newspaper that are carbon sources. Repeat layers until the bed is about 18 inches.
- Top off with a 2- to 6-inch brown layer; thicker if you want to plant right away.
- Create beds only wide enough to reach into the middle and create paths lined with straw to walk on so soil doesn’t get compacted.
- Lasagna beds will shrink as materials decompose and may need refreshed layers each year.
- Using transplants is easier in no-till gardening systems; the mulch layer is easier to transplant directly into rather than direct seeding, especially for small-seeded crops like lettuce and broccoli. To transplant, use a trowel or other tool to make holes large enough to plant into. If directly seeding into the bed, pull back the mulch layer and smooth over the surface layer with a rake before seeding.
Instructions from OSU Extension website https://extension.oregonstate.edu/news/no-till-garden
The term “Lasagna Gardening” was coined by Patricia Lanza, who wrote a book on the subject in 1998. The illustration above is from her book.