Our May meeting at Morningsun Herb Farm was fun and educational. So educational in fact that I ended up with three new herbs (new to me that is) in my herb garden. Rose Loveall gave us an information packed talk on growing and using herbs while giving us a tour of her wonderful farm. We also picked up herbs for our garden at the fairgrounds. If you found an interesting herb, plan to tell us about it in Garden Gossip.

Speaking of the adopt-a-spot, Cindy Podsiadlo and her team have the garden all cleaned up, planted with some new herbs and watered. Cindy is currently finishing up installing a new irrigation system. The garden team will check on the garden every few days over the next couple weeks. Then at the June meeting, we’ll circulate a weekly schedule for maintenance so members can sign-up to visit the garden to tidy it up and make sure everything is getting watered properly. Be thinking of some way to use this year’s fair theme “Stars and Stirrups”.

Our group agreed to support the El Dorado High School Key Club in their efforts to start a community garden at Duffy Park in Placerville. The garden will be used by residents of two apartment complexes to grow vegetables. I’m so glad we decided to help these young people with this very important mission. I know many of us are concerned about the number of huge apartment complexes that are being built with virtually no green space, not to mention a place to grow food. Donna Foss will give us periodic reports on their progress and any other way we can help. We might even want to schedule a meeting at the park.

Next month our meeting will be back at the herb garden at the fairgrounds. Cindy Podsiadlo will make a presentation on California Native Herbs.

And it’s our plant exchange month. Herbs, ornamentals, veggies, etc. are all welcome. And if you don’t have something to share this year, don’t worry. There’s always plenty for everyone. See you on June 4 at the Fairgrounds.

See you next month,

Jan