Sutton Garden Club

Company Coming!

Has this happened to you? Friends, family or co-workers are coming for dinner and it's been so hot you haven't ventured into the garden for days. The weeds are at monstrous heights and the crabgrass has worked it's way into every corner of the garden. Don't panic! Help is on the way! A step-by-step approach with tips on how to whip your garden into shape awaits you in the  Fine Gardening e-newsletter. The author points out where you should focus your energy and what really won't make a big difference to the overall picture. This is a must read!

After you get your garden into shape for your visitors, it's now time to focus on food. How about a clambake? Lobster, yum !  That wonderful sea creature often eaten steamed or grilled with gobs of butter. However, the process used to get them from 'live to cooked' is a somewhat unpleasant one for many of us. This issue of the Fine Cooking e-newsletter has a video on How To Kill (Cook) a Lobster.The method is described as more 'humane' than dropping the lobsters into a pot of boiling water or straight onto the grill. You be the judge!

Garlic just got better! 'Introducing a simple food with a wonderfully complex flavor. Black garlic is sweet meets savory, a perfect mix of molasses-like richness and tangy garlic undertones. It has a tender, almost jelly-like texture with a melt-in-your-mouth consistency similar to a soft dried fruit. Hard to believe, but true. It's as delicious as it is unique.' Oh. my! This sounds heavenly.

Ok, your garden looks lovely, the menu's complete, don't forget the flowers. When you've got that lovely summer bouquet on the table, take a picture of it and enter it into the August Photo Challenge contest. Fine Gardening's staff members will choose two winners based on beauty, creativity and originality. The grand prize winner will receive a Brill Razorcut 38 reel mower. The second place winner will receive a prize pack from Aquavor.

Next, sit back and relax. It is summer, afterall!

"Pressed Flowers, Small Gardens & Desperate Gardeners"

Except for the occaisional 90-degree day, summer is coming to it's end (all 12 days of it, this year!) and Fall is on our doorstep. The Sutton Garden Club's monthly program schedule will begin in September with a workshop on creating art from presssed flowers grown in your own garden. If you haven't started to dry your garden flowers, it's not too late to begin. There are simple, step-by-step, instructions in this issue of the Fine Gardening e-Newsletter to guide you through the process. You'll need at least a month's time to allow the flowers to dry. However, if your own flowers are not quite ready, come to the workshop/meeting on September 22nd to watch SGC member and floral designer, Ann McDevitt, demonstrate her method for creating art with pressed flowers. Location: Sutton Congregational Church, 307 Boston Road ,Sutton MA. Meeting Time: 7:00PM

  We've all seen the results of planting a too-large tree on a small property where the home seems to be being swallowed whole. Those shrubs/trees were perfect for the garden when first planted but then they grew and grew and-well, you get the idea. The article by David Leckey,"Trees for Tight Spaces", provides valuable information on how to approach the dilemma of a small garden and select the plant that best suits the area.  The 'Diana' Weeping Larch, pictured here, is one of the suggested plants. Hmmm! How do you think it'll look in your garden? 

 

Just in, an e-mail from Plant Delight's Nursery that their Fall catalogue is available! You'll never find a plant catalogue, anywhere, as entertaining as this one. Humorous plant descriptions, while remaining informative, are the norm. However, you do need to be selective if you purchase from them. Many of the plants listed are grown for zones 7 and up but there are ample choices for our Zone 5b gardens. http://www.plantdelights.com/index.php