Hittin' the Road October and November

We'll be taking a few field trips in October and November, and enjoying a District IV meeting, the Old Settlers Reunion, and GardenFest in between.  See the Garden Club of Switzerland's Calendar for dates and times:

October 8 Saturiwa:  We'll be visiting the award-winning tree farm, Saturiwa (Adobe PDF), owned and managed by Mike Adams.  Adams, who won the 2009 Landowner of the Year Forest Stewardship Award (Adobe PDF) from the Florida Division of Forestry, is restoring the endangered long-leaf pine to our native forests using an ecologically responsible foresting and firewise conservation management program.  With the return of this beautiful pine, other species of flora and fauna are also finding restored habitat to support their own life cycle.  See the slideshow highlighting the tour some of our club members took last year.




Mr. Adams has partnered with our garden club to reestablish native aquatic milkweed on his property.  It is hoped that the milkweed will provide sustenance to our dwindling population of monarch butterflies.  Saturiwa is not only about conservation and renewal, but also serves as an educational model.  Saturiwa is located at 2425 CR 13.  Please contact him to enjoy your own tour of this southwest St. Johns County gem!

October 10 District IV Meeting.  The meeting takes place at the Ribault Garden Club 9AM - 3PM.  There will be a presentation,“Where have all the butterflies gone?” by Jaret Daniels, PHD. Director of the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity at the Florida Museum of Natural History, preceeded by a business meeting.  Pre-registration is required.  See the Meeting Announcement at the District IV, FFGC website.

October 17, Old Settlers Reunion - Alpine Groves Park is the scene of the annual Old Settlers Reunion from 10AM-3PM.  Join the Garden Club of Switzerland as we celebrate this historic landmark and beautiful park.  The event is free and open to the public, hosted by The Friends of Alpine Groves.

October 24, GardenFest - FFGC members are invited to register and attend this year's GardenFest at the St. Johns County Extension Center.    GardenFest is hosted by District IV, FFGC; see the Announcement page at the District IV website for details and to complete the required pre-registration form.

November 12 Westminster Woods Community Hydroponics Garden:  Master Gardener, Jerrel Powell, has taken some of the strain out of vegetable gardening.  He'll show our garden club his state-of-the-art vertical growing system that he and residents at Westminster Woods are using to grow vegetables hydroponically.