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.    

NABA Butterfly Count 6/2

Alpine Groves Park will be the site of our first NABA Butterfly Count at the newly-established Bartram Trail Butterfly Circle.  Our garden club members and persons from the public will be able to assist the North American Butterfly Association (NABA) with its long-term data collection about butterfly species, population counts, and locations.  The data provides useful information on species that are or are becoming threatened or endangered, for science-based policy decisions, and just adds to the general store of knowledge about butterflies.  Plus it's fun and an opportunity to socialize with like-minded persons (note, this is not a kid-friendly event).  See the NABA FAQ page for more information.

If you are interested in joining us for the count, please email switzerlandgc@gmail.com for information.  The event is weather-dependent (because butterflies don't fly in the rain), so check the weather conditions in the area that morning.  To defray the costs of collecting the data NABA charges $3 per person, so please bring cash or check to The Garden Club of Switzerland.

We'll update you after the event is over!

Happy Birthday Bash for William Bartram

The Garden Club of Switzerland was well represented at the 11th Annual Bartram Bash at Alpine Groves Park on 4/18.  We had several tables of crafts for and about birds and conservation information highlighting the decline of the monarch and the need to plant native milkweed.  We were treated to a stellar performance of, "William Bartram Speaks," featuring Mike Adams, owner of Saturiwa Tree Farm  and Conservation homestead, as William Bartram and his Indian guide and friend (shown in photo along with Beverly Fleming and a member of the Friends of Alpine Groves).   The day was splendid, and the highlight of it was being able to watch our own Beverly Fleming receive the Fellow Man and Mother Earth award for 2015 from the Stetson Kennedy Foundation.  Well-deserved!  

Beverly Fleming Receiving Fellow Man and Mother Earth Award

Janet, Mickey, Linda, and Sarah represented the club and encouraged visitors to enjoy bird-friendly crafts, such as making an owl photo out of pine cone scales or decorating a grapevine wreath with nesting materials so the birds could more easily build their nests.

The tables were busy all day with enthusiastic youngsters.

















The materials used were collected out of our gardens.  Here's an example of how a chickadee used some of those materials to build her nest from leaves, lichen, moss, and adding her own touch - animal fur and down.

Mickey had made a tri-fold display describing the monarch decline that many believe qualifies it to be put on the endangered species list.  Our Monarch Committee is encouraging the growth and planting of native milkweed.  Janet got busy in the kitchen and made the cutest butterfly brownies.  Good thing I got a photo before the event started.  They didn't last long...

 

We think William Bartram would have been delighted by the celebration of his birthday, and we were proud to play a part in the Bartram Birthday Bash.