Newsletter of the Medowie Garden Club July 2018 Through the Garden Gate Established 2009 Member Count:62 Proud Member of Garden Clubs of Australia President: Warwick (Rick) Porter Secretary: Chris Voigt Treasurer: Fran Easter Editor: Warwick (Rick) Porter Ph: 49281120 email to: wandgporter@yahoo.com Monthly Meeting The July meeting was also our AGM held at Tilligerry Habitat. Thank you to the Habitat for once again ably hosting this important meeting. The meeting was attended by 39 members with 2 visitors and 7 apologies. Club bank balance reported by Fran was an amazing $6229. We took the opportunity to celebrate Chris s Significant Year birthday as well. The next meeting will be hosted at Chris & Geoff Voigt s at 12 Jaywood Close, Medowie. I for one, am looking forward to a ramble around Chris & Geoff's very lush, tropical feel garden. We have been fortunate to attract a number of new members in the past few months including: Helen Tucker, Ann Smith, Ingrid Wiedermann and Margot Quinn. A big welcome to our club, we hope you have a great time with us. We look forward to a sharing of knowledge and ideas on gardening and any other common interests. Mary Mary Pitt, a long-time member, has decided to return to her previous home, England. Mary was presented with a gift for her contributions to the club. We will miss her (and her lovely home-made sausage rolls) but wish Mary all the best with her new life in the UK.
Forget-me me-not Not..Upcoming Events Medowie Club Events Event / Date & Time Location/Travel Equip/Catering Contact Xmas in July At Heritage Gardens $10 subsidised Chris Lunch Sat 28 th Nursery at East Maitland. cost. 4982 9064 July $10 should have booked & paid by now. August Meeting: Geoff Voigt, 12 Jaywood Chris / Geoff Sat 4th, 12:30 Close Medowie 4982 9064 Visit to Rare Plant Salt Ash, TBC nursery, TBC September Rick & Glenys Porter, 244 Rick & Glen Meeting: Sat 1st Fullerton Cove Rd, 4928 1120 Sept, 12:30 Fullerton Cove. October Meeting: Francess & Mark Zahra- Francess Sat 6th Oct, Tipper 24 Lakeside 0416831680 12:30 Terrace, Medowie Gloucester Garden Details TBA Ramble: 13 th & 14 th October November Denise Birrell, 5 Court Rd, Denise Meeting: Medowie 4981 7919 Sat 3rd Nov, 12:30 Woodville Garden Possible ramble to Albion Ramble. Nov TBC Farm, Dunn's & one other Thank You Joan Joan Anderson was presented with a gift in recognition of her amazing donation to the club. A huge number of her mature plants boosted our income from the autumn sale. Thanks again Joan. The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance; the wise grows it under his feet ~ James Oppenheim
Annual General Meeting 2018 Formalities of the AGM were once again ably assisted by Kevin Tomlinson and this is greatly appreciated. All positions were declared vacant and the following appointments were decided: President: Warwick (Rick) Porter 1 st Vice President: Megan Power 2 nd Vice President: Carol McCarthy Secretary: Chris Voigt Treasurer: Fran Easter Public Officer: Fran Easton. Assistant Secretary: Denise Birrell Assistant Treasurer: Jennifer Easton Newsletter Editor: Warwick (Rick) Porter Event Coordinator: Jennifer Easton Raffle Organiser: Volunteer. Lucky Door Prize Officer: Wendy Petersen. Events Co-ordinator: Jennifer Easton. Trading Table Organiser: Francess & Mark Zahra - Tipper Committee Members: Geoff Voigt and Glenys Porter Congratulations to all appointees and thank you for helping greatly in the smooth running of our club by accepting these important positions. Life Member Jean Lawrence was presented with her Life Member badge which we are sure she will wear proudly. Jean informs us that our member and Jean s very good friend Pat Brien is moving to a nursing home at Tea gardens. Best wishes to Pat in her new home. We had an excellent turnout of members for our AGM, I think the best I have seen.
Plants To Vie For Plant Profile: Pomegranate (Punica granatum) The pomegranate, an ancient fruit, is getting a bit of resurgence in popularity due to the recent discovery of its high amounts of antioxidant. The pomegranate has been widely cultivated for thousands of years in the Mediterranean, Middle East and Asia, and has been written about in the Old Testament and the Talmud of Babylonia. A symbol of fertility in ancient Egypt, the pomegranate is well suited to these arid climates, disliking humid conditions and overly cold temperatures. Today, the pomegranate is grown for harvest in the drier areas of California, Arizona and Texas. Of course this means that our climate is not ideal for these plants, but I have had reasonable success growing the full sized pomegranate Punica granatum and also the dwarf version Punica nana. Punica granatum (from the French name pomme grenate, meaning seedy apple ) is an apt name for the pomegranate fruit. The pomegranate fruit contains over half its weight in seeds and, like an apple, has a long storage life (about seven months when properly stored). Under its red leathery skin, the seed is surrounded by sweet tart pulp and juice. Each flesh covered seed is known as an Aril. Best stored in an air-tight container in the fridge. The seeds are separated by a tough white membrane referred to as the Rag. The pomegranate seeds can be eaten after separating from the rag or pressed to extract the delicious juice, which is commonly used in grenadine mixed with other juices or on its own. I find a few spoonful s of arils make a great addition to a fruit or vegetable salad or to breakfast cereal and fruit. They give lots of little explosions of flavour to really lift a meal. They go well with pears and fetta cheese. They can also be used on pizza, make a great glaze & sprinkle for meats such as chicken, beef, pork and fish. Or simply sprinkled into the icing on a chocolate cake or over your favourite ice cream.
In our area this deciduous bush typically grows to between 3 and 5 metres tall, enjoys full sun and can be a bit spiky. Eye protection and good gloves are recommended when working around them. They are not supposed to fruit reliably when grown from seed, but my main tree which has been fruiting well for the past 2 years was grown from seed 4 years ago. Fertilize the pomegranate tree in September and January with a balanced fertilizer (10-10-10) or mix of compost, wood ash and granulated manure in the amount of 1 Kg per 2 metres of plant height, and maintain an evenly moist soil for best fruit production and fruit hold. Removing the arils from the fruit can be quite tricky, but Tricky Ricky has come across a great method. I cut the fruit around the middle, half way between the stem connection point and base. Then, holding the cut side in my palm down inside a bowl, I strike the outside of the fruit firmly with a wooden mallet or tenderiser. The shock of the strikes loosens and ejects the arils into the palm, then into the bowl. Striking all around the outside of the fruit should eject most of the arils, and then turning the fruit-half inside out allows picking out the rest. I do this inside the kitchen sink as some red juice may spray out. Some pieces of rag may need to be picked out from the arils. Pomegranate can also be grown in pots or tubs, though I think the dwarf version (Punica nana) would be best for this. It can make a very attractive feature, especially when in flower and fruit, and looks good trained in a Bonsai style. The fruit on the dwarf trees seems to vary quite a lot between golf ball and tennis ball in size. They can be fiddly to extract arils from but the larger ones can be worthwhile. Agriculture is our wisest pursuit, because it will, in the end, contribute most to real wealth, good morals, and happiness. ~ Letter from Thomas Jefferson to George Washington (1787) Cheers, Rick.