Whitehall Garden Club News: September

As summer is closing, the Whitehall Garden Club keeps blooming with another tremendously delicious, hilarious, and informative meeting. Janet Chapman, Janet Finney, and Kay Fisher created the most delicious breakfast imaginable! Blueberry scones were "melt in your mouth" tender, zucchini bread was full of deliciousness, a French toast bake was so yummy, and a sausage egg/bread bake made you return for more! The freshly sliced cantaloupe was the perfect addition to this scrumptious brunch. Thank you, JJK from all the eager participants.

Then came the Fast TEN-MINUTE demonstration... like no other we have ever seen. Member Cathy Hatch reminded us that our meeting was all about soil, so Cathy held a sure-fire demonstration. "How do you know if you have good soil?" The answer to this is question was simply: "Soil Your Undies."

Cathy brought in several brand-new pairs of 100% cotton underwear. She had two pairs that had been buried in different soil areas for about three months. Kathy told us that 100% cotton (as in underwear) has cellulose, which acts as a sugar that microbes, worms, and bacteria love to eat. If your soil is healthy, when removed, the underwear will be full of holes, partially or fully eaten away. If your soil is NOT healthy, your undies come out of the soil, just a little dirty but intact. The final demonstration showed that one pair of undies was almost completely eaten away, with lots of holes, shreds, etc. (From MaryAnn Carey's garden), while the other pair (buried in a new residential area, mostly fill dirt) was completely intact, just dirty. Oh! The laughter and comments abounded, and all were amazed at how simple it is to test your soil. Have fun with this! Thank you, Cathy!

Our main presenter was member Rob Finney. Rob also spoke on the subject of achieving good soil but with the use of "BIOCHAR." With Rob's tutelage and an article Rob handed out, "Biochar is currently a hot topic, especially in agriculture, although it has ancient roots." "It is a charcoal-like product made from biomass waste, such as wood or agricultural waste, etc." It has been used for thousands of years to amend soil. Rob passed around a piece of wood that he had turned into biochar (using a locked container with fire, a cylinder to release the gas, and no air). It resembled an 8"x4" piece of charcoal, but the similarity ended there because biochar does not leave ash. Biochar is 100% carbon. According to Rob, biochar is being studied in various ways to reduce heavy metals in the soil around old mining lands, take carbon out of the air for carbon credits, and help retain moisture/water in the soil. Rob also gave many tips for further amending your soils with rabbit fertilizers, such as making a tincture with Biochar and adding the missing nutrients if used independently. The Biochar information Rob shared, the personal experiences with their gardening in Whitehall, and his great sense of humor made a chemistry lesson very enjoyable. Thank you, Rob!

Important Reminders from the WGC: The Fall Festival is September 21 and the WGC Pie Auction is the same day. The "gathering of pies" will be at the VFW side of the Community Center from 8:00-9:00. Please bring in your pies to be auctioned (remember to designate what non-profit organization you want to receive the auction funds). Also, your pie plate is part of the pie, so don't expect it back. We also need pies that may be sold by the slice for all to enjoy, with or without coffee. This is the beginning of a wonderful time of year! Please join us!!

The WGC will be participating at the Haunted House on October 19. Look forward to ghoulish delights while you wait in line for your Screams Come True.