Season's Greetings for your South Surrey Garden Club executive!

~Linda, Roberta, Pam, Lorna, Doug, Lorraine, Debbie B, Susan, Marilyn, Colleen, Cindy, Debbie M, Carol, Lisa, and Lee

As we cannot meet at the church, we're bringing you a few videos to help you recreate the scene at your house. Watch this quick video for inspiration to enliven your next holiday punch bowl! Heidi makes this punch for us every year for our November Holiday Meeting.
Heidi also oversees the door prizes and shared several prizes to give away at our Zoom meeting. Congratulations to the winners: Kathy, Wendy, and Brenda

Heidi's Recipe:

• 1 large ring mold (or you could use a round tray and an empty cup to insert in the middle) 
• ½ lb of green grapes, or 2 kiwi fruits, peeled and cut in small pieces
• ½ lb of strawberries or raspberries cut up in quarters
• Water to cover the fruits

 
Preparation
1.   Rinse the grapes strawberries or raspberries in cold water. Drain.
2.   Fill the ring mold pan 1-inch deep with water and immerse the cut up fruits in the water
3.   Place the ring mold on a flat surface in the freezer (overnight is best )
4.   To unmold, run briefly under warm water to loosen.
5.   Float the wreath in punch bowl.
 
Making the punch . . .
1 two-litre bottle of club soda or ginger ale
1 two-litre bottle cranberry juice or red wine

If you are serving this punch for a specific occasion (like a wedding shower, baby shower, holiday party, etc.) you can coordinate the colors of the fruit with the colors of that occasion.  For example, sliced oranges, lemons and lime look great in the summertime. Pink berries work great for girl showers and blue/blackberries work for boy baby showers.

BACKYARD APPLE BRANDY TODDY
Here’s a great recipe from SSGC member Roger Phillips. Gather some apples from your backyard and give them a bit of a scrub (discarding apples with too much worm content or critter nibbles). Quarter the apples and put them in a juicer (Breville makes a nice one). Then, put your juice on simmer with a cinnamon stick and cloves. Pour into mugs and add the honey, lemon, brandy, and garnish. À votre santé!
   ✦ apple juice for two to four people
   ✦ cinnamon stick and three cloves
   ✦ teaspoon honey in each mug
   ✦ squeeze the juice of half a lemon, saving a thin slice for garnish, in each mug
   ✦ VSOP brandy to taste
Watch Roger and his granddaughter’s video for a how-to so you can obtain the maximum quantity of juice and perfect your mixology skills.

WORM SLURPIES
  ✦ kitchen scraps (no meat, fish, cheese)
  ✦ water to mix
Throw the ingredients into a bargain blender and pulverize until it’s a nice thick slurpy mixture. Pour this mixture into the compost bin and cover it with a bit of composted soil, dry leaves, etc. The worms will come up for a sip and you will increase the nutrients in your compost.

Check out Gwen and Paul's list of perennials to pot up now and join us this evening to watch a demonstration of how to do it!
​
Download This!
A sample of perennials to divide in September – October 

Watch the Video
Dividing Perennials

Another Resource
How to divide plants from Gardeners' World

​

For the Fall, we're thinking about trees! Let's read about trees, learn about trees, and go on an explore to find some of the interesting trees in the Lower Mainland.

Here are some resources to get us started:
Find out more about Surrey's trees --> website link
A Walking Tour of Vancouver Trees --> download a pdf
Douglas Justice's Vancouver Tree App --> read more here
​City of Surrey Great Trees Resources --> download a pdf

Earlier this year, the SSGC Executive developed a COVID-19 Safety Procedure Plan for our open gardens. The plan is still in place as we move forward into fall and winter activities. You may want to refresh your memory, so have a look!

• COVID-19 Guidelines for In–Person Club Events

Here's a screenshot from a sample Zoom meeting. Your screen might look a little different--it depends on whether you are using a computer, a tablet, or phone--but it should be similar. If you log in early to our meeting, you can test some of the buttons.
NUMBER ONE: Find the place on your screen (or in your menubar at the top of your screen) that lets you participate in the chat. That is how you can ask questions for our speaker to answer! Sometimes you must drag your mouse in the lower section of your screen to have that icon bar become visible. EXPERIMENT between 6:30 and 7:00 pm before the meeting begins.
NUMBER TWO: We will not see your face. As host, I have turned off the video for all participants (if you turn it on, my tech assistant will turn it off when the meeting begins). You should only see me, my son (tech assistant, pictured below), and our speaker during the meeting. In some of our later meetings, you will be able to share your video with us.
NUMBER THREE: When the meeting begins, we will click the "mute all" button so that you will only hear the speaker. We may share our screens with you and you will see a slideshow from our computer.

Send me an email with questions: ​ssgcpresident@gmail.com

The berries in my backyard continue to be plentiful with raspberries, blueberries, goji berries, and of course invasive blackberries creeping up from the bluff. Read about the many health benefits of berries here:
UC Berkeley Wellness News
​One of my favourite resources is the book, Wild Berries of British Columbia. Let me know if you are interested in taking a peek at it. Until our library is available to us, our new library team will be lending out our own books to members.

Do you have apple or other fruit trees? Here are some good resources which you may want to consult.

SSGC member Derry Walsh has a helpful website about apples, trees, pollinators, pruning and more. Derry is also more than happy to answer your questions about fruit trees.

• Derry's Orchard & Nursery

Richard Hallman is a well-known fruit tree horticulturist. For years, he has consulted across the Lower Mainland and provided numerous presentations on fruit tree selection, pruning techniques, and control of pests and disease. Recently, he has started a newsletter and blog. If you are interested in better understanding how to successfully grow fruit trees, have a look at his re-vamped website.

• Fruit Tree Magic: Science-Based Fruit Tree Growing Methods

Port Kells Nursery offers helpful hints for a variety of fruit trees and shrubs.

• Port Kells Nursery

Lee Valley offers a variety of items that are helpful in the garden and for picking and collecting fruit. They offer curbside pick-up when you order online. I really find the fruit picker helpful for reaching apples without needing to get a ladder out.

• Lee Valley Tools