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Well here we are at the end of summer already – and it seems to me it has just been raining all year! Our February meeting at Jo and Vic’s home was a wonderful event with the sun coming out just for the day! Their garden was absolutely magnificent and they had pictures from the last time we had been there (nearly 2 years ago) to show the changes and how the garden had grown since then. We shared many garden hints and tips and Don brought along passionfruit plants for everyone to take home and plant - Tim has already put ours in - thanks Don! Someone remarked that the meeting was more like a garden party than a garden club meeting which I think sums up nicely just how our club is – one big party. Amongst the myriad hints and tips came the sage advice from Don, Kevin and Merle that now is the time to get your vege patch ready for winter plantings and to ensure that, with

all this rain, we keep the fertilizer up – wise words indeed. Remember the seed bank is there at all our meetings and Kevin has stocked it with seeds for our winter plantings. This month’s bouquet goes to the Wrapped with Love team. At the January meeting Barbara Waters told us that they had hit the 1,000 mark in terms of rugs made for Wrap with Love. This number of rugs equates to 28,000 squares knitted as each rug contains 28 squares – and all just in 4 years! Wow! This month’s picture is of my 3½ year old avocado tree which sprang up from the compost pile. It has survived Cyclone Oswald’s wind lashing and is hanging in there for dear life. It still has 14 avocados on it which are nearing picking. So don’t discard those trees that spring up from the compost thinking you will have to wait for 6 or 7 years for them to do their thing – here’s proof it can happen quicker! The March meeting is at a fingerlime farm in Dungay where Tim will speak about fingerlime growing and take you on a tour of the orchard. The garden itself is a beauty with an abundance of fruit trees, flowers and a mean vege patch. Hope you can make it to the meeting – this garden is one not to be missed! Till then – keep high and dry! Fran O’Hara

A beautiful sunny day of respite from the constant rain and wind was the setting for the February meeting at the Murwillumbah garden of Jo

Armstrong. Members who had attend a previous meeting there eighteen months ago noticed the growth in the gracious Cassia javanica and were impressed by the sinuous stone wall constructed by Jo. Jo explained that small gardens such as hers were difficult to handle unless they’re carefully designed, and great discipline is necessary in their layout, with colour and form important elements. As a permaculturist, she plants straight into the grass and mulches. Yellow sweet potato has been used as an interim planting beside a border of rare palms along the fence, and a paved area will eventually become a rill, below the verandah. Jo has encountered difficulties, especially in the areas under large trees where, because of the prolific roots, she has placed potted bromeliads on piles of logs and mulched over to form a natural looking shaded garden. Another major problem is the massive drain pipe running along the fence from Riverview Street, which determines the depth of roots of plants which may be planted there. Jo has piled barrow-loads of leaf mulch in this garden in an attempt to enrich the soil and improve the soil structure.

The palms are plagued by grasshoppers, which are eliminated by applause – one hand clapping against the other! The suggestion of putting the bodies in the blender and spraying the resulting mixture on the palms to deter offenders was offered… Jo’s garden is a good example of careful and disciplined design making the most of a small area, and members look forward to seeing it again in its maturity – especially in the shade of the Cassia javanica. Jean Nuttall

February meeting Q. Why are my Little Gem Magnolias not growing? A. It could be the particular clone of the plants, because our climate is very good for magnolias. The lack of growth could be because they are in a position that’s too sunny and windy, or with bad soil. Q. Can I plant beans in the same spot as last

year, even though there have been other plants in the bed in the meantime? A. Yes – but it’s better to have several beds so that proper crop rotation can be practised. Q. How do I retrieve a large rose bush which has been blown over? A. Roses are tough! Prune the branches, then place the bush upright and replace the soil round the root ball, packing down well to ensure there are no air pockets. Q. Where can I get a pepper vine, and will it grow here? A. A man at the Mullumbimby Market has them, and will bring cuttings. He also has vanilla vines, which must be hand pollinated. Philip’s pepper vine cutting, obtained from Cairns, is very slow growing. These plants are tropical, so the warmest possible spot must be found for them – perhaps an igloo. Q. Where can I find White Turmeric? It can be eaten raw in salads and doesn’t taste like ordinary turmeric. A. Kate suggested trying the “Seeking Hard to Find Plants” section in Sub Tropical Gardening Magazine. Q. With such wet weather, will we create rot and other problems if we fertilise? A. Nutrients are leached out in all the rain and need to be replaced, so yes, continue to fertilise. If Dynamic Lifter is sprinkled on to your mulch, it acts as a slow release fertiliser.

Q. Why do the leaves on my azaleas have a dusty appearance? A. Thrips. They need to be sprayed under the leaves with an oil spray – repeat every couple of weeks especially in the rain. Q. How do I ensure that monolepta beetle eggs don’t hatch next year? A. Spray ground under trees with a light coat of kerosene and

cover with cardboard or newspaper. Q. Can we use weeds as green manure on top of the vege garden? A. If they’re soft and have no seeds, yes – but dig them in. In wet weather they may just regrow if left on top of the soil.

Q. My goldfish have eaten all my floating weed. Does anyone have any floating weed? A. It’s important to ensure that such water plants can’t escape into water bodies and become a weed problem.

Q. How do you operate self-watering pots? I grow veges in them. A. With veges, you must fertilise as well. When the plant is watered the pot drains itself; you must ensure the water is there, and there’s the danger of the roots coming through the holes in the bottom. The general consensus was that the system’s good in theory but it doesn’t work.

Swap Table

The swap table at the February meeting contained some gems: Tree dahlia, double pink Cordylines. Place lengths in a vase as a display, and within a week there will be new roots shooting. Begonias, various types. Crotons, Black Mama Don’s passionfruit seedlings. Simplest way to plant – stakes 3 to 4 metres apart with a taut wire strung between them, and a plant at each end. Cut off outward growing branches and train the main growth around the wire to meet in the middle. Chillies – including a ribbed variety which is the second-hottest in the world! Jean Nuttall

Welcome and happy gardening to: Linda Rees of Murwillumbah South; Gesela Reuker of Murwillumbah; Tony and Judy Stanhope of Tyalgum; Francis Turner of Farrents Hill Welcome back to: Maria Hagberg and Pip Stainlay

YOUR COMMITTEE 2012-2013 President: Fran O’Hara Vice president: Julia Hancock Secretary: Philip Wilson (minutes) Treasurer: Lorraine Lintern Membership and library: Kate Botham Newsletter editor: Pamela Payne Members: Don Capner, Di Morrison, Lynn O’Hara

cooking and eating with Di Morrison

Thai hot and sour soup with prawns: Tom yum goong I have just come back from a mind blowing food tour of northern Thailand and Burma with a wonderful Canadian food writer, Naomi Duguid. Iʼve been overwhelmed with new ingredients and tastes and different cooking techniques.

This popular and refreshing Thai soup is found in restaurants all over Australia .... though it is not always well done. It was interesting to see the essential herbs for soups bound together and sold in the Chiang Mai markets. The flavours vary from pot to pot but essentially tom yum is hot from some kind of chilli and sour from lime juice with lemon grass adding the main herbal accent. Itʼs easy to make and all the herbs are available in our gardens at the moment. In Thailand it is sipped from a small bowl as part of a selection of dishes with the main meal. Soups are nearly always part of a Thai meal and are to cleanse the palate between richer dishes. You can serve it western style before the main course or as a simple lunch dish with rice. INGREDIENTS for about 4 small serves. 4 cups fish or prawn stock .... homemade from the prawn shells is best; 2 stalks of trimmed and smashed lemongrass, cut into 2cm pieces; 4 thin slices galangal; 3 prs makrut lime leaves; 4 small chillis, stems cut off and halved .... or more or to taste; 100g chopped mushrooms ... oyster or straw preferred but fresh browns will do; 1 small tomato, cut in wedges; 250g medium fresh prawns with heads and tails left on; 2 tbsp. fish sauce ... or to taste; 3 tbsp. lime juice; coriander sprigs; extra lime and chilli for serving 1. Bring stock to the boil with lemongrass, galangal, lime leaves and chillis. Simmer for about 10 minutes to infuse flavours. 2. Add mushrooms, tomatoes and prawns and simmer till prawns are barely cooked. About 2 minutes. Do not overcook or they will be tough. 3. Turn off the heat. Add lime juice and fish sauce to desired sour and salty taste. Flavour with fresh coriander.

4. Serve immediately with additional chillis or chilli sauce and lime wedges for those who need it. This a quick soup to make and should be clear and fresh. It is also a generic soup and can be made with chicken, fish or other shellfish or vegetables. Change the stock base to suit. Chillis vary in heat. Usually the smallest are the

hottest. Remember the white membrane is the hottest part and this and the seeds can be removed for less heat. For more heat, grind the whole chillis to a paste and add additional Thai chilli paste to the soup

I have this unusual plant: queen of the night. It’s quite sprawling - but the most wonderful thing happens at this time of year at night. I am told that all the plants in the area all flower at the same time....mostly about 9.30 to 10.00pm, the fragrance is overwhelming. Being a night flowering plant means of course that it attracts moths. It only lasts one night....and then begins to die. I took these photos over a twenty-four hour time span of its life.

Lynn O’Hara

Few of us escaped the onslaught of Monolepta or red-shouldered leaf beetles late last year. Although outbreaks are seasonal and may not occur for three or four years, a mass emergence can cause devastation to both food bearing and ornamental plants alike as they are no respecter of species. It is thought these

insects swarm on particular trees due to the earlier hatching beetles scent-marking the targeted plant, guiding those emerging later to the communal feast. This part of their life cycle can be an Achilles heel if the wily gardener can interrupt the process by overriding the aroma laid down by the early scouts and dispersing the swarm before it causes extensive defoliation. I had noticed some damage on a passionfruit "Panama Gold" as well as a White Sapote (Casimiroa) "Vista" tree, and, not wishing to use a systemic insecticide on my fruit bearing plants, decided to use a deterrent I had been using to prevent damage caused by possums and rats. "Scat" is an aluminium based

powder which, when mixed with water and sprayed on foliage and stems, effectively repels mammals and birds. I added some crushed garlic to the mix before application and was fortunate to minimise the skeletonization of the foliage which had occurred on my citrus in last year's attack. By the following morning there was just the occasional beetle still apparent but the vast majority had moved off to annoy someone someplace else. It appears to be tasteless to the human palate and I have had great success protecting my fruit crops with the occasional use of this product. Once

sampled it is not soon forgotten by those unseen nocturnal raiders to our gardens, and a simple spray around the girth of a tree can act as an effective barrier - just remember to reapply after heavy rain. J.H. Williams in Murwillumbah stock boxes of the powder, and a little bit goes a long way. Philip Wilson

Jo Armstrong uses these Fresh and Crisp storage bags – available at a supermarket. Unlike other plastic bags, they allow vegetables to breathe. Jo showed me some baby spinach that she had stored for around two weeks - it really was still fresh and crisp. The bags are reusable. Just wash them.

I recently returned from a trip to India and was amazed at how much the country had progressed since my last visit two years ago. The Indian economy is booming and even though there is still much poverty, everyone there is saying that India is now a rich country. Arriving in Bangalore’s brand new airport I immediately noticed the absence of garbage because this, more than anything else, is a constant blight on the subcontinent. Bangalore is India’s IT centre and is populated by middle class professionals and clearly the local councils have money for municipal garbage collections. Our hotel was nestled in 20 acres of garden and was extremely elegant and peaceful. Bangalore is a busy city without much soul, so we were glad to move on to Mysore, which is a far more elegant and interesting place. Parks and gardens

are well maintained and well used, and look lush thanks to the abundant rainfall in this region of South India. Our next port of call found us following a steep and winding road up into the hills where the spice gardens and tea plantations abound. We stayed in a tree house in one of the older plantations, surrounded by lush greenery...and monkeys! From our deck we were eye to eye with

them as they flew through the canopy. Dropping down into Kerala on the west coast, we went through a huge national park where we saw wild elephants – apparently quite rare there. This part of India’s west coast is super-fertile with coconut palms, rice paddies and all sorts of annual and perennial vegetables. All along the road we saw gorgeous fruit stalls brimming over with fresh produce. Kerala also has extensive backwaters which provide numerous opportunities for aquaculture and duck farming, as well as a good income from tourists who enjoy houseboat holidays. The quality of life for the locals in Kerala seems to be very high but they are now becoming quite concerned about the effects of global warming and rising sea levels. They are very vulnerable in these low-lying areas, but with India’s population of 1.2 billion and growing, relocating to higher ground that isn’t already occupied is practically impossible.

did you know? The ancient Egyptians discovered the healing properties of aloe vera back in 3500BC. JH Every night before bed in Sumatra, our guesthouse ibu would rub aloe vera into the hair of the young women who worked for her. And into mine as well. Although I never sported the thick, glossy hair of the local women, after a few weeks my hair looked really healthy. PP The cucumber is thought to have originated in Northern India and is believed to have been cultivated there for 3000 years. .PP Rocket was popularly eaten in both ancient Greece and Rome. While it lost popularity during the Victorian era, it continued to be grown by Italian gardeners. We can thank them for improving the cultivars and bringing it back to popularity around the world. In the US it is called arugula – a Sicilian dialect word .PP

new treatment for sun spots now available

For the last ten years Janelle Munsie, daughter of Kevin and Merle has been working on a product to treat sun spots (solar keratoses). It was launched on 18 February and is a truly Australian invention. Sun spots often appear as red scaly lesions on skin that has been frequently exposed to the sun, and almost half a million new cases of such skin cancers are diagnosed in Australia each year. Called Picato gel, the new product has been developed to work on squamous cell carcinoma, a type of non-melanoma skin cancer. The topical gel is applied just once a day

for two or three days, depending on the area of the body. The gel is available only on prescription from GPs and dermatologists. It is not available on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. A course of treatment costs $176, and one course will cure a skin cancer outbreak. Picato gel works in two ways: firstly it kills sun-damaged cells directly. Secondly, it stimulates the body’s own immune system to remove any remaining sun-damaged cells. It has also been approved for use in the US, Europe, Brazil and Canada. At a date yet to be determined, Janelle Munsie is coming to Murwillumbah to give a talk to local doctors about the product and how to use it. The plant’s active ingredient, ingenol mebutate is derived from the plant Euphorbia peplus, also known as petty spurge or radium weed. The plants used in Picato gel are grown organically near Stanthorpe by the brothers of Ron McMahon, the Fruit Tree Man in Crystal Creek. This is the only place in the world where Euphorbia peplus is grown commercially [although it grows like a weed in some of our gardens – Ed.]. The harvested plant material is processed at a new facility at Southport. Thanks to Janelle and her team, first at Peplin Biotech, and then at LEO Pharma many people around the world will be spared the surgeon’s knife in future. Julia Hancock

At last we can start putting in our winter crops – hooray! As soon as they become available in the shops, we can plant the first of our broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage seedlings. Some of us may have already

sown some seeds in boxes and they may soon be ready to plant out. All the recent rain has leeched nutrients out of the soil, so whenever you plant something from now onwards, always make sure you put some fertilizer (either Dynamic Lifter or some other type of granular fertilizer) in the planting hole. The soil is nice and moist so the fertilizer will be readily absorbed. Silver beet and beetroot are both members of the same family and can be planted now. If you haven’t grown rainbow chard before, give it a go as its coloured stems are very attractive in a mixed bed, and they taste delicious too. Those annual and perennial plants that survived the heat and rain will need a dose of soluble fertilizer to keep them flowering and healthy for another month or so. Do this in the morning when the plant’s leaf stomates are open so they can take up the nutrients efficiently. Parsnips take ages to mature (which is why they are expensive to buy in the supermarket) so get some seeds going now. Direct sow into a patch of well-tilled soil and keep them weed-free and well watered until they germinate. By the time winter comes you’ll be enjoying cream of parsnip and tomato soup, and roast parsnip with your Sunday joint.

Don’t forget to mulch your beds to lock all this lovely moisture into the soil. Who knows? We may have a very dry winter in which case we have to preserve what we’ve got.

Don’t let your lawns become overgrown and rank. Try to keep them mown between the showers. Look out for Yates new range of purple carrots. Sow the seeds directly into well-drained slightly sandy soil that has been enriched with blood and bone. Yates recommends that covering the newly-sown row of seeds with a plank can help maintain even moisture in the soil, but the plank must be removed immediately after the seeds begin to germinate. Be sure to thin overcrowded seedlings. Lorraine has

been very successful growing carrots in deep polystyrene boxes; so if you’ve struggled with them in the past, perhaps this is the way to go in the future. Julia Hancock

Diana Eriksen alerted me to hugelkultur. I was curious. This article, by Melissa Miles,

is from the e-newsletter of The Permaculture Research Institute of Australia, August

2010. PP

Used for centuries in Eastern Europe and Germany, hugelkultur (in German

hugelkultur translates roughly as “mound culture”) is a gardening and farming technique whereby woody debris (fallen branches and/or logs) are used as a resource.

Often employed in permaculture systems, hugelkultur allows gardeners and farmers to mimic the nutrient cycling found in a natural woodland to realize several benefits. Woody debris (and other detritus) that falls to the forest floor can readily become sponge like, soaking up rainfall and releasing it slowly into the surrounding soil, thus making this moisture available to nearby plants.

Hugelkultur garden beds (and hugelkultur ditches and swales) use the same principle to: help retain moisture on site; build soil fertility; improve drainage; use woody debris that is unsuitable for other use

Applicable on a variety of sites, hugelkultur is particularly well suited for areas that present a challenge to gardeners. Urban lots with compacted soils, areas with poor drainage, limited moisture, etc., can be significantly improved using a hugelkultur technique, as hugelkultur beds are, essentially, large, layered compost piles covered with a growing medium into which a garden is planted.

Creating a hugelkultur garden bed is a relatively simple process:

Select an area with approximately these dimensions: 6 feet by 3 feet 2. Gather materials for the project:

Fallen logs, branches, twigs, fallen leaves (the “under utilized” biomass from the site). Avoid using cedar, walnut or other tree species deemed allelopathic.

Nitrogen rich material (manure or kitchen waste work well and will help to maintain a proper carbon to nitrogen ratio in the decomposing mass within the hugelkultur bed).

Top soil (enough to cover the other layers of the bed with a depth of 1 – 2”) and some mulching material (straw works well).

3. Lay the logs (the largest of the biomass debris) down as the first layer of the hugelkultur bed. Next, add a layer of branches, then a layer of small sticks

and twigs. Hugelkultur beds work best when they are roughly 3 feet high (though this method is forgiving, and there is no fixed rule as to the size of the bed. That is where the “art” comes in!) 4. Water these layers well 5. Begin filling in spaces between the logs, twigs and branches with leaf litter and manure of kitchen scraps. 6. Finally, top off the bed with 1 – 2” of top soil and a layer of mulch.

The hugelkultur bed will benefit from “curing” a bit, so it is best to prepare the bed several months prior to planting time (prepare the bed in the fall for a spring planting, for example, in

temperate northern climates), but hugelkultur beds can be planted immediately. Plant seeds or transplants into the hugelkultur bed as you would any other garden bed. Happy hugelkulturing!

It’s been quite a few years since the food group was last at David and Justine Stratton’s place in Smith’s Creek Road, and those of us who have been there before noticed a big difference in the property on our second visit. David and Justine practice permaculture on their one acre property and manage to feed a family of five on fresh produce every day of the year. Prior to moving there they were working at Bill Mollison’s permaculture institute in South Pumpinbill but with one baby and another on the way they decided to move to a house of their own. Since 2001 they have been building on the bones of the garden laid out by Greg Savage and Laura Mattocks (whose Uki garden the club has also visited) and a dozen years later their garden is looking established and abundant.

David says he and Justine are both lazy gardeners and because they don’t use herbicides and pesticides they have formulated three main techniques for vegetable growing: 1. They have installed a series of rectangular raised

beds in which they grow vegetables in the traditional way. When the beds are spent they let the chooks onto them to dig and fertilize.

2. They have 10 bathtubs raised on besser blocks which are a very convenient way of growing vegies without doing any weeding.

3. They grow vegetables in straw bales. Each bale is covered with a thick layer of manure from the chook shed and vegie seedlings are planted into that. When the bales break down they add to the organic matter in the soil.

David plants lots of leguminous plants such as pigeon peas and pinto peanut for their nitrogen-fixing qualities. If he does need to add extra fertilizer to the soil, he buys a bag of Searles Five-in-One which goes a long way. We all felt inspired to steal some of the Strattons’ ideas to use in our own gardens – which they are all too happy about. We were joined by some newcomers at the meeting – Tony Stanhope from Tyalgum, Stephen and Natalie Aisthorpe from South Tweed and Gisela Ruecker from Byangum (Paulette and Gary Hay’s old house). It’s great to have new members who joined in our lively discussion, as follows: Barb T has tamarillos that remain yellow, although in past years they have always turned red. They’ve also got big brown spots on them. The problem is too much water. Her raspberries haven’t thrived this year because it’s been too hot for them. Pamela has a garden full of self-seeded pea eggplants and a few members put their hands up for seeds.

Lyn has had significant success with her Thai pink egg tomatoes and those, together with rosellas, snake beans and rocket are the only things in her vege garden that have survived the wet weather.

Natalie has a very windy property at South Tweed so has come to the club to gather information to help her move forward with her garden. She wants to grow fruit and vegetables organically

Lorraine has had such an amazing crop of turmeric that she’s potting some up and bringing it to the next meeting.

Merle has had a large crop of ‘Sugarbaby’ watermelons but the vines have now collapsed in the rain. Kevin is going to save seed because this variety is being phased out by commercial growers. Kevin has the following beans in the seed box: snap bush (stringless); ‘Purple King’; ‘Molly Zebra’ and ‘Brown Beauty’. Wait till the evenings are a bit cooler before sowing seeds.

Steven was recommended by Greg at Farmer’s Choice Organics to grow youngberries rather than raspberries in this climate. He’s hoping to create a shadehouse for his veges to protect them from the wind and from pest insects. They have seven bee hives in their garden.

David is pleased to announce that all his efforts last year with the drainage on their property paid off in the recent floods and they suffered no damage. Cucurbits and potatoes are his success story currently and they’ve had fantastic corn and celery. Their rainbow chard was wrecked by grasshoppers but has now reshot.

Gloria has never seen landslides like the ones that have happened in her end of the Numinbah Valley after this year’s rain. She’s had wonderful vegetables right up till now, but will be starting over again in the near future. A beekeeper friend of hers is bringing his hives to their property so they’ll have no problem with pollination in future. Gloria is a fan of using molasses as an insecticide. She mixes up a couple of tablespoons in nine litres of water with a few teaspoons of Aquasol and a teaspoon of instant coffee. She always strains this mix through pantyhose so her spray nozzle doesn’t get clogged. In periods of extended wet she’ll add Condy’s Crystals to the mix. This mix means she can do two jobs at once – controlling insects and fertilizing her plants. Barb W’s vegie patch got flooded out but the good news is that she has huge R2E2 mangoes growing up the back. She’s used Nimai Hedermark as a gardener and praised him highly. Nimai was trained at Kew Gardens and is now living in Uki and is available for all things horticultural. He charges $40 per hour. His phone number is 0478 952 601. He conducts lessons every Wednesday afternoon at 4.30pm at the Hare Krishna farm in Eungella if anyone is interested.

Julia Hancock

If I want to contain a plant somewhere in the garden amongst other plants, I don’t use a pot. I use an old wheel rim from the tip. It can be put in place and filled with soil – just like a pot. But there’s space for the roots to go down into the garden bed and it’s not nearly as sensitive to water loss as is a pot. Before I put it in place, I dig – and throw some fertilizer around - the soil where the wheel rim will sit. PP

Uki Garden Club’s AGM will be held at our July meeting. The April meeting, hosted by Lynn O’Hara at North Star Holiday Resort, Hastings Point, will include a visit (with talk) to Seascape, the Marine Environments Field. Study and Resource Centre. UGC will pay the admission fee for all members.

Bathurst Spring Spectacular Garden Weekend Saturday and Sunday 26-27 October 2013; admission $15.00 For further information contact Anne Llewellyn 02 33314117;annesgarden@bigpond.com. web site: www.bathurstspringspectacular.com

next meetings

March

Saturday 23

because of

Easter

2pm

Karen

Mottershead

02 6672 8309

578 Tomewin

Road, Dungay

Tim O’Hara on

fingerlimes and

bush tucker

To get there:

go past Mt St Pat’s school and showgrounds and out through the cane fields.. Cross Kynunbom Bridge and follow road round to right... Go past Dungay Primary School.... Cross Dungay Creek (Sweetnams Bridge)..... Start to climb Tomewin Mountain for 1.3 kms and their place will be on the right Property just before them is called ANANOOKA...so when you see their sign they are the next sign on the right You will see a black milk-urn mail box with an orange engraved BILLAWIN 578 sign on the left It will be about 6-7kms from Murwillumbah.

food group

March

Tuesday 12

9.30am

Richard McKenzie

and Philip Wilson

02 6679 2140

29 Eaglehawk

Close

Tyalgum

WANTED: GUEST SPEAKER My neighbour, Heather Southen, is looking for a guest speaker for the

FRIENDSHIP CLUB MEETING on Monday, April 8th 2013.

If any UGC members have a passion for a “garden related” topic, and would like to

make a presentation at this meeting, please contact Kate Botham on

kmbotham@hotmail.com asap. The meeting is held at 10.30am-12.30pm at the

SDA Hall in Racecourse Dr. Murwillumbah.

The speaker would be required to present their topic for approx. 15-30 minutes. I

haven’t mentioned anyone’s names, but I have in my mind some WONDERFUL talks

that we have had in our Club. I’m sure we can come up with a gem!

Thank you, Kate Botham

As always, thanks so much to everyone who has contributed to this newsletter and to David for posting out the mailed ones. Contributions are always very welcome. A handy hint? An interesting fact? Or something longer? The deadline is the Saturday of the general meeting.

Happy gardening Pamela