LOOK HERE FOR NEW CLUB FORMAT IDEAS

Hi there--I will add ideas for the new club as they come in to this post. From Kathy here is an excerpt from her email--thanks so much Kathy for stepping up right away!

"It would be nice if we could get together every other month and we don't have to go to anyone's home. My shawl ministry group (there are only 5-6 of us) meets at Panera when the old convent is not available. We can eat or not but at least buy a drink or something although maybe our group would be too noisy. Also, what would you think about us getting together and working as a group in each other's yards at least once during the growing season? And as usual we can discuss what we are planting and gardens to visit (field trips)."


And this from Hayden:

"Moving forward with the garden club, the one thing I absolutely do not want to happen is us turning into a social group that goes out for coffee or lunch once a month and does nothing garden related. My reason for not liking that Mishawaka garden club was the fact that they didn't do anything garden related, and honestly that kind of stuff is a waste of time for me. I love everyone in the garden club dearly, and would hate to have to leave because of that, but I am looking for something garden stimulating.


If I could take us in any direction, I would try and find a monthly garden related thing for us all to attend. Example: If Fernwood or Unity Gardens has an awesome program coming up, I think we should all go. If Lurie is having a plant sale and free guided tours, I think we should go. Essentially supporting other local(ish) groups by taking advantage of the programs they offer.


There is also an option of doing something like the herb society did and adopting a garden at Fernwood. We could all meet up once a month of take care of the garden and have lunch in the cafe. Last time I checked volunteers get a discount. :) "
Thanks for contributing, Hayden!

From Sue come these ideas--thanks so much!

I also would want to continue to have our meetings monthly as I feel going and splitting things up will literally split us up and that would be horrible. I love the idea during spring/summer of meeting up at fellow garden club members gardens and having a one-on-one look of just how much of our passion for gardening is so apparent! I would be willing to offer mine this year perhaps June:)

Also, I would like our group to do a road trip perhaps Kalamazoo and/or Wisconsin and then of course stop at a really cool restuarant that has wonderful pie!!!

Perhaps a speaker on raised beds would be cool to have also!

Happy garden planning peeps.....~Sue
As to the raised bed presentation--we already have a great speaker for that--Rosie.  And she comes with built in PIE!
And thanks for the personal support Sue--I appreciate it :-)