President’s Message

Hello Gardeners,

This is an exciting month as we are making our final preparations for our first Garden Expo.  It is totally different than the Garden Tour that we have done for many years, yet it has many of the same components such as education, a tour of a home that focuses on the topic of the speakers (edible landscapes) and the opportunity for the garden community to be together.  If you haven’t gotten your ticket yet, I encourage you to do so.  Because of the restrictions of the auditorium, we can only sell 200 tickets.  Hope to see many of you there on July 17!

I also want you to be aware that we will be sending out a PDF file of the membership roster every 4 months.  Due to technical difficulties on our website, many of you are unable to get into the members only section of the website.  While we are working on fixing the problem, we want to be sure that all of you have access to the members directory.  This directory will be updated every 4 months throughout the year, so the membership list stays current. 

Lastly, enjoy the rest of the summer.  While the weather can fluctuate widely, I have been told that there is no such thing as bad weather, only a poor choice of clothing!

Take care-

Vicki

Please Welcome these New Members to the Club

• Georgia Brocke

• Rebecca A. Clapp

• Susan Dorr

• Christina Mona

• Kathie Neyman

• Ann Marie Weston

• Leslie Yambor

Allison Matlack, incoming Education Committee Co-chair, presents scholarships to two graduating seniors:
Norah Gallant will be attending Mount Allison University and Amelia Porter will be starting at McGill University this fall. 
The Club presented its first scholarships 41 years ago to students interested in horticulture. We continue our tradition today expanding our reach to include the fields of conservation, environmental science, agricultural engineering, environmental and conservation issues, and conservation law enforcement. 

Upcoming Activities

July 8 | Visit to Crystal Lake Farm and Nursery

Tuesday, July 8th, 9:30 am (rain date Wed, July 9th) 246 Youngs Hill Road, Washington - a 25 minute drive

Gardener, extraordinaire, Sharon Turner and her son Eli, live off the grid on their 75 acre property which has been in their family for 70 years.  NO PESTICIDES, HERBICIDES, CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS…EVER! They are a (mostly) native plant nursery selling responsibly grown wholesale & retail, bareroot & potted trees, shrubs & perennials. They rotationally graze four Dexter cattle, while growing vegetable and flower gardens and an orchard.

Visit this small piece of heaven in Maine. RSVP to Karen Cease kbcease@aol.com Please.

July 31 | Tenderwild Farm Tour - Farm, Store and Cafe

Thursday, July 31st, 1pm. 33 Gurney Street, Rockport

Tenderwild Farm is an organic no-till vegetable farm in Rockport, Maine. Their mission is to “grow exceptional food and to nurture a vibrant ecosystem on the land and a living presence in our community through our farm store and events.” The farm was established in 2020 by Peter Alsop and Morgan Van Vorst.

We will have time to visit the cafe and Farm Store stocked with organic produce, local provisions and pantry items in a historic barn.

RSVP to Karen Cease kbcease@aol.com Please.

Making bouquets with flowers, herbs, and veggies

While trained as a landscape architect, Blake Sanborn applies many of the same design principles to floristry. He’s eager to share his process through the live tutorial so that you too may bring the outside in.

Blake Sanborn, a Camden Garden Club member, is an award-winning landscape architecture leader with over 17 years of experience at AECOM designing and implementing community-serving open spaces throughout California and beyond. Blake brings a focus on design excellence to landscape architecture studios in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle. In addition, Blake is proud to volunteer on the NCC Executive Committee of the American Society of Landscape Architects where he is active in the Stewardship and Sustainability committee.

What a Difference Three Years Make: An Interview with David Kibbe, MD, Owner of Old Souls Farm

Q. How do you manage the preparation for the Expo?

A. I am making steady progress almost every day with plantings and weedings and in general trying to make the property more inviting for visitors who will be coming within the month. 

Q. After only three years, what do you have growing on the farmlet this season? A. In line with the theme of the Garden Expo my own mission and goals, I focus my work on the “edible” garden tasks.  Almost all my summer crops are in the ground and should be thriving by mid-July.  This includes tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, lettuces and kale, pumpkins and winter squashes, potatoes, zucchini and yellow squash, radishes, sweet potatoes, and some spices like cilantro and basil. The peach crop looks abundant, and my hope is that the trees will have completely recovered from their peach leaf curl fungus by mid-July. Apples and pears are scarce this year, but the trees are very healthy and green. Raspberry, goji berry, chokeberry, elderberry, blackberry, grape vines and kiwi vines are really exuberant this year. Compost work goes on almost daily. 

Q. You have created a wonderful mix of perennials, some mixed with herbs and vegetables and some in island clusters. What can visitors anticipate seeing on July 17th?

 A- The dahlias are in the ground and some plants are a foot high or higher, so we might have some blossoms by mid-July. I have planted over 50 native and non-native flowering perennials around the place, and have a couple containers going with flowering plants. My zinnia seeds are just coming up out of the ground, but may have some blossoms in a month’s time.  Natives like butterfly milkweed, baptisia, liatris, yarrow, lobelia, and several others like monarda and spotted bee balm appear to be going very strong this season.

Q. What is in the fenced in area toward the front of the house? A. All my fruit trees outside the Garden/Orchard (the fence-in area in front) have been weeded at the base, and the bases covered with mature wood chips.

Q. Is this lovely building a hen house? How do you protect the chicks from foxes? A. I’ve gone from 3 mature hens to 10 with the addition of 7 very healthy Black AustralOrp chicks, now 15 weeks old. A lot more watering, feeding, and cleaning up to do, on a daily basis, but the egg production should be much increased by mid-July. In the evening. they cluster under the hen house and are locked behind a protective gate. It took a few days to train them to go in for the night, but they were surprisingly compliant. 

Q. How are the bees doing? It looks like a bee spa on the hillside!

A. The new bee colony is thriving.  I’ve moved the topbar hive, their home, over to the south nearer the line of arbor vitae trees, so to be further away from visitors. There is more of a farm than a decorative garden look for Expo day but something for visitors who are interested in incorporating a potential self-sufficient farm on less than an acre.

July 17th, from 1pm to 4pm, is a rare opportunity to visit Old Souls Farm, meet David Kibbe in person and consider the possibilities of an in town farmlet.

Upcoming Membership Meetings and Speakers

Exciting in-person lectures to complete the 2025 season. Meetings starts at 9am with coffee, 9:30 speaker, followed by the business meeting. All are welcome at St Thomas’ in Camden.

Thursday, August 28 Wendy Reinemann, co-owner of Guinea Ridge Nursey and Farm, will discuss “Gardening in an Era of Climate Change” touching on topics such as changing plants, calendars and Zones.

Thursday, September 25 Genie Everett, GCFM liaison to Horticulture Therapy and Wiscasset Garden Club member, will enlighten us about the burgeoning field of Horticultural Therapy and ways in which individual garden clubs can participate and aid in the cause.

Thursday, October 23 Rebecca Goldenthal, owner of In Full Bloom Container Gardens in Portland, will guide us in transforming tired summer containers into festive outdoor holiday décor, sure to be the envy of all  your neighbors.

Volunteer Opportunities

The Club has five small Native beds we maintain.  The Postage Stamp Garden ( next to the Post Office), and the  four Anchor beds on the Public Landing. We have a group of Native Gnomes  to take care of these beds. If you want to join Amy Thomas, Karen Cease, Susan Dorr and Ali Daily - Contact Amy at amy.thomsen@icloud.com

The Club native gardens are in need of: Gayfeather (Liatris spictata), Blue Flag Iris, Yellow Prairiegrass, New England Aster, Eastern Red Columbine, Creeping Phlox (subulata), Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias Tuberosa), Pennsylvania Sedge. If you have extras of any of these as straight species native, we would love to add them to the native gardens. Please email Amy Thomas amy.thomsen@icloud.co

Thank you to the following  Members who have stepped up to be gnomes and take care of the watering at the Public landing and the Archway Boxes: Grace W, Donna B, Leslie Y, Susan R and Jennifer M. This help is GREATLY appreciated by the Club and all the Camden visitors who enjoy our beautification efforts. 

Other Volunteer Opportunities

Join us at the Village Green on Monday, July 6 at 9 am for routine maintenance at the Village Green and other public spaces in the area. Be sure to dress for the weather and bring along your gardening gloves, tools and hat as well as a water bottle.

On Friday, July 11 we will gather at David Kibbe's property for one last grooming session before the Garden Expo tour. We will meet at 8 am to beat the heat (although David will be out as early as 7:30 for those early birds). Be sure to dress for the weather and bring along your gardening gloves, tools and hat as well as a water bottle.

Volunteers are needed to assist with the Garden Expo: Edible Gardens & Bountiful Tables on Thursday, July 17th. Both morning and afternoon time slots are available. Please contact Andrea Bell at 997.andreabell@gmail.com

Camden Garden Club & The Hatchery Join Forces for Bell Park Benches

This winter,  to further enhance the beauty of Bell Park, Vice-President Jennifer Gromada and Public Spaces Co-Chair Barb Ohland recognized that we could work with Camden Regional High School's program, The Hatchery. 

The Club was eager to establish a relationship with The Hatchery in hopes to learn more about this creative organization. Commissioning two sets of wooden seating and table units was a good place to start. From the beginning, The Hatchery was on task with young craftsmen, Finn and Luke, contributing their time and skills to make summer seating for Bell Park. The results are in the photo. 

This is the strength of our town. An idea is captured by cross-contributing organizations, formatted, and produced to come to a successful completion, benefiting all the citizens and visitors. 

You can find more information about The Hatchery right here.