Hello Gardeners,

I read somewhere that March is the zipper between winter and spring. What a good description of this time of year. As I search for signs of spring, I am forced to look within my own home. My husband made the announcement that he is through burning wood for the season and spring cleaning has begun. These two signs herald the return of spring.

I have a few items to bring to your attention. The board has approved the new event that is replacing the Tour this year.  Later in this newsletter, you will read all about it. We also completed the focus groups, and the board has started our planning for this year and several more years out.  Once it is completed, there will be an article about the process, including the main categories that the members addressed along with issues. We are formulating several goals for us to work on this year.

This year marks the 100th year of the Club providing lamppost flowers for the community of Camden.  We have purchased new planters that will wrap around the lamp post and will be positioned lower than the previous ones.  The planters will replace our old-style baskets that have been beautiful but now need replacing. Our sponsorship donation program has started for our local businesses and individuals. This $250 sponsorship helps offset the price of flowers, fertilizer and watering. If you are interested, please go to our website and donate.  Thank You!

Remember, our first Club meeting for 2025 is Thursday, April 24.  We have a dynamite speaker who will be talking about container gardening. The topic will be timely, as many of us will be planning our containers to be put out in late May.  I hope everyone has a good March and we will soon be together with our gardening friends.  

Vicki

Camden Garden Club is delighted to announce their inaugural Garden Expo, “Edible Gardens & Bountiful Tables,” will be held on Thursday, July 17, 2025. The day-long event will feature speakers Barbara Damrosch and Nancy Harmon Jenkins.

Barbara Damrosch has worked professionally in the field of horticulture since 1977. She writes, consults and lectures on gardening and is co-owner, with her husband Eliot Coleman, of Four Season Farm, an experimental market garden in Harborside, Maine. From 2003 to 2017, Barbara wrote a weekly column for The Washington Post called “A Cook’s Garden.” She is the author of several books, A Life in the Garden: Tales and Tips for Growing Food in Every Season, The Garden Primer, Theme Gardens, and The Four Season Farm Gardener’s Cookbook, which won the American Horticultural Society’s Book Award in 2014. Her writing has also been published extensively in national magazines.

Nancy Harmon Jenkins is an authority on Mediterranean cuisines, on the Mediterranean diet and its consequences for good health, on extra-virgin olive oil, and ancient Egyptian maritime technology. She is the author of many books, the latest of which include Virgin Territory: Exploring the World of Olive Oil and, in collaboration with her daughter, Chef Sara Jenkins, The Four Seasons of Pasta. Nancy has contributed countless articles to publications ranging from The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and International Herald-Tribune to Saveur, Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, Gastronomica, and Smithsonian, Downeast, and Wooden Boat, among others. She also appears frequently as a commentator or participant on NPR and BBC food programming and on television.

The day will also include a micro-farm tour of David Kibbe’s Old Souls Farm in Camden and a selection of other presentations and hands-on activities which are still in the planning phase. Most activities will take place at the Camden-Rockport Middle School at 34 Knowlton Street in Camden. Tickets will go on sale on camdengardenclub.org beginning May 1, 2025. The Garden Tour will return in 2026.

On April 28th 1925, the Camden Herald reported that Camden Garden Club held its first meeting of the season. “There was much interest in placing flower boxes on the light posts in Camden. Mr Edward Bok had observed these in other countries and was willing to draft the cost if the Club would be responsible for their care and upkeep. The project was approved and the first flower box appeared on the light post on Elm Street across from Chandler’s Pharmacy in mid-June. By mid-summer, all poles were sporting baskets of flowers.”

The initiative was a success and in 1951 the Club began plans to fill the lamppost baskets with greens and red berries for Christmas.   

During the 2025 Sponsorship effort and with your help, the Club will continue the lamppost legacy. Join us by reserving a lamppost sponsorship for $250. All sponsors have the option to be recognized with a lamppost tag with their personal or business name, mentioned in the Club’s social media, and recognized on a poster displayed in the Town Office window. Sponsorships span the seasons from vibrant flower baskets to festive winter greenery. Become a sponsor here: https://www.camdengardenclub.org/shop/sponsor-a-lamppost

My main gardening interest: is learning about the native plants of Maine, as I am in the process of re-wilding our yard to nourish pollinators and other native animals.

 In terms of online Zoom classes and informative newsletters, I recommend:

Maine Audubon: https://maineaudubon.org/
 I have enjoyed their Bringing Nature Home series and their online birding classes, both on Zoom. 

Margaret Roach a gardening writer for The New York Times, writes a newsletter that is wonderful: https://awaytogarden.com

Aspetuck Land Trust in Connecticut has free online winter programs and an online book club: https://www.aspetucklandtrust.org/

Happy reading and happy Zooming!

Contribute to “Ask a Member”

Share personal insights, gardening preferences, and experiences. We would love to feature a photo of your garden or, even better, a photo of you in your garden. Send your personal take on any or all of the below topics to info@camdengardenclub.org

• Favorite gardening book and resources

• Favorite all-time garden

• Your first memory in a garden and who influenced you to love it

• Gardening Challenge and “I wish I had known”

• Favorite quote …a gardening quote or not

Winter Seed Sowing Workshop Update

A warm thank you to David Kibbe and Amy Thomas for giving us an excellent “hands on” talk and demonstration on starting plants from seeds. We are fortunate to have such horticulturally educated individuals in our Club on the coast of Maine. David recommends the UMaine Extension Service as one of the best sources on “Starting Seeds at Home”

Our mission is to develop and preserve our environment by beautifying the community, enhancing public spaces, offering educational programs, and practicing resource conservation.