Mary Jane Wilson
The new SaddleBrooke Gardening Club (SBGC) is organized into four subgroups: Vegetable/Herb, Flower/Roses, Citrus/Fruit Trees, and Cactus/Succulents/Other. Initial subgroup meetings were held in August, September, and October where like-minded gardeners have been getting to know each other by discussing what has done well in their gardens, what challenges their gardens have faced here in SaddleBrooke, and member-driven timely topics such as sources for organically grown seedlings and what people are planning to plant in their fall/winter gardens.
Members started scheduling their home gardens for members-only tours with the slight cool-down in fall temperatures. Members of the Veggie/Herb subgroup on garden tours learned about the design of a raised split rock bed, how to construct a PVC hoop tunnel, how to care for and use red wiggler composting worms, and much more. Who knew you could plant lettuce in the fall in SaddleBrooke? Rose bushes should be flush with beautiful blooms on November home garden tours if members followed the pruning and fertilizing best practices discussed at their recent meetings. Seeing someone’s garden and hearing them talk about how they did things, along with the opportunity to ask questions and share personal experiences, is what most of our members have been asking for.
Monthly members-only subgroup meetings will offer tours of members’ gardens, trips to offsite locations, and/or discussions of timely topics and upcoming projects related to the change of seasons. There is a schedule of future meeting dates/times on the Upcoming Events section of the website at www.sbgardeningclub.weebly.com, in addition to all the great gardening information available there.
Membership applications and information about the club and subgroups can be found at www.sbgardeningclub.weebly.com. To have your name added to the email roster of the new SaddleBrooke Gardening Club, send an email to [email protected]. Once you are on the active roster, you will automatically receive all the club news and invitations to club events. Dues for a basic membership are $10 a year. Dues paid now include membership privileges through the end of 2025. This new club will reinvigorate your enthusiasm for gardening and make you a much more successful Arizona gardener.