The Mill Creek Towne Garden Club is pleased to offer FREE native trees and shrubs provided to us by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
We are giving away 25 native Pawpaw trees and 25 native Winterberry Holly Shrubs starting at 1PM and ending at 5PM on Tuesday, March 30th. First come, first serve. The plants will be available for contactless pick up at 7825 Rydal Terrace, Derwood, MD 20855 (Off Briardale). Please limit your selection to four plants per household. The trees and shrubs come bareroot – they need to be planted as soon as possible and you will need to provide deer protection unless they are inside a fenced area that the deer do not frequent. Please bring damp newspaper to wrap the roots up until they are ready for planting.
These plants are free to the public but we do welcome donations to the Club to help us continue to beautify our neighborhood and provide quality programming. To donate please visit https://www.mctgardenclub.org/donations/ and consider joining the Mill Creek Towne Garden Club!
Pawpaw (Asimina triloba)
A shrub or small tree that tolerates shade, pawpaw produces a fruit that is readily eaten by wildlife and humans. It has a height 15 to 30 feet, a spread of 15 to 30 feet, and prefers full sun to part shade and moist fertile soils. Often spreads by root suckers to form colonies or thickets.
Winterberry (Ilex verticillata)
A shrub growing 3 to 12 feet with a spread of 3 to 12 feet. Full sun to part shade. Deciduous and dioecious. Attracts birds. Winterberry will tolerate wet swampy sites. Red berries remain on female plants into the winter.
Happy Groundhog Day! It’s February and it is starting to look like a winter wonderland in our neighborhoood! Enjoy your favorite wintertime beverage and start thinking of warmer weather and start planning for the spring! Here are some garden tips, educational opportunities, and videos for February. There are some online events, check out U.S. Botanic Garden, Master Gardeners of Montgomery County, and Maryland Gardens. A lot of gardening events are announced on Facebook and we share them on our Facebook page as well as on our mctgardenclub.org website. Some upcoming online events include Building Healthy Soil webinar, GreenScapes Symposium, and a Butterbee Farm – Cut Flowers Arrangements Online Event hosted by the Mill Creek Towne Garden Club on Tuesday, February 23rd.
Start reading those plant catalogs!
Decide where your plants from seed are going in your garden.
Finalize catalog seed orders.
Order/Buy those seeds!
Collect supplies for starting seeds.
Sharpen and replace tools as needed.
Start shopping for spring bulbs.
Paint a few terra cotta pots in spring colors.
Go on a virtual garden tour to see what plants are thriving in other’s area home gardens.
Butterbee Farm – Cut Flowers Arrangements Online Event Tuesday, February 23, 2021 7:00 pm ET
Join us to learn how to make flower arrangements with cut flowers with Guest Speaker Laura Beth Resnick from the Butterbee Farm! You can have an abundance of blooms in your cutting garden all season long! You’ll learn Butterbee Farm’s favorite flowers to grow, from classics like zinnias and celosias to the weird and wonderful monkey balls. You’ll learn varieties to grow, harvest techniques, and tips for success.
Friday, February 19, 2021 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET *Live Zoom event
The GreenScapes Symposium, formerly Green Matters, is an annual program sponsored by Brookside Gardens since 2004. Find a schedule of events at their website, and early bird registration is available through January 8. go.umd.edu/SPg
There are many resources for recipes to make from your garden crops including seed companies, local farms, and online recipe cookbook catalogs. If you grow vegetables, these are very useful resources as the recipes feature the very plant you are growing. Here are few links to recipes you can make from your garden crops
We are so thankful for our local farms each and every day. During this challenging time, consider supporting your local farms, whether they farm produce, flowers, animals, or specialty. Our food supply is safe and secure, and many farms are continuing to offer delivery or curbside pickup. #LocalIsTheNewNormal#BuyLocal
“During shelter-in-place, farmers’ markets remain open as an essential service, providing a vital source of fresh fruits and vegetables and food staples for our communities in a spacious, open-air setting. But our community and our farmers’ markets could be jeopardized if we don’t each do our part to stay safe during this public healthy crisis.
In good times, farmers’ markets have been places to gather and converse, however, now is the time to follow public health and safety advisories and resist the urge to linger and socialize. We all have a critical role to play in preventing the spread of COVID-19.”
Open for advance order curbside pickup & delivery until April 10th.
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The Full Market Season Opens April 17th, 2021.
For the winter season through April 10th you can still get your market groove on with online ordering from all your favorite farmers and vendors using our curbside pickup or doorstep delivery to 20855, 20850, 20878 & 20880 on Saturday for doorstep delivery and/ or curbside pickup at the front yard of Neighborhood Church, 16501 Redland Rd, 20855. Pickup happens from 9am until 11am through April 10th. Get started here: MilkLadyMarkets.org/preorder
WINTER MINI COURSE
LEARN HOW TO START FLOWERS FROM SEED
Floret Mini Courses feature three to four video tutorials that demonstrate the techniques we use to grow, harvest, and share high-quality cut flowers on a small scale. In our upcoming Winter Mini Course, you’ll learn everything you need to know to successfully start flowers from seed, including all of the necessary supplies, step-by-step instructions, special tips and tricks, and how to create a simple indoor seed-starting area. Floret’s Mini Courses are offered a few times each year, and are available for a limited time only. These video tutorials are free but registration is required.
Garden tip of the Day: Whether you love or hate today’s #GroundhogDay pronouncement from Punxsutawney Phil at Gobbler’s Knob, groundhogs in your vegetable garden are generally bad news. To keep them out of beds, construct a chicken wire cage and bury it at least 12 inches deep to prevent tunneling. Also, the buried wire fence should curve outward towards the garden path. | Washington Gardener Magazine
Check indoors for termites and winter ants.
Give your house plants a quarter turn every few weeks.
Put up birdhouses.
Put suet out for birds.
Keep bird feeders clean and filled.
Switch your deer deterrent spray.
Caulk and seal your outside walls to prevent insects and wildlife from coming indoors.
This year’s Guide lists over 70 MoCo Made food and beverage producers and farmers, with products ranging from honey to craft beverages to artisanal meats and more.
Plant Clinics are held at several sites in the county on a weekly basis and at special events such as garden festivals and the county fair. Regularly scheduled Plant Clinics are located at public libraries and farmers’ markets throughout the county as well as at the Audubon Naturalist Society in Chevy Chase. There are also clinics three days per week at Brookside Gardens. The busiest season is April through September, but some clinics are open year-round. Bring your plant samples and questions to one of these locations in Montgomery County, MD (see link below to find a location near you):
CSAs can take many forms, but essentially they are community supported farms in which members contribute to farming projects, usually by way of membership fees, in exchange for fresh, local produce. The concept came to the United States from Europe in the 1980s. They are a great way to take advantage of fresh, locally grown fruit, vegetables, herbs, and more while supporting nearby farms. Each one is different, some offer pickup locations in urban areas, some offer only farm-based pickups.
There are multiple CSAs located around the County offering a wide variety of products. CSAs begin taking sign-ups for spring and summer seasons in the early part of the year, and they tend to fill up FAST! Know of another CSA not on our list? Let us know! Montgomery Countryside Alliance also maintains a list:
New Vegetable Gardener Workshop Are you a new vegetable gardener looking for support throughout the growing season? Have you tried before but feel you need more support? Join our New Vegetable Gardener program that will give customized support throughout the growing season. This program will cover planning your garden, planting, pests and disease, and harvest with a customized zoom session, the speakers series, and group email support. Program Kicks-off February 20.
Scout Merit Badge Workshop ($) Calling all Scouts interested in earning their Gardening Merit Badge. Join our online, season-long program under the guidance of our certified Merit Badge Counselors. The program kicks off on February 27th.
This workshop will walk you through the steps to take a soil sample before the class. During the workshop on March 13, soil test results, and how to address issues will be discussed. Soil test materials are included and will be mailed to you.
Register by January 29 and send soil samples to the lab by February 5 to have your results included in the class.
Join us on Tuesday, Mar. 23, 2021 7pm ET with our Guest Speaker Susan Bell, Master Gardener and learn how to “Add WOW to Small Garden Spaces”! About Our Guest Speaker, Susan Bell Susan Bell created Hilltop Gardens in 2002. Her formal education was through George Washington University, Montgomery College, and is ongoing with the Maryland University Montgomery County Extension’s Master Gardener program. Since 2009 Susan has been sharing her professional expertise as a speaker for Maryland University’s Montgomery County…Find out more »
