Society Meeting for October 25

Lise Bois opened the meeting by welcoming the members and guests present.

She noted that the November meeting was our Annual General Meeting and the customary pot-luck meal, and would begin at 6:00 pm rather than 7:00 pm. The AGM is when the executive gets elected for the upcoming year. Please consider volunteering yourself!

Ursula Cattelan volunteered to serve as Treasurer for the next year (note this is not an elected position).

Also, membership fees are now due.If you haven’t done that yet, treat yourself for Christmas and buy a membership or family membership.

Extending the Season

Lise gave a lavishly illustrated presentation on how to extend the gardening season.

At the start of the season surround plants with straw for warmth; think about ‘grow lights’ (after Christmas) inside your plant boxes, etc.

DIY cloches can be built very cheaply and protect new growing plants.

Protect growing plants from early Fall frosts using cold frames allows you to get fresh veggies well into the year.

Finally, remember to ‘extend’ the season by pickling your vegetables.

And on a closing note: before the ground is frozen, fill a couple of recycled plastic containers with earth and add fruit or vegetables/herbs on top so that the plants go through the entire freezing and thawing cycle and nothing gets eaten by a passing squirrel. This works best with self-sowing seeds like tomatoes, marigolds, cosmos, dill, coriander, and much more.

Presentation

Jackie Darton gave a presentation about olive oils.

She explained the differences between red and white balsamic oils. She explained that the oils for sale at the Picton store were sourced from many locations to provide year-round fresh oils from various seasonal harvesting locations.

She also noted that the oils were classed as mild, medium, and robust, with tobust having the highest concentration of anti-oxidants in the product.