Dallas Organic Garden Club

GDOGC members attended the "Party for the Planet" on Earth Day at the Dallas Zoo. 

Attendees enjoyed entertainment by Russ Lowry and The Expressions; and bounce houses and kids crafts. Participants included Bowling For Rhinos, a national bowl-a-thon fundraiser that supports the protection of all five remaining species of rhinos and is organized by local chapters of the American Association of Zoo Keepers (AAZK), Dallas County Master Gardener Association, the Greater Dallas Organic Garden Club, natural and handmade personal care products from Lush, and Earth-friendly items made solely out of recycled paper from La Alicia.

Mike Schmitt and Marjorie Caldwell

APRIL 2012 NEWSLETTER

From the President’s Desk

Springtime so lifts my spirit! I can just sit in my yard and bask like a turtle on some of

these glorious days. Butterflies and honeybees are all over the place! Besides basking,

I’ve been planting a few vegetables as well as getting ready for the club’s Annual Plant

Sale on Saturday, May 5 at 609 Shadywood (8 am-3 pm) in Richardson.

I got to spend a week in Austin earlier this month to visit friends and chill. My lovely

Austin friends, Alice and George Pryor, have been gardening organically for many years.

Their front yard is a sea of wildflowers. Several years ago they installed a large rain

collection barrel. Their neighbor, Jay Carpenter, recently installed raised beds in his front

yard and loaded them up with wonderful herbs and plants. I was impressed! Alice and I

visited Lady Bird Johnson’s Wildflower Center and had a marvelous time. The Center is

such a treat to see if you are ever in the Austin area. It exists to introduce people to the

beauty and diversity of wildflowers and other native plants. There is so much to learn and

enjoy at the Center. For instance, I didn’t know that actress Helen Hayes started the

Center with Lady Bird in 1982.

GDOGC had a booth on Earth Day weekend (April 21-22) at Dallas Zoo’s Party for the

Planet. For two days our volunteers answered questions and promoted organic gardening

as well as our club. Marjie Caldwell worked two shifts and hauled all our materials

around. Kudus to you, Marjie as well as all the volunteers! Our vice president, John

Caldwell, headed up another Earth Day celebration featuring GDOGC at Church of the

Tranfiguration. We were invited to other locations for Earth Day but only

could cover a couple of events.

Hope to see you at the Plant Sale!

Happy gardening!

Paula Barber

From the President’s Desk
Our extraordinary board met on March 8 to map out plans for the club’s Earth Day
participation and the Plant Sale. This board is pretty special; for one thing, they trekked
to my house in Oak Cliff for the meeting (intrepid souls!). It’s a real pleasure to work
with such competent, hard-working folks who make GDOGC successful for our members
and the community at large. In fact, I hope you’ll consider serving on the club’s board in
the future. It’s really a rewarding experience and helps the club tremendously.
I’m still jazzed by the two marvelous days of slow, soaking rain we got here in early
March. Springtime endlessly delights me.
Big plans are afoot for GDOGC including our Plant Sale (Saturday, May 5, 8 am-3 pm)!
Set-up takes place the evening before on Friday, May 4, 4-8 pm at the home of the most
hospitable Cynthia Armstrong, 609 Shadywood Lane, Richardson 75080. Hot Tip: If
your membership dues are paid and you bring plant donations (or cool garden-related
items) to the Friday set-up, you get early shopping privileges!
Mike Schmitt had a bumper crop of spiderwort plants. He offered them for our sale if
someone would just come and dig them up from his back yard. I volunteered and potted
up about 15 for the sale. Thanks Mike!
I hope you’ve been sprouting, dividing and potting up some plants from your own garden
for the sale, as well. It’s our only fund raising event for the year so it’s awfully important.
Plus it’s tons of fun to work a shift at the sale with other members and promote organic
gardening.
The club is planning a Fall Garden Tour this year, and we’re looking for gardens to put
on the tour. If you would like to show off the glories of your garden and you’re interested
in being on the tour, let me know and we can talk about the details