What a week the Grantham Garden Club had with this year's plant sale involving hundreds of people and thousands of plants.  The sale took an amazing amount of volunteer time and began last November when Ray Miner and Pete Lepre, with the help of webmaster Diane Cameron’s nifty on-line sign up, collected all the plant orders from club members and the civic garden leads Bill Weeks and Anke Clews.  Kristina Cole and Claire Vogel had fun shopping using Jolly Farmer's on-line catalog for flowers they knew would be popular with the Public Plant Sale customers including Dragon Red Begonias, Tiktok Orange Calibrachoa, and Super Hero Mixed Marigolds. 
 
In March, Ray and Pete started growing vegetable plants from seeds to sell at the sale.  Unlike the flowers which the club purchases, Ray and Pete donated all the vegetable plants with 100% of the sales ($1,152!) going to the club’s scholarships and educational programs.
 
When Ray was alerted that the Jolly Farmer truck would arrive at 9 a.m. on May 16th, the word went out and 14 club members were poised to help unload. Then the truck was delayed to 1 p.m. when lots of those morning volunteers had commitments elsewhere. In true GGC fashion, a team of 16 people were soon on board for the 1:00 arrival. Then the truck was delayed again!  I was away for the truck's final arrival around 3:00 but was told that it was hectic at first but that it all came together with the hardworking crowd of volunteers. I hated to miss this wonderful photo op, but Diane Cameron took over and her fantastic  pictures are included below. 
 
On Friday, the Town Hall was set up for the Public Plant Sale including the arrival of Ray and Pete’s healthy vegetable plants. Kristina Cole and Diane Cameron were in charge of arranging the table of flower plants, herbs, hanging baskets, and donated house plants.  With the help of Bob Munson, Ray, and Pete; they set it all up keeping the room’s feng shui in mind.   

On Saturday morning the 22 volunteers donned their GGC aprons and were ready for customers who started lining up at 8:30.  Promptly at 9 a.m. the shopping frenzy began with half the plants sold in the first 30 minutes and all but a few orphans sold by 10:30.  As they were packed up, some vegetable plants were sold from the back of Ray and Pete's car and the last hanging basket went to a late arriver who noticed it in Kristina's car. 
 
Volunteers Don and Joyce Blunt were assigned to sit under the awning outside to greet people and hand out tally sheets.  It was a little chilly out, and Don had on a short sleeve shirt.  I looked around to find an appropriate size jacket and saw that Pete’s fit the bill.  I knew Pete would give the shirt (or in this case jacket) off his back for the cause, and I was right!

I realized a little late in the game that the new Tally  procedure required lots pens and our supply was sadly lacking. VP Betsy Fowler headed to Bar Harbor Bank, explained our dilemma, and was back in no time with a bag of the bank's blue pens.  Bar Harbor Bank and all its Grantham office employees are so supportive of the club, including being a Civic Garden Sponsor again this year. 
 
One of my favorite moments of the sale happened when I helped a young grandmother and her two adorable grandchildren carry their vegetable plants to their car.  I told the tots to keep an eye on those plants because they are magic. 
 
Another highlight was when Sharon Parker arrived. Sharon has been a club member for 17 years and epitomizes all that’s wonderful about the GGC. She wasn’t on Saturday’s volunteer list but showed up anyway, grabbed a broom, and started sweeping.  The club prides itself on leaving the room in tiptop shape.  Thank you to Melissa White and Mary Ann Crandall who are our liaisons at Town Hall and graciously lets us use the downstairs room for presentations, meetings, and sales.  We couldn’t run the club as professionally at any other venue.

The movers and shakers of this year's sale have decided that for the 2025 plant sale, members will not order their plants in advance.  A team of experts will pick out and order all the Jolly Farmer flowers, hanging baskets, and herbs.  After the plants arrive next May, the club will hold a Member Only Sale a day or two before the Public Plant Sale.  First dibs will go to the civic garden leads and the team who did the ordering.  I'll be looking for volunteers in September so stay tuned. Members who purchase plants at the Member Only Sale will get a 10% discount off the bottom line. 
 
There's one more piece of the Jolly Farmer flower story--the civic gardens--which I'll write about and post next week. 

​The Grantham Garden Club under the continued enthusiastic leadership of Diane Bilotta organized the 4th annual Grantham clean up day on May the 4th which resulted in at least 75 bags hauled to the Transfer Station.  The weather was cool which helped with the squatting exercise needed to pick up the debris.  Some volunteers were wise enough to bring those grabber sticks.  The club may purchase some for future years.  The black flies even held off for a while.
 
As I glanced around the area where I was cleaning, it reminded me of an Easter egg hunt for toddlers.  Instead of colorful eggs hiding in plain site, there were lots of beer cans and fast food bags.  Also like Easter eggs hunts, our bags filled up quickly. 
 
There were a few unusual finds this year such as a tv set and a room heater. Maryellen and Len DeJong hauled off an old Christmas tree.  Claire Cofer, who joined Martha Arnold and Betsy Fowler for the clean up, found a $100 bill which she immediately donated to the club’s scholarship fund.  Wow!
 
A picture is worth a thousand words so I’m going to let these photos tell more of the story of the fantastic volunteers.  I only wish I had pictures of all 50 of them. Thank you guys!

​When I heard that Lionel Chute and Dode Gladders were going to be part of a group leading a walk, I immediately jumped on board without any idea where we were going or why.  Lionel is the Director of Sullivan County Conservation District and Dode Gladders is the Forestry Field Specialist for UNH Extension, and both have given talks to the Grantham Garden Club so I knew I was in for a treat.  
 
Our group of carpoolers from Grantham met up with Lionel and Dode in the Sullivan County owned Stowell Forest in Unity, New Hampshire.  During the first bit of the walk, I didn’t like to see so many stumps and cut trees, but when as I understood the rationale behind it, I became a convert of forest management. 
 
If Sullivan County had been interested in making a fast million, they could have hired loggers to clear cut the 98 acres of trees.  In contrast, this involved thoughtful planning by many experts who walked the land, made decisions about each area, and put the health of the forest first before cutting a single tree.  Key players in this transformation were Jeremy Turner and Laura French of the Meadowsend Consulting Company (a forest management company) who explained what was done and why as we walked through the site together.  I was struck by how passionate they are about their work.  Lionel worked closely with Jeremy and Laura during the planning and execution stages, and all are justifiably proud of what they have accomplished.
 
Initially we waked by a mostly cleared area where a few dozen impressive white pines stood.  The plan here was to leave the best white pines as seed trees. Each year, these pine trees will produce thousands of pine cones that will each release hundreds of seeds.  Since most of the trees in the area were removed, these seeds will have a better chance to germinate in the productive soil with the benefit of much less competition and lots of sunshine (which Laura called ‘reallocating the sun’). The successful seeds will inherit superior genes from their hardy parents. The land will not solely be populated by white pines. Other species of trees plus shrubs and plants will also take advantage of this opportunity to take root which will help maintain the diversity that is crucial to a healthy forest.
 
As we walked, we occasionally saw large white pine trees the had been girdled to gradually kill them. The standing dead trees will encourage birds such as pileated woodpeckers to create holes to feast on the insects they can hear beneath the bark.  The holes created by pileated woodpeckers can benefit more than 35 species of animals and birds.  In approximately 40 years, the girdled trees will fall and again help the local floral and fauna, not to mention the soil. It’s all part of the plan.
 
Twenty-one acres were left intact.  We bushwhacked into one of the Natural Areas to visit a specimen white pine.  We quietly stood together and admired the 150-year-old tree with many folks touching its bark—there was even some tree hugging.  The goal of the Stowell transformation project, in addition to making a healthier forest; is to encourage people to enjoy this land: to hike, bird watch, ride trail bikes and picnic.  Personally, I plan to go back and hike there often and watch what happens.