Vega Baja Garden Club

The June meeting of the Garden Club was opened by Val Duckworth, who reminded members of the many tasks that can be completed in the garden in June, pruning and planting in preparation for the coming months. 

Carole Williams, a member of the club, gave a very interesting and humorous talk about her success in growing rhubarb from seed. Carole had always had a good crop of rhubarb in England and missed it when she came to live in Spain. Her plants are just now over a year old having survived the Spanish summer and the interest of her pet cat! The plants should be left to establish for two years before picking the stems, and Carole is now looking forward to eating a little of her crop next year!

Alice Darroch, another club member, then spoke about growing lemon grass, an important ingredient in Thai and other Asian cuisines. Lemon grass is quite easy to grow, and can be used in many ways. Alice brought along an infusion of lemon grass for members to taste and also several plants which she kindly gave away.

The main speaker for the afternoon was David Stokes, of Photogenics Costa Blanca.  David is an experienced photographer, and gives classes on the subject of digital photography, as well as providing a full photographic service.  His focus was on the photography of plants and gardens, and he gave many invaluable tips and points to remember when composing and taking a photograph. He gave advice about a wide variety of topics, including light levels, the removal of irrelevant or unattractive items from the picture, the use of in built camera modes, the direction of the photo and how to add interest to a composition. His advice will be very useful to members, as a photography competition has been arranged for the September meeting.  The title of the competition is “A corner of your Garden” and members can submit as many entries as they wish, and a prize will be offered for the winning photograph.  If you would like to enter the competition, print out each photograph you wish to enter onto paper not exceeding A4 size, and bring them to the September meeting.

The competition this month was for the best vase of mixed flowers from members own gardens and terraces, and this was won by Ruth Anderson.

The next meeting will be held on Monday September 2 at 1.45 for a 2.00pm start, at Los Rosales Restaurant on the CV895 Lemon Tree Road, Campo de Guardamar.  If you are interested in gardening and would like to attend the meeting, you will be assured of a warm welcome.

For further information, please contact Val Duckworth, tel. 966 716 527