Last night our garden club had a program presented by some of the members who demonstrated simple gardening projects we could do with a few simple tools in a short amount of time. We had five "stations" to rotate through with the presenters each giving a demo and a handout. It worked out very well, and we all learned something we didn't know before.

The Garden Bench
This was a simple garden bench completed with minimum tools. There's a detailed hand-out for this project if you'd like one.

A Pot Lifter/Hauler This project showed us how to make a pot lifter for two individuals to lift a very heavy pot. There's a handout for this one also.

Making a Hypertufa Planter Even if you've read the directions, nothing beats actually watching someone demo it! Instructions available.

Moveable Pot Support This is great for moving large pots on the patio. (I have to look for the rollers at thrift stores now!) Easy detailed instructions available on this one too.

The Grow Box We saw two grow box options. One was using a large storage container, the other using a five gallon bucket. Great for keeping the bugs at bay, and not having to worry about your rocky or clay garden soil. Instruction handout available.

Not all our members were present, we have a large group. I think we all enjoyed seeing our members show us something we could use for the garden.

I loved the hypertufa and the grow boxes. I don't really have anywhere to put large pots (yet) so the lifter and the mover aren't high on my list right now and no one would sit in my yard right now without shade and lots of fire ant killer...I can't explain how bad they are.

However, I should have my first rose bloom in the next couple of days!!

Yep..I think I see your arms in front of the grow box!
We used to have fire ants in the backyard, but the trees started growing and shaded everything....and the fire ants moved on. Now that I said that, watch 'em come back this summer!
I spent most of yesterday in the backyard. I think all I'm accomplishing is moving pots from one side of the yard to the other....then back again.

That is a great idea. I would love to see the hypertufa made too.

Anna..does your garden club do projects that you could share?

They tend to do community type projects like planting daffodills, caring for an historic garden, flower arranging with assisted living residents, wreaths at Christmas and greeting soldiers at the airport. There is not alot of hands on learning. I didn't go to the wreath making but there was instruction on bow making and creative use of materials. I like what your club does. How many members do you have and how many show up to meetings?

Our club has 86 members, as of today. Some of our members are "life members," meaning they've paid upfront so they never have to pay dues again. Our club is affiliated with The Gardeners of America/Men's Garden Clubs of America. It used to be The Men's Garden Club of Austin. That was until all us pesky women were invited in and they changed the name a bit! The judges for our flower shows come from Dallas and Houston clubs that we're affiliated with also.

How many show up depends on a variety of things...weather, program and speaker, conflicts with other commitments, among other things. I would say we average about 50 members most nights....way more if it's a "hard to get" speaker or program. We also encourage members to bring guests. We have a fantastic duo that hunt down new speakers and find spots around Austin for us to visit (this month for our mtg. we'll be guests again at The Great Outdoors for an evening of talks, give-aways, and discounted shopping!). Next month we have a plant auction for our scholarship fund. It's always a fun evening with members trying to up their buddy's bids!

Our club offers scholarships to deserving college students majoring in the horticultural field. (The guy that started Southern Bulbs was one of our recipients in his college days). We maintain the fern beds at the Zilker Botanical Gardens. I would guess that most of our members are also involved in at least one other gardening club. Our youngest member is a home schooled senior (who has chaired our flower show three times already!) and our oldest members are in their 80's and possibly 90's. We also volunteer to help other projects at the Gardens, planting bulbs, helping with the annual festival...traditionally our club man's the gate for the festival, too many things to list this morning. And I've written about our chartered bus trip to Dallas to visit Casa Flora last year. That was special...

In my "spare time'' I made a few flowers out of old berry bowls we'll never use. Might be the only thing blooming in the garden if we don't get some rain soon. The stakes have candle holders behind them. Great way to set the tree on fire!

Very cute! Not sure I understand, may have to see it in real life.

I got a hibiscus bloom today!

Good for you! Are you using Hibbie fertilizer? They seem to thrive on it. I'm off to Lowe's to find a birthday gift for our neighbor who's getting into gardening. Big celebration across the street this evening....no cooking for me!!!

I gave it some generic fertilizer last week and it's obviously happy. :)

We're heading to Zilker today and then going to dinner, I think to Jasper's.

How was Jasper's?
I went out the back gate early yesterday morning to get the paper. Coffee cup in hand, I heard something rustling behind the garbage bin. Out pops an armadillo and the chase was on! In my pjs and slippers, I ran him around the front, past the garage and along the front wall. He was running... and jumping! I lost him clear on the other side of the front yard when he jumped off the wall and under the neighbors' fence. He must be the one that lives under their pool deck....with the raccoon and fox...and possum. I know, you must think I'm making this up....but she told me they see them come out in the evening...."and the possum even comes out early to get a drink out of the pool!" (she said) The ground was nice and soft at the other neighbors' house (by the gate), so the armadillo had dug huge holes in their side yard where they'd just had a sprinkler system put in. I haven't been out to see if he came back, but he leaves real ankle breaker holes in our yards.

Jasper's was fantastic. Hadn't looked at the menu before we went, so I was impressed to find out that meal normally would have cost around $60 - for $35! Everyone was impressed and our waiter was good. Love Restaurant Week. :)

We've had a skunk live under our shed and we have a few raccoons and possums that visit. I know there's an armadillo around. He doesn't visit us much right now with the ground so hard. Boo. I have a lot of grubs for him.