Volume XVIII, Issue 6, August, 2009

CHG Meeting

DATE: August 11, 2009

TIME: 7:15 P.M.

LOCATION: Charlotte Council of Garden Clubs

1820 East Seventh Street

Farmers Market Preparation: Bring your dried flowers and fresh herbs to the meeting

VISITOR FEE: $5.00

Refreshments: Mary Ann Nagel, Joan Smith and Leslie Belcher

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Minutes of the July Meeting

Home of Tom Nunnenkamp and Lib Jones, July 14, 2009

Dana Debellis called the meeting to order.

Pat Lookbill, Shirley Patton and Anna Brandl-Kleine were thanked as this month’s hostesses.

Next month’s hostesses are Mary Ann Nagel, Joan Smith and Leslie Belcher.

Marie McCord and Pam Horton were introduced as guests.

Dixie Kelly, Treasurer, presented budget for June 2009.

Beginning balance $14,208.56

Deposits $1238.00

Cookbooks (33) $545.00

Payouts $51.00

Balance, June 30, 2009, $15,446.56

A sign-up sheet was passed around for preparing "tasting items" for the Farmers Market, using recipes from the CHG Cookbook. Tastings definitely sell cookbooks! (only 167 cookbooks remain).

Next month’s meeting will be the Farmers Market Workshop. Bring to the meeting dried flowers and live herbs that will be nurtured by Judy Powell for the Farmers Market.

Lib Jones & Tom Nunnenkamp gave the CHG members a history of the Nunnenkamp Gardens, “Maple Walk,” at 4300 Tottenham Rd. They purchased their home January 1990, more for the lot than the house. Lib and Tom started with an overgrown wilderness and over the next three years, hired a landscape architect to implement a master plan and then commenced doing all the clearing, weeding, research, purchasing, planting and maintenance themselves.

Directly behind Lib and Tom’s house was a vacant lot. Through good luck, good timing and vigilance, they were able to purchase the parcel in April 1997. In Fall of 2004 they were able to start planting in earnest on the adjoining lot.

In the last several ears, serendipitously, Lib and Tom were able to purchase another adjoining lot with a 1960’s brick ranch house for Lib’s Father. He spent less than one year living there, but, like Lib and Tom, became enchanted with the gardens.

The Gardens encompass three parcels, 2.25 acres, over 1000 feet of foot path, 40 tons of Tennessee Field stone, 60+ varieties of maples, with close to 1000 unique plants. See the planting list for the Nunnenkamp "Maple Walk" gardens in "Outside the picket fence" to the right.

It is Lib and Toms’ intent to create a Trust that will maintain the property in perpetuity, with the brick ranch as the Trust’s office so that many generations can enjoy their creation.

Following the brief presentation, we were given an extensive walking tour of the gardens. Tom and Lib can be reached via email at Thomas.nunnenkamp@wfadvisors.com. They are always open to sharing their gardens but do require a little notice.

Meeting adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,

Theresa Nardi, Recording Secretary

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July Refreshments

Strawberries and Grapes

Anna Brandl-Kleine

Anna prepared a lovely platter of fresh strawberries and grapes.

Cheese, Pretzels, and Apple

Shirley Patton

Pretzel skewers make picking up cheese and apple slices so much easier!

Chilled Mint Tea

Linda Ferguson

Linda modified Jane Ireton’s recipe for Chilled Mint Tea (The Charlotte Herb Guild Cooks Again, page 35) by substituting a mixture of orange, pineapple and apple juice for the lemonade and orange juice.

Spiced Walnuts

Linda Ferguson

Linda substituted walnuts for pecans in Virginia Frazier’s recipe for Spiced Pecans (The Charlotte Herb Guild Cooks Again, page 287)

Rosemary Blue Cornmeal Cookies

Linda Ferguson

Linda followed Marsha Capps’ recipe from The Charlotte Herb Guild Cooks Again (page 249), substituting blue cornmeal for the traditional yellow cornmeal.

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