Pacific Northwest Gardening: 1st ANNUAL PNW ROUNDUP SUMMARY..., 0 by Rarejem

Rarejem wrote:
This is a summary of the PNW first annual roundup. I tried to cover all items so those who are planning on coming don’t have to hunt on several different threads for info. If I have missed anything, let me know and I will edit this section so it eliminates searching this thread too!

I know that we have gotten several RSVP’S in several different areas, but I will be annoying and ask one more time

PLEASE RSVP IN RESPONSE TO THIS THREAD
so that we know how much food to plan on Friday night, who is sleeping where, who plans to meet at Pixy’s so we don’t leave them behind, how many burgers/dogs to pick up for Saturday night, and how much food to make for Sunday morning. We won’t kick anyone out, but having a general idea of numbers makes it less stressful for the hostesses in any section of our fun!



PNW FIRST ANNUAL ROUNDUP SCHEDULE

DATE DETAILS:

Arrival time can be any time from Friday 8-28-09 (noonish or so) on.
Departure time from Lynn Weidman's can be as late as Monday afternoon 8-31-09.

LOCATION:

Lynn Weidman's home, Buckley (actually closer to South Prairie) Washington. Address, directions, and phone numbers for major stops will be provided…waiting on responses from all parties involved to see if they will be posted as a response to this thread, or d-mailed to those who RSVP.-----****decision has been unanimous to d-mail addys rather than post them. I will d-mail the info to everyone who has RSVP'd when we are back from fishing (around the 15th). You can also find them in the address exchange in the "extras" tab of you home page.****

ADMISSION CHARGE:

I am asking that each attendee brings a rock from their world personalized in some way (even as simple as your name with a sharpie!) to create a DG PNW rock collection for Lynn. It will be a wonderful way to thank her for volunteering to host our first roundup, and since it just so happens to be her Birthday on the 29th, our rock collection will make a very memorable birthday present as well!


ACCOMODATIONS:

Lynn has a few beds available that require contacting her ahead of time to reserve, and there is room for RV's and Trailers, and plenty of room for tents. She will provide use of bathroom facilities in her home for tenters and car campers.

THINGS TO REMEMBER TO BRING:
**Lawn Chairs
**Sun Screen
**Sun Glasses
**Snips, containers, and paper towels for cuttings
**Bug repellent
**Paper, pen, clipboard to take notes
**Shoes for wet grass
**CAMERA!!
**Potluck contributions
**Sharpie and Labeling material
**Your personal beverages/cooler
**Lunch money/Lakewold money for Saturday (small bills & change)
**Umbrella (to PREVENT rain of course!)
**Swimsuit for the hottub




FRIDAY 8-28-09 :

We are planning on having a simple arrival dinner on Friday for anyone who wants to come that early. It will consist of chili and bread, and will be available from 6:00 on, so if you get there Friday night, you will have a hot meal waiting. We will have a only a small quantity of vegetarian chili unless several people request it. It will be a simple friendly hang out and get to know each other evening.
.
SATURDAY 8-29-09:

Official events will start at Melissa's (Pixydish) home in Lakewood. We are planning to meet there between 10:00 and 10:30 am. At around 10:30, we will carpool to Lakewold gardens and take the garden tour there ($5/person). After the tour, we will go back to Melissa's and have a garden tour and picnic. The plan for the picnic is to order "to go" stuff from the local grub houses (like Subway) and everyone cover the expense of whatever they order. We can order as a group and have one or two gofers to pick food up.

When we are done at Pixy's, we will make our way back to Lynn's place either in groups or singles, as the fancy strikes you. I will have a list of several local nurseries that might interest everyone, with driving directions from both Pixy's home and Lynn's home. At least one group is going to visit Mt. Tahoma nursery (invitation only and we can only have 10 people at a time attend).

The list of people who have RSVP'd to me regarding Mt. Tahoma are:
1. RAREJEM......................................11.PATTY
2. PNWMOUNTAINGIRL ..................12.TILLYSRAT
3. LYNNWEIDMAN.............................13.Heidi Weidman
4. AZORINA..........................................14.Gretchen Price
5. PIXYDISH .........................................15.
6. KATIE59............................................16.
7. GWENDALOU..................................17.
8. SUMMERKID....................................18.
9.RACHIERABBIT.................................19.
10. KATYE............................................. 20.

Note that these are not necessarily the way the groups have to be divided...just promised Rick I would keep track. He was VERY emphatic about the 10 at a time rule for some reason.

I don't want anyone to be left out, so if I missed you and you want to go to Mt. Tahoma, LET ME KNOW! Rick said we could easily break into two groups and visit one after another...he just likes to limit the number of visitors to a manageable group at any one time.




Evening events will start at around 5:00 with our "official" tour of our hostess's garden.

After the garden tour, we will have a seed and plant exchange for anyone who wants to participate. Contributions will NOT be required….it is the perfect way not only to add fun new things to established gardens, but it allows those of us with surplus items to share them with people who are just starting their gardens. There is nothing that makes a gardener happier than to share their babies with others. If you have missed the thread, there is a pre-roundup have/want list that can be found here:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/964425/

The have/want link is just the "preliminary" of the plant exchange, so that things can be potted/reserved ahead of time to try and make sure they are available. I know that some of the stuff that people had been saving for roundup (my own included) did not make it through the "cutting crisping, pot parching July from hell", so we will all understand if some "wants" just can't be filled!

I would encourage anyone who has excess plants, or plants that they feel that people would like to bring them to the exchange. In addition, If you have something that you think people would like and are willing to bring fresh cuttings in a jar, that would be a wonderful addition to the plant exchange. Don't worry about having to haul them home again...I know that there are several people who are just starting their yards, and like Lynn said in a previous post, her yard is huge and just in the beginnings of being, and PNWMountaingirl and I also have new woodland gardens that would be happy homes for any orphans. Also, we would make offerings to the people in South Prairie proper who went through a devastating flood this winter. Several yards and gardens that were just beautiful are nothing but silt now.

For the seed exchange, we plan on setting up a table and having people add to it as the day goes on. Then at exchange time, it will be a first come type of basis for what you want. I would suggest packaging at least a few of each variety of seeds that you are planning to bring to allow as many people to share as possible.
.

This exchange time will also be the time everyone can vote for the best entry in our "POT CONTEST". The rules for the contest are as follows:

The "pot" should be named on the display table.
The theme can be chosen by the participant.
The plants can be chosen by the participant, but limited to 10.
The container can be chosen by the participant. (Remember you will need room to haul the plants you acquire at the plant exchange as well as hauling your entry home again.)

Let your imaginations run wild! The prize for the winner of the "pot contest" will be first pick of the door prize table (see below).


Dinner will be a potluck bar-b-q. We will be providing salmon, hamburgers, and hot dogs....the rest is up to you guys! Between Lynn's place and ours, we should be able to accommodate things that need to be refrigerated, as well as things that need to be heated. We are also going to use Tilly’s wonderful suggestion of a donation jar for any who can afford a small donation to help the hostess cover the costs of things like plates, silverware, etc. As Lynn stressed before, NO MONETARY DONATION is required…she volunteered to host to make sure that EVERYONE could afford to join in.


There will be a door prize drawing after dinner. We will have another table set up to display the prizes during the day, so people get to see what is available. If anyone has anything that they would be willing to donate as door prizes, it would be fantastic! Plants that you have to share, but may not have enough to share with more than one person, garden ornaments, houseplants, anything fun that you can think of. We don't need to know ahead of time regarding door prize contributions, just bring them with you and we will add them to the table. We have raffle tickets, and plan to put everything provided as door prizes on one table and first ticket drawn gets first pick, and tickets are drawn until prizes are gone.

Next comes our "GARDEN GIFT EXCHANGE". This will be done in the Round Robin Gift Exchange method. Everyone who is interested in participating should bring a wrapped gift that they think that the people in the group would enjoy. Spending limit on the gifts is no more than $25. In the round-robin gift exchange, numbers are drawn. Then each person in numerical order chooses either a wrapped gift or swipes an unwrapped gift that was selected previously. A participant who has their gift “stolen” can then select another unwrapped gift from another participant or the wrapped gifts pile. Participation in this exchange is definitely not mandatory, and should be fun to watch even if you aren't participating.

We will end the evening relaxing around the bonfire.

SUNDAY:

PNWMountaingirl and I will be hosting a breakfast and garden tour on Sunday morning at 10:00. Our yards are about a mile and a half or so away from Lynn's. We plan on fresh fruit, biscuits and gravy, and egg soufflé (one without meat, a couple with), along with coffee of course. This is the last "official" roundup meal we are planning.

12:00 to 1:00ish...Head across the bridge to visit Dragonfly Nursery in Kingston. Heidi's nursery is wonderful, and it would be great to visit her as having her business open prevents her from joining us.

The rest of the day will be left to whatever activities you would like to pursue on your own or in groups. As mentioned above, accommodations will still be available at Lynn's through Monday afternoon, but we don't have plans for Sunday lunch or dinner at this point. There are plenty (well, OK, at least a few) restaurants within 5 miles of Lynn's house, so if you are staying over, you have many options.


Non garden interests:

BILL'S FISHIN HOLE-- Looking for a great place to enjoy great family fun while experiencing the excitement of catching beautiful Rainbow trout? Look no further than "Bill's Fishin' Hole" (formerly the Troutlodge U-Fish), located just off Hwy 162 between Orting and South Prairie, WA. Bill's Fishin' Hole is a family-friendly facility designed to give kids and adults alike the opportunity to catch the finest Rainbow trout in the Pacific Northwest. http://www.troutlodge.com/?pageID=422F2ECC-3048-7A03-3922237...

KC crusaders is having a 24 hour paintball game that weekend (you have to register with them ahead of time). http://www.kc-crusaders.com/

Foothills Trail --The foothills trail runs right through downtown South Prairie (a mile from Lynn's at most) and it is a wonderful walking or biking trail that runs along South Prairie Creek and later the Carbon river. There is also a park in town that is next to the creek and is a wonderful place to splash around.

Regal Tall Firs Cinema is a 10 theater movie house less than five miles away: http://www.fandango.com/regaltallfirs10_aaers/theaterpage

Skateboard Park located in the town of Buckley
Mud Mountain Dam in Enumclaw is about 10 miles away, and has a wonderful park with a fun wading pool for the kids. It is another very interesting historical area. http://www.experiencewa.com/attraction.aspx?id=7080

Enumclaw Golf Course is also about 10 miles away from Lynne’s. http://enumclawgolfcourse.com/

Foothills Historical Society & Museum is closed on Saturday, but open on Sunday, and is very interesting to visit. 5 or so miles from Lynne’s. http://www.buckleychamber.org/history.htm

Antiquing is very good in Sumner, and OK in Buckley as well.

The Pinch Plum is wonderful gift shop and is only about 3 miles from Lynne’s. It has all types of fun garden and non garden related items…lots that you won’t find anywhere else! http://www.ikarma.com/biz/Washington/Buckley/Pinch Plum/(360)829-4365/

The "Taste of Orting" is being held from noon to 4:00 on Saturday the 29th. The perfect answer for lunch, etc. for the boys and others who won't be participating in the tours.



ROUNDUP AT A GLANCE............................................................................................

FRIDAY 8-28-09

12:00 noon: Attendees are welcome to start arriving.

6:00 pm: Chili dinner .... it will stay hot for several hours for those arriving later in the evening

SATURDAY 8-29-09

10:00am-10:30am: Gathering at Pixydish's (Melissa) house in preparation for the Lakewold Garden Tour

10:30 am: Lakewold Garden Tour

12 Noonish?: Pixy's garden tour and picnic lunch.

Afternoon: Making our way back to Lynn's with nursery stops along the way, including one at Mt Tahoma for the people who have signed up.

5:00pm: Lynn's garden tour.

then: Seed and Plant exchange and votes for pot contest.

Then: Dinner
Then: Door prize drawings
Then: Gift Exchange
Then: Bonfire

SUNDAY AUGUST 30TH

10:00 AM Breakfast and garden tour at PNWMountaingirl (Sharon)'s and Rarejem (Julie)'s Gardens

12:00-1:00ish...Head to Dragonfly Nursery to visit Heidi's place.







RSVP'S THAT WE HAVE GOTTEN SO FAR...LET ME KNOW IF I HAVE MISSED YOU! I know that some are bringing family and friends too...have only listed the DG member rsvp.

FRIDAY:

Tillysrat
Gwendalou
Katie59
PNWMountaingirl
LynnWeidman
Azorina
Rachierabbit
Rarejem
Summerkid

SATURDAY:
Tillysrat
Gwendalou
Katie59
PNWMountaingirl
LynnWeidman
Azorina
Rachierabbit
The1pony
Thistledownfarm
Soferdig
Pixydish
Mauryhillfarm
Katye
Summerkid
Rarejem
Heidi Weidman


SUNDAY:

Tillysrat
Gwendalou
Katie59
PNWMountaingirl
LynnWeidman
Azorina
Rachierabbit
The1pony
Soferdig
Mauryhillfarm
Rarejem




This message was edited Aug 25, 2009 11:05 AM