President's Message | Stockton Garden Club

Hello

My name is Carol Burns

President of the Stockton Garden Club, and a busy grandmother of 5,

futilely balancing life and all it offers.

My experience of gardening as a child was pulling weeds, as a young married

wife - mowing the lawn with a toddler strapped to my back, then gaps of no

gardening through the years working full-time and raising teenagers and driving...always driving.

My husband has always been the gardener in our family, always knows all the plant names - Latin and all.. and has the 'green thumb'. But I am a bit competitive! I dared him to take horticulture classes with me and see who came out on top! (PS we both got "A's", but my A was better than his A!) I was thirsty to learn and eagerly soaked up everything I could read and treasured new tidbits from experienced gardeners' comments. Thus began my journey where I believe I can now confidently call myself 'a Gardener'. - As our club apron says "I'm a Gardener! What's Your Super Power?"

Since I've been in the garden club these last few years, many individuals I've met expressed their common desire to grow and create their own garden, yet were held back from starting by a lack of confidence and knowledge.

This year, I want to encourage new gardeners to just 'Take the First Step'. Learn alongside us. The journey is well worth it; the learning is life long and the joys it brings are incalculable.

"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in,

where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike."

John Muir

Carol and granddaughter gardening_edited

Click on an "Education" page below to help you get started

Books

Podcasts

You-Tube

President's Project

"Pollinator Corridors in Home Gardens"

"It's the back-yard gardeners that are going to make the difference".

Theme: "Take the First Step"

Before you take the first step, arm yourself with some facts about Pollinators.

Pollinators can be birds, bats, bees, butterflies, beetles, and other small mammals that travel from plant to plant carrying pollen on their bodies transferring genetic material to the reproductive systems of most flowering plants.

Pollinated plants are responsible for bringing us one out of every three bites of food. They also sustain our ecosystems and increase our natural resources by helping plants reproduce.

These are the very plants that

bring us countless fruits, vegetables, and nuts,
½ of the world’s oils, fibers and raw materials;
prevent soil erosion,
and capture carbon and store it in their 'biomass' and the soil (carbon sequestering or capturing and removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere)

What can I do

Provide a general description of the items below and introduce the services you offer. Click on the text box to edit the content.

Service Name

Many pollinating insects are declining in California, including bees and butterflies. The population of western monarch butterflies has declined 95% since the 1980s, due to a variety of reasons, including habitat loss and degradation, pesticides, and climate change. One important step we can take to protect these important animals is to increase the amount of habitat available to these species.

Service Name

Describe your service here. What makes it great? Use short catchy text to tell people what you offer, and the benefits they will receive. A great description gets readers in the mood, and makes them more likely to go ahead and book.