Submitted by the Orcas Island Garden Club.

Founded in 1958, the Orcas Island Garden Club remains one of the most active and vibrant clubs on the island. We meet ten times during the year beginning in September on the third Wednesdays of the month at 10 a.m. in the Madrona Room of Orcas Center.

Annual dues are $20, but beginning in February we offer half-off $10 memberships for the remaining four programs and the end of the year June picnic.

It’s a terrific value for “Gardening with Kids” in February with educator Allison O’Sullivan; “How Plants Work” in March with author Linda Chalker-Scott; “Composting” in April with Master Gardeners Kristina Bayas and Diana Brooks; and “Year-Round Organic Gardening in the PNW” in May with author Linda Gilkerson.

We are well known for the quality of our presentations and often have bestselling authors and speakers from the PNW Garden show in Seattle.

Members also enjoy member-only events such as the February hands-on pruning workshop and a field trip to Far Reaches Farm in May.

The club supports the community through grants to many local organizations including the Orcas School Garden, Orcas Center Memorial Garden, The Senior Center, The Historical Museum, The Food Bank, Seed Library and landscaping at the Library, the Faithful Friends Garden at the Animal Shelter and Community Participatory Agriculture at Kai Dawg Farm. We also sponsor two library magazine subscriptions and manage the Berkowitz Memorial Garden on Fisherman’s Bay. Programming and outreach are primarily supported by our Garden Tour Saturday and Sunday, June 25 and 26.

Our members’ abilities range from the beginning gardener to master gardeners, and folk with extensive local expertise.

One popular meeting activity is the question and answer session. If someone there doesn’t have the knowledge, it might not exist.

At every meeting we have a plant or book raffle for one (sometimes more!) lucky attendee. After the presentation, members are welcome to attend the Hosted Social Hour. Everyone knows gardeners make the best cooks. We invite the community to come as our guests and see if this friendly, informative club is for you.

For more information check out our website: www.orcasislandgardenclub.org or like us on Facebook.