Mario Bautista
Spirit of the Woods Garden Club Inc. held its monthly meeting on Sept. 9. After a brief business meeting at Oak Grove Hospitality Center, club members traveled to Interlochen Center for the Arts.
Director of sustainability Emily Umbarger, and members of her staff took the club members through their site.
Vegetables are grown in three hoop houses and served to students in Interlochen.
Umbarger and her team do a lot of research through experimentation. A recent project entailed comparing using straw mulch versus a cover crop of clover between the rows of vegetables.
Another pest management approach is to grow certain plants together. Another experiment is raising mushrooms.
Club members also collected donations for Choices of Manistee County.
Spirit of the Woods Garden Club’s next meeting is at noon on Oct. 14, at Oak Grove Hospitality Center. Dr. Brian Allen will present Birds from Borneo to Botswana.
For additional information about club meetings and activities, contact Beth Markowski at 616-401-3387 or via email at spiritofthewoodsgc@gmail.com.
