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The Arizona Orchidist Newsletter June 1998
THE GROWER ON CALL FOR JUNE IS: PHILLIP LIU
e-mail: liuyufu@imap1.asu.edu
NEXT OSA BOARD MEETING: May 31, 1998, at the
home of Ann Cherny, 6225 E. Keim Dr., Paradise
Valley, at 1 p.m. (note the change of venue for
this meeting)
FROM THE PRESIDENT'S DESK
Wilella Stimmell
Members and guests who attended our May meeting
were privileged to learn about state-of-the-art
greenhouse technology from our speaker, Gary
Petterson, owner of Gardener's World. Growers who
already have greenhouses, received new information,
and growers who need additional time to convince
their spouses that a greenhouse is an investment
well worth siphoning money from "fixed" expenses in
their household budgets, also were introduced to
the latest technology in greenhouse design and
products.
We were happy to see member, Vic Polk, at the
meeting, and Bob and Shirley Garelick, former
members. We hope Bob and Shirley will return on a
regular basis, and that Vic will stay healthy (and
well out of the way of immovable household
objects!) so that he, too, will return.
An abundance of orchids and orchid-related items
on our raffle table were donated by: Bob Garelick,
Carrie O'Brien, and Jane Plotky, and from members:
Suz Cramer, Joe Freasier, Phillip Liu, August
Lorenzini, Bob MacLeod, Candy Pelz, Leith Plunkett,
Maura Roberts, Lois Sauer, and me. (Suz said that
our late beloved member, Everett Dean, "donated"
the plant she placed on the raffle table, and while
it had been a plant from his collection, you should
know that SUZ tended the plant for the past year.
She literally revived a stick!) Thanks to all
donors and ticket purchasers for your continued
support of our monthly raffle.
OSA's new SPIRAL-BOUND 1998 Membership Rosters
were available at the May 7 meeting. They are
out-standing! Thanks to Keith Mead, who prepared
the rosters, for a job well done! Because OSA
continues to grow, we need to add to the roster,
the names and addresses of two new members:
COMMUNITY SERVICE REPORT:
On April 23rd, Suz Cramer, Bernice Ehrlich, Ken
and Elsye Gettys, Phillip Liu, and I presented a
program for first through third grade children at
the Montessori Day School at Mountainside in
Phoenix. OSA purchased 30 phalaenopsis seedlings
for use in this program, and together with books
donated by Bob Gordon, each child received a plant
and a copy of Bob's BEGINNERS GUIDE TO GROWING
PHALAENOPSIS ORCHIDS.
Mary Shaffer also played an important role in
the program because she spearheaded the rounding up
of 30 plastic gallon water jugs which became the
new "homes" for the seedlings. Several of the
children wanted to take their plants and
"greenhouses" home, but Mary convinced the children
that the plants could be better tended in the
classroom.
Students, teachers, and other adults in the
audience enjoyed inhaling the scents of the
fragrant display orchids. The children enjoyed
learning a bit about vanilla, and they saw a piece
of a vanilla (planifolia) vine and a vanilla bean.
Our apologies to the parents of the children who
are now on a quest to consume large quantities of
vanilla ice cream and cookies! After our brief
overview of orchids, we set to work potting the
seedlings. The children were very enthusiastic, and
we who presented the program were well pleased with
their response.
There are no pictures taken at Montessori, in
this newsletter. AFTER the program, I discovered
that the disk in my digital camera was already full
with pictures from other OSA events. I knew there
were 30 files on the disk, but I thought there was
ample space left for Montessori pictures. Had I
known it was "full", I could have deleted one or
more of the previous files to make room for
pictures from this program. The camera manual
states that a disk will hold 40 picture files, and
it had been my experience that a disk did indeed
hold 40 files. The moral? Don't believe everything
you read! We do, however, have photos of the event,
which members are welcome to see. Thanks to Mary
Shaffer for providing us with visual "evidence" of
this, our fortieth community service program
presented during the past three years.
We received a very artistic thank-you note
signed by the children's teachers and all the
students who participated in the program.
Follow-up on the effect of the program we
presented on October 7, 1997, for the veterans in
residence at the Arizona State Veteran Home: On
April 24, 1998, I attended the spring meeting of
the West Central District of the Arizona Federation
of Garden Clubs. During the meeting, Leslie Goin,
Recreation Therapist for ASVH, reported on the
impact the garden therapy programs had on the
veterans. Since October, many of the 12 clubs in
the WCD had presented programs and purchased items
for the veterans. Leslie discussed the impact all
of the programs have had on the veterans. OSA
presented the first program at ASVH. Two anecdotes
Leslie related regarding veterans and orchids,
confirm the value of our program. Mike, a burly
male Viet Nam veteran tenderly cared for his
blooming orchid for several months. At about the
time the blooms began to fade, he was told that his
medical problem had progressed to the point where
he needed to decide to spend his remaining days in
a hospice. He lovingly carried his orchid plant to
Leslie's "office" and told her that his life was a
lot like the blooms - fading. He appeared to be
quite calm during the meeting, and as he handed the
orchid to Leslie, he asked her to "promise" that
she would take good care of his orchid. Leslie has
kept that promise.
Another orchid-therapy-affirming anecdote
involved Nancy, a Korean conflict female veteran
who, prior to our program, stayed in her room all
day, every day, with the drapes drawn. She had shut
herself off from the world. On the day we presented
our program, Leslie was startled to see that the
"recluse" had ventured out of her room and into the
activities room where we were presenting the
program. Nancy "adopted" one of the blooming plants
we had purchased for our program, and from that day
forward, her life changed. Her drapes were no
longer drawn during the day. Nancy's morale
continued to improve, and you will be pleased to
know that she is well enough to have been
discharged from ASVH, and she and her orchid now
live in a group HOME! Was the orchid the catalyst
for the change in Nancy's life?
OSA DISPLAY/SALE AT THE VALLEY GARDEN CENTER,
MAY 10, REPORT: From noon to 5 p.m., more than 2000
visitors toured nine homes in the historic
Encanto/Palmcroft area of Phoenix. Visitors
purchased their tickets for the tour at the VGC,
and after the tour, they were transported back to
the VGC. Several vendors had set up booths in the
VGC garden, and inside the VGC there were sales
tables by several plant societies/garden groups
that hold their monthly meetings at the VGC. OSA
was the only group that had a display as well as
sales. The Homeowners Association concurrently held
a bake sale in the east room of the VGC.
The winner of the huge, blooming Oncidium Sharry
Baby 'Sweet Fragrance' raffle plant squealed with
happiness when notified by telephone that she had
won the plant. She thinks her sister's name,
Sherry, was a good luck charm. Linda Grass, the
lucky winner, might well be embarking on a new,
intensely rewarding hobby. Surely she will come to
believe rather quickly that life without orchids is
like a day without sunshine!
OSA members who provided valuable assistance for
this, the seventh and last of our Spring Special
Events, were: Suz Cramer, Jane and Pete Heckel,
Norma Kafer, Bob MacLeod, Maura Roberts, and Peggy
Stejskal. We made new friends for OSA and sold a
lot of plants. Thanks to all the members who helped
make this event a success!
(All blooming, remainder plants will be
liquidated at the June meeting! AND especially for
the June meeting, we have purchased special brassia
hybrids in bud because our members would not be
able to find these plants elsewhere, and if we did,
CERTAINLY NOT in bud!) Some of you may recall
seeing Dendrobium Thailand Wu on our display table.
This is an example of the fantastic plants which
OSA purchases for sale at our events. Eight members
had purchased "T. Wu's" at Desert Bloom. After
seeing this spectacular dendrobium on the display
table, two members who had not attended Desert
Bloom, attempted to order the plants from the
commercial grower. What they discovered was that D.
Thailand Wu is no longer available AND the cost
would have been TWICE as much as OSA priced the
plants we sold!
RESIGNATION/APPOINTMENT: At the May 3 board
meeting, Suz Cramer submitted her resignation as
2nd Vice President. Her resignation is effective
June 1. OSA is still near and dear to Suz, but she
will be moving back to Colorado in the near future.
As per our bylaws, I appointed another OSA member
to complete Suz's term of office. Norma Kafer has
graciously agreed to complete Suz's term. Thanks to
Suz for her efforts on our behalf and to Norma for
agreeing to serve as 2nd Vice President for the
remainder of 1998. Norma will be a busy lady
because on May 7, she was elected 2nd Vice
President of the Board of Directors of the Valley
Garden Center! (Other officers elected to the
1998/1999 VGC Board of Directors are: Bill Carls,
President; Bill Mooney, 1st Vice President; Mac
Miller, Recording Secretary; Peggy Morphew,
Corresponding Secretary, and Ardi Kary, Treasurer.
This might be an interesting year for the VGC - an
equal gender split of board members!)
OSA WINS AFGC AWARD! On May 13, during the AFGC
State Convention in Tucson, AFGC President, Val
Lee, presented OSA with a cash award and
certificate for the most new AFGC members during
the 1997/1998 fiscal year. OSA attracted more new
members to the AFGC than any of the other 43 member
clubs in the Federation. Having been authorized at
the May 3 OSA board meeting to donate the money
back to the AFGC, I endorsed the check and told the
AFGC members in attendance at the convention, that
OSA's board had decided to donate the money to the
AFGC Scholarship Fund. Our gesture was greatly
appreciated and created goodwill.
VANILLA AND BIOTECHNOLOGY: The children at the
Montessori Day School at Mountainside inspired me
to "surf the net" in search of information
regarding the progress biotech companies have made
producing natural vanilla flavor in the lab using
plant cell culture. The web site of Rural
Advancement Foundation International attempts to
foster greater awareness of the issues affecting
Third World farmers. According to RAFI Communique,
they had warned back in 1987 that if two U.S.-based
biotech companies were successful in producing
natural vanilla flavor in the lab through the new
technology, the result would be to "displace over
70,000 small farmers who grow vanilla beans on the
island nation of Madagascar, and seriously disrupt
that country's already ailing economy. Madagascar
accounts for three-quarters of the world's vanilla
bean production."
In 1991 the price for ONE pound of natural
vanilla was $1200. The cost of one pound of
synthetic vanilla cost $6. One vanilla bean in 1998
costs $3. Connisseurs of vanilla agree that the
taste of synthetic vanilla is inferior to that of
natural vanilla. Escagenetics Corp., a small
biotech company based in San Carlos, Calif., had
claimed that it could produce bio-vanilla at
one-fifth the price of natural vanilla extract.
No information about Escagenetics could be found
on the internet until...I searched for the company
in a web site devoted to BANKRUPT companies!
Escagenetics filed for Chapter 11 on January 29,
1996. I was unable to find out whether they
obtained a patent on their bio-vanilla and/or
whether they sold it to a viable company.
The other company mentioned in the RAFI
Communique was David Michaels Co. of Philadelphia.
It is a private company specializing in flavors and
fragrances that had been working on bio-synthesis
of vanilla since 1985, in collaboration with the
University of Delaware. "In addition to cell
culture research, the company is also attempting to
breed hardier strains of vanilla plants with the
goal of extending the cultivation of vanilla
outside of tropical climates. The company refused
to answer RAFI's questions about the current status
of their work and outlook for commercialization.
Particularly noteworthy is the recent disclosure
by the Danish food company, Danisko A/S, that it
will discontinue its research on the production of
vanilla from plant cell cultures. The company
initiated work on vanilla in the mid-1980s. No
explanation was given about why the company chose
to discontinue this work."
It appears that the vanilla bean producing
countries (Madagascar, Indonesia, and the islands
of Comoros and Reunion) have obtained a reprieve
from the imminent loss of revenue from a major
export crop. However, vanilla remains the flavor
industry's largest segment of sales - an attractive
target for biotechnology. Perhaps the next biotech
company will have "deeper pockets" than
Escagenetics had?
VANILLA EXTRACT RECIPE: Want to make your own
vanilla to give as gifts to special friends? Here
is the list of ingredients you will need: 6 vanilla
beans, divided; 1 quart generic vodka; 1 cup sugar;
and one-half cup water. Cut each of 3 vanilla beans
into 4 pieces; split each piece lengthwise. Place
in a 3-pint bottle, and add vodka. Cover tightly
and shake vigorously. Let stand in a cool, dry
place 3 weeks, shaking the bottle every 2 days.
Line a funnel with a coffee filter; pour the
mixture through the funnel into a bowl; discard the
vanilla beans. Cook sugar and water in a small
saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring
occasionally, 2 to 3 minutes or until sugar
dissolves. Remove from heat; cool completely. Add
to vodka mixture. Cut remaining 3 vanilla beans
into pieces. Fill small decorative bottles with 1
vanilla bean piece and extract; cover tightly and
let stand in a cool, dry place 1 month. Yield: 4
and one-half cups (The cost of ingredients: vanilla
beans - $20; 1 liter of vodka - $5) Recipe courtesy
of Agnes Amelia Schrey, Snyder County, Pennsylvania
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