Daily Archives: June 16, 2010

Dear Fruit Club Members,

One of our favorite Vashon Island Fruit Club events is almost here!  Saturday, June 26, beginning at 1:00pm, Bob & Carol Norton will host their Orchard Tour & Strawberry Shortcake Tasting party. Members only please. Join us for lemonade & scrumtuliscious berries.

We are also taking this opportunity to send out a call for extra Strawberry Fest volunteers, Friday July 16 through Sunday, July 18^th.  In order for the Club to avoid paying a $160.00 fee for our  Strawberry Fest booth, we need to provide the Chamber of Commerce with 10 hours of volunteer time. This can be 5 people, each for 2 hours. Place & times needed: the Micro Brew Beer Garden. Possible jobs to include set-up, ID checking, beer pouring, and bussing tables.

VIFC needs volunteers in these time slots:

FRIDAY: 4 volunteers from 3:00 pm to 7:30, 5 volunteers from 7:30 until 11:00.  

SATURDAY: 2 volunteers from 10:30 to 2:00, 4 volunteers from 2:00 to 5:30, 5 volunteers from 5:30 until 11:00.

SUNDAY: 2 volunteers from 10:30 to 4:00, 4 or 5 from 4:00 to cleanup time around 7:00

Please let our Special Events Chair Linda Rhodes know when you would be available by calling her at 463- 9826, or call Elizabeth Vogt at 920-7603.

We hope to see everyone at the Nortons on the 26^th, and we thank you in advance for your valuable volunteer time. After all, the club is as good as what we all put into it, the more we contribute, the more each of us gets back.

Happy Fruiting season to all of you!

Dawn Perlman – 2010 VIFC Membership Chair

Hello all,

Please pass the word about this great opportunity to take our summer fruits and nuts class from Bob Norton. Feel free to use any, or all, of the information below.

Pomology expert Bob Norton will be teaching a horticulture course on Growing Fruits and Nuts in Western Washington this summer at Edmonds Community College. Bob will cover how to get started and follow through to have maximum satisfaction with minimal input of cost and time. He will provide a comprehensive look at fruit and nut varieties, including vining and bush fruits, suitable for growing in Western Washington. Emphasis will be placed on how to provide proper growing conditions, cope with pests, and integrate these food producing plants into the landscape.

Fruits and Nuts, Hort 247, 2.5 credits*
Thursdays 1-3 PM (July 8-August 19)
Class also meets 10 AM-5 PM on two Saturdays, July 24 and August 14.

Dr. Norton, emeritus professor of pomology, Washington State University, has 50+ years of experience in teaching, research, and growing fruit plants.  After graduating with a BA & MS from Rutgers University and a PhD from Michigan State University, Bob has been teaching, researching and consulting in the Pacific Northwest. Bob founded a Chapter of Western Cascade Fruit Society (100 members) and now grows over 150 kinds and varieties of tree fruit and berries on his small orchard.

*Please note that you must be admitted to the college before registering for this course. To apply online, start at the Edmonds Community College home page: http://www.edcc.edu/ and click on Future Student. For state residents, tuition for this course will be $201.50.