Not Your Grandmother’s Garden Club

Mention the words “garden club,” and a certain image may still come to mind—a group of devoted gardeners gathering to talk about flowers, exchange gardening tips, and perhaps plan a community planting project.

There’s nothing wrong with that picture. In fact, those traditions remain an important part of what garden clubs have always contributed to their communities.

But the Salem Friendship & Garden Club has evolved into something much broader.

The flowers are still there. The gardens are still there. But today, what we’re growing extends far beyond the garden.

In just a few short years, SFGC has grown into what might best be described as one of Salem’s little community gems—a place where gardening, friendship, education, community service, and simply enjoying one another’s company have all found a home.

You can see that evolution in the many different ways our members are involved throughout Salem.

This summer, SFGC volunteers partnered with the Create and Discover Learning Center’s Summer Camp Program at Fisk School, where children rotated through hands-on activities that included building bug hotels, creating sunflower wreaths and painting rocks. Along the way, they learned a little more about pollinators, gardening and the environment—and had plenty of fun doing it.

Elsewhere in town, members continue to care for and restore gardens at the Salem Town Forest, including our Legacy Garden. Gardening and community beautification remain very much at the heart of who we are, but today they are only part of the story.

Education has also become an important piece of SFGC. Programs and guest speakers introduce members to topics ranging from gardening and conservation to birds, pollinators and the environment. Our newer scholarship initiative extends that commitment by supporting educational opportunities related to horticulture, conservation, environmental studies and related fields.

And then there is the word right in the middle of our name: Friendship.

Coffee & Conversation, Laughter & Libations, garden gatherings and other social activities provide opportunities that have very little to do with how well you can grow a tomato or identify a perennial. They simply give people a reason to get together.

That may be one of the biggest ways the idea of a garden club has changed.

You don’t need an extraordinary garden—or even a particularly green thumb—to find a place here. Some members love getting their hands in the dirt. Others enjoy community projects, educational programs, social activities, organizing events, or volunteering with children. Some simply came looking for an opportunity to meet new people.

As our membership has grown, so have the interests, talents, and ideas our members bring with them. That diversity has allowed the club itself to grow in new directions while still holding onto the gardening roots from which it began.

Interestingly, SFGC doesn't even hold its regular membership meetings during July and August. But you would never know it from our calendar. Summer remains filled with garden projects, community outreach, and plenty of opportunities for members to get together.

Perhaps that is what a modern garden club looks like.

It still plants flowers and tends gardens. But it can also plant an interest in nature in a child, create a more beautiful corner of town, teach us something we didn’t know, introduce neighbors who might otherwise never have met, and give someone an opportunity to become part of their community.

Gardening brought us together. What has grown from it is something much bigger.

So, no, the Salem Friendship & Garden Club may not be your grandmother’s garden club.

But we have a feeling she would have liked it!

Salem Friendship & Garden Club meets on the third Monday of each month at the Derry-Salem Elks, 39 Shadow Lake Rd, Salem, NH 03079, at 12:00.Individuals interested in learning more about us are welcome to attend our next meeting on September 21 or check out our website at https://sfgc-nh.org/.