Flemington, NJ USA 6/2/2013

To all of our cactus and succulent friends in reach of Central New Jersey
It is getting close to that time again and I thought I had better get my invitation out so that the local
clubs can let their members know.
We had our first open house when we moved to Hunterdon County, New Jersey in 1957. That makes
this years picnic the 56th annual Barad event!! That may be a new record for a continuous cactus picnic!!
Bea and I are doing well for folks in their 90th year. I asked my internist if I can buy green bananas and
he smiled and told me that I could still buy banana seeds!
We have continued to enlarge the gardens and greenhouse collection and look forward to sharing it
with any of you who can get to the Flemington area on Saturday July 13th. We have still controlled the
depredations of the blue heron with our motion activated sprinkling system and the koi are doing nicely
and continue growing! The bog garden is still weedy but I am working at it. The woodland garden and
the little hardy cactus bed are growing nicely.
We will have more plants than usual to sell since the usual buyer of these plants was Just Pat
Orchids who sold them at the Philly flower show. Unfortunately the many changes in the management of
the show made it impossible for him to participate this year. Any of you with extra propagations to sell are
welcome to set up in our tail-gate seller's area. This is only for your own propagations! I don't want to
make this a commercial event with the reselling of plants you have bought elsewhere.
The pool is functioning better than ever since I found an effective algaecide so bring your bathing suits.
Most of the folks who come have been coming for years and know the way to get here. If you
have not come before, e-mail me (gsbarad@earthlink.net) and I will send directions from your starting
point. Bea and I will be going to the national CSSA convention in Austin Texas and will not be available
to answer your e-mail between June 14th and June 22nd. My trusty assistants, Jeremy and Todd will be
looking after the sheep, koi and the plants in our absence.
Plan on arriving around noon and follow the signs I will put up to get you to the parking area. Bring your
lunch and drinks. We have tables and chairs for the picnickers. Children are welcome but must be
supervised by their parents in ALL areas. Please do not bring any dogs! As usual, we will all be hoping
for a nice clear day and not too much heat.
Regards to all, Jerry and Bea Barad