August Program: Venkappa Gani

 "Tree of Life: The Coconut Palm"

Our speaker for the August meeting will be Venkappa Gani, a life member of The Garden Club of Austin. He will describe the history of the coconut tree and many of its uses in daily life. This tropical prehistoric plant grows and is cultivated in most tropical countries around the world. Besides the dried coconut that shows up in cake frosting, uses have been found and developed for many of the parts of the tree, including coconut oil (used for body massage, hair oil, cooking, and sun lotion additive). Recently coconut coir (a fiber obtained from coconut husks), which used to be a waste product, is now converted into useful horticultural and agricultural products. These, and many other interesting facts about the coconut tree will be discussed by our speaker.

Mr. Gani was a design engineer for IBM for nearly 30 years until he retired in 1997. In addition to our club, he is also a member of the Travis County Master Gardeners Association and a past president of the Austin Organic Gardeners Club. In the past, he has given tours of his home garden that includes a rainwater harvesting system that he installed. He has received the GREEN GARDEN award from the City of Austin, and was awarded The Texas State Master Gardener of the Year in 2005.

Plan now to come spend the evening with your fellow gardeners and hear what promises to be a very interesting program. Refreshments and fellowship begin at 7:00 pm followed by our meeting at 7:30. Our meetings are open to the public so bring a friend. Mark your calendar for Thursday, August 26, in the Austin Area Garden Center, 2220 Barton Springs Road at 7:00 pm.