All posts by Maumee Valley Herb Society Editor

Events

Meetings and Special Events for 2007

Unless otherwise noted, meetings are open to the public and are held monthly on the third Wednesday of each month at 9:30 AM at the Toledo Botanical Garden Conference Center.

Wednesday, January 18 – 9:30 a.m. – Noon
Bob Sherm, owner of World Tea Company will speak on Different Types of Teas and the History of Tea

Wednesday, February 21 -9:30 a.m. – Noon
Philip Page, TBG Director of Operations, will speak about Places He Has Worked, and will discuss Willow Hedges

Tuesday, March 20 – 6:30 – 9:00 p.m.
Cindy Bench and Dianne Toffler willo present Familiar and New Plants for the Plant Sale and Using Salvias in Your Garden

Wednesday, April 18 – 9:30 – Noon
Herb Garden Clean Up and Luncheon

Special Event
May 10, 11, and 12 Spring Plant Sale
TBG members only preview Thursday, May 10 – 4 – 8 p.m.
Open to the Public Friday 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
The sale will not be open on Sunday this year.

Wednesday, May 16 – 9:30 a.m – Noon
Nancy Bucher, Head of the Horticulture Department at the Toledo Zoo, will give us a tour of the Greenhouse and the Plantings on the Zoo Grounds.

Seasonal Special
Brenda Sheely, Coordinator
Informal “But, my garden isn’t ready” tours of members’ gardens throughout the summer and fall will be announced in the newsletter and at meetings.

Wednesday, June 20 – 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Annual MVHS Picnic and Plant Exchange at Phyllis Hyder’s Home in Waterville

Wednesday, July 18
Bus Trip to the Cleveland Botanical Garden

Special Event
Arts in the Garden in August
Date to be announced.

Wednesday, August 15 – 9:30 a.m. – Noon
Jamie Kachensparger, Lucas County Soil and Water Conservation Department, will speak on the History of Herbs and Folk Lore

Tuesday, September 18 – 6:30 – 9:00
Fritz Gehring, Bee Keeper, will speak about the bees who frequent our Herb Garden

Wednesday, October 17 – 9:30 a.m. – Noon
Heralding the Holidays Workshop

Wednesday, November 14 – 9:30 a.m. – Noon
Annual Meeting and Heralding the Holidays Workshop

Special Event
Heralding the Holidays November 30, December 1, 2
Friday 5-9 p.m.
Saturday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Sunday Noon – 5 p.m.

Wednesday, December 19 – 10:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Holiday Potluck and Gift Exchange

News

Officers and Committees of the Maumee Valley Herb Society

These are the people who efficiently run our organization during 2007.

President………………………………..Linda Pratt
Vice-President/Program………………Sally Davison
Secretary………………………………..Barbara Paskiet
Treasurer………………………………..Nancy Durnford
Ways and Means: Plant Sale…………Dianne Toffler, Coordinator
Linda Pratt, Assisting
Heralding the Holidays………………..Marcia O’Hara
Garden…………………………………..Georgeann Brown
Garden Volunteers: MVHS members are tending the Herb Garden at the Toledo Botanical Garden each Tuesday, April-October beginning at 9:30 a.m.
Historian…………………………………Linda Pratt
Library……………………………………Marybeth Landis
Publicity and Newsletter………………Brenda Sheely
Community Outreach…………………Officers
Social…………………………………….Sue Anderson. Joyce Day
Publications & Graphics………………Tom Durnford
TBG-ROC Representative……………Nancy Durnford

News

Maumee Valley Herb Society’s Plant Sale May 10, 11, and 12

The Maumee Valley Herb Society will again participate in the plant sale at the Toledo Botanical Garden during the second week of May. We will have more than 200 varieties of herbal plants for you to buy and grow. Kinds of herbs for sale will include culinary, fragrant, and decorative herbs. The Herbal Market, MVHS’s best selling cookbook will be for sale and also our herb charts that explain how to use each of the culinary herbs. We will also have special items for sale that you can use in your garden. MVHS members will be available to assist customers and to answer questions about growing and using herbs. We use the proceeds from the plant sale to buy plants for the Herb Garden at the Toledo Botanical Garden.

News

January Meeting Details

Bob Shern from the World of Tea Company will speak about different types of teas and also about the history of tea. Our meetings begin with a social hour at 9:30am followed by a business meeting. After this, the speaker will talk. Meetings usually last until about noon. If you would like to hear about teas, come and join us.

Events

December Meeting

Our December meeting was a delicious luncheon. There were so many different kinds of foods brought by our members, that it was impossible to try everything. The buffet table was so colorful, and the food all tasted so good. All gifts were given herbal names and everyone who drew one received the corresponding gift. Our turnout of members was excellent, and everyone enjoyed visiting with old friends.

Events

Heralding Aftermath

Thank you to all of our members who helped to make heralding so successful for us. It was good to see so many old friends who came to buy our herbal products , to make new friends and also gain some new members. The many organizations that take part in heralding that we visited had many interesting items for sale, and yes, we did buy from them. There were wonderful donations from the various groups for the raffle, and two of our members were winners of raffle items.

Events, News

Countdown To Heralding

I can’t believe that Heralding the Holidays is only a week away! Are you are looking for herbal gifts ranging in price from $3.00-5.00? We’ll have herbal jams and jellies, mustards, vinegars, spearmint closet sachets, lavender dryer bags (they last for 25 dryer loads), bath bags you hang on your faucet that will help you relax, and lavender sachet bags to place in your drawers.

Items from $6-16 include sinus pillows, herbal neck wraps, catnappers with removal covers and dog pillows (our catnappers and dog pillows will help keep fleas away). We also have catnip toys for your cats and dog bones for your dogs.

There are lovely Christmas stocking ornaments for $1.50. We also have many herbal blends and teas and potpourris. To decorate your home, we have wreaths and dried arrangements at various prices. There will be lots of goodies at our bake sale and beautiful gift items are included in our silent auction.

We’ll be waiting for you to visit us in the conference center on Friday, December 1 from 5:00-9:00pm, Saturday the 2nd form 10:00am-5:00pm, and Sunday the 3rd from noon to 5:00pm. Come see us. You’ll be glad that you did.

Events, News

Heralding The Holidays 2006

We invite you to join us in celebrating Heralding the Holidays at the Toledo Botanical Garden. The 2006 dates are:

Friday, December 1st, 5:00-9:00pm
Saturday, December 2nd, 10:00-5:00pm
Sunday, December 3rd, noon-5:00pm

You will find The Maumee Valley Herb Society in the Conference Center. If you are looking for unusual gifts, this is where you will find them. This year we’ve made herbal jams and jellies, vinegars, mustards and salsas. We have beautifully decorated wreaths and baskets of dried arrangements for gift giving or keeping at home. You will also find herbal craft items including: neck wraps, aprons, lavender sachets and items for your dog and cats. At our bake sale, along with the breads and cookies, you will even find dog bones. Come join us and the members of the other Toledo Botanical Garden resident organizations. You will not be disappointed!

Yahoo Map and Driving Directions to Toledo Botanical Garden

If you have any questions, email herbsociety@karenlandis.com.

Books/Articles

Tussie-Mussies The Language Of Flowers

By Geraldine Adamich Laufer

Tussie-Mussies The Language Of Flowers

This beautiful book describes a tussie-mussie as a “talking bouquet”. A tussie-mussie is a circular nosegay made of fragrant herbs and flowers in a holder that tells a story according to the language of flowers. Such a bouquet may express sentiments as athletic victory, faith, friendship, forgiveness, generosity, good health, joy, love, protection, sympathy, wealth or wisdom. Eight pages of sentiments are found in this book. The word tuzzy mussy first appeared in the Oxford English dictionary in 1440.

Since the sixteenth century, these little bouquets have been considered essential. They were carried, worn in the hair, pinned to gowns, or suspended from chains. Where the tussie-mussie was worn changed its meaning. If worn in the hair, it meant caution, but when worn in the cleavage, the meaning was friendship. If worn over the heart, this was a declaration of love. So many sentiments could be included in these bouquets that dozens of dictionaries were published during the nineteenth century to help decipher the language of flowers. Continue reading Tussie-Mussies The Language Of Flowers →