We invite you to join us in celebrating Heralding the Holidays at the Toledo Botanical Garden. Heralding will begin at 5pm on Friday, November 30 and continue until 9pm. Times on Saturday are from 10am to 5pm, and on Suday from noon to 5pm. Among the herbal items we will have for sale are herbal jams, jellies, salsas and vinegars. At our wreath workshop, herbs that were dried from our herb garden at the Toledo Botanical Garden plus other flowers, etc  were made into beautiful wreaths. Our mustard workshop is soon, and our crafters are busy sewing. This year we will have herbal shoe sachets that will make your shoes smell oh so nice! Also, among other crafts will be neckwraps, lavender dryer bags good for 25 loads in your dryer, lavender sachets to put in your drawers to make your clothing smell heavenly, catnip fish and mice and catnapper beds for your cats. We will also have treats for your dogs. Individual herbs, herbal blends, teas, and potpourri will be there for you as usual. Don’t miss our bake sale. Everything will be delicious.  Many wonderful items have been donated for our Silent Auction. Do you remember the alligator lawn sprinkler from last year that was a popular item? We found another one this year. Come and visit us and the members of the other resident organizations who will also have wonderful and unusual items for sale. You will not be disappointed!

The Maumee Valley Herb Society’s bus trip this year will be to the Cleveland Botanical Garden. The bus leaves from the Toledo Botanical Garden’s Bancroft Street entrance at 8:00 am on July 18 and returns at 6:00 pm. Price for the trip is $45.00. This includes transportation, tour fee, breakfast, lunch at the Cleveland Botanical Garden, and snacks and drinks on the way home. For information/reservation, call Sally Davidson or call the Toledo Botanical Garden at (419) 936-2986 before July 10.

We had warm, sunny weather this year for our plant sale. Many, many people stopped to visit with us, and most of them did buy herbs.  We had a large variety of wonderful herbs, and these plants found homes in many gardens throughout the Toledo area. If you weren’t there, you really missed an opportunity to purchase many herbs that the garden centers usually don’t stock.

Thank you to all of our members who worked at the sale, and also those who helped get everything ready in advance including painting the popsicle sticks that told what each plant cost. We also want to thank the people who came and bought plants from us. We hope that you come back again to visit with the Maumee Valley Herb Society at our next plant sale in May of 2008.

Next week will be the plant sale at the Toledo Botanical Garden. The Maumee Valley Herb Society will have more than 200 varieties of herbs for you to choose from. Our members will be available to help you decide which herbs to purchase, and to answer questions. If you are interested in culinary herbs, we will also have our Herb Chart that tells which herbs to use with various foods, and our cookbook “Herbal Market” in which you will find delicious recipes to choose from. If you are interested in fragrant herbs, or herbs for decorative uses, we will also have these.The plant sale will be open for TBG members only on Thursday, May 10 from 4 – 8 pm. Friday, the sale opens at 10 am for the public, and closes at 8 pm. On Saturday the hours are from 10 am – 5 pm. The sale will not be open on Sunday this year. To help you decide what herbs to buy, here is our list of herb plants. Come and see us.

Do you know which herbs to use when you are preparing soups, salads, meats,  desserts, and other foods? Our members will be available at the plant sale at the Toledo Botanical Garden on Thursday May 9, Friday May 10, and Saturday May 11, to answer your questions about culinary and other herbs. Even better, we have a laminated herb chart for you to buy and take home. Our chart tells you the various uses of sixteen different culinary herbs. You will have this to refer to when you are planning and cooking meals. This chart will also help you decide which herbs you want to grow and cook with.

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

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.

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.

Mark your calendar for our next meedting on Wednesday, January 17, at 9:30 a.m. at the Toledo Botanical Garden Conference Center. (details to follow) All meetings are open to the public.