We thank everyone who helped make Heralding a success. Our members made jellies, mustards, vinegars, craft items, pet products, bath and body products, packaged herbs and mixed herbal blends, contributed to the bake sale and the silent auction, worked at Heralding, andhelped in other ways. We also thank the many people who visited us and purchased our products.

These recipes were in the July issue,2010, of The Herbal Messenger, Maumee Valley Herb Society’s Newsletter, and were sent by Leslie Snell. You will find these herbal cleansers easy to make and fun to use. Please try them.
Rosemary/Lemon Scrubber
1 part borax
1 part baking soda
4 drops lemon oil
2 drops rosemary oil
Mix together and enjoy using.
Lavender/Lemongrass Countertop Cleaner
1 cup water
1/2 tsp borax
1 Tbsp vinegar (lavender vinegar is great)
1 tsp cornstarch
2 drops each of lemongrass and lavender oils
Mix together and use.
Peppermint/Tea Tree Bowl Cleaner
2 cups water
1 Tbsp castile soap
5 drops tea tree oil
7 drops peppermint oil
Mix and use. This is an antibacterial spray cleaner.

Although we had terrible weather during two of the days, we had many people come to see us and buy from us. Many were very interested in the beautiful display of edible flowers and did purchase these. They also appreciated the signs telling about many of the individual herbs and the herb sale in general. Our members were able to assist many people who had questions concerning planting and using herbs, and also helped them to choose herbs for their individual gardens. We had many return buyers from previous years. All in all, our sale was quite successful.

Our May meeting, Wednesday, May 19 at 9:15 am will be at Jacob’s Garden in Ottawa Lake, Michigan. Jacob’s garden is located at the intersection of Sterns Road and Whiteford Center Road.
The program will be a Living Wreath Demonstration by Barb Leow. We will observe how to make a living wreath and also see one that was made last year. All of the plants in this wreath have continued to grow and you may be surprised to see how great this wreath looks.
Our business meeting will precede this demonstration.

It is almost time for the Spring Plant Sale in May. This year there will be a preview for TBG members on Thursday, May 6 from 4-8 pm. The rest of the sale will be open to the public. These dates and times are Friday, May 7, Saturday, May 8, and Sunday, May 9. On these dates we will be open from 10 am to 5 pm. Both culinary and ornamental herbs will be available for you to purchase. Members of the Maumee Valley Herb Society will be present to help you make your selections and answer your questions. We will also provide information on growing, caring for, harvesting, and using herbs. About two hundred different varieties of herbs will be available. Come, see what we have, buy fron us and help us to support the Toledo Botanical Garden and especially the Herb Garden that our members plant and care for during the growing season. Then come back during the growing season and visit the herb garden. You will find this garden just beyond the Conference Center at TBG.

View our 2010 Spring Plant Sale List to learn what will be available this year.

Our meeting begins at 9:15 am. First will be our business meeting and then Cindy Bench from Bench Greenhouses will speak to us on “New Ornamental Selections for the Plant Sale”. Bench Greenhouses is again supplying ornamental herbs for our sale on Mother’s Day weekend. Cindy spoke on “Ornamentals” at the Bedford Herb Group’s meeting in March and brought beautiful plants for us to see and admire. We certainly enjoyed having her as our speaker.
This will also be your opportunity to sign up to work at the sale in May.

The March meeting will be one of our evening meetings. It begins at 6:30 pm on Tuesday, March 16 in the Conference Center at the Toledo Botanical Garden. The speaker will be Gini Behrendt, owner of Flying Rhino Coffee and Chocolates. Her topic is “Chocolates and Coffee”. Chocolate has many times been called “the other herb”. All meetings are open to the public. Come and enjoy.

Four new books have been added to our library cart since the beginning of this year:
Fragrant Designs, Brooklyn Botanic’s Garden All-Regions Guide Eight gardens are included with plant lists and garden designs for each
Herbal Crafts, a book containing more than 60 projects with ingredient lists and directions for making each
Wicked Plants, a book containing stories about more than two hundred plants that can cause illnesses or even death. Some stories are historically significant, others are present day, and some are in between. You will find this book fascinating.
Herbal Cookery, compiled by members of the St Louis Herb Society This book contains eight menus of various types and recipes for the foods listed in each menu. You will find different uses for many herbs in this book.
We have also received a donation of two boxes of Ann Lacksonen’s books for the library that were donated by her husband, Jim. We certainly appreciate this wonderful donation.
All members may check out these books. We encourage you to do so.