Location Change: Our May meeting will be on Wednesday, May 20, in the Living Room of the Manor House at Wildwood Preserve Metropark from 9:30 am until noon. The topic will be “Creative Herb Gardening” and the speaker will be Cathy Manus-Gray. Come and join us to learn how creativity applies to herb gardening. All of our meetings are open to the public.

Tuesday, April 14, is our first scheduled Tuesday in the herb garden in 2009. We begin working at 9:30 am. Thiswill be a cleanup day. We have garden tools for you to use to rake leaves, etc to help uncover the herbs that are beginning to peek through the soil. We also need to trim plants and ask that you bring your pruners and a kneeling pad to make this a more comfortable task for you. Come and help us. There is a lot to be accomplished on this day, and also on all of the following Tuesdays throughout the growing season. we will welcome your help during any or all of these Tuesday mornings.

Our April meeting will be on Wednesday morning, April 15, at 9:30 am in the conference center at the Toledo Botanical Garden. Matt Ross, Horticulturist at TBG, will speak about “Designing a Garden Good Enough to Eat”. Come and join us and learn how to adapt his ideas to your own garden.

Our March meeting is on Tuesday, March 17 from 6:30 to 9:00 pm in the Conference Center of the Toledo Botanical Garden, 5403 Elmer Drive in Toledo, Ohio. The topic is “Native Plants in the Area” and the speaker is Jan Hunter from the Naturally Native Nursery. Come and join us and learn what our native plants are and how to grow and care for them.

Our social hour is from 9:30-10:00. At ten, Vicky Gallagher, the horticulturist from 577 in Perrysburg will speak about “Victory Gardens Yesterday and Today”. This talk will bring back memories for many of us about victory gardens during and after World War II. We will also hear ideas for planning our own gardens for this year. Come and join us in the Conference Center at the Toledo Botanical Garden, 5403 Elmer Drive, Toledo, Ohio.

The Maumee Valley Herb Society will again be a part of TBG’s annual spring plant sale. This year’s dates are May 7-10. On Thursday, the sale is for members only, but is open to the public Friday thru Sunday. Hours of the sale will be determined later. We will have more than 200 different herbs for you to purchase. The plant list is the same as last year and can be viewed on this website by scrolling down on the right side of the screen to List for Plant Sale May 8-10. This is the 2008 list. Members of MVHS will be available to answer questions concerning planting and growing herbs, and to assist you in making your purchases. Mark these dates on your calendar now, and plan to come to see us then. We will be happy to help you choose herbs for your garden.
You will find a flyer about the sale at maumeevalleyherbsociety@yahoo.com

This is the topic for our JANUARY meeting on WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21 at 9:30 AM in the Terrace Room of the Conference Center of the Toledo Botanical Garden. Speakers are Diane Thurber and Jeanine Roberts, Environmental Educators, TBG. They will use activities from the award winning curriculum of the Children’s Education Department at TBG and will make science come alive in the garden. This should be a fun experience for us all.

We are very pleased with the results of Heralding for 2008. Many, many people came to visit us and buy our herbal products. Our Silent Auction had wonderful items that brought more money than last year. Our members made herbal jams and jellies, vinegars, and mustards, and many baked goods. We also had new and different herbal craft items to sell, as well as some old favorites. These included toys and other items for our pets, and bath and body products. Individual herbs and herbal blends were among the items available as well as wreaths and other dried arrangements. Our displays were attractively arranged, and assistance was provided to those who were shopping who had questions about the items for sale. Many thanks to all of our members who helped in any way. We certainly appreciate what everyon did to help make Heralding the Holidays a success.

Yesterday was our final work session before Heralding the Holidays. We decorated and tagged and also priced herbal items that we will have for sale. There arel new items for you to purchase as well as our usual mustards, vinegars, herbal blends, jams and jellies, and other herbal products. Many wonderful items for the Silent Auction were brought to this meeting. I’m certain that you will be pleased to see what we have available to bid on. We also will have a bake sale that is quite popular.
See you at the Toledo Botanical Garden on Friday, December 5 through Sunday, December 7. You will find the Maumee Valley Herb Society in the Conference Center. Turn right as you come in the doorw.
See you then.

Last Tuesday was our Mustard Workshop. We made several kinds of tasty mustard to sell at Heralding the Holidays that you must come and taste. Once these mustards are sampled, I’m sure that you will want to buy some. Among the different kinds that we made are Apricot Zip, Queen Victoria’s Curry, and Tarragon Whiskey. Heralding is now just three weeks away, beginning on Friday, December 5th. Mark these dates on your calendar: December 5, 6 and 7. Hope to see you then at the Toledo Botanical Garden.