HSA Great Lakes District Newsletter, Fall 2010
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The Herb Society of America Great Lakes District The Herb Society ofNewsletter America is dedicated to promoting the knowledge, use and delight of herbs through educational programs, research and sharing the experience of its members with the community. Linda Wells, HSA Great Lakes District Spring 2011 Membership Delegate Message: First a howling blizzard woke us, Then the rain came down to soak us, And now before the eye can focus - Crocus. ~Lilja Rogers Spring is coming, even for those of us still not beyond winter’s reach. My Spring Beauties are blooming and that, for me is hope in a bud. Fast forward to June & the HSA Educational Conference and Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh, June 23-25, 2011. The theme of Ed Con this year is Building Herbal Bridges. For those of us who were in Pittsburgh some years ago, we know it will be another horticultural delight. The call is on the HSA website, check it out and plan to attend. W. PA Unit Chairman Ella Gibson has included a few enticing tidbits about what’s in store for us in Pittsburgh in her report for this issue. There will not be a Great Lakes District Gathering this summer because the Educational Conference and Annual Meeting 1 is in our district. Our next Great Lakes District Gathering will be August 3-4, 2012 in the metro-Detroit area. We will meet at the VistaTech Center of Schoolcraft College in Livonia MI. There are some items of interest for you: The Festival of Flavor and Fragrance will be moved to the opening reception of the Educational Conference and Annual Meeting. The HSA Calendar project is in the works. Contest entry details are on the HSA website under ―What’s New.‖ HSA Headquarters pathway bricks are for sale on the HSA website under the ―Support‖ tab. Hot news from HSA Headquarters: The USPS will be issuing .29 Herbal Stamps on April 7, 2011 at the American Stamp Dealers Association. Here’s the link to order the stamps- https://shop.usps.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10001&storeId=10 052&productId=10007334&langId=-1. HSA’s Green Bridges leader, Kathy Schlosser has passed along another terrific article on maple trees: http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2011/03/110330131316.htm. Great Lakes District Unit Chairmen Central Ohio Michiana Johanna Knox Deborah Teuteberg 5000 Deer Forest Place 3447 Michael Ln Westerville OH 43081 269.2771492 614.899.1545 [email protected] [email protected] Southern Michigan Delaware County Ohio Carol Czechowski Dody Stanley 2433 Mulberry Sq 4180 S Old State Rd Bloomfield Hills MI 48302 Lewis Center OH 43035 248.332.9824 740.548.7522 [email protected] Frankenmuth Mid-Michigan Western Pennsylvania Marianne Dafoe Ella Booth Gibson 1895 South Beyer Rd 29 Newgate Rd Saginaw MI 48601 Pittsburgh PA 15202 989.652.8828 412.301.0032 [email protected] [email protected] Grosse Pointe Western Reserve Sue Ternes Bonnie Porterfield 1380 Oxford Rd 7580 Andover Way Grosse Point Wds Mi 48236 330.650.1533 313.882.8019 Hudson OH 44236 [email protected] [email protected] 2 HSA Headquarters and Member Delegate The Herb Society of America Great Lakes District Member Delegate 9019 Kirtland Chardon Rd Linda Wells Kirtland OH 44094 588 Cherry Ct 440.256.0514 Birmingham MI 48009 [email protected] H 248.647.1165, C 248.840.9154 [email protected] News from the Units: Central Ohio Unit, Susan Liechty reporting Herbs, Honey and Health May 14, 2011 – 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm Keynote Speaker – Michelle Bommarito will present ―Feeding Your Mind, Body and Spirit‖ using herbs and grains. Michelle is a Food Network Cake Challenge winner and graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education and is accredited in Culinary Arts. She travels extensively for her presentations and demonstrations. Dawn Combs of Mockingbird Meadows will speak on the health benefits of honey and other bee products, produced at her farm in Marysville, Ohio. Dawn is a Community Herbalist and artisanal honey producer. Registration: $20.00 - Includes: Light snacks and beverages, vendors and raffle. Pre-registration is required - Limited seating available Held at: Copper Lodge (FOP bldg) 6800 Schrock Hill Ct. (close to Schrock Rd & Cleveland Ave) Columbus, OH 43229 Hosted by: *Central Ohio Unit of The Herb Society of America *Delaware County Unit of The Herb Society of America *The Fairfield Herb Society *Gahanna Herb Society *Gardens at Gantz Farm Volunteers *Herb Thyme *Licking County Herb Society Contact Susan Liechty at 740-524-0200 or Mary Lewis at 614-837-5177 or [email protected] for further details and registration form. Frankenmuth Mid-Michigan Unit, Marianne Dafoe The Frankenmuth Mid-Michigan Unit has a busy Spring/Summer planned. We participated in the Michigan Herb Associates Conference at Michigan State University, offering our selection of new and used books for sale. The Unit will be hosting our annual luncheon in April. Once again the event has sold out. Our speaker is Chef Nick Seccia and the focus ―From Field to Fork‖. 3 In May and June we will again set up at the Frankenmuth Farmers Market and pass out free lettuce seeds and ideas for making your own herbal vinaigrettes, as well as information on our Unit and The Herb Society of America. The summer will find us tending our garden at the Frankenmuth Historical Museum, attending the HSA Ed-Con, and visiting member’s gardens. In our monthly meetings we will be exploring the Herb of the year horseradish, herbal honeys, and herbal teas. We welcome any members at large who would like to join us for any of our meetings. Our unit newsletter is on the HSA website and provides information on our unit happenings. Frankenmuth/Mid-Michigan Unit chairman Grosse Pointe Unit, Sue Ternes Since my last letter we have had a very successful November Herb and Holly Boutique Sale. Also, after months of meetings at my home we finally got the new By-laws finished and passed. The old ones were dated 1990 so it was about time. We are preparing now for our May Herb Sale. The plants are being ordered and workshops organized. This will be a 2-day event with pre-sales taken and orders to be picked up during the sale. This is a lot of work getting all those flats into the building and arranged on tables. Last year we invited some children to help and will probably again this year. The sale is always the Friday and Saturday of Mother's Day weekend. Soon we will be preparing The War Memorial Gardens for planting. Since they are herbal many perennials will need to be cut back. The gardens around us are so beautiful with flowers; it really gives us a challenge to compete with color. In July and August we will get together for a garden cleanup or a little trip. In September we continue with Fall plans including one which will star "HORSERADISH'' Western Pennsylvania Unit, Ella Booth Gibson As you probably know by now, if you have visited Headquarters' website (http:/www.herbsociety.org) our Unit is hosting the 2011 Herb Society of America Educational Conference and Meeting of Members, Pittsburgh, PA, June 23-25, 2011: "Building Herbal Bridges" (we have a lot of bridges in Pittsburgh). Please visit the website to view the fantastic venues and programs on our agenda. We have been busy as bees organizing and fine-tuning all of the necessary details so that you can look forward to having a wonderful time in the Great City of Pittsburgh. If you have not visited Pittsburgh and our environs recently, you will be in for great and green surprises! When we learned that horseradish (Armoracia rusticana) was the "Herb of the Year", we were really challenged as to how to present this herb to entice us to grow and to use horseradish. Our Horticulture/Botany Committee kicked off the "Herb of the Year" at our February Unit meeting with presentations to educate us on the description of the species, varieties, forms, cultivars, history, cultivation, harvesting, culinary uses, sources of seeds and/or plants, and medicinal uses (with a disclaimer). At lunchtime we sampled some food, which had been prepared with horseradish. Not only did we learn a lot about horseradish and the presentations enticed us to grow it and taste it using the 4 horseradish recipes, which are in a book we will have at our Marketplace at Ed Con. Our brains were informed and our palates were stimulated. We hope to include you in our horseradish adventure. Be sure to stop by our Marketplace at Ed Con! Our programs through June 2011 include: Nature Printing; Creative Flower Arrangements; Work Day in the Elizabethan Garden at Phipps Garden Center in Shadyside; Work Day at Old Economy Village Garden in Ambridge (both of these gardens are on our list of tours for Ed Con, among many others); The Kathryn Giarratani Memorial Scholarship Tea; Celebration of National Herb Day with our Annual Plant Sale; a visit to Historic Washington, Pennsylvania to tour the Historic Bradford House and Lemoyne House and Gardens, and last but certainly not the least, The HSA Educational Conference & Annual Meeting, June 23- 25. We have great hard-working committees to organize and implement these events. All of our members are involved in some manner for planning and implementing The Educational Conference & Annual Meeting. We are so grateful to have Deborah Winter, a member of our Unit, as Chair of the Ed Con Committee. She is a "mover and shaker" and is moving and shaking us to make sure that you will be entertained in the most welcoming manner.