Mark your calendar now for October 6 and 7. You won't want to miss the Herb Fair at The Huntsville Botanical Garden. The Huntsville Herb Society is hard at work preparing their own herb mixes, baking mixes, and other herb flavored items, as well as herbal gifts and crafts, pet products, and dried flowers to be sold at the Harvest Herb Fair, which is Saturday, October 7 from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. at the Huntsville Botanical Garden. Proceeds from this event support the herb garden in the Huntsville Botanical Garden. It's not just herbs at the Herb Fair, you'll also get a chance to hear two nationally known herbalists. There will be 3 different programs on Saturday, October 7, and one on Friday evening before the fair, October 6, as well as a reception & book signing from 5:00 pm-6:30 pm with Susan Belsinger and Marge Powell. (Photo used with permission of the Huntsville Herb Society).
Susan Belsinger from Brookeville, MD is a culinary herbalist, food writer, educator and photographer. She has authored/co-authored 15 books and has been published in over 20 national magazines and newspapers. She is passionate about her work - sharing the joy of gardening and cooking through teaching and writing - and inspiring others to get in touch with their senses of smell and taste. Recently, Susan was awarded The Joanna McQuail Reed Award for The Artistic Use of Herbs by the Herb Society of America.
Susan is a member of the Herb Society of America, Les Dames d'Escoffier, United Plant Savers and received the Professional Award for outstanding contributions to the herb industry from the International Herb Association in 2004. Presently, Susan is a contributing editor writing regularly for the Herb Companion. She has appeared on Good Morning America, The Willard Scott Home & Garden Show, National Public Radio, Ultimate Kitchens, DeLiteful Cooking, and other TV and radio programs. She has given presentations at nationally known Botanic Gardens, Festivals, Library of Congress, National Cathedral, Ozark Folk Center, Smithsonian Institution, and many other places.
Susan will do two programs, one of them featuring her newest book. A selection of her cookbooks will be for sale also. Reservations for Susan’s programs are $15 each.
Friday, October 6 at 7:00 pm-8:30 pm: “The Art of Flavor: A Sensory Herb Experience." This presentation will put you in touch with the sensory elements of smell and taste, their hysiology, and how to better use them to make your daily cooking and eating more creative as well as flavorful and fun. We will explore how our olfactory and taste senses actually work through the media of fresh seasonal herbs. After smelling, tasting and becoming familiar with these herbs, Susan will prepare a few dishes using the herbs for you to savor.
Saturday morning, October 7th from 10:00 am-11:30 am: "not just desserts-sweet herbal recipes” Highlighting recipes from Susan's newest book of the same name: Although the book contains mostly recipes for desserts, it is called not just desserts because the recipes are much more than that. These sweet herbal recipes are simple, homey desserts-some traditional, others innovative -- all of them are made delicious because of the addition of herbs. Susan will discuss how to capture the essence of fresh herbs, as well as combining herbs with foods like fruit and chocolate. She will prepare some of her most favorite recipes from the book for you to taste. These recipes will inspire you to experiment and add more herbs to your cooking. Think of this as one big sweet herbal adventure. Once you have tasted some of these recipes you will agree that these are not just desserts!
Marge Powell, Herbalist and owner of Magnolia Hill Soap comes from Jacksonville, FL. She has conducted hands on workshops on a variety of herbal topics across the United States. She is currently a board member of the International Herb Association (IHA) and is past president of IHA’s former Southeastern Region. Her soaps were selected as a Potpourri feature in the Fall 2005 issue of Herb Quarterly and were listed as a source in Herb Companion’s July 2005 article on the Scent of a Man. Marge's two Saturday classes are limited to 20 people each. Reservations are $20 each. Her products will be available for sale also.
12:00 pm-2:00 pm "Herbal Treasures: Lotions, Salves & Ointments"
There is a world of external remedies easily available to us through the use of herbal lotions and ointments. In this class you will: make both an ointment and an all purpose lotion, discuss the benefits of the different herbs, essential oils, and base oils in external remedies, and discuss the differences between lotions and ointments.
2:30 pm-4:30 pm "Nurture your Skin – Basic Cold Process Soapmaking"
Soap is one of the fundamentals of daily life, yet we seldom pay attention to what is used in its manufacture or how it is made. In this workshop, you will use the cold process method to make a natural, handcrafted soap infused with herbs and beneficial essential oils.
The Herb Fair is free and open to the public. For more information or to register for the special classes, check out The Huntsville Herb Society website.
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