Vinegar Workshop August 20th

Vinegar Workshop and Flavored Butter!

A fun and creative group joined together and made flavored vinegars on August 20th. This was  our Second Annual Vinegar Workshop!  It keeps getting better just like the vinegars! Attendees selected from herbs and other flavors to make an assortment of "gourmet" looking and tasting bottles of all sorts of herbal vinegars. We also flavored butters with herbs and even peppers with garlic and immediately enjoyed with french bread! Lemon balm and lemon herbal tea was also served. To top it off Dody brought fresh stuffed stawberries that tasted like strawberry cheesecake which were a hit!  

Also welcome new members and we hope you join us again.  Members are simply added to our email list and you are welcome to join us at anytime for any function.  Our next meeting is this Thursday Sept 3rd at 10-12 and we will be discussing fall planting in our herb garden and working a bit in the garden!

Pics from Last Saturday at Celebrate Louisa!  Trecia, owner of the Whistle Stop Bed and Breakfast and member of the guild, provided us with the most beautiful spot to set up.  We had fun talking with each other and the public about herbs and the guild!  A few more folks signed up for the guild email. Thanks Dody, Trecia, Lana, Pat, Tina and Trecia's friend and daughter for helping! I enjoyed it too ; ) Deb

Join us this SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 2015 10AM—7PM DOWNTOWN LOUISA at Celebrate Louisa! www.CelebrateLouisa.com  Celebrating the historic Main Street corridor’s completed construction & revitalization efforts! 
The Louisa Herb Guild will have a table and information at the Whistle Stop Bed & Breakfast. Stop by and chat and enjoy the fun.  
It's Free, Live Music, Local Vendors, and Family-Friendly.  We could use a few more volunteers at our table if you are interested please email us back or stop by! 

Upcoming Workshops

Please join us and spread the word about our upcoming summer and fall workshops!

Herb Planting May 14, 2015 10-12

Hey everybody! I just sent this email out but thought I would blog it too! 

 Bea is on the way to pick up the wonderful herbs that Forrest Green www.forrestgreenfarm.com is donating to our garden site! YEH! Thank you Krista, Rob, & family. 

So join us in getting a little dirty Thursday am 10-12.....we do now have running water ! (hot water close by).  We'll have some herbal tea and treats.  See you then!   

Herbs to be planted May 14th 2015

• Basil (lettuce leaf or something similar) - 3-4 plants
• Bergamot - Wild
• Borage
• Caraway
• Cardoon
• Clary Sage
• Cumin
• Germander
• Horseradish
• Hyssop
• Lavender
• Marjoram
• Parsley (Curly) - 3-4 plants
• Rhubarb
• Sorrel (green)
• Summer Savory
• Turmeric
• Zinnias (special historic type called - ?)

Heritage Day April 25th

The Second Annual Heritage Day was held at the museum and living history farm site.  The Louisa Herb Guild was well represented with Tina and Bea at our table.  They helped explain the guild and herbs and had 12 folks sign up interested in the herb guild! Welcome folks.
Thanks Tina so much for the tent too!  It was really nice when the rains came which didn't deter alot of folks in having fun.  The Louisa County Historical Society and Parks and Recreation sponsors this event--the last Sat in April mark your calendars for next year!     
www.louisacountyhistoricalsociety.org/events 

Field trip to Forrest Green Farm Tuesday, April 7th, 2015

Field trip to Forrest Green Farm Tuesday, April 7th, 2015

This week the Louisa Herb Guild took an outing to Forrest Green Farm www.forrestgreenfarm.com located in Louisa County to learn about soil preparation and soil amendments.  Krista and Rob, owners of Forrest Green, welcomed us with yummy hot herbal tea on a brisk, windy Spring morning. Rob lead the workshop for our group on how to prepare our garden soils for the kinds of herbs and plants we want to grow.  Rob and Krista provides a wealth of information and fielded a wide range of questions.  Members that include Master Gardeners as well as "novice gardeners" benefited from learning surprising and insightful tips and lessons.  Onsite Rob pointed out their compost mixing area with a multitude of different soil amendments like green sand (yes it is green) and the importance of using the right finished soil amendment.  He liken it to an "apothecary" for soils!  He advocates regular soil testing conducted at the same time of the year and good record keeping pointing out soil is living and changing.  Rob expressed the preference and use of natural amendments and explained how the plants use such. 
Alot of food for thought!  Herbs and other cool weather crops were available and many were delighted with purchasing the beautiful lettuces and greens. Thank you Rob and Krista for being such great hosts and teachers! Looking forward to our next seminar with you in the summer on use of herbs on August 4th!

Stay tuned for Heritage Day info to be held on April 25th at the Heritage Farm Site at the Louisa County Historical Society.
submitted by Deb Field

Map of our Garden and Planning for 2015

A small but dedicated group of herb enthusiasts braved the cold and gathered at Louisa County Historical Society on February 3rd.  We took stock of which plants are overwintering well and began planning our garden for 2015!  We expect several rows of annual heirloom vegetables will replace the old collard greens on the southwest half of the garden, and we'll be expanding our variety of traditional culinary and medicinal herbs on the northeast half of the garden.

We also mapped out the current garden layout (shown below -- oriented as you approach the garden from the parking lot, facing southeast.)

Click here to see more photos from our February 3rd meeting (courtesy of Ralph Mason)

And be sure to join us for our next meeting, Tuesday March 3rd at 10am!  We meet on the 1st Tuesday and 3rd Saturday of each month.  Check our calendar for details!