Herb Day 2013 at Barefoot Gardens

Saturday May 4 was Herb Day! How did you celebrate?

I dragged My Man with me to Barefoot Gardens in Doylestown PA to see what the American Herbalists Guild Eastern Chapter were offering. We got there just as my teacher Maia Toll was heading out. She gave a talk earlier in the day (here she is in an AHG Facebook picture) and I was very happy that she and My Man finally got to meet. One of my classmates was also there at the same time, and it was nice to see her outside of class too. AND she had a fabulous "I Love Herbs" sticker on her shirt!

As we walked up to the collection of tents and tables, herbalist Cindy Koser was just beginning a talk on Herbal First Aid that we joined. She reviewed some basic herbs, and went into more advanced ones that included some I don't know well or at all. One was Spilanthes, or Toothache Herb. Well, My Man was the first to volunteer to taste that, he had bit his lip pretty good the night before and it still was painful. Most of us took a small leaf and laughed as our lips and tongue went numb. There were about 8 of us listening to Cindy, and I think we all had something to share or good questions to ask. It was a great

We met the owners of Barefoot Gardens, Eric and Linda, and Eric invited us to peek in a cute shed they just use for storage- it's 16x16 with a loft over the porch, and it's just fun. My Man and Eric were joking (I think) that Eric and Linda should move in there and rent out their real house. Linda was selling plants, and between them and the used book sale happening I was all a-twitter. New herbs I got for my studio garden:
Lavender
Motherwort
Hyssop
Elecampane
Spilanthes (of course!)
Curry Plant
Skullcap
Yarrow
Marshmallow

The Yarrow was a freebie, Linda had sold out of the new starts but had a few from last year on the Intensive Care shelf, pretty dry and unhappy-looking, as unplanted plants tend to be. We'll see if they pull through, and if they do I look forward to making something fun and sharing with them.

Oh, and I scored an "I Love Herbs" sticker AND one that says "Make Tea Not War"!