herb garden committee history by jackie johnson...

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Herb Garden Committee History by Jackie Johnson

Divided Herb Gardens Throughout the world and through the ages, herbs have been valued by mankind for their flavor, fragrance, and medicinal qualities. Individual herbs may fall into all three categories. Our gardens have been divided into four separate sections: culinary, tea, ornamental/fragrance and medicinal. This organization allows us to study herbs by their separate uses. For example, the Medicinal Garden lets us concentrate on herbs that have been used historically for health purposes. A unique fifth garden features an analemmatic sundial partially surrounded by various thymes.

Left to right – Jane Kraska, Diane Bartfield, Marjorie Meriam, Debra Grasso and Doris Arents. Harvesting horseradish, the 2012 Herb of the Year.

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Monthly Meetings We hold monthly meetings. During the winter months we usually serve food based on recipe themes centered on a specific herb or country. Cooking with various herbs helps us learn first hand about the herbs. We also research the herbs we grow and frequently have individual members report during the meetings on their findings.

Left to right – Jane Kraska, Denise Hansson, Phyllis Alroy, Maureen Amter, Chris Danser, Cecilia Smith, Doris Arents, Marjorie Meriam, Elana Berlinger and Anna Marty. Herb Members The Herb Committee has been blessed through the years with many dedicated members. Since the beginning, Doris Arents has been the secretary as well as an indispensable leader of the Medicinal Garden. Maureen Amter has kept the Ornamental Garden looking its best over the years and is a valuable contributor to committee projects. Members have learned to make herbal vinegars, herbal wreaths, lavender wands, herb soaps, hypertufa troughs, and tiny nosegays.

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Until 2013, the Herb Committee was very busy during the Annual Plant Expo. Herbs were selected, nurtured and sold for the sale. This event gave us an opportunity to share with the public our knowledge and experience with growing and using herbs. 2004 saw the creation of the Knot Garden, spearheaded, designed and implemented by Alice Dabrowska. The planting of this garden required an army of Master Gardeners! Howard Katz headed up the construction of the Sundial Garden in the Knot Garden area.

Howard Katz and Alice Dabrowska observing the surveying for the Sundial Garden. The main attraction of the Analemmatic Sun Dial is the way a person tells time by seeing where his own shadow falls along an ellipse of hour marker stones. While the oldest existing Analemmatic sundial dates back to 16th century France, sun dials of various kinds have long been attractions in gardens. They speak to the natural rhythms of the days and seasons, much as plants in gardens do. Accurate to better than 10 minutes during the summer

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months, this sundial has interested children and students learning about time, the seasons and astronomy. It also appeals to adult gardening enthusiasts.

Maureen Amter, Anna Marty, Judy Hemley and Sally Flynn making hour marker stones for the newly created sundial.

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Herb Garden Committee Historical Timeline

1998 A combined Butterfly/Herb garden was planted in center of the compost bin area at what we now call MEG (Mercer Educational Gardens). 1999 With Marjorie Meriam as chair, the emphasis on herbs increased. 2000 A separate and expanded Herb Garden was dug in a new location.

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2001 Marjorie Meriam oversaw the establishment of 5 herbal theme gardens. On Oct.6, 2001 at the Annual State Conference of the MG Association of NJ, the Team Award was presented to the Compost Educational team lead by Nadine Chapman and Marjorie Meriam. Over 40 MGs had been involved in planning, developing and conducting two major educational events at MEG created for county residents. These programs as well as monthly activities in herb gardening for MGs culminated in the creation of a 1200 foot (SQUARE FOOT???) herb garden that has become a valuable resource for the community.

Left to right – Nadine Chapman of Ewing, Barbara Bromley, MGofMC Advisor, Marie Sinibaldi and Marjorie Meriam, Bruce Barbour of Rutgers

2002 The Herb Committee celebrated Peter Rabbit’s 100th Birthday at MEG with games, costumes and a birthday cake. This was the first public event at the compost site that specifically involved children; it was a great success.

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2003 Several articles by Herb Committee members appeared in Master Gardener newsletters this year. Topics included the medicinal value of St. John’s Wort, the nature of different kinds of teas, the uses of various sages, and the Fragrant Herb Garden. In September, the Herb Garden Committee provided delicious herbal refreshments for the General Meeting. 2004 Marjorie Meriam and Alice Dabrowska were now co-chairs. The Household Garden was eliminated. The Ornamental Garden was moved to the old household site (WHAT’S THAT?). A beautiful Knot/Sundial Garden was established with Alice growing 300 plants for it!

During the year, Marjorie led a study of the uses of medieval herbs. This resulted in a Community Ed. Program presented in July. At this program, Gayle Henkin spoke on the uses of culinary herbs, Louise Witonsky spoke on herbal fragrance, Rebecca Vares-Ebert on tussie-musseys (nosegays), and Ernie Soffronoff on the medicinal approach named “The Doctrine of Signatures”. Alice Dabrowska compiled about 30 twenty-page booklets with selected essays on the medieval theme, and attached tiny dried flower nosegays to each booklet. The Ornamental group, under Mary Ann Pedee-Siegel, researched the role women played, similar to present day nurses, using herbs for healing. Sue Collins presented this to the committee.

2005 A committee group took a two-day trip to the National Herb Gardens in Washington, DC. Seeing over ten theme gardens inspired many new choices of herbs for our gardens at MEG. 2006 Our study this year focused on Native American herbs, silver herbs, and the Herb of the Year – Scented Geraniums. In June, we guided visiting state MGs through the gardens at MEG. Sadly, by September major problems showed up in knot garden where the plants in this damp site developed phytophthora or water mold. 2007 Our study of Indian cooking this year culminated in a luncheon hosted by Maureen Amter that featured a variety of Indian recipes and their interesting use of herbs. 2008 A new Tea Garden was planted. We studied the Herb of the year – Calendula. Elana Berlinger completed a list of scientific names for 70 herbs to be used for permanent garden signs. The Culinary Garden acquired a new

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green fence and we continued designing with two slightly raised beds to alleviate the problems of our wet site.

Left to right – Joyce Lathbury, Doris Arents and Marjorie Meriam. 2009 After leading the Herb Committee since 1998, Marjorie Meriam stepped down, and Denise Hansson and Gayle Henkin become the new co-chairs. A new game called “beneficial insects & herbs that support them” was created for the Insect Festival. We installed seventy-five new signs identifying our herbs at MEG. Studies about the use of herbs in ethnic cuisines included India, China and Greece. Denise Hansson directed a major renovation of the Sundial Garden. 2010 Denise Hansson completed the brick edging of the Herb Gardens. Jackie Johnson and Lesa Aldridge began a special Herb Binder project that photographed herbs during their growing stages.

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Gayle Henkin next to some great sunflowers! 2011 Gayle Henkin stepped down as co-chair to head the Great Sunflower Project and Jackie Johnson became a co-chair. The Meg Herb Binder project continued, with the committee working on individual reports about herbs planted at MEG. A special outline was used for uniformity. Gayle Henkin headed a Community Education Program at MEG called “Herbs in Container”. Lesa Aldridge spearheaded a project for new signage that included pictures and well as labels of herbs in the gardens. The committee made aromatic and cooling lavender cloths that they distributed during MEG workdays. The Herb Committee participated in “Hunt for Bees” lead by Gayle Henkin. Denise Hansson moved on to new position as a Committee Chair of MEG and Jane Kraska became the new co-chair of the Herb Garden Committee.

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2012 Led by Jane Kraska we presented information on harvesting and drying herbs at a “Midsummer Night in the Gardens” program. Led by Jackie Johnson, we developed a new game called “Attracting Beneficial Insects Using Herbs” for the fall Insect Festival. The 2nd Annual Hunt for Bees was supported with special flowers and sunflowers planted in the herb gardens. An Herbal Learn More was presented in October at MEG. This was a culmination of the past year’s study of ten herbs and featured drying techniques and the making of potpourri.

Dottie Prudhomme, Anna Marty and Gayle Henkin prepare potpourri at Herbal Learn More.

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Doris Arents and Lesa Aldridge guiding children during Insect Festival.

Lesa Aldridge, Cecilia Smith and Phyllis Alroy “creating bad bugs” for the new Insect Festival game.

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Photos of the Herb Garden

herb garden committee history by jackie johnson...

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