Herbfest 2013
H E L D S U N D AY, J U N E 2 3
Many thanks are due to all who made Herbfest 2013 a huge success.
As many of you know, the Formal Herb Garden was a part of the 2013 Master Gardeners’
Annual Garden Tour. The Herb Society of Dubuque offered educational
tours from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. More than 225 people toured the
garden. Our thanks to the Master Gardeners who served as hosts and
kept track of our visitors. It was great fun to share historical and botanical
information about our plants with all the visitors.
While some of us were conducting tours, other members of the Herb
Society were busy preparing the Tasty Tidbits (food sampling) on the
porch, setting up for the adult workshop, preparing for the children’s
workshop, organizing the silent auction, and running our herbal items sale
table.
• Michelle Jones, Sherry O’Toole and Mark Sand handled the food
tasting. While we don’t have an exact count, we know that lots of
visitors enjoyed sampling herbal breads, salads, spreads, toppings,
and desserts prepared by members of the Herb Society. I understand the flower
sandwiches were a big hit with all ages!
• Lidia Bertolinni and Chris Gibson were our awesome herbal sales personnel. They sold
items ranging from comfrey salve to birdhouses to herbal vinegar to apple mint. Thanks
to all the members who made items to sell.
• Jana Sheldon created our amazing silent auction baskets. The bidding was lively. We are
thankful for Jana’s creative talents.
• oung gardeners enjoyed the Kid’s Workshop, planned and organized by
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Jess Olechowski with help from Sarah Smith and Barb Croghan. Who knew green clay
and mushroom compost could be so much fun?
• he garden room set-up for the adult workshop on drying herbs was beautiful; the
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whole room was fragrant with herbs. Thanks to Chel Hellmer, Bev Kolz, and Kathy Sand
for their exceptional work. Most of the 27 people who attended the workshop left with
herbs to dry at home.
• pecial thanks to Eileen Coursey for preparing and organizing signage for the
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Tasty Tidbits and the Herb of the Year display.
• Melissa Woodhouse served as our garden host and served cold mint water to our many
visitors. Ron Barkow, Bev Kolz, and Chel Hellmer helped with the garden tours.
• he Herb Society is indebted to Jack Frick and Wylie Bledsoe for their Herbfest help.
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Jack provided great publicity via his weekly radio show and Wylie made sure our garden
signage was up-to-date, our fountain was in good working order, an unsightly tree was
removed, and that tables were ready for our various venues.
If you missed Herbfest this year, be sure to put Herbfest 2014 on your schedule next
summer.
Submitted by Fran Hedeman, Herb Society of Dubuque
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