March Meeting Notes

Herb Gardeners met in the library on March 23, 2009. Business notes are as follows:
1. Service Project / Donation Ideas - Suggestions given for members to consider were purchasing books for Tamina and making a monetary donation to the Friendship Center. Past donations have included purchasing books for the library and giving to the food bank.
2. Special Events - Earth Day is scheduled for Saturday, April 18th, at The Woodlands High School parking lot (off Research Forest). Set up will begin at 9 a.m. and the event runs from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. Contact Natasha if you can work the herb table that day and also if you are growing herbs to be sold at this event.
3. Community Garden - general consensus of membership was not to continue maintenance of this garden.
4. Library Garden Work Day - April 25th will be a work day at the library garden. Contact Ancha for details.
5. April Refreshments - Natasha and Kiki
6. April Meeting Program - Ann Wheeler will discuss herbs.
7. February Tea and Herb Fair Discussion - general consensus of membership was not to continue with a community wide tea and herb fair. Fronica will present options to the club for a community tea and / or herbal lecture event for later 2009 or 2010.
8. Monthly Meeting Time Change - several club members expressed a desire to hold monthly meetings during the day rather than at night and wanted membership to discuss and vote. 12 members voted to change to day meetings, 6 members voted to keep night meetings, and 3 members abstained. The April meeting will be April 20th at 7:00 p.m. Since the program speaker has been scheduled for many months, it was decided not to change the time of the meeting for April. Day meetings will begin in May, meeting the second Monday of each month from 10 a.m. - Noon at the Library.

Herbal Tea and Fair at The Friendship Center

Herb Gardeners of Montgomery County hosted a Herbal Tea and Fair at The Friendship Center in The Woodlands, Texas on February 28, 2009.

Camille welcomed members and guests and introduced the day's planned event. Ten decorated tables filled the Friendship Center with herbs, fine china and flower bouquest where each table highlighted one herb: spearmint, basil, oregano, rose, bay, parsley, lemon balm, rosemary, lavender and dill.

The luncheon included egg salad sandwiches, cheese and broccoli quiches, cucumber sandwiches, cheese and sage muffins and turkey and ham with herbed cream cheese. Also, an assortment of chocolates, cheesecake with lemon balm, lavender cookies, white chocolate ginger truffles, brownies, scones, meringues and fresh fruit were served. Earl Grey tea, Darfeeling tea and Lemon Hibiscus Tisane were served at each table.

Elissa, the key note speaker, related stories of the history and culture of tea and how in our modern lives we find solitary delight in a cup of tea or share in the joy of 'taking tea' with our friends.

Rosa thanked guests and members for the successful day. She presented our president of the herb club, Camille, a gorgeous bouquet of flowers. Prior to the tea, all members and guests were asked to vote on the best decorated hostess table and that prize went to Nancy. Her decorated table was equisite with fine china and silver pieces. Three people were selected as wearing the 'best hat' to the tea. Herbal gifts were given to each winner.

Elissa, a talented artist and club member, donated a watercolor to be given as a doorprize. The lucky winner was Barbara B., a member of the club.

Guests were invited to visit the Fair, where herbal crafts, plants and gently used herbal books were for sale.

Herbal Tea and Fair - Rose

Rosa decorated a lovely table featuring roses.

Herbal Tea and Fair - Bay

Robbynn at her decorated tea table.

Herbal Tea and Fair

Rosa and Lois at the registration table for the tea.

Herbal Tea and Fair

Lois greets guests and takes tickets for the doorprize. Elissa, a club member, donated a beautiful watercolor to be given as the doorprize. Elissa was also our featured speaker for the event.

Herbal Tea and Fair

Tim, the butler, escorting Becky into the tea.

Herbal Tea and Fair

Entertaining guests as they arrive with musical selections on the mandolin was Mike. The music was enjoyed by everyone.

Herbal Tea and Fair

Lois, Sherri, Rosa, Camille, Patty and Elissa enjoy their cup of tea.

Herbal Tea and Fair - Thank You Camille

Camille was presented a bouquet of flowers from the club. Rosa, chairman of the event, thanked Camille for her work and support of the tea, saying Camille never turned down any job asked of her. The tea and fair was a huge success. Thank you Rosa and Camille and all club members.

Herbal Tea and Fair -Best Hat Winner

Picking a 'best hat' winner from the guests was not an easy task. There were many lovely hats and three winners were selected. Fronica presents one of the 'best hat' winners with her gift.

Herbal Tea and Fair

Elissa, Camille, Ancha, Rosa and Tim visiting after the tea.

Herbal Tea and Fair

Evan, Natasha, London and Camille were assembling sandwiches and filling the plates for the tea.

Herbal Tea and Fair - Plant Table

Many herbs were for sale after the tea. Thyme, marjarom, chocolate mint, basil, lavender, tansy and many more were available. Margaret was on hand to answer any questions about the planting and care of the herbs.

Herbal and Tea Fair

Rosa and Tim relaxing after the tea.

Herbal Tea and Fair - Spearmint

Natasha and London proudly show off their table.

Herbal Tea and Fair - Herbal Craft Table

A themed table with lavender dryer bags and rose and lavender potpourri.

Herbal Tea and Fair - Book Nook Table

Club members donated gently used herbal books for the Book Nook; a real bargain with nothing over $3.

Herbal Tea and Fair - Basil

Sally hosted a lovely table at the tea that featured basil.

Herbal Tea and Fair - Lavender

Nancy took top honors with her 'best' decorated table at the tea featuring lavender.

Herbal Tea and Fair - Best Decorated Table

Nancy's tea table was voted 'best decorated' table at the Herbal Tea and is shown with Rosa who presented her with a goregous arrangement of lavender.

Herbal Tea and Fair - Parsley

Stephanie hosted a lovely table at the tea and featured parsley.

Herbal Tea and Fair - Lemon Balm

Lemon balm was featured at Anne's beautiful table.

Herbal Tea and Fair - Dill

Radiant in red, Barbara has set a goregous table, featuring the herb dill.

Herbal Tea and Fair - Rosemary

Waiting for guests to arrive, Beth and Janet pose with their lovely table. Rosemary was their featured herb.

Herbal Tea and Fair - Oregano

Ancha hosting a lovely table at the herbal tea, featuring the herb oregano.

Herbal Tea and Fair - Herbal Craft Table

One of the themed tables featuring herbal sugars, dried herbs and herbal teas.