A Fun Event

Hi everyone!

This week DTL Herbs, aka Troy and I, were invited to be the guest speaker at this years Macomb Master Gardeners Associations Annual Banquet. The theme was an old fashion tea party. Troy gave a wonderful presentation on the history of tea and various interesting tea facts. I had created a special blend of herb infused tea just for this group and prepared 150 individual tea bags for all the guests.

Many of the ladies created their own special hat just for the evening. There were so many cute and pretty hats! They also had tables filled with gardening themes prizes.

The food was amazing!

Each table had two door prizes. One was a teapot with an herb planted inside and the other was a teacup planted with an herb as well.

And at each persons setting they had a few little gifts. All tea related and so fun! Someone had made the cute tea pouch to hold the teabag I made, there was a package of two herb infused scones and a copy of Tea Time Magazine! What lovely gifts!

It really was a very fun  and lovely event. The banquet committee did an amazing job putting it all together! And Troy and I are so happy to have been part of it! We had a wonderful evening!

 

Busy Few Days Ahead!

Hi everyone!

The next three days are going to be busy but lots of fun!

Tomorrow is the October classes at MSU Extension!

 http://msue.anr.msu.edu/county/info/macomb

Friday:

Oct. 11 classes are:

1-2:30 "The Herbal First Aid kit" (beginner), 

3:00-4:30 is "Tinctures & Tisanes" (Advanced)

6-7:30 is "The Herbal First Aid Kit" again! It's not to late to call and reserve your seat!

Saturday:

October 12 from 10-6:00 we will be at the Gibraltar Fall Festival! It is going to be a blast! There will be crafters, food, music, hay rides and lots of fun family entertainment! The weather looks like it will be a beautiful day as well!

Sunday:

October 13 10-3:00 is the last Farmer’s Market at the Marquee in Redford!

It is going to be a blast! There will be all the wonderful vendors, food and music!

That’s right! There is going to be a Chili Cook-off!

We will have our Herbed Chili Seasoning available and we will have delicious samples available! Oh, just in time for this fun event we will have our Herbed Cornbread mixes available AND we will be selling individual servings of the cornbread already made up! Can’t have chili without the cornbread!!

So, you don’t want to miss the last day at Redford this Sunday! Lots of fun and yumminess happening!!

Macomb Presentation and Plant Sale

Hi everyone!

Earlier this week we had our last presentation of the Spring series at the Michigan State University, Macomb County Extension Campus. It was also our big herb plant sale.

We brought about 1,000 potted herbs for the sale.

Good thing we had pulled the preorders for the folks in the evening class!

We had a full house! The subject of this class was “When Space is an Issue”. We talked about different container gardening and small space ideas.

We want to take a moment to thank our hostess Sandra, the Macomb County Master Gardener Coordinator, for all her help! (pictured above) 

By the end of the first class, this is all the extra plants we had left!

This class was particularly fun for me since I had the opportunity to actually be there! I met so many fun people. I have to say, the folks at Macomb really are awesome!

It was kind of sad that this is the last class until Fall. We are just so swamped from now until September-ish with all the Farmer’s Markets. But, we are already working on and putting together the Fall series and possibly winter classes!

I had the chance to talk to a few of you who were at this class and ran by some ideas for upcoming classes. I think our Fall series is going to be a blast!

We want to thank all of you at MSU Macomb Extension for attending and participating in the Spring series! We can’t wait to see you in the Fall!

And just a reminder, we will be at the Redford Library tomorrow morning (Saturday May 11) for a presentation and fun activity for kids!

Where we will be this week

Hi everyone!

It is so great to be back at the Farmer’s Markets! It has felt like we have been in hibernation all winter. I think this is going to be a busy crazy season but, also a lot of fun!

Today, Sunday 5/5 we are at the Lincoln Park opening Farmer’s Market day!

Tuesday 5/7 we will be at the Macomb County Extension Office giving a presentation on “Container Gardening”. There will be an afternoon class and an evening class.

(picture of our herbs just starting to grow) 

Also on Tuesday at Macomb, is our big kick off “Plant Sale”! Stop by and pick up some of your favorite herb plants!

Wednesday we will be at the Wayne, MI Farmer’s Market.

On Saturday we will be at the Redford Library doing a presentation and an herb craft with kids! This is going to be a fun event. It is a special day just for kids to make Mother’s Day hanging herb planters for their mom!

 

GARDENING FUN WITH A MOTHER’S DAY SURPRISE

Saturday, May 11, 11 a.m. for ages 4-11

REGISTER HERE

Troy Huffaker from DTL Herbs, will explain what plants need to grow well. We will make a special gift from recycled materials. Everyone age 4-11 is invited to join, but must bring an adult friend to share the fun. Registration REQUIRED.

 

Although we probably won’t be able to make it, the News Herald Free Plant Exchange is also on Saturday 5/11. This is such a fun event so, if you want to swap out some of your plants, check it out! For more info on the plant exchange click here!

Herb Infused Iced Tea

Hi everyone!

Last week we gave the last of the 3 part presentation at Roosevelt High School. This presentation was about using herbs.

Since we have started our herb business we have discovered that people can be a bit confused about herbs. It is not an area everyone feels comfortable when it comes to using them.

After spending a huge amount of time educating folks at the Farmers Markets about herbs and then having many requests from organizations to speak about how to use herbs, we finally added this as a part of the presentations we now offer.

If you are not familiar with how to cook or bake with herbs, I believe it is best to keep it simple. Just add a little here and there until you start to find out what you like.

So, for this last presentation I prepared some very simple treats for everyone to try.

This post is going to show you how to do a simple Herb Infused Iced Tea.

Now, this is NOT herbal tea. This is a black tea infused with herbs. And “infused” means all the tea and herbs were NOT boiled.

How to:

Boil a kettle of water

In your pitcher add 5 bags of your favorite black tea. (Most common teas are black tea or a mix of)

Add in the pitcher a Tablespoon of dried Peppermint

Add 1 1/2 teaspoon of Dried Lemon Balm

Add one heaping teaspoon of Dried Stevia

Stevia is a natural sweetener and is basically calorie free.

Pour boiling water into the pitcher and let steep for about 30 minutes. The longer it steeps, the stronger the flavor.

**If you don’t have the dried herbs, you can use fresh herbs. Generally that means you need to use 2 to 3 times the amounts. And make sure you crush up (bruise) all the leaves to release the oils.**

Next double a piece of cheesecloth across the pitcher and strain into another pitcher. You can do this twice if you want but, generally by doubling the cheesecloth, once is enough.

Now refrigerate and enjoy!

Remember, you can try different herbs that you like in making an Herb Infused Tea. Play around with any of the mints and “Lemon” herbs (Verbena or Thyme). And you can use the same recipes to make a Hot Herb Infused Tea.

I will be sharing more fun and easy things that I made using herbs at this presentation in the coming week so, stop back by!

For more great recipes, check out these parties I am joining:
Slightly Indulgent Tuesday
Tasty Tuesday

It's Market Time!

Hi everyone!

Well, if you read this blog semi regularly you know that my hubby and I have our own herb business. And this is the major busy time for us. We have had our herbs planted for months in the greenhouse (we start our herbs from seed) and now it is time to get things ready to sell at the markets.

Troy and I spent hours the other day in the greenhouse getting things ready. I have been collecting different thrifted items to use for tabletop herb gardens/planters. So, I spent time putting together these different planters. I thought you may want to see some of them.

Now, keep in mind, I just planted these. So, they are not cleaned up yet and I won't be selling them for a least a week. Why wait? I want the planters to look full and not just planted.

Okay, come on in and join me in the greenhouse!

These are two little wood tea boxes. I thought they look cute with a little spearmint plant in them. I really tried to do a lot of different sizes and looks of the mini herb gardens. When you are a seller, you want to offer your customers different price points. So, these will be the least expensive ones. **SOLD!

A large ceramic golf ball planter filled with Basil and Oregano. You might see these planters on Teleflora ads on TV right now for Father's Day. I found this at a thrift store. **SOLD!

A pretty vintage hobnail milk glass dish with Lemon Balm.

I chose a beautiful white flowering Basil plant for this wicker watering can that I got at The Christmas Tree Shops. I have another one of these to make up yet. **SOLD!

I just recently used this old enamel coffee pot on a tablescape I posted. Although I bought it for this purpose, I figured why not use it once before I planted it. I added Marjoram, Oregano, Thyme. **SOLD!

This will be sold as a set. The vintage green enamelware coffee pot and matching cup (I also have the lid that I will include). I planted Lemon balm in the coffee pot and Spearmint in the cup. the two flavors work great together for a tea or in brewed tea.  **SOLD!

This is a huge cookie jar (I will include the lid) that I planted with Basil, Thyme and Oregano.

This little strawberry planter is planted with creeping Thyme and it can be hung.

This cute tall ceramic jar has Sweet Basil planted (also will include the lid).

We got about 25 more planted containers. I have about 30 more containers to use for various  mini gardens. If they all sell really good (keeping fingers crossed!) I will be racing around every weekend hitting every yard sale I see! LOL Yup, that is actually part of my real life job!

**I wrote this post early last week. So, we have been at a couple of Markets now. So far, so good! Yay! I have made up several other planters that have sold as well. And yes, I am going through some of my fun thrifted finds from over the winter to see what else I can use for planters. I haven’t had time to go to yard sales! Now, did you ever think you would hear those words come out of my mouth? LOL**

I also have other projects for our business going on right now. I will share them at a later time. And several new food items are being added by us. I am excited to see how these go. Casa Chaos is busy, busy, busy these days!

Do you want to take a little tour around the greenhouse?

Let's check out some of our herbs. Now keep in mind this is only ONE area that we have our herbs for our business planted. We have the bulk of our mint here at home, a garden at my parents and a garden plot at a local church. Yes, we are running around like crazy people every day!

Okay, let's look around the greenhouse.

Potting station.

Herbs

  More Herbs

You guessed it, more herbs

Hummmm, could it be even more herbs? :)

This is part of the hydroponic gardens. Look at that gorgeous Basil!

Beautiful different lettuce

See those big trees in the background? Those are tomato plants that were grown in the hydroponic gardens! Yes, I have been eating fresh tomatoes for awhile now. Yummo!

Well, I hope you enjoyed peeking into my world as of late. Have a fantastic day!

I am also posting this at our Herb blog DTL Herbs

Orignially posted at my blog The Thrifty Groove

Herb Class This Week

Just a reminder, I will be doing an herb presentation Tuesday April 5 at the Macomb County Extension Office.

I'd love to see you there.

Herb Presentation.

The herb presentation at the Clinton MaComb Public Library this week was a success. It was well attended, and the audience was interactive.


All but a handful of those attending were gardeners, and about 80% already grow herbs of some kind and came to learn more.

I offered a prize to the first person who could produce something made from herbs. The winner promptly held up a tube of lotion containing lavender and got a packet of our Chive and Dill vegi dip, our best seller at the market last year.

We discussed the difference between spices and herbs, a few facts about the history of herbs, the reasons to grow herbs, and talked briefly about the way to prepare soil and where to plant an herb garden.

We talked about the different sizes of herb gardens, from tabletop planters to large English style gardens.


Then we talked about some of the more popular herbs, including basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, dill, mint, chives, chamomile, lavender, and tarragon.


We talked a little bit about tips for planting and growing each one.

We discussed Comfrey, and some of the known and unknown qualities of that plant.


I ended with a question and answer period that lasted about 30 minutes.

Everyone got a copy of my herb chart "Popular Herbs for the Beginning Gardener".

It was a fun presentation and seemed to be well received.

We discussed the potential of returning for more classes about how to harvest and how to use herbs, and I am looking forward to that possibility.