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!

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

Got Spring Fever? Take a Free Class!

Hi everyone!

I am completely into learning new stuff and when that education comes FREE, hello, I am there! and right now I have Spring fever so bad, it’s driving me insane! so, I am constantly looking for anything to do that is gardening related these days to get my “fix”.

So, I thought I would share a couple free classes being held at Home Depot. One is for Landscaping design and the other is for Lawn Maintenance. I am not sure if it is nationwide so, you may want to go to the site and check to see if your local Home Depot is offering them as well.

Get more info here

And no, Home Depot has no idea who I am or that I am talking about them. LOL

MARCH WEEKLY WORKSHOPS

Landscape Design

Learn to create your own garden landscape

• Discover the basic principles of landscape design
• Learn to identify plants that grow in specific climate zones

Get the latest landscape supplies here

Dates:

• Sunday, March 4, 2012
• Sunday, March 11, 2012
• Sunday, March 18, 2012
• Sunday, March 25, 2012

Time: 1 p.m. – 2 p.m.

Lawn Maintenance

Add curb appeal to your home with essential lawn maintenance tips

• Learn how to identify the appropriate products for your spring lawn care needs
• Learn the four steps of a lawn care system

Gather more information on lawn care and tools here

Dates:

• Saturday, March 3, 2012
• Saturday, March 10, 2012
• Saturday, March 17, 2012
• Saturday, March 24, 2012
• Saturday, March 31, 2012

Time: 10 a.m. – 11 a.m.