September 6th - Fight Procrastination Day

Procrastination is a way of life for many of us. The more difficult the project or decision is the easier it is to become a procrastinator.Today is the day to dig in your heels, take a stand and become more decisive. This will be MY DAY! As Mark Twain said, "Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today!" This should become our motto. Say it everyday, write it down and hang it on the bathroom mirror. Don't think about it. Do It Now! Believe in yourself, you'll be amazed at how much better you'll feel. Get rid of the negative and increase the positive. This is what I intend to do. Today is the first day of the new me. Now where did I put the paper to make my sign? Wait, first I'll make a cup of tea and rest a spell, that's when I do my best thinking. Oh look, the latest issue of "The Essential Herbal" arrived today. I wonder what interesting articles are in there? Here's a tasty looking recipe, but I need some mint. I'll quick run out to the garden and get some, boy the weeds seem to pop up over night, I'll just pull a few around the lavender then I'll - - - a h h h h now what was I going to do before I came down to the garden?

Mt. Craft Days

This weekend September 9 - 10 - 11 I will be set up at Mt. Craft Days being held at the Somerset Historical Center. We will be dressed in period clothing and I will be selling Teas and Herbs. Lots of vendors demonstrating old time crafts. Fred and Rich will demonstrate coopering and Fred also talks about the Barn Stars found in Somerset and Bedford Counties.

Rich Coopering

Fred with Barn Stars

My Sister Linda with some of her felt and applique work

 My booth of Teas and Herbs

Check out the great selection of Teas and Herbs in my booth located up the path in the woods. Lots of good food too!

Weed Walk Wednesday

The Red Raspberries are ripe and ready for picking. High in vitamin C the leaves can be made into a tea for morning sickness and is a good herb to take for the entire pregnancy. According to folklore raspberries were originally white, when Ida (a nymph) pricked her finger while picking berries for the crying baby Jupiter, the raspberries were tinged red from her blood.They also make a great cordial. so off we go to get our wild raspberries before the birds have eaten all of them, but when we get there we find something did beat us to the berries - a Bear!

See how all the bushes are broken and crushed. However we managed to pick enough berries to make our cordial and didn't run into Mr. Bear!

Raspberry Liqueur Recipe

1 1/2 lbs. fresh Raspberries

1 cup sugar

3 cups white zinfandel

1 1/2 cups 100 proof vodka

2 cups water

Crush berries and sugar together in bowl. Let stand for 1 hour. Transfer to 2 quart container and add zinfandel, vodka, and water. Cover and let stand in a cool, dark place for 3 days, shaking frequently.

Use a fine-mesh strainer to strain out solids.Transfer liqueur to clean container and let stand for 1 week.Filter into final container and age for at least 1 month more before serving. 

Cordials from the Kitchen 

Pattie Vargas

& Rich Gulling

Horseradish and Herb Festival

Well the festival was a success even though the weather was chilly. We are already making plans for next years event. Some things will change and some will remain the same. I hope everyone will return as a vendor or as a visitor. Spending time with my friends was a blast! Mark your calendars for 2012 - June 22 & 23. The name will change to "Wild Thyme Herb Festival."  A big THANK YOU to the Heinz Co. for all the Horseradish Sauce they so generously donated to us which we gave away in a drawing to many of the visitors. Enjoy the pictures from this years event.

Judges picking the best Horseradish dish.                                 

Tina, Susanna, & Roger joking around at the end of the day.

Horseradish and Herb Festival

Our third speaker at the festival will be Tina Sams. Tina is editor of  The Essential Herbal Magazine.Wildcrafting Herbs and wild edibles is a  great interest and passion for Tina , so she will share her knowledge with us. She also has a line of soap and is into hydrosols.Tina has written several books on Tea, Soaping, and Balms and Salves to name a few. Her knowledge of herbs is vast and she will keep you entertained. Be sure to check out her blog and web site, better yet come to the Horseradish and Herb

Festival June 25th and 26th and meet her in person, you'll be glad you did.

Horseradish and Herb Festival

The second speaker that we are featuring at our Horseradish and Herb Festival is Barbara Steele owner of Alloway Creek Gardens and Herb Farm. It is located on a pre-Civil War homestead just southeast of Gettysburg, PA.  

The Farm features a large selection of herbs, perennials, and native plants, plus display gardens, an authentic log-house gift shop and a variety of special lectures, activities and workshops.  Open April thru September.

Barb sponsors an annual Herb and Craft Faire at the farm every year the second weekend in June.

Her lecture will be on Scented Geraniums, if you've never smelled or touched a scented geranium this lecture is a must.

Horseradish and Herb Festival

We have some great speakers lined up for our Horseradish and Herb Festival. Today I want to tell you about one of our speakers. Susanna Reppert Brill, who along with her husband David Brill owns and operates The Rosemary House, located in Mechanicsburg, PA. The Herb shop was originally opened by Susanna's mother Bertha Reppert in 1968. It is one of America's oldest herb shops. You'll be delighted by all the aromas and herbal goodies as you enter the shop. They sell everything dealing with herbs.

Susanna grew up living and knowing the herb business and gardens under her mother's guidance. After graduating from Penn State University she became manager of The Rosemary House. She has continued to develop her herbal knowledge and most recently completed The Herbal Medicine course at David Winston's Herbal Therapeutics School of Botanical Medicine. Be sure to join Susanna and her family on one of their many herbal bus trips or attend their fantastic Fairy Festival held every year in September. If herbs are your passion then you definitely want to take a trip to Mecanicsburg and visit Susanna at The Rosemary House.

Antique Show 2011

Our Antique show at Georgian Place was a great success! The weather was beautiful Saturday and Sunday had a shower go thru early then cleared up.

We even had a bus stop and check us out!

People waiting to check out at our shop "Sugar Grove Herbs"

Don't worry, we still have plenty of bargains left if you couldn't make it to the show. Beautiful hanging baskets and herbs or Tea to be iced so you can cool off on hot summer nights.Maybe Antiques are your thing - we have 18 vendors with their unique wares!

Horseradish & Herb Festival

2011

 "Horseradish & Herb Festival" 

Herbs ~ Crafts

Food ~ Lectures

Entertainment

 June 25th - 26th 2011  from 10:00AM - 5:00PM both days at the Georgian Place Somerset, PA - Exit 110 PA Turnpike . Be sure and stop by to check out the many Herb and Craft Vendors selling their unique wares. If you are a fan of Horseradish, enter the the best "Homemade Horseradish" contest. Contact us for more information at 814-445-3161.Held Rain or Shine.Vendor space is still available. Free Admission to the public. This is an event you won't want to miss! More information will be posted as we finalize the event.

National Chocolate Cake Day

For all you chocoholics out there, today, January 27th, should put a smile on your face because it is "National Chocolate Cake Day." Any excuse to eat chocolate is OK with me. It also happens to be my Grandson's 18th Birthday and when I asked him what kind of cake he wanted - to my surprise he said chocolate. So I looked through my recipes for one given to me by my neighbor many years ago. I used to make it for my son when he was young. Found it!

Chocolate Cake (Moist)  

2 C flour                           1/2 C sour milk
2C sugar                           2 eggs
1 stick oleo                        1 tsp soda
1/2 C shortening              1 tsp vanilla
1 C water                         3 TBL cocoa

Mix in sauce pan - butter, shortening, cocoa and water. Bring to boil. Pour over flour and sugar and mix. Add other ingredients and mix well.
Bake in shallow pan 20 - 25 min.

Icing

Melt 1 stick butter
4 TB. cocoa
6 TB milk

Melt this mixture. Add 1 tsp. vanilla and enough powdered sugar to spread.
(about 1 box powdered sugar, add a little more if too runny)

Enjoy!

Wondiferous Weed Walk

Tina and the members of the Essential Herbal chat group have talked us into having a weed walk at our home. It will be held on August 15th rain or shine. We hope it will be a learning and fun experience for those that attend. There will be lectures, demonstrations, and handouts. Space is limited so if you wish to attend please contact me at sgherbs@verizon.net. Some of the topics we are working on are tinture making, wild edibles, hydrosols, soapmaking, mushroom logs, maple tree tapping, out door bake oven baking, and much more. Sign up before July 15th to receive the Early Bird price. Hope to hear from you soon.
Picture is Fred picking Watercress along the trail.

Teaberries ready to eat.

Teaberries, growing in aboundance along the trail.

Spring Antique Show Somerset

This weekend an Antique mall where we rent a space, (I dabble in Antiques too) had their annual Antique show. The weather was good on Saturday but Sunday we had a cold front go through. I am planning on moving my Herb Shop to a new location within the next couple months. It will be directly across from the Antique Mall in a shopping complex called "The Georgian Place". It has a beautiful setting, with shops wrapped around an Inn. This location will bring more visibility to my business. I plan on putting my shop in the front entrance and renting the rest of the space to Antique vendors. Check out the pictures, the room with the inside vendors is the store I will be renting. First picture is the outside of my new location, next is the Inn, next is the Antique Mall located across from me and last vendors set up inside the building that will become my new shop.

Susanna & Maryanne discussing ideas for next years faire.

The Butterfly Puddler booth always has a nice display.

Fred watching the booth.

Landis Valley Herb Faire

Maryanne, Tina, & Sue Having Fun!
We attended the Herb Faire at Landis Valley last weekend and got to see some of our friend. The weather was great and the crowd kept us busy. Fred did a talk on Barn Stars and I did a demo on Brewing a perfect cup of Tea. Check out the pictures and see if you recognize any familar faces?

For Christmas I took my daughter Cathi and granddaughter Sadie to New York City. While their we saw the play Mary Poppins and went to Radio City Music Hall. Sadie really enjoyed her first trip to the big apple and wants to go back. Other things she saw was China Town, the Statue of Liberty all the toy stores on Fifth Avenue and of course Times Square. One place she asked to visit was the Doughnut Plant, famous for their square doughnuts. She had seen a program about them on the History channel. The only down side to the trip was the COLD WEATHER. Here are some pictures from our trip.

Fred and I have been working on the garden between rain drops since spring. We decided to make a few changes - eliminate some beds - so the garden is more manageable. You know the older you get the quicker you tire! It had a small water feature that he has taken out and is putting in a new pond that a kind neighbor no longer wanted. I have been weeding and weeding as a result of long neglect, but it is starting to take shape. When finished I think I will plant a row of different colored Iris.