2005 Year in Review

Herb Day 2006 Scheduled For January 21, 2006

Source: Chuck Voigt, 217-333-1969, cevoigt@uiuc.edu

It is time again to spend a day in the herb garden of your imagination, planning for the real thing for the coming season. Anyone who loves herbs or is even slightly curious about them will enjoy all the activities at Herb Day scheduled for Saturday, January 21, 2006, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at the Holiday Inn Hotel and Conference Center, 1001 Killarney Street, Urbana, Illinois, just off I-74 at exit 183 (Lincoln Avenue).

"A day of educational and entertaining sessions, an abundant and creative herbal lunch, a varied and well-stocked retail shopping area, and the chance to interact with other herb enthusiasts from around the Midwest are all packed into this big day of herbal fun, food, and fellowship," said Chuck Voigt, U of I Extension specialist.

In the world of herbs, the lineup of speakers is star-studded.

Sharon Lovejoy, a noted garden author from Cambria, California, will speak in the morning about By Trowel and Error, her most recent book. Sharon has spent a lifetime working with plants, and she’s accumulated hundreds of earth-friendly remedies, design tips, shortcuts, and practical cures that can be used by every gardener to make gardening easier, fight plant infections, rid the garden of pests, and attract beneficial insects.

In the afternoon, Lovejoy will return for a second session called From Pot to Plot: Designing Your Personal Herbal Paradise. This presentation will focus on ideas that can be easily transplanted into everything from small container gardens to large landscapes. This is guaranteed to shake you out of the midwinter blahs and invigorate your spring planting urges with a bouquet of fresh ideas.

Carolee Snyder, from Carolee's Herb Farm in Hartford City, Indiana, will take us on an English herb garden tour, which she visited on her previous tours.

Susan Belsinger, noted cooking demonstrator and author of several entertaining books, will get us in the mood for the lunch buffet with a demonstration called Just Desserts, which uses herbs in sweet ways.

Pat Lanza, garden author from Columbia, Missouri, will talk about creating a lasagna garden. Lasagna gardening refers to mulching technique, not necessarily to growing the herbs to season a great pan of lasagna.

Again, this year, there will be a diverse retail area, with vendors of herbs, everlastings, equipment, books, and many other herbal products. This area will be open for shopping to Herb Day attendees and interested members of the general public from 8:00 am until 3:30 p.m. There is no entrance fee for those attending only the retail event. Come early for the best selection of merchandise, because a lot of selling gets done during the registration hour, before the first session at 9 a.m.

Herb Day 2006 is sponsored by U of I Extension and is open to professionals as well as members of the general public. Cost of registration, including lunch, is $49 per person. This includes seating in the lectures, an information packet, an herbal theme lunch buffet, and access to the retail area. There will be vegetarian options on this buffet, or a vegan plate can be arranged in advance.

Lunch reservations must be received no later than January 13, 2006. Those interested should mail checks, payable to the University of Illinois, to Herb Day 2006, Attention: Carol Preston, S-406 Turner Hall, 1102 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801 to reserve registration and lunch.

Space in the lecture room is limited to 250 participants, and on-site registration will only be allowed if those spaces are not filled prior to the event. Since 2003, available space has been sold out a week or more before the event, so sign up early this year to avoid disappointment.

If available, on-site registration will also cost $49, but will not include lunch. For more information, call (217) 333-7738 or e-mail preston1@uiuc.edu and mention Herb Day 2005. Credit card orders cannot be accepted.

by  Editor, theCity1.com
December 13, 2005