Traditionally we celebrate National Herb Week (May 5 - 11, 2024) with a garden tour conducted by Susanna, followed by a sampling of some herbal treats prepared by Nancy, and a small craft session that incorporates the herb of the year. This free event took place this past Wednesday, May 8th from 6 - 7:30 pm.
Susanna guides the group through the three distinct herb gardens located behind The Rosemary House, Sweet Remembrances, and their private home. There is a vast array of herbs to discuss, and Susanna highlights some of the major herbs and some obscure ones also. Specific questions from the group are addressed, and a gentle herbal learning session on a peaceful evening in the fragrant gardens completes the tour.
The group is guided to the picnic table area where a sampling of herbal treats awaits. We do try and include the flavor of the herb of the year, but found yarrow to be a challenge in the kitchen. Fortunately, The Rosemary House has a lovely
Potpourri Tea that is a blend of colorful flavorful flowers, including yarrow, chamomile, hibiscus, and more. So the herb of the year was indeed included in the refreshing iced beverage.
We served a
Savory Shitake Mushroom Pate with crackers and an Herbal Cheesecake garnished with lovage and served with crackers. We're happy to share the recipes over the next few days for these herbal appetizers. The dessert selection included crisp Rosemary Cookies and petite Strawberry Shortcakes.
After enjoying the herbal tea, everyone gathered under the pavilion and was invited to create a Yarrow Facial Toner/Astringent to take home. This event is held annually, mid week during National Herb Week. Held rain or shine, we are always blessed when the rains stay away. Thankful for the rains as the gardens are lush and green, but grateful for a dry evening to honor these quiet but powerful herbs. Looking ahead, the herb of the year for 2025 is chamomile.
In celebration of International Tea Day, May 21st, we offered a complimentary Tea and Chocolate pairing, both under the pavilion and in the gift shop. It was a rainy and chilly day which made for a perfect day for drinking tea, and we simply pretended we were in a British cottage garden. The rain transformed the garden into a vibrant lush green locale with bird song overhead. Outside we featured five teas to taste alongside an assortment of chocolate. There was a Ceylon Kenilworth, a traditional black tea from Sri Lanka with a classic mellow flavor. We paired this tea with Dark Chocolate covered Blueberry Acai. Our suggestion was to sip the tea first, followed by a bite of the chocolate and another sip of tea to compare how the tea and chocolate enhanced each other.
Wilbur Buds is a well-known chocolate from Lititz, and we offered both milk and dark chocolate. The suggested pairing included a Kenya Milima, a bold black tea from the Kenyan highlands in Africa to be paired with the light milk Wilbur Buds. The semi sweet was paired with Irish Stout, a flavored black tea with hints of coffee and chocolate. This was a popular pairing. 
There were two teas that we paired with Lindt White Chocolate. Lung Ching Dragonwell, a traditional Chinese green tea with a flat green leaf and a sweet fresh vegetal taste was offered. And the other tea we paired with the white chocolate was Pine Needle. This tea was interesting as it is a Chinese Black Tea and it gets its name from the shape of the leaf which has been rolled to look like a pine needle. Several attendees described the flavor as 'earthy'.
The pavilion kept us dry throughout the day, and we were happy to hold this special event outdoors even though there was a gentle rain most of the day. The cooling rain was a blessing as the two days prior to this event the high temperature was in the 90's. The rain afforded a nice break from the heat and kept the chocolate at a good temperature.
The table set up in the gift shop featured a Decaffeinated Vanilla tea paired with chocolate mint candy, and a Golden Yunnan black tea that was paired with Dark chocolate covered cherries. Special thanks to everyone that joined us for our celebration.
