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Past Monthy Meeting Programs
PAST PROGRAMS
including video replays and powerpoint presentations
June 2022- present Meeting Topics
May 2024 - Judy Barrett, author and owner of Judy's Backyard Garden in Taylor, "Roses as Herbs"
April 2024 - Matt Morris of PARD Zilker Botanical Garden, "Top Ten Pollinator Plants"
March 2024 -Karla Renaud, herbalist on "Herbs in Vietnamese Cuisine"
February 2024 - Soup Social "Family Favorite Recipes"
January 2024 - Denise Delaney of Austin Grow Green Program, "Wild About Plants"
December 2023 Vintage Holiday Bazaar
November 2023 AHS 40th Anniversary Celebration and History Presentation
October 2023 Valerie Burg, entomology expert on "Pollination and Pollinators"
September 2023 - Ginger Webb, herbalist on "Ginger 2023 Herb of the Year"
2022- 2023 Meeting Topics
September 2022 - John Dromgoole, "Herbs in the Landscape"
October 2022 - Lucinda Rudin, Judith Craft & Karla Renaud, "Herbs for Fall"
November 2022 - Judith Craft, "Herbs for Pollinators"
December 2022 - December Holiday Bazaar & "World Tea Party" Luncheon
January 2023 - Angela Richter-Gronross, "Yoga for Gardening"
February 2023 - Soup Social canceled due to ice storm tree damage at Zilker
March 2023 - Karla Renaud, "Everything You Never Wanted to Know About Cilantro"
Focus Groups led by Board Members
April 2023 - Molly Ogorzaly, "The Nature and Spirit of Japanese Gardens"
May 2023 - Gayle Engels, "Healthy Living with Herbs"
Annual Membership Luncheon Mediterranean Buffet
June 2023 - Karla Renaud, "Central & Coastal Texas Botanical Gardens to Visit"
New Leadership Team Installation
July 2023 - Susan Norwood, "Summer Herbal Skincare"
2021-2022
Meeting Topics
September 2021 - Flint Fancy from Lone Star Nursery spoke about "Fall into Gardening"
October 2021 - Heidi Sloan, Director of Genesis Gardens at Community First (Mobile Loaves and Fishes Residential Community) will speak about "Growing in Community"
November 2021 - Autumn Schulze from Autumn's Harvest will speak about "Herbal Twists on Culinary Creations"
December 2021 - 'Metamorphosis' by Kim Lehman
January 2022 - Meeting Cancelled
February 2022 - 'The Resilient Gardener' by Karen Kalergis & Stephanie Frogge of Garden Charms
March 1, 2022 - Judith Craft, AHS VP of Horticulture, will share her vast knowledge of herbs for pollinators, and we'll also roll out details of our April 2nd Plant Sale and our featured speakers!
April 5, 2022 - Kim Lehman will give a presentation entitled "Herbal Folklore."
The stories and myths of flowers and herbs take us back to fairies, Greek warriors, and our own childhood plant lore passed down from generation to generation. How did mint and parsley come to be? Take a look at the plant world through stories, folklore, songs, and personal anecdotes with Kim Lehman, an educator, storyteller, musician, workshop presenter, and author. Currently on the Texas Commission on the Arts Touring Roster, Kim has performed at hundreds of festivals, schools, libraries, and museums, and was a featured teller at the Texas Storytelling Festival. She is the author of the book “Beekeeper’s Lab.” Kim is a past president of the Austin Herb Society
May 3, 2022 - Mike Shoup, President of Antique Rose Emporium in Brenham, will share with us a program entitled "Lessons from a Rose Rustler" or "Roses - the Ultimate Garden Plant."
June 7, 2022 - Leadership Team Installation and Membership Luncheon
July 5, 2022 - Our annual "Herbal Bouquet" with short presentations on several topics
'Metamorphosis'
Kim Lehman
December 7, 2021
The butterfly is not only a universal symbol of beauty and often of the soul, but of the hard work and transformative change needed to achieve that beauty. The last year was one where we as a club and as individuals had to transform, pivot, adjust and change to get through the challenges. This meeting is a celebration of where we were and where we are now, and features Kim Lehman who helps us celebrate with her own tales of metamorphosis. Kim is an educator, storyteller, musician, workshop presenter and author. Currently on the Texas Commission on the Arts Touring Roster, Kim has performed at hundreds of festivals, schools, libraries, and museums, including being a featured teller at the TX Storytelling Festival. She is the author of the Book "Beekeeper Lab"; And she is a past president of the Austin Herb Society.
'Herbal Twists on Culinary Creations'
Autumn Schulze
November 2, 2021
We will be diving into a number of recipes and techniques to use herbs and herbal tea to jazz up culinary creations.
Sharing yummy recipes, including a couple technique demonstrations and briefly discussing how each recipe is therapeutically supportive.
- Poached Pears with Basil Syrup
- Reusing Fire Cider Left Overs
- Lemon Verbena, Tulsi and Pineapple Smoothie
- Orange Ginger Soup
- Ashwagandha Rose & Hibiscus Oxymel
- Garlic Rosemary Focaccia
- Soothing Slippery Elm Cough Syrup
- Sleep Supportive Moon Milks…and more…
we are going to have so much fun!
Speaker
Autumn Schulze is CEO of Autumn’s Harvest, an Herbalist & Holistic Gut Health Mentor. Autumn empowers beginners to utilize everyday kitchen herbal remedies & food as medicine. Via Sage Advice Herbal Membership & Virtual Courses.
'Growing in Community'
Heidi Sloan
October 5, 2021
We have all read that getting your hands dirty is good for your health. But at The Austin Herb Society we know that farming can be transformative. Heidi Sloan of Genesis Gardens will speak to methods of market gardening that invite people of all skill levels and experience in, while building strong relationships across a vast array of social boundaries. Topics to be covered include human-scale farming, tools and tricks for accessibility, trauma-informed growing and marketing, and how to make a farm a home.
Speaker
Heidi Sloan caught the farming bug at a young age, growing tomatoes with her Dad and Grandpa. After years of growing in every imaginable space (including goats in her backyard), she landed a role at Mobile Loaves & Fishes’ Community First! Village as the Director of Genesis Gardens.
'Fall for Your Garden'
Flint Fancy
Sept. 7th, 2021
With fall finally on the horizon, Central Texas herbalist and grower Flint Fancy offered insight and ideas on how to "Fall for Your Garden". Flint diacussed which herbs to plant and which to let go to seed—and how to collect and save the seeds—as well as which plants to harvest for use in fall and winter preparations.
Flint and partner Jay Beard are the owners and operators of Lone Star Nursery and Lone Star Medicinals in Manor. Lone Star Nursery is currently the only Certified Organic grower that sells directly to customers in Central Texas. Lone Star Medicinals sells an array of herbal products, including tinctures, spagyrics, teas, oils, salves, balms and candle dressing.
A South Dakota native who moved to Austin in 1999, Flint is a self-taught herbalist who has been practicing herbal medicine since 1997. After temporarily losing her sight in 1998—and exhausting all Western medicine’s methods for a potential cure—she turned to Chinese medicine for results. This experience progressed into a passion for Western herbalism, natural childbirth and eventually into growing all medicine for her venture, “Age of Flint Apothecary,” now known as Lone Star Medicinals.
June 1st, 2021 "An Herbal Bouquet" by AHS Members
A trio of Austin Herb Society members will present “An Herbal Bouquet” of entertaining and informative gardening wisdom at the next AHS meeting at 10 a.m. Tuesday, June 1 via Zoom.
Longtime member Sandra Holland will demonstrate how she creates small herbal bouquets in unique containers. Jennifer
Chichester will share her knowledge on basil, including holy basil, and Kate Alsobrook will discuss growing and using parsley, the 2021 Herb of the Year.
Sandra, who is a Master Gardener, has been an active member of the Herb Society for many years. Sandra grew up in Metairie, La., where she enjoyed creating mini-bouquets using flowers from her mother’s abundant garden.
A former high school biology teacher, Jennifer retired and moved to Austin two years ago to further pursue her passion for gardening, which began in childhood. Jennifer serves on the Herb Society’s Programs Committee.
An AHS member since 2012, Kate has grown herbs, vegetables and flowers in her Austin garden for more than 40 years. The former AHS president delights in using her own homegrown ingredients to brew tea or prepare a meal.
May 3rd, 2021: "Unusual Herbs from Around the World" by Amanda Moon
We are used to cooking with many common herbs found in American kitchens- i.e. parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme as the song goes…but there are so many more exciting options to explore and learn to use. From Mexican and Mediterranean to Indian and Asian herbs, this talk looked at options you might not have thought about using before, but will wonder where they’ve been all your life when you do!
Amanda has been in the horticulture industry in central Texas for more than 25 years, having worked in retail and wholesale sales and production and landscape installation (both residential and commercial). She currently works as an independent landscape and gardening consultant and designer.
Amanda has a degree in Physical Geography and minors in Horticulture and English from Texas State University. Her hobbies include working out in the garden (collecting every weird herb and veggie she can!), road trips to National and State Parks and playing off-road in her Jeep.
April 6, 2021
Managing Pain and Inflammation
Our April speaker was AHS sponsor member and clinical aromatherapist Fai Chan, who owns and operates Deli Aroma LLC.
Fai Chan began her career in 2014, when—as a student—she had already published research findings in international journals. In 2015, she served on the board of Alliance of International Aromatherapists,
a world-leading aromatherapy association, and was also chair of its publication committee.
Regarding the importance of this month's topic, Fai points to a Harvard Health study that indicates that more than 90 percent of our illnesses are caused by inflammation, which eventually leads to pain of various degrees. “We are going to look at arthritic pain—even rheumatoid arthritis—and prediabetic to diabetic self-care protocols,” she explains, adding that she will also talk about incorporating modern technology into these protocols to achieve maximum results.
“You need to know which protocols you are using and the goals and results you are looking for,” Fai states. Her therapies are based on traditional Chinese medicine combined with pharmacology for synergistic effect. While many people look to self-care techniques like yoga, fitness and other natural therapies to find relief, she emphasizes, “When it is time to seek medical advice, please do so rather than relying on any self-care protocols.”
Deli Aroma is dedicated to holistic healing protocols and research. Grounded by pharmacology, Fai specializes in treating psychiatric/neurological issues, diabetes/rheumatoid arthritis, pneumonia, apnea, severe insomnia and anti-aging.
NOTE: During the week of Fai’s presentation, she will donate 20 percent of her sales to Xiang Yun Buddhist Temple.
March 2, 2021
The Excitement of Herbs
For our March meeting, Bill Varney spoke to us about the excitement of growing and using herbs. He called in from his workshop, so we got an eagle-eye view of how Bill creates! Not only did he demonstrate four recipes (link TBD), but captivated us with stories of his beloved customers and how he got where he is today. Bill definitely succeeded in exciting us with his knowledge and expertise!
William Varney is the Founder and Former owner of Fredericksburg Herb Farm, which he sold in 2007 and started URBANherbal. He is co-author of "Herbs Growing & Using the Plants of Romance" and "Along the Garden Path." He became interested in plants and gardening at the young age of eight, later graduating with a B.S. in Business and a Minor in Horticulture.
In 1985, Bill moved to the quaint town of Fredericksburg after spending time in Houston TX as a buyer for the landscape division of a large nursery. His small herb shop grew into the four-acre Fredericksburg Herb Farm, boasting gardens, shops, a day spa, restaurant, bed & breakfast, and herbal manufacturing warehouse. Today, URBANherbal is an herb shop and more - with gardens and a classroom for various topics on gardening, hebs, and cooking. Bill is a self-taught chef who has developed award-winning condiments, cooked at the James Beard House in NYC, and has appeared on the Food Network.
Bill is ever mindful that individual's lives can be enriched through the experience of herbs: in their gardens, kitchens, baths, medicine chests, homes, and places of worship.
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