33rd Midwestern Herb & Garden Show
The 33rd annual Midwestern Herb & Garden Show will be held on Friday, March 10 and Saturday, March 11, 2023 at Times Square Mall, located at 7274 Broadway in Mt. Vernon, IL. The event features several free classes on gardening, etc. for the public to attend, and many vendors with items for the home and garden. This event is sponsored by The Herbs for Health and Fun Club which uses some funds to provide scholarships to college students going into agriculture and related fields at local colleges. This event is free for the public to attend. The speaker’s schedule is listed below.
Friday, March 10, 2023
10:15 – 11:15 Flower Arranging- Callie Lueking
The Lueking Flower Girls do numerous flower arranging jobs. They grow many of their flowers they use. Learn about flower arranging. Bring a container and make an arrangement for $10.00 Limit 30 people to create arrangement.
11:30 – 12:30: What good are bees? Crystal Hemby
Crystal & her husband have bee hives and she formulates many products. There is much you do not know about bees, so come to this workshop and be educated about honey bees.
12:45 – 1:45 Great Foods with a Twist – Robert Rhymes
Robert is a professional chief and educational consultant. He is Executive Chef/ Program Coordinator for Kaskaskia College Dept. of Culinary Arts and owner & executive chef of Spiral Gourmet Foods.
2:00 – 3:00 Healing with Traditional Herbal Remedies – Shahilda Terry Hickey
This class will teach about plant-based medicine and how to cultivate, harvest, make, and use remedies.
3:15 – 4:15 Glass Mosaic Workshop – David Mason
Create a small glass mosaic panel with flower design. Cost $10.00.
4:30 – 5:30 Wild Flower Farm – Jim Barker
Jim will show the beautiful wild flowers he grows on his farm near Mc Leansboro, IL. He is creating the prairie like it was originally.
Saturday, March 11, 2023
10:15 – 11:15 Butterfly Host Plants – Christopher Benda, MS
Carbondale, IL. Learn how to attract butterflies to your home garden by providing food sources and breeding grounds for our native butterflies and other pollinators. Chris will inspire you to incorporate beautiful, native plant species in the home landscape and will discuss which host plants are specific to certain butterflies and other insects.
11:30 – 12:30 – Key Note Speaker – Saving and Sharing Seeds – Bevin Cohen
Learn how to save seeds from your flowers and vegetables to use them for next year in this informative program. Bevin will use a combination of engaging demonstrations, discussion, and lecture to guide you through seed saving techniques so you are able to use your harvest each fall to have seeds for the upcoming spring. Bevin is from Small House Farm, Sanford, Michigan.
12:45 – 1:45 : Cardinals: Everyone’s Favorite Bird Steve & Regina Garr Birds-I -View
The Northern Cardinal is the state bird of Seven States, including Illinois! Cardinals are the best selling “bird motif” on retail products and merchandise and are often the “gateway bird” for many people to begin a lifetime of enjoying backyard bird. Come learn about their special courtship behavior, nesting, and feeding habits, and more! Steve and Regina are he owners of Birds – I – View, a wildlife and nature store in Jefferson City, MO.
2:00 – 3:00 Making Teas, Tinctures, and Oils Bevin Cohen, Small House Farm
Learn how to create salves, balms, and tinctures using herbs you can grow in your backyard. Bevin will share decades of experience as a herbalist guiding participants through many processes involved in crafting a wide range of herbal products for health, wellness and beauty.
3:15 – 4:15 Rare Plants of Southern Illinois Christopher Benda, MS aka Illinois Botanizer. Carbondale, IL
There is tremendous biodiversity in Southern Illinois. And much of that biodiversity is rare, especially when it comes to plants, as an estimated 20% of plant species that occur in Southern Illinois are at the edge of their range. Join botanist Chris Benda for a program featuring photos of rare plants and interesting information about their ecology, distribution, and status on the Illinois Threatened and EndangeredSpecies list.
4:30 – 5:30 Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Lavender, Richard Dorris
Richard and Kay Dorris have Lavender Falls just east of Mt. Vernon. Richard will share how their lavender business started and how to grow and distill lavender oil.
Comments are closed