"Herbs offer us hope, beauty, and healing and give us the opportunity to create an intimate relationship with the Earth—one based on mutual respect, care, and love." - Deb Soule, from A Woman's Book of Herbs

Dear Organic Gardeners,

It's the height of the growing season and our gardens and farms are bustling with activity. Our New Mexico Research Farm is a whirlwind of watering, weeding, harvesting, data collection, and succession planting. Here in Maine our spring harvests of salads, spinach, braising greens, peas, broccoli, garlic tops, and herbs, have been joined by young carrots, snap beans, summer squash, basils and the season's first sunflowers. Soon we'll be harvesting garlic and sowing fall greens. Speaking of garlic... Don't miss out on our five new varieties of planting garlic from around the world. Limited amounts are available.

In addition to all this activity in our own fields and beds, we've been on the road visiting with our trial and seed growers across the continent. This month, I met up with Steve Peters to visit field trials in Vermont and Massachusetts. Steve then paid a visit to our own Maine Trial Garden before heading to Kentucky to check in with one of our seed growers. Micaela Colley's "From the Field," column points out how different California growers lend diverse conditions and criteria to our on-farm field trials.

	Medicinal Herbs... by Deb Soule Medicinal herbs offer a wide range of support for healing body, mind and spirit... Read More >
	Steven Foster One of the most respected names in herbal health care, for 25 years he's served as a medicinal plant specialist, writer, lecturer, and photographer... Read More >
	Northeast Field Trials Steve Peters and Scott Vlaun travel through New England to visit growers and field trialers, ending up at the Maine Trial Garden to find compare varietal notes... Read More >

In the midst of summer's hectic activity, many of us look to the herb garden for refreshing and relaxing herbal teas. We are honored this month to have herbalist, teacher, and author Deb Soule join us to share her herbal wisdom and inspire us to seek our own path with healing plants. In addition, Seeds of Change Research Farm Manager, Erica Renaud draws on her years of experience as an herb farmer to help us provide you with useful information about growing, harvesting and drying your own medicinal plants. And as a special addition to our groundbreakers section, Lavinia McKinney of Elixer Farms expounds on the botanical genius of renowned herbalist, Stephen Foster.

If you don't find enough stimulating reading here, Our Annual Book Sale is a great opportunity to expand your gardening library. And don't forget about our popular Summer Seed Special which runs through August.

It's a wonderful time in the garden. Relax, enjoy the harvest, and sow more seeds!

Scott Vlaun, Editor
editor@seedsofchange.com

Printable PDF Version: eNewsletter #36, text only, 188k, 14 pages.