Herb Festival, Spring Plant Sale and Tomatomania

Back by popular demand is Tomatomania®, part of the world's largest tomato seedling sale, with lectures on culture and care and plenty of tomato seedlings.

Susan Belsinger is our honored guest at this year’s Herb Festival. Susan is a culinary herbalist, educator, food writer, and photographer whose articles and photographs have been widely published. She has co-authored several best-selling, award-winning cookbooks.

Susan will give a program each day at 1 pm. On Saturday, she will discuss Getting to Know the Mediterranean Herbs. She takes you on a hike across a hillside in Syros, Greece, which helps “herbies” and gardeners see how these native herbs grow in hot arid climates, tenaciously hanging on rocky cliffs. She will discuss how to keep the grey and green Mediterranean herbs happy in our own gardens. On Sunday Susan presents a cooking demonstration featuring these hardy, flavorful herbs along with seasonal ingredients of this sun-drenched cuisine. To find out more about Susan, visit www.susanbelsinger.com, a great and informative web site.

There will also be on-going speakers on garden and herb-related topics, guided tours of the Herb Garden, Herb Festival Market-place, the A-Z or Herbs information booth, and the SDBG Spring Plant Sale with a multitude of vendors.

For Kids: Now, That’s a Horse of a Different Color
If horse racing is the sport of kings, is horseradish the herb of emperors? Kids can learn about the Herb of the Year for 2011, the noble horseradish. Make potpourri “saddle bags” with herbs from the garden. Construct a “horse,” naturally, and help make a community sculpture using recycled materials. Saturday and Sunday, 11 am – 2 pm.

10 am - 4 pm. Free with admission or membership. For a $2 off coupon, visit www.SDBGarden.org