In honor of Fall Family Days and Herb Fest on October 4 and 5, A member of the Midwest Michigan Herb Association has shared a few recipes with me and is letting me share them with you, too!
Enjoy - and join us at the Farm Garden on October 4 and 5.
Mediterranean Dipping Oil
(Use all dried ingredients for this blend)
1/4 c. Rosemary needles
1 T. garlic
1/2 c. grated onion
2 T. leaf thyme
2 T. oregano
1/2 c. basil
1/2 c. parsley
Mix 2 T. of this herb blend with 3/4 cup good quality light olive oil. Let set for 30 minutes before use for flavors to blend. If desired, top with fresh grated parmesan cheese. Use as a dip for your favorite hearty bread.
Once blended with oil, use within 6 hours or refrigerate.
Basic Herbal Mustard
½ c. yellow mustard
½ c. Dijon mustard
2 T. honey, optional
1 t. dried parsley
1 t. dried basil
1 t. dried thyme
Stir all ingredients together and put in a 1 cup sterile glass jelly jar. Cover and (if using for a gift) decorate lid with a cloth square and raffia. Label. Let set 2-3 weeks in a cool, dark cupboard for flavors to blend. When you start to use it, put it in the refrigerator. This makes a wonderful gift and can be served with fresh pretzels, or over sausage links or ham. It is also good mixed with sour cream or plain yogurt and drizzled over blanched vegetables such as asparagus or cauliflower, served warm or cold.
“Green” Cleaning Solution
1/3 of a lemon
Table salt
Sprinkle salt on the lemon and use to scrub copper and brass. This also works well to clean and disinfect shower doors. Rinse with a solution in a spray bottle of 1 c. white vinegar, 1 c. water, and 4 drops lavender essential oil. (note: Heinz Vinegar has the least vinegar scent.)
Fall is right around the corner - or, if you’re visiting FMG&SP - it’s already here. Our latest exhibition, ColorFall, celebrates the beautiful autumn colors with the largest chrysanthemum display in Michigan.
The regular garden variety mum is beautiful, but many of the other varieties are commonly overlooked as decoration for the home during the fall. The many varieties of mums are vibrant in color and just as hearty as the common types you see in the grocery store.
Check out this video for tips on how to decorate with all the varieties of mums for a unique fall flair inside your home!
If you were at the CAKE concert on June 5, you might remember CAKE giving away a cherry tree to one lucky audience member. Being environmentally aware and as “green” as possible while touring around the country, they have given away a tree to every venue they play at as well as an audience member.
Here’s a picture of the lucky winner from the Meijer Gardens concert!
“A great beginning. This one from Alicia Sterenberg, who won this cherry tree at our concert in Grand Rapids, Michigan.” - CAKE”s Road Journal
I’ve always been interested in the types of people that come to see a concert at FMG&SP.
Luckily the Grand Rapids Press, a sponsor of the series, gets to capture a bit of that. I’ll share tales of the concert-goer via pictures from GR Press.
CAKE - June 5. This concert brought a whole new crowd to FMG&SP - which is awesome! Not only give people of all ages check it out - but out-of-towners came, too!
Check out Kris Hilfinger, of South Bend, Indiana dancing:
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy - June 12. I was again surprised by the number of “youngsters” I saw with fedoras. Many took to the dance floor (a.k.a. pavement in front of the stage) to jitterbug.
Here are two such youngsters: Mark Barrus and Courtney Neff showing all us old people how it’s done!
Robert Randolph’s Revival - June 16. Randolph rocked the house! He’s always a crowd favorite. Maybe it’s because he lets everyone party on stage with him!
More to come as the sizzlin’ Summer Concert Series continues! Feel free to email photos to asawade@meijergardens.org
Robert Randolph gave another concert on June 16th. I know it’s a little late to be blogging about this, but I was waiting to receive a video of Robert Randolph’s #1 fan: 4-year-old Cameron, aka “Cammy Wammy.”
His grandfather, local musician Jimmie Stagger, took his grandson to the June 16th concert where Cammy Wammy claimed “it was better than going to Chucky Cheese, and way better than opening presents on Christmas morning.”
Here’s a video of Cameron jammin’ out at the Meijer Gardens Amphitheater. He’s right up in front of the stage! (Beware - the sound is a little loud.)
Blogger Jane Marie of Thyme for Herbs caught a beautiful photo of the skies over the Tropical Conservatory. Read her blog for great articles on anything plant related, especially her recent post on daylilies.
Fans of the show may know that the show is soon moving to mornings and will be a half-hour longer than it used to be. Great news, right?! Since the show is getting a facelife, new time-slot, etc., etc. they have decided to re-shoot the introductory footage for the show.
That’s why the Take Five crew was here today. How awesome is that? They’re including two different shots of the Gardens - here’s a sneak peek:
Here, the host, Catherine and one of our Horticulturists, Michelle, do a plant demonstration in our beautiful Seasonal Display Greenhouse. Michelle, as well as other Horticulturists, are often guests of of the show in a segment called “Down & Dirty.”
Here are a few more pictures:
Next, Catherine and her children (adorable!) went to the Children’s Garden to run around and have some fun. Catherine says she brings her kids often and since they enjoy the Treehouse Village so much, they decided to film more footage there.
Here are a few shots from that as well:
I’ll keep you updated when the show moves to mornings and we can see the footage of FMG&SP!
Last night, CAKE gave us a spectacular show - and after the show, our Director of Visitor Services gave them a spectacular tour of our Sculpture Park.
Here’s what CAKE’s “Road Journal” had to say about their visit to FMG&SP:
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Grand Rapids, MI
The day of our show in Grand Rapids, the 5 millionth customer walked through the gates of the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park where we were due to perform at the amphitheater that evening. The park, described as “a national treasure” by President Jimmy Carter, is second only to Greenfield Village as Michigan’s busiest tourist destination. It was made possible by the support of Frederick and Lena Meijer. Fred’s father Hendrik, a Dutch immigrant, founded Meijer’s Grocery in Greenville, Michigan in 1934. Hendrik was a local barber who decided to enter the grocery business when hard times came during the Great Depression. His first employees included his son, Frederik Meijer, then a 14-year-old grocery bagger, who would later become the chairman of the company. Meijer is credited with pioneering the modern supercenter concept in 1962, and was among the first to offer self-service shopping and shopping carts. Worth noting, their donations to Hurricane Katrina disaster relief included food and bottled water, which arrived on the store’s trucks at relief centers in Mississippi before government aid.
We saw many great sculptures here, including ones by Kenneth Snelson, Henry Moore, Alexander Liberman, and Andy Goldsworthy’s Grand Rapids Arch. The show-stopper here is a colossal bronze horse based on a sketch by Leonardo da Vinci. This monumental horse sculpture is the completion of a project that was started 500 years ago by da Vinci. There is another one like it standing in Milan, as a gift from the American people, in gratitude for the treasures of the Renaissance.
Thank-you, Bryan, for the great tour.
It’s awesome to read how CAKE’s stunning performance led to an appreciation of art. I think our love and appreciation for nature and art are contagious.
Last night was our first concert of the 2008 Summer Concert Series and it was a blast!
If you’ve never seen or heard CAKE, you’re definitely missin’ out.
It was truly awesome to have a packed amphitheater full of all ages. By the end of the night, I even saw a few people crowd surfing. How awesome is that?!
