Herb Liberation
In many ways a Colonial-era New England housewife would seem much like her 21st-century “foodie” counterpart, using locally sourced produce to grace her table. When the Colonial dame cooked her supper, she need go no further than her doorstep to pluck herbs from her kitchen garden to season it.
And if a member of the family had an ailment, she would be quick to resort to that same herb garden to pick sage to aid digestion, horehound for persistent coughs, winter savory as a diuretic and bee balm to soothe stings. Each plant was valued for its usefulness not its beauty.
But, garden photographer, speaker and writer Karen Bussolini disagrees. She finds herbs to be beautiful and asks, “Why sequester them in an herb garden?”
In Herb Liberation!, a talk slated for Saturday at 2PM at the Kent Town Hall, Bussolini will delve into the fascinating world of herbs and offer insight and practical advice about them.
Her talk, sponsored by the Kent Memorial Library and the Kent Garden Club, is open to the public. A $5 admission fee will be collected at the door to benefit the two organizations. Participants can bring packet(s) of seeds for the Kent Seed Library for a chance to win a book photographed by Bussolini.
Bussolini has been a gardener as long as she can remember. She trained as a painter and had a career as an architectural photographer before turning her attention entirely to gardens. Her art background and focus on environmental topics—ecological landscaping, native plants, biodiversity, xeriscaping, organic gardening, planting for wildlife, pollinators and other beneficial insects—inform her work. Her photographs have been published in every major garden magazine and in hundreds of books.
Bussolini, who has her own eco-friendly garden in South Kent, has a coaching practice devoted to teaching homeowners how to garden in a more environmentally sustainable way.
Those planning to attend should register. For more information, call 860-927-3761 or visit the link below. The Town Hall is located at 41 Kent Green Boulevard.
