When Kim Martin from Eventide was unable to keep her commitment as presenter for the Boothbay Region Garden Club September meeting, President Claire Tomlin had to think fast. With less than a week to put something in place, Tomlin decided to pull from her own experience to offer a primer on the wonderful world of herbs and spices. Known as the "herb lady" in Miami Beach, Florida, Claire Tomlin comes to us with a long history of working with the leaves and pods and even roots of edible plants. In 1995 Claire began selling her herb vinegars at the Lincoln Road Partnership Market in Miami Beach. By 1997 the Miami Beach City management asked Tomlin to reconstitute the market as the Lincoln Road Farmers Market. Over the years Tomlin expanded the local farmer's market concept and continues to coordinate and oversee a varied group of twelve fresh weekend and seasonal markets throughout the Miami area, a business she now calls The Market Company (www.themarketcompany.org/).

So when the members of BRGC arrived for the meeting on Sept. 13, they were met with an intriguing display of color, texture, taste and smell . Included was everything from the tall leafy green stalks of the Jerusalem artichoke to the knobby ginger root, and from jars of pungent spices to herbs fresh from the garden, offering a veritable potpourri of sensation.

Tomlin opened her presentation by explaining the difference between herbs and spices, the former coming from the leafy parts of the herbaceous plant while the latter can come from the roots, stem, bark, seeds or flower of the plant. For example, the leaves of the coriandrum sativum plant gives us the herb called cilantro while the seed of that plant gives us the spice, coriander.

While herbs and spices are used to add flavor to dishes, aromatics, a category of vegetables that include carrots, onions, garlic and celery are often used in the same way. A little less common are Jerusalem artichokes and horseradish. Tomlin pointed out that Jerusalem artichokes are not really artichokes . They are actually nubby tubers, also referred to as sun chokes, possessing a flavor akin to a potato or parsnip that, in addition to being a versatile vegetable cooked or raw, can be ground into a bland flour or made into crisp pickles.

Who knew? Personally, I have never eaten one of these unique looking veggies and have probably passed them up in the grocery store hundreds of times not knowing what they were or what to do with them!

Rather than presenting an exhaustive lecture on the origin or usage of different herbs and spices Tomlin touched lightly on the virtues of many of the items on the table, effectively piquing curiosity and whetting appetites for further exploration into the world of these interesting edibles.

For example, Tomlin spoke briefly about several flowering plants like verbena, hibiscus, rose petals, lavender, calendula and rose hips that are not only edible but have far reaching medicinal properties that can often be simply accessed by brewing them for tea.

Another interesting plant is borage which can be used as a vegetable or a dried herb. As a salad ingredient or garnish its leaves taste like cucumber but it's beautiful blossom, with a more honey like flavor, can be used to decorate desserts or cocktails. Not surprisingly, this self-seeding plant is also a good pollinator.

Tomlin also talked about the ease with which some other herbs, like mint and basil, root themselves and added that a wreath of woven mint strands will add beauty and a fresh fragrance to your kitchen.

As a finale, Tomlin treated the group to samplings of her own Boursin cheese made with butter, whipped cream cheese, garlic and fresh chives from the garden and a spread created from unsalted butter, chives and lemon zest.

The growing, harvesting and utilization of edibles from the garden dovetail perfectly with the June proclamation by National Garden Clubs, Inc. (NGC) President, Sandra Robinson, that enumerated the many benefits of gardening from adding "beauty, splendor, fragrance and nutrition to our lives," and promoting the important role of "creatures large and small" in our ecological balance, to providing "challenging and productive" activity in connection with the earth for both children and adults that leads to a richness of life not easily duplicated in other endeavors.

BRGC is affiliated with NGC and is also a member of the GCFM (Garden Club Federation of Maine). For more information on upcoming events and activities check out the BRGC website at http://www.boothbayregiongardenclub.org/.