We publish a monthly newsletter for our members and guests. We invite you to browse.
2026
April 2026 includes
• Celebrating Nowruz incl. recipes
March 2026 includes
• Spring Tonic recipe
• Drying Herbs the Right Way
February 2026 includes
• Flavors of West Africa
January 2026 includes
• The History of Mulling Spices
2025
December 2025 includes
• Pumpkin and Spice tidbits
• Ways to Make your Home Smell like the Holidays
• Using Holiday Spices in your Cooking
October 2025 includes
• Craft Garden at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft
August 2025 includes
• Pineapple Sage Salvia elegans – use
July 2025 includes
• Chappell Hill Lavender Farm fieldtrip review
• Shamba Ya Amani fieldtrip photos
June 2025 includes
• Saffron: The Gold of Spices Crocus sativus
May 2025 includes
• Pysanky Ukranian egg art review
• Day Group market field trip review
February 2025 includes
• Lemongrass Cymbopogon citratus – growing and use in Asian cuisine
January 2025 includes
• Holiday Gatherings Recap
• Mocktail, Cocktail and Punch Recipes
2024
December 2024 includes
• Blending and Brewing Herbal Teas (Tisanes)
• Allspice Pimenta dioica spotlight
November 2024 includes
• Mercer Botanic Garden Herbarium
• Rosemary Salvia rosmarinus spotlight and recipes
October 2024 includes
• Cumin Cuminum cyminum spotlight and recipes
• My Early Herbal Adventures with Basil
September 2024 includes
• Horseradish Armoracia rusticana spotlight and recipes
• Attic Window Garden Quilt Silent Auction
August 2024 includes
• All About Thyme
• Pineapple Sage Salvia elegans spotlight and recipes
July 2024 includes
• Annual meeting updates
• Lemon verbena recipes
June 2024 includes
• 2024 Scholarship Winners
• Lavender Lavandula angustifolia
May 2024 includes
• Westbury Garden updates
• Gearing up for Herb Fair
April 2024 includes
• Spring Herbs Class report out
March 2024 includes
• Herb Day Update
February 2024 includes
• Cardamom Elettaria cardamomum
• Herb Day Planning Update
• Fig Recipes
January 2024 includes
• Coriander/Cilantro Coriandrum sativum
• Herb Day planning and preparations
• Herb Cuttings, Seeds and Divisions
• New Year’s Recipes for Good Fortune and Prosperity
2023
December 2023 includes
• Herb Fair wrap-up
• Rosemary, Salvia rosmarinus (formerly Rosmarinus officinalis)
• Kolter Elementary Garden workdays
• History of Rosemary Circle
November 2023 includes
• Getting ready for the Fair
October 2023 includes
• South Central District Gathering highlights
• Rose hips Rosa spp.
September 2023 includes
• South Central District Gathering preview
• Chicory, Cichorium intybus
• New Member Spotlight
• Brief history of the Herb Fair – 50th anniversary!
August 2023 includes
• Getting to know our new chair, Dena Gaydos
• Makrut lime, Citrus hystrix
• Herb Day recipes
• South Central District Gathering details
July 2023 includes
• Announcing our new board
• Red Stem Apple Mint’s new name
• Update from Westbury Community Garden
• Report from the District Meeting in Washington, DC
• Announcing our 2023 Scholarship Award Winners
• Pesto Beyond Basil with recipes
June 2023 includes
• Impressions from a First Time Attendee to the Annual Meeting
• At-Home Recipes and Herb Day Recipes
May 2023 includes
• Garden Nominations for Annual Meeting
• Preparing for the Herb Fair
April 2023 includes
• Herb Day Announcement – April 22, 2023
• Preparing for the Unit Annual Meeting
• What to grow and harvest for Herb Fair
March 2023 includes
• Photos from our recent Lagniappe events
February 2023 includes
• Herb Day Announcement – April 22, 2023
• Herb Fair 2023 thinking ahead
• Pink Peppercorn Schinus molle
January 2023 includes
• Parsley fact sheet
2022
December 2022 includes
• Highlights from the Fair
• Homemade Taffy Recipe
November 2022 includes
• Honey Recipes and Boston Cream Pie Recipe
• air Prep
October 2022 includes
• Highlights from “Let’s Get Growing” seed workshop
• Pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins Recipes
September 2022 includes
• Lustrous Beautyberry
• In Memory of Gwen Barclay
• Review from “Celebrating the First Harvest of Grain” Lagniappe
August 2022 includes
• Keeping Calm with Lemon Balm
• More At Home Recipes for the hot summer months
July 2022 includes
• Photo review of last month’s activities
• Pin Oak Middle School Garden
• At Home Recipes for the hot summer months
June 2022 includes
• Garden Donation Proposals
• Highlights from the Backyard Bee Lagniappe
• Highlights from the HSA Charleston Annual Meeting
May 2022 includes
• “Summer Snowflakes” Leucojum aestivum
• Pioneer Potpourri
April 2022 includes
• Cyanotype Workshop
• Ceremonial Tortillas
• Egg Dyeing
March 2022 includes
• “Mushrooms – The Third Life-form; Identification and Usage” now available on Merriwether’s YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/CnxzhqKZ58I
• There’s Still Snap in the Celery
February 2022 includes
• Flopsy, Mopsy, Turkey Tail, and Peter – Wait, What? Turkey Tail??? The Tale of a Thwarted Mycologist
• Garden Tips for February
• Honoring 40-year member Beth Murphy
January 2022 includes
• The Gift of the Magi – The Holy Tears of Frankincense
2021
December 2021 includes
• Herb of the Month: Cloves Syzgium aromaticum
• Herbs and Spices of the Holidays
• On the History and Lore of Orange and Clove Pomanders
November 2021 includes
• Herb of the Month: Carob Ceratonia silique
• At-Home Recipes featuring autumn veggies
• In Memory of our friend, member Donna Fay Hilliard
October 2021 includes
• Herb of the Month: Medlar Mespilus germanica
• At-Home Recipes featuring Pumpkin recipes
• Hildegard Cookies of Joy
September 2021 includes
• Herb of the Month: Horehound Marrubium vulgare
• At-Home Recipes featuring Rosemary Lemon Seasoning
• Announcing the newest member benefit: free tickets for members to the beautiful new Houston Botanic Garden
• Introducing Hildegard von Bingen “In Her Own Words”
August 2021 includes
• Herb of the Month: Cayenne pepper Capsicum annuum cultivar cayenne
• At-Home Recipes for the Dog Days of Summer
• Clearing a Path with Herbal Smoke Bundles
July 2021 includes
• Herb of the Month: Summer savory Satureja hortensis
• At-Home Recipes for the 4th of July
June 2021 includes
• Herb of the Month: Green Tea Camellia sinensis
• Stay-at-Home Recipes featuring blueberries and tomatoes
May 2021 includes
• Wood Sorrel
• Herb of the Month: Pineapple Mint
• Stay-at-Home Recipes featuring easy Omelets, Classic Frito Salad and Potluck Baked Beans
April 2021 includes
• Public Gardening Opportunities!!!
• Herb of the Month: Chervil
• Stay-at-Home Recipes featuring the Texas Sheet (Sheath) Cake
• Nominations requested for Public Garden Donation recipients
March 2021 includes
• Horticultural Freeze Recovery and February Freeze Report
• Remembering Hermann Park Garden Center and Fragrant Garden
• Meet our 2020 Madalene Hill Scholarship Recipient
• Herb of the Month: Heartsease/Wild Pansy
• Raskovnik: The Magical “Four-Leaf Clover”
February 2021 includes
• Pink Peppercorn / Rose Pepper
• Love and the Language of Flowers Quiz
• Stay-at-home Recipes featuring Strawberries and Chocolate
January 2021 includes
• Volcano Mulching Trees
• Parsley (Petroselinum crispum)
• Hill Country Fireside Fire Cider
2020
December 2020 includes
• Holiday Gifts from the Kitchen
• Say It with Gingerbread
November 2020 includes
• Member Spotlight – 50 year member, Susan Wood
• Stay-at-home Recipes for Thanksgiving Dressing
October 2020 (Part 1) and October 2020 (Part 2) includes
• STU at the Houston Botanic Garden (part 1)
• Happy New Year to Our Herbs (part 1)
• Member Spotlight on Bill Varney of URBANherbal (part 2)
• Recipes from South of the Border (part 2)
• Stay-at-Home Recipes (part 2)
• Finding Comfort in the Kitchen (part 2)
September 2020 includes
• Keeping Calm with Lemon Balm
August 2020 includes
• Beat the Heat with Cooling Herbal Beverages
July 2020 includes
• *Special Edition* Stay-at-Home Recipes
June 2020 includes
• Zainab Pashaei, National Herb Garden Intern
• Book Corner – Gardening Books Perfect for Children
• “Mother of Thousands”
May 2020 includes
• Mothering Sunday
April 2020 includes
• “And the People Stayed Home” a poem by Kitty O’Meara
• Tribute to Thelma Rowe, STU Member
• Obituary John Fairey, Creator of Peckerwood Garden
• Neighbors Helping Neighbors
March 2020 includes
• The Persian “New Day” Festival of Norooz
February 2020 includes
• Queen of Hungary Water – The History and the Hoax
January 2020 includes
• Over the Moon for Moon Milk
2019
December 2019 includes
• Santa’s Reindeer Ride – courtesy of the fly agaric mushroom, Amanita muscaria?
November 2019 includes
• Holistic Gardening for Health and Happiness
Holistic Animal Care from our October speaker Shana Buchanan, DVM
October 2019 includes
• More about the showy Prickly Pear Cactus
September 2019 includes
• Texas’s State Plant – The Prickly Pear Cactus
July 2019 includes
• Highlights from the Annual Educational Conference in Madison, WI
• Celebrate Chocolate
June 2019 includes
• The “Real” Mexican Oregano
May 2019 includes
• Back to Our Roots: Mexican Mint Marigold
April 2019 includes
• Herb Day Details
• Back to Our Roots: Red Stem Applemint
• Flower artistic impressions with Bee Holleran, The Flower Chef
March 2019 includes
• The Wild and Weedy Month of March – Foraging and Cleavers
February 2019 includes
• Stone Age Kitchen Tools
January 2019 includes
• Moringa Oleifera – The Miracle Tree
2018
December 2018 includes
• Switchel
• Sage – Beyond Turkey and Dressing
November 2018 includes
• Labyrinths
October 2018 includes
• Charms for the Witching Hour
September 2018 includes
• Congrats to our 3 Scholarship winners
• Midwives Meeting Preview
• Peppercorn Cures
• Salvia Program Preview
July 2018 includes
• Black (Pepper) Magic, The Salty Truth, Updates from the Tarrytown Annual Meeting
June 2018 includes
• Worts, wyrts, warts and more
May 2018 includes
• Herbal Traditions for a Royal Wedding
April 2018 includes
• More Bitter Herbs of Passover
• Herbal Eco Printing
• Provence, Herbs and Author Lawrence Durrell
March 2018 includes
• The Bitter Herbs of Passover
February 2018 includes
• Herb-in Beers: Hops in Craft Brewing
January 2018 includes
• Tis the Season… the Flu Season with herbal surprise guest, star anise
• Hop to It!
2017
December 2017 includes
• Gift Ideas for the Herb Enthusiast
• Bay Laurel
November 2017 includes
• Milkweed: Food for Butterflies, Food for your Table, Food for Thought
• Honoring Lucia
• Sage
October 2017 includes
• In memory of treasured member Lucia Bettler
• Brewsters, Alewives and Witches’ Brew
• A Little Time for Thyme
September 2017 includes
• Honey Wanderlust
• Our 2017 Scholarship Recipients
• A Bit About Basil
August 2017 includes
• Review of a Coastal Outing
• Ancient Wisdom for Contemporary Healing
• Lemon Verbena
July 2017 includes
• Overview of local gardens we support
• Chia
• Chives
June 2017 includes
• HSA Annual Meeting in Arkansas Highlights
• The Herb in a Time Capsule
• Parsley
May 2017 includes
• Sumac
• Travel Through Time with the Scottish Highland Herbalist
• Agapanthus
• Mint and the Mojito
• A tribute to our dear member Linda Lain
April 2017 includes
• Milkweed
• Herbal Traditions from Scotland’s Soil
• Rosemary
March 2017 includes
• When Micro is Macro
February 2017 includes
• Highlights from A Night of Henna
• Nature’s Aromatherapy: The Perfume of the Earth
January 2017 includes
• Old Traditions for a New Year
• Pine Dining (yes, that’s what it says)
2016
December 2016 includes
• A Night of Henna
• How Wild Plants Saved the Settlers
• Party, Party, Party
November 2016 includes
• Invasive Exotic Plants
• Gluten-free Scones
October 2016 includes
• Indian Fabric
• The Mystery of Peter Piper’s Peppers Solved
September 2016 includes
• Oregano – Carminative for Cows?
• Capsicums – Some Like it Hot
August 2016 includes
• Herb Fair preparations
June 2016 includes
• A Tropical Splash with Tepache (fermented pineapple)
• Sauerkraut Chocolate Cake
May 2016 includes
• Rue
• Fun Facts about the Color Blue
• Beatrix Potter Herb Day Synopsis
April 2016 includes
• Living with Passion and Spice
March 2016 includes
• Valentine’s Trivia Quiz
• Vinegar Program Highlights
• Bleeding Heart Vine
February 2016 includes
• Moroccan Trivia Quiz
• Beatrix Potter Musings
• Invasive Herbs in your Neighborhood
January 2016 includes
• St. Basil
• Book review The Unlikely Lavender Queen
2015
December 2015 includes
• Mistletoe
• Forest Bathing
November 2015 includes
• The Herbs of China Bayles: Nightshade
• The Scent Trail
October 2015 includes
• The Herbs of China Bayles: Morning Glory
September 2015 includes
• The Columbian Exchange
July 2015 includes
• Moroccan Discovery
June 2015 includes
• Year of Soils
April 2015 includes
• Seed Catalogs
• Native Herbs
March 2015 includes
• Herbal Liqueurs
2014
October 2014 includes
• Garden Mounts (terrain features)
September 2014 includes
• Candellila
July 2014 includes
• Book review The Ginseng Hunter
June 2014 includes
• The Traveler’s Friend