Some Last Minute Ideas for Christmas Gifts, Herbally Speaking!

The 2016 Herb of the Year Calendar from Susan Belsinger!

Always on My Kitchen Wall!

Two of My Favorite Herb Magazines!

Latest Issue of Mother Earth Living on Stands December 15th!

Maybe a Membership to the Herb Society of America will be on your list!

When in Doubt, New Varieties of Herb Seeds Are a Winning Gift for an Herb Gardener!

These 31 days of blogging in December have given me a lot of light bulb moments so far.  Yesterday my 2016 Herb of the Year Calendar from Susan Belsinger arrived in the mail.  This calendar has morphed through the years into what I think the Herb of the Year calendar should be an in depth look at the Herb of the Year month by month.  Finally, you will learn all you wanted to know and possibly more about Capsicum the 2016 Herb of the Year.  As I hope you can see the calendar arrived with an adorable handwritten note from Susan, an extra touch!  So if you are trying to decide what to get that herbal person in your life or maybe just for yourself, click on over to Susan Belsinger's website and check out the calendar as well as all of her books.  Hopefully I will get to meet her one day.  She spoke for the local herb club and I was in France in 2007.  I think she understood!  The next calendar choice is from Maggie Oster another of my favorite herbal authors.  I have several of her calendars and perhaps all of them.  I like that she does a different herb each month and has tips strewn throughout the days of each month.  You can find her calendars and books at Amazon.

The next category is magazines which I love to read almost every day and sip a cup of herbal tea while reading.  The Herb Quarterly magazine is the oldest herb magazine left dating from 1979.  It has gone through some bumps in the herbal road, but I think there is some very strong writing and great herbal information.  Also there is The Essential Herbal magazine as Tina Sams the Editor writes The Essential Herbal magazine "is written by, for and about herbie people and the things they love - HERBS!" This magazine is the David among the giants and is doing well and increasing each year in size and content.  I just read that they have to increase their price for a subscription next year.  So if you are looking to get a subscription for yourself or an herbie person in your life, you will save money if you subscribe before the end of this year.  Also I guest blogged for The Herb Companion magazine which is now Mother Earth Living magazine for several years and the herbal content has been increasing over the months.  So there are three different and unique magazines that my fulfill your need for herbal material.

The next category is herbal memberships.  We are lucky enough to have several herb clubs in the Pittsburgh area.  The Herbarist magazine comes with a membership to the Herb Society of America.  You can join the local unit in my case the Western Pennsylvania unit or be a Member at Large which is what I am.  I just don't have the extra time to volunteer.  So I have chosen the Member at Large route, but you still get all of the benefits of membership.  My herbal companion, Bonnie and I attended the annual meeting of members in Williamsburg this year and next year it will be in Ashville, NC on April 29, 2016.  They are a great group and maybe group participation and learning about herbs is for you.

The next category for this post is seeds and their catalogs.  New varieties of herb seeds are coming on the market each season.  These are just two of the many catalogs I will receive over the coming weeks.  Pinetree Seeds is a company I have ordered both vegetable and herb seeds and always reasonably priced.  It looks like they have a new nasturtium variety that I may have to try.  Johnny's Selected Seeds is an employee-owned company in business since 1973.  Really I have said this before some seed catalogs have great growing information that I keep them by the garden door and Johnny's is always one of those special catalogs.

Remember your local herb shops, farms and small businesses this time of year.  I am going highlight a couple near and far.  Rosemary House and the Repperts got me started blogging many years.  Molly Sams, their intern did a blog post for them recently highlighting some great gift giving ideas.  I couldn't have said it better, Molly.  Here is a link to that post:  Holiday Gift Giving Ideas.  And then the near suggestion would be one down the hill from me off of State Route 8 called the Tea Loft that sells hand blended teas from Tupelo Honey Teas and locally made accessories, gift baskets and events and classes.  The Tea Loft is in Building 4 in the Allison Park Industrial Complex and it is a very cozy business once you get inside.  My favorite tea of Tupelo Honey's is a local blend from her Yinzer Tea Blends called Black and Gold.  "Spicy with a bit of sweet just like our city."  My friend Bonnie and I are planning to go back for a cup or pot of tea and take goodies to share.   So think about your neighborhood businesses and please support them during the holidays!

Hope I have given you some ideas for your herbal holiday shopping.  A gray and warm day in December!  I'll take it.  Hope you are having a great day!  Talk to you tomorrow!