HerbDay Celebration at Historic Homestead Features Herb Walks, Lectures, Demonstrations
Austin, Texas (October 11, 2008) HerbDay 2008 is less than a month away, but there is still plenty of time for herb enthusiasts and others to find a way to be part of the celebration. Plans are afoot on both the national and local levels for all sorts of events, including an event in Austin organized by the American Botanical Council (ABC) and sponsored by a generous donation from the People's Pharmacy.
The HerbDay Web site (http://www.herbday.org/) has been redesigned and new events are being posted on a regular basis. To date, there is a national event at the US Botanic Garden in Washington, DC with numerous speakers and demonstrations by the Herb Society of America, the International Herb Association, Tai Sophia Institute and Aveda; a display of herb-related materials at the Detroit Public Library; and diverse celebrations in Oregon, Wisconsin, New Mexico, Missouri, Ohio, Nevada and Minnesota. The HerbDay Web site encourages participants to post an event of their own or find events to attend.
Everyone in the Central Texas area is invited to visit ABC between 10:00AM and 4:00PM on Saturday, October 11 for its second onsite HerbDay event. Admission is free.
ABC’s HerbDay Austin includes interesting educational opportunities. ABC Founder and Executive Director Mark Blumenthal will update listeners on what’s new in the herbal research and regulatory arenas, and Will Morris, President of the Academy of Oriental Medicine at Austin, will discuss Traditional Chinese Medicine and introduce attendees to some of the plants in the ABC/AOMA Oriental Medicine Garden.
Nicole Telkes, herbalist, founder, and instructor at the Wildflower School of Botanical Medicine, will present two demonstrations: “Proper Herb Harvesting Techniques” and “Weedy Infused Oils: Chickweed, Chinaberry and Other Central Texas Weeds.” Leading herb walks through ABC’s many medicinal themed gardens will be Austin herbalists Ginger Webb, Ellen Zimmermann, and Carlos Hernandez.
In addition to speakers, demonstrations and herb walks, local blues/rock band Hammerdog will play; ABC will sell books and give away seeds and copies of its quarterly journal HerbalGram; and various local herbal product vendors will display and sell their wares. Teas will be sampled and bottled water and snacks will be provided.
ABC is located in an historic 150-year-old east Austin homestead at 6200 Manor Road. Parking on Walnut Hills Drive, Betty Cook Drive and Jack Cook Drive is available and both gates to ABC’s 2.5 acre headquarters will be open. A Map to ABC is available here. For updates to the schedule, view ABC’s HerbDay calendar listing.
About the American Botanical Council
Founded in 1988 the American Botanical Council is the leading nonprofit organization in the United States addressing research and educational issues regarding herbs, medicinal plants, phytomedicines, and related plant-based ingredients. ABC’s members include academic researchers and educators, universities and libraries, health professionals and medical institutions, botanical gardens and arboreta, government agencies, members of the herb, dietary supplement, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries, journalists, consumers, and other interested parties from over 70 countries. The organization occupies a historic 2.5-acre site in Austin, Texas, where it publishes HerbalGram, a peer-reviewed journal on herbal medicine; HerbalEGram, a monthly e-publication; HerbClip, a twice-monthly series of summaries and reviews of recent research; plus reference books for researchers and health professionals and other educational materials, including a guide to the identification of medicinal plants to be used by industry for quality control purposes. Information: Contact ABC at P.O. Box 144345, Austin, TX 78714-4345, Phone: 512-926-4900. Website: http://www.herbalgram.org/.
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