Herb Garden at John Jay Homestead

A few years ago, I became a member of the New York Unit of the Herb Society of America, the local branch of a national network that is dedicated to furthering the use of and knowledge about herbs. Herbs have many uses, and each use has a labeled section in the local herb garden at John Jay Homestead. The garden, designed in the early 1990s by N.Y. Unit member, Page Dickey, is divided into four main sections of culinary, fragrances, medicinal and pest repellents. In addition, there is a section containing dye plants, another with roses and another border of ground covers and shrubs. Each section is maintained by a "Bed Head" and several other members. The workers meet every Thursday during the growing season at the herb garden to weed or otherwise improve the garden's appearance, planting new items while maintaining the old. Every year, it looks and smells more beautiful.

In addition to maintaining this lovely garden, the Unit also supports several public gardens and environmental projects, including the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the N.Y. Botanical Garden and the Cloisters. Every Fall, the Unit has an Herb Fair in mid-September, which features fresh herbs and plants from members' gardens, hand-made wreaths and fragrance items, home-made jams, jellies, chutneys and mustards, a large selection of herbal and plant books and cookbooks, baked goods and many other items for sale. It is the highlight of the year for the herbies, since it occurs at the end of the growing season. If you want more information about the New York Unit, perhaps the best way is to drop by the Herb Garden some Thursday when members are there to meet. It's a great discovery--enjoy!

Centerpiece of John Jay Homestead Herb Garden.

Herb Garden views with Potting Sheds in background.

Photos by Nancy Dexter.