Eden Guidroz welcomed the members and guests who filled the Opeongo Senior Centre for the October 17 meeting of the Madawaska Valley Horticultural Society. The evening featured a talk by Caitlin Rivett-Carnac (shown above) about St. Francis Herb Farm, as well as being Seed Exchange Day and the annual Member Exhibitor Awards Night.
Member Exhibitor Awards
Thirty-eight members had participated in the 2019 Flower and Vegetable Show, entering 350 exhibits. Ritsuko Honda congratulated them and gave each person some bulbs to plant.
The “Joan Kydd Memorial Award” recognizes outstanding participation. It is awarded to a member for submitting the most entries in the monthly competitions and the annual Flower and Vegetable Show. This year’s winner is Rose Yantha.
The “Exhibitor of the Year” Marg and Stan Suter Award is for the person who has accumulated the most points throughout the year in the monthly competitions and the Flower and Vegetable Show. The trophy can only be won once. Terry Newcombe is the 2019 Exhibitor of the Year.
Ritsuko Honda presents awards to Terry Newcombe (left) and Rose Yantha
Potluck Dinner coming November 21
Guidroz reminded the audience of the upcoming Potluck Dinner on November 21 at 6 p.m. Diners are encouraged to bring a dish to share plus any non-perishable food items to be donated to the Madawaska Valley Food Bank. The annual election of board members will take place after the meal. There are a number of people retiring so she asked all members to please think about stepping forward. She said they could speak to any member of the executive to find out what’s involved and there’s lots of help for new directors.
St. Francis Herb Farm presentation
Colina Taylor then introduced Caitlin Rivett-Carnac to speak about St. Francis Herb Farm. She and her husband, Paul, are second-generation owners of the business. She began her presentation with a brief video entitled From Seed to Shelf. Click BELOW to view the video.
Rivett-Carnac told the story of the origins of St. Francis Herb Farm, its business ethos and the challenges it faced to obtain federal Canadian licensing and approval from Health Canada for the claims for its herbal tinctures. She explained the decision to expand from the Combermere production facility four years ago and buy a farm property in Barry’s Bay. This meant that St. Francis could move from sourcing organic herbs to actually cultivating their own organic herbs for some products. MV gardeners were interested to hear about the practicalities of organic herb cultivation in this region and, in the case of some native plants, even wild-crafting. She provided herb profiles for nettles, valerian and marshmallow which prompted questions from the audience – including her recipe for nettles lasagna. Rivett-Carnac rounded out the evening by offering samples to the audience from a basket of St. Francis herbal tinctures.
