Landis Valley Herb Fair this Weekend

Each year on the Friday and Saturday of Mother's Day Weekend, we set up a booth at the Landis Valley Herb Fair. This herb fair is held on the grounds of the Landis Valley Farm Museum, just north of Lancaster city. You'll find Herbs from the Labyrinth in the Isaac Landis House, which is just across the path from the Old Hotel. We'll have all sorts of wonderful herbal products, including our array of salves & balms, tinctures, teas and oils, as well as hand-dyed clothing (using plant dyes), African market baskets (Fair Trade), and handmade wire baskets fitted with glass vases for decorating your outdoor spaces. Look for our banner on the Isaac Landis House & come visit us!

Join me, as well, at 11am on Saturday morning at the lecture tent, and we'll wander over to the Landis Valley herb garden to see what they grow in their traditional herb garden. Here's the full schedule of talks for the weekend:

LECTURE TENT

FRIDAY
NOON What are Heirloom Seeds? – Heirloom Seed Foundation
1 P.M. Wild Foods – Free, Tasty and Fun by Tina Sams, The Essential Herbal
2 P.M. Herb Gardening Basics – Susanna Reppert, The Rosemary House
3 P.M Barn Stars – A unique look at farming architecture – Fred Will, Sugar Grove Herbs

SATURDAY
11 A.M A Look at the Landis Valley Herb Garden with Sarah Campbell of Herbs from the Labyrinth
NOON Creating a Sustainable Back Yard – Homegrown Edible Landscaping Company.
Natasha Herr and Wilson Alvarez
1 P.M Growing Mushrooms - Brushwood Farm – Diane Wiest
2 P.M Medicinal Herbs you can grow – Maureen Rogers, Herbal Net
3 P.M Wild Foods – Free, Tasty and Fun - Tina Sams, The Essential Herbal

Fair Trade Day 2008

This Saturday, May 10, is International Fair Trade Day. It's a great day to raise public awareness of the importance of Fair Trade in the world economies. Fair Trade means that a fair, living wage is paid directly to artisans, collectives or small farmers around the world. It's a way that we can support and participate in local economies worldwide.

Most people are familiar with Fair Trade Coffee and Tea, but did you know that there are certified Fair Trade Chocolates? And lots of hand-crafted items, too.

In our shop, we always carry hand-woven traditional market baskets from a women's collective in Ghana. This 20-year-old collective has completely changed the economy of the villages where they are made. All of the children now attend public school, there are clean public wells for water, and health clinics. All because the women of the village can make fair pay for making traditional crafts from their own homes.

From Nepal, we have bags woven from hemp & purses made of recycled silk saris. We have beautiful sterling silver and stone earrings from Nepal, India and Chile. From Bali we have capiz shell wind chimes and beautiful parasols. And from Indonesia, we have hand-batiked clothing!

Come see us on Saturday, either at our shop, Radiance, right across the cobblestones from Central market in downtown Lancaster, or at the Landis Valley Herb Fair just north of Lancaster! Purchase any Fair Trade item and receive a free postcard about Fair Trade and a sticker to let others know that you participated in Fair Trade Day!