Calendula's Mom would be proud, if plants had moms. As I reported back in November, the Herb Society of America (HSA) selected its top ten herbs, and Calendula was one of the winners. I recently found out that Calendula has been selected for another top honor: Herb of the Year for 2008, so named by the International Herb Association.
I found this out because Tina Marie Wilcox and Susan Belsinger were kind enough to email me and share this great information. Here's what Tina and Susan had to say:
"Hello,
"I was just reading your blog on the Park Seed site. I see that you write about herbs and have recently done a story on the Herb Society of America. Susan Belsinger and I are on the Board of the International Herb Association, are also active members with the HSA, and are authors. In the interest of networking, if any of the links below contain information useful to Park Seed, please feel free to use, with credit where credit is due.
We are celebrating Calendula: herb of the year 2008--it is a wonderful herb for the skin, tasty in recipes--and adds golden color to our gardens. Check us out:
www.herbcompanion.com -- click on "Calendula officinalis: Herb of the Year 2008" for calendula in the kitchen with recipes--there is even a golden king cake for Mardi Gras celebration!
www.herbsforhealth.com -- click on "Calendula: Golden Petals" for history, lore, and medicinal information about this ancient potherb, as well as recipes for our favorite oil, salve, tincture and more.
www.grit.com -- click on "Sow Your Own!" for all you need to know about how easy and fun it is to grow herbs and other plants from seed.
Enjoy! And let us know if you have any questions.
Warm regards,Tina Marie Wilcox, IHA President [corrected 2/8]
Susan Belsinger
Tina and Susan, thank you so much for taking time to write and especially for sharing these great websites. You've opened whole new vistas for herb neophytes like me. The recipes certainly caught my attention, as well as the historical aspects of calendula cultivation and use.
Thank you also for explaning that it's the International Herb Association that selects the Herb of the Year, not the Herb Society of America. I'm going to go right now and put a correction in my November post. As you say, give credit where credit is due!
Do you have an herb garden? Please send pictures to me at ckuhl@parkseed.com so I can post them here for all to enjoy.
hi claire,
thanks so much for enthusiastically posting our info on calendula. i have 35 different calendula seeds that i am starting this week!
just wanted to make one minor correction. tina marie is president of the iha not the hsa, although we have both been long-time members of both organizations. hope you can correct that.
thanks!
happy herbing,
susan
Posted by: susan belsinger | February 08, 2008 at 09:13 AM
Susan, SO sorry for the flub. I have corrected Tina Marie's title to President of the International Herb Association, NOT the Herb Society of America. Thanks for spotting that and letting me know. And I sincerely hope you will send me some photos as your vast assortment of calendula seeds come of age. That would be spectacutlar to see. Best regards!
Posted by: Claire | February 08, 2008 at 12:20 PM
hi claire!
thank you for adding the international herb association info on your park seed blog. please note the link for iha is iherb.org. we would like to send an invitation to people in the business of herbs to check out our site. best regards,
tina
Posted by: tina marie wilcox | February 09, 2008 at 08:00 AM