I have to admit it: I’m full of beans when it comes to gardening. I swore that this year, no really, I was only going to grow a few herbs in pots. No time for a real garden. No energy for a real garden. No interest in a real garden. No sirreebob.

And then, the seed catalogs came. It only took two—living proof of how easily swayed I can be. The Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company and Kitazawa Seed Company’s catalogs came my way and soon, I was a goner.

From Baker Creek, I ordered Atomic Red and Lunar White carrots, plus a couple of varieties of parsnips. From Kitazawa, too many items to mention, all in the turnip, radish and melon families. My neighbor Nancy and I are sharing a garden space, and she had purchased lots of radishes, too. So we may be buried in radishes very soon, and I have no idea how to preserve any of them. Does anyone out there have any radish-keeping tricks to share? 

Left to right: Atomic Red carrots, Lunar White carrots ( www.rareseeds.com )

Now, I’ve gotten all fascinated by the straw-bale garden mentioned on the Nichols Garden Nursery site and am considering what else I might plant there. Beans, I think, which can twine around on the fence, and also peas. Both Baker Creek and Kitazawa have some great-looking greens, and I’m fairly sure they’ll grow in a straw-bale garden. Maybe some cherry tomatoes and basil (all I need now is a garden that can grow buffalo mozzarella and my summer diet is set!)

And of course, there are still all those containers waiting for herbs.

I have become incorrigible.

I only met Madalene Hill twice—both at conferences of the Herb Society of America—but I can honestly say she’s one of the people whose work has changed my life.

When I first started my job with The Herb Companion, I was familiar with a reasonably good number of herbs, primarily for cooking. But it wasn’t until I attended my first Herb Society of America gathering that I began to appreciate the depth of what herbs represent in our world and just how completely cool they are.

At that gathering, I met Madalene and her daughter Gwen Barclay, the one-two punch of herbal wisdom hailing from deep in the heart of Texas. I didn’t know at that time exactly what Madalene’s role in this new world was, but it was apparent from the universal respect she garnered from everyone present that she was some kind of pillar of the community.

Courtesy of  Jim Long's Garden

I think who she actually was is more to the herb-loving world like Julia Childs or Irma Rombauer was to food-lovers. Each of these intrepid souls re-drew the boundaries of an ordinary world and opened up amazing new adventures to all those who came after. And they kept alive a conversation that grew and grew, ultimately creating a reality where none existed before.

In short: I get to do my job because Madalene and other pioneers like her did theirs.  Not counting “garlic powder” and dill, herbs were a foreign conversation in my family, as for most of the country in the 1950s and 1960s when Madalene was at the beginning of her journey. Madalene was amazed at the ancientness of herbs and the fact that they’ve occupied a place in human life—pretty much in the same form as they are in now—for thousands of years. They’re delightful to grow, to cook with , to enjoy in a variety of ways, and Madalene was a successful stalwart in spreading that word.

Through her public speaking and demonstrations, through the Herb Society and later The International Herb Society, through all her remarkable work with the National Herb Garden in Washington, D.C. and at Festival Hill in Round Top, Texas, she broadened and deepened our cultural awareness and practical knowledge of herbs.

And now, these ancient plants and their updated relatives have a conscious and growing cadre of champions—you among them, if you’ve bothered to read this far—continuing the conversation, moving the boundaries of our knowledge ever outward.  Madalene Hill’s passion is passed on, her legacy intact. 

I’m finishing up the loose ends on my desk before I head off for Southern California (where I hear it’s raining) and the amazing world of the 2009 Natural Products ExpoWest.

ExpoWest, for those of you who haven’t heard about it, is the world’s largest natural products trade show. It isn’t open to the general public, but it’s where the retailers go to see what they want to buy to offer you in their stores and on their websites in the coming months and years. It’s a great place to see what trends and cool new stuff are coming down the pipeline, and also to attend workshops that address new research and developments in the field of natural health, plant medicines and various aspects of the natural lifestyle.

The educational aspect of these trade shows can’t be overestimated. When I first started working with The Herb Companion, I attended ExpoWest and received in my bag of samples a tube of Boiron’s Arnileve lotion, a bottle of Mushroom Defense capsules and some calendula salve from a vendor whose name I don’t remember. Although I had been marginally involved in natural health up to that point, getting acquainted with these three great products and coming to the Eureka! conclusion about each of them–“This stuff WORKS!!!”–launched me into a whole new level of awareness.

What I’ve found as the years march on is that this awareness actually is boundless – the more I know, the more there is to know. And now, for the next few days, I’ll be undergoing another total immersion in all things herbal or even remotely related to natural products. My idea of a great time!

I plan to blog while I’m there, so check back in a day or two.

Meanwhile, I need to do some research and find out just the right natural product to deal with the scourge of trade-show attendees the world over: What to do about those aching feet after two days of standing and walking around on a concrete floor.

Stay tuned!