Herb gardening has been popular for centuries but herbs were not grown solely for culinary use, as we think of them primarily today. Herb gardens took care of the family by providing herbs for medicine, herbs for dying cloths, herbs to keep the clothes and house fresh, and many other uses. We will explore the world of herbs and take a look at a modern day herb garden.

Kathi Gariepy is a former special needs preschool and kindergarten teacher who has been gardening since she was a child. She is a Lifetime Master Gardener with the Massachusetts Master Gardener Association, volunteering more than 10,000 hours, past Vice President of the MMGA, past chair of the Master Gardener Advisory Board, past president of the Attleboro Garden Club and past chair of the Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts’ Gardening Study School. Kathi is a Landscape Design Consultant and on the Gardening Study Council. She has worked with the Master Gardener training program and the Caterpillar Club, in Weezie’s Garden for Children at Elm Bank, as well as being an active member of the MMGA Speakers’ Bureau and the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. Kathi has worked as lead teacher for the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, education coordinator for MassAudubon and studied landscape design at Rhode Island School of Design. Kathi currently, teaches children and adults about the wonders of nature. She, also, owns the garden design company Pleasant Vistas. Kathi lives in an old farmhouse with perennial borders, herb gardens, a vegetable garden, grapes, blueberries, raspberries and some very old, still producing, apple trees.