Welcome To Michigan

Welcome to Northern Michigan, the home of the beautiful Grand Traverse Bay. We have an abundance of natural beauty in our area. Traverse City is known for it’s cherry and apple farming, locally produced vintage wines, clean white sandy beaches, and a culturally active community.
The summer is the reason why I live here. The water is clean and pure, you can see sandy bottom as far as you can walk. To me the beach is my safe place in my heart and in my soul. When I need to escape the pressures of everyday life I go to the beach to listen to the waves gently caressing the waters edge. I love to see the diamonds on the water sparkling with glory as the starts to set for the evening.
My herb garden is my safe place also. I can stroll though the garden path and fill my senses with the textures, and feel the harmony of herbs and flowers with mother earth. My garden is a working garden. I sell cut herbs and flowers for summer bouquets. I harvest the flowers to dry for my wreaths and arrangements. I am surrounded with a wealth of products in my garden.
I make medicinal salves and oils from the calendula flower which is known for its anti-viral properties, and can soothe a burn within seconds. This year I am going to produce tinctures from comfrey and our natural wild herb mullein for their powerful medicinal properties. I sell essential oils and fragrance oils as well. With these oils I make hand dipped incense sticks and my potpourri. I have developed thirteen blends or my own. After a lot of researching I have developed a recipe using carrier oils such as sweet almond oil, safflower, apricot, etc. for my body oils. The herbal blend soaks into your skin leaving no residue.
The garden brings many aspects of the earth together. The birds find food and ample hiding places to build their baby’s nests. The butterflies are abundant, feeding on the nectar of the flowering
plants. I am always grabbing my books to look up the name of a new winged visitor to the garden. I think my favorite part of the garden is the thyme bed. A lot of the thymes are ground covers, and in the spring they have the tiniest blossoms. Did you know about the lavender, lemon, caraway, minus, creeping, oregano, English, French, silver, common, lime, orange, orange spice, nutmeg, silver needle, and woolly thyme ? These are only a few varieties of this species. I harvest these for making herbal swags and to add them to sachets and potpourri. I am a member of the Michigan Herb Association, and the Great Lakes Herb Business Association. If you visit the web site of the Great Lakes Herb Business Association you will see a variety of businesses in our state that sells herbs and herbal products. The web site is very informative and a good resource to check out while your coming our way. Sweet Annie’s Rose is the name of my little rustic shop and garden. You will find as many weeds as there are herbs at times, but no one seems to care. Drop by and stroll though the garden. You can nibble on some sweet cicely, or taste the lemon thyme. You can pull a few weeds, exchange a few seeds, or just wander alone through the herbs and let their magic find a place in your heart.


Copyright Barbara Baker 2005 Content may not be copied or reprinted without written consent.

About the Author

Barbara Baker is a webmaster, author, and Internet Marketer with an extreme passion for herbs