Betsey-Ann Golon, herbalist for the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village and a guest interpreter and herbalist at George Washington's Mt. Vernon Estate and Gardens in Virginia, will be at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay on Saturday, August 11, to teach a workshop on the many ways to keep herbs for later use. The class is from 9 a.m.-noon in the Bosarge Family Education Center at the Botanical Gardens. 

“Betz” Golon will explain that traditional air drying is one way to preserve the herb garden’s bounty, but it’s by no means the only way. Participants will learn how to "salt" herbs, create herb pastes, dehydrate vegetable/herb blends, and even produce beverages such as witchel, liqueur, and small beers; everyone will take part in demonstrations and will leave with a recipe book and samples.

Not only is Golon associated with Sabbathday Lake and Mt. Vernon; she is also a Master Preserver with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension and co-owner of Common Folk Farm Herbs, which produces herbal products for museums, botanical gardens and L.L. Bean.

The fee for this class that’s just in time to teach how to preserve the precious herbs that gardeners so diligently spend their summer growing is $30 for members and $37 for nonmembers. Pre-registration is required. Call 633-4333, ext. 101, visit www.MaineGardens.org, or stop by the Botanical Gardens, located at 132 Botanical Gardens Dr., off Barters Island Road in Boothbay.