Sunday, June 04, 2006

Alloway Creek Garden Craft Faire

We spent Friday and Saturday at the Garden Craft Faire held annually at Alloway Creek Gardens and Herb Farm
It was a lot of fun, and we saw lots of old friends... made some new ones, too! First let me introduce you to Barb Steele (that's her waving the flyer), who along with husband Roger owns and runs Alloway Creek. We've known the Steeles for about 15 years, and they are always fun to be around.
Our booth was inside a large 20' X 30' tent that we shared with a woman who hand dyed silk scarves, a woman from Heifer International, an artist, and the "gang" from East Berlin, PA who are raffling off a hand-made quilt that will be awarded at their Colonial Day Festival Sept. 9th. If I find their information, I'll add it later. As we got to know our neighbors we all joked around and had a good time. Very few of the people we shared the tent with managed to leave without a piece of my sister's hand made torchwork jewelry. Lots of soap went, some of those felted soap balls I may have mentioned, and even some of the road apples! I got to meet in person some of the people who have been subscribers for a long time. That's Maryanne behind our booth.
There were probably about 25 or 30 vendors of all sorts at the faire. Barb Will (orange shirt) of Sugar Grove Herbs writes for us sometimes, and is fun to vend near. We kept a conversation going from across the garden. There was a guy making wind chimes using silverware, a spinner and weaver, handmade sweaters, a couple potters, antiques, etc, etc. A neat, eclectic mix. The food was from a caterer called Herbal Faire, and was delicious - a rare thing since outdoor events generally feature warm foods that should be cold, and cold foods that should be hot - none of which tastes very good.
Here is just one photo of the magnificent gardens that Barb and her crew put together. It really is a stunning herb farm.
She did an equally stunning job putting together her faire.

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