Savory Herbs Growing At Peak House Heritage Center

Medfield MA

02 November, 2021

3:50 PM

Description

58 Herbs Growing at the Peak House Heritage Center... What is that magical, savory fragrance of turkey cooking in the oven? It's sage and it's one of fifty-eight, culinary, medicinal, household and dyeing herbs that grow in the colonial kitchen and native gardens at the Peak House Heritage Center. Sage, salvia officinalis, was used by ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans as a meat preservative, a staunching herb to stop bleeding and a digestive. Native Americans consider sage to be a sacred ceremonial cleansing herb burned for centuries in smudge pots. Salvia means to heal or save and the Officina was the storeroom found in Medieval monasteries where herbs and medicines were stored. Sage was often grown in colonial kitchen gardens by the doorstep because of its value in cooking and preserving meats and for its use as toothpaste and deodorant, a gargle for sore throats and a green dye for wool. Old English legend has it, that if sage grows well at the doorstep, the wife rules. You can see sage at the doorstep of Peak House Heritage Center as an example of one of the primary herbs grown in 17th and 18th century kitchen gardens in Medfield. We are now developing interior exhibits for Medfield's most iconic building and you can help us fund $22,500 by December 31 to create visitor-centered exhibits for both adults and children opening in May 2022. Our planning begins with an expert appraisal by the Public Archaeological Laboratory of Pawtucket, RI of our never-before-seen, boxed artifacts. These came from the 1976 dig behind the Peak House and an upcoming 2021 dig in the cellar and near the outside well. When the Heritage Center opens, you'll discover selected artifacts from 34 boxes in imaginative, rotating, interactive exhibits. We need your help in raising $22,500 by December 31, 2021, to curate artifacts and develop interactive exhibits that will delight visitors of all ages and bring cultural and financial benefit to the Town of Medfield. You'll want to catch the stories behind these artifacts when our exhibits open May 2022. You can donate here https://peakhouseheritagecente... before December 31 2021. Thank you from all of us! Directors, Rob Babson, Rob Gregg, Michele Feinsilver Hoye, Rick Hooker Peak House Heritage Center