Community Corner
Get Your Herbal On
A nationally known food historian will speak the historic and medicinal use of Pennsylvania herbs
Devon resident William Woys Weaver is a three-time winner of the Julia Child cookbook award, and a nationally known for his work in “heirloom” gardening and seed saving and research. He has been a contributing editor of Gourmet magazine and Mother Earth News. He is adjunct professor of food studies at Drexel University and is the author of numerous award-winning cook books and culinary histories.
It you wanted to sum up his varied career, though, you could say that Weaver is dedicated to the historic foods and culinary history of Pennsylvania. That includes native medicinal herbs – the subject of Sunday’s lecture at the Mansion at Ridley Creek .
As Weaver describes it on a new web site promoting the recently established Keystone Center for the Study of Regional Foods and Food Tourism™ , located in the historic Lamb Tavern in Devon, the state has five regional “food identities.”
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He notes that “the Pennsylvania Dutch region alone features over 1600 dishes not documented elsewhere in the country – not to mention the culinary riches of the other four regions, no other state can claim such a wide diversity of traditional foods and foodways within its borders. “ (See www.williamwoysweaver.com.)
Sunday’s lecture will be based on Weaver’s book, Sauer's Herbal Cures, America's First Book of Botanic Healing (published by Routledge). The book is a fascinating translation of a PA Dutch text written by an 18th century apothecary and printer named Christopher Sauer (1721-1784).
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Sauer grew up in a local German immigrant community and in translating the book, Weaver found the German to be riddled with syntax and terminology borrowed from colonial English. As a skilled ethnobotanist, Weaver added footnotes and edited segments to the translation to clarify historical details for the reader.
Come out and enjoy the lecture and fall foliage at Ridley Park. Weaver’s books will be available for sale at the event and he will be on hand to autograph your copy. There will also be herbal refreshments and herb crafts available for purchase prior to the lecture.
Features: This event is jointly sponsored by Friends of Ridley Creek State Park and the Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Herbalists Guild (AHG), a nonprofit educational organization founded in 1989. The group strive to represent the goals and voices of herbalists specializing in the medicinal use of plants.
Price: There is a nominal charge for this event (cash only) of $7 for the general public, and $5 for members of the AHG, members of the Friends of Ridley Creek State Park, seniors, and students with ID.
Web: http://mansionatridleycreek.com/
Nationally known food historian William Woys Weaver to speak on his longtime interest in herbs and native medicinal plants.
Where: The Mansion at Ridley Creek near Newtown Square (GPS address is 351 Gradyville Road, Newtown Square, PA 19073
Date: Sunday, November 6th
Time: Doors open 2 pm. Lecture begins at 3:00 pm.
Features: This event is jointly sponsored by Friends of Ridley Creek State Park and the Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Herbalists Guild (AHG), a nonprofit educational organization founded in 1989. The group strive to represent the goals and voices of herbalists specializing in the medicinal use of plants.
Price: There is a nominal charge for this event (cash only) of $7 for the general public, and $5 for members of the AHG, members of the Friends of Ridley Creek State Park, seniors, and students with ID.
