GMG's Friday Find: Your Herbal Easter Basket!

Today we are talking about a slight change to the traditional plastic grass to fill your Easter bastkets...this time try gorgeous herbs that could pass for the real thing!

The Growers Exchange Herb Easter Basket!

This year you can start a new Easter tradition with your family, and grow your own herbal Easter baskets!

Environmentally conscious, educational and edible, this is a wonderful way to teach kids about gardening while giving them a foundation in sustainability.

These DIY Easter baskets are easy to make at home. The Growers Exchange tells us how:

1. Find a basket or pot. Look at a local thrift store or your garage or attic from last Easter.

2. Line the bottom of the basket with plastic that you have poked a few holes in for drainage. This will prevent the basket from leaking, while still giving the soil a place to drain water.

3. Fill the basket halfway full with soil. Make sure to choose a semi coarse potting soil that includes either organic materials or perlite, to allow the soil to drain adequately. Most herbs thrive in a soil that drains well, as excess moisture will encourage disease.

4. Choose your herbs! Herbs like catgrass, arugula, parsley and dill, all grow quickly and have lush green foliage that will mimic the traditional plastic Easter grass you may have grown up with. You can also try nasutriums or basilfor a new twist on the classic Easter grass look.

5. Decorate! Hide chocolate eggs or toys in the plants' foliage for Easter morning. And, when they're done finding the last foil-covered egg, make a salad with your arugula or let your pets enjoy the catgrass!

A very cute idea and a BONUS for you...NO cleaning up all those little pieces of plastic easter basket grass that inevitably ends up everywhere! (You're Welcome!)

Happy Easter!!!

-Karen

GMG

Hop into spring at Biltmore!

Spring is nature showing-off her colors and filling the air with perfumed scents. This year, hop into Spring and get close to Mother Nature at Biltmore for inspiration and entertainment for the whole family.

Biltmore has it all: an incredible estate with over 8000 acres, amazing gardens, rare trees, walking trails, an award-winning rose garden, ornamentals, a winery, music and art, and entertainment for everyone- young and old alike.

We're counting down the days for the annual Festival of Flowers that starts April 2nd until May 15th. With daily live music in the Conservatory and Winter Garden, over 100,000 tulips and floral displays, and the spectacular Biltmore House, it's a sensory treat!

And don't forget the kids! You can enjoy the Festival of Flowers and take the kids for Biltmore's annual Easter Egg Hunt (runs throughout the day) on April 24th, with music, magic shows, games, stories and more!

Plus, there are activities at Antler Hill Village with music at the Barn, and a Grape Stomp at the Winery. (now that's something I just gotta' see!)

Definitely pencil this one in on your calendar. And hop into Spring with joyful abandon!

Lynne, GMG