Herb Day in May Evening Shade Farm

Herb lady scarecrows on Soap House Gate

Evening Shade Farm has been hosting Herb Day in May for close to a decade. It's an unusual festival in that it isn't big, noisy or carnival-like. The event is hosted on the lawn of the Soap House of Evening  Shade Farm a few miles south of Osceola, Missouri. People look forward to the event all year.

The event is always Memorial Day weekend and people come from long distances. Vendors of all types spread out their wares under festival tents.

Broom makers, weavers, stone cutters, plant sellers and lots more.

Shady trees and a central garden are the setting for the festival.

Notting Hill broom makers make brooms from broom corn, the old fashioned way.

Local musicians perform on the Soap House porch.

People shop, visit, eat, listen to music and enjoy the gardens.

People sit and visit under the big old mulberry tree, picking and eating the fruit.

John Trainer demonstrates his wood-turning craft.

George, the blacksmith makes high-quality ironwork.

The Soap House always does a brisk business selling their hand-crafted, organic soaps.

Evening Shade's soaps are outstanding. Made from organic herbs and oils, added to their own goats milk, they ship their soaps nationwide. Visit their website to see what they have to offer.

It's a tradition to have a piece of their famous lemon verbena cake. It's from a family recipe and no matter how people beg, they don't give the recipe out. But you can buy a whole cake to take home or just a piece to eat under the big mulberry tree while you listen to good bluegrass music.

What a pleasant way to spend Memorial Day weekend, visiting with people, eating cake and listening to the plop plop of mulberries from the big tree. We've been friends with the Evening Shade folks for many years and always enjoy their festival. Glad you could come along to see what we found this weekend, a traditional trip for us. Visit our website at Long Creek Herbs, too.