2022 Lecture Schedule

Lectures in 2022 will be held in the chapel. The Herb Festival Committee is developing its usual exciting schedule of talks.

	11 AM - Lawn Alternatives, A Mid-Atlantic Experience Lawn Alternatives, A Mid-Atlantic Experience explains the reasons for replacing turf grass lawns, strategies for reducing the negative impact of lawn maintenance, and alternatives for the areas where turf grass has been removed. As techniques for replacing mowed areas are discussed, examples are presented of strategies that were used to reduce about 50% of the mowed area on a property in Maryland. Speaker: Sara Yosua Bio: After retiring from a career in computer networking, Sara Yosua became a University of Maryland Baltimore County Master Gardener in 2014, where she devotes her time and energy with outreach programs to explain the importance of healthy, sustainable, functioning ecosystems in our properties. Programs she has designed to educate the public include talks on pollinators, monarch butterflies, native bees, alternatives to turf grass lawns, and bee nest house workshops. As a University of Maryland Master Naturalist with Oregon Ridge Nature Center since 2015, Sara has been instrumental in many projects to bring awareness of native bees to our youth, including constructing bee habitat displays, building bee nest structures, and setting up pollinator gardens. Sara has been active in numerous Citizen Science programs to help capture valuable information about the native wildlife in our area.

	12 PM - Old Growth Forest Network Speaker: Jill Jonnes Bio: Jill Jonnes is the Baltimore City Coordinator for the Old Growth Forest Network (OGFN), a national network of protected, publicly accessible forests. She is leading the initiative to preserve the 800 forested acres of Gwynns Falls Leakin Park and make it a part of the OGFN. Jonnes is also the founder of the Baltimore Tree Trust, and the Flowering Tree Trails, and a member of Baltimore City’s Forestry Board. An historian and author, her most recent book is URBAN FORESTS: A Natural History of Trees and People in the American Cityscape.

	1 PM - Planting for Pollinators Speaker: Devra He'ui Kitterman Devra He'ui Kitterman has worked in Horticulture for over 35 years, and operated He'ui Horticultural Services in Baltimore for 27 years, providing Interior Plant Maintenance for commercial spaces and Exterior Landscape design and installation. After retiring, she pursued beekeeping, something she had been interested in for 30 years, and eventually ran the beekeeping education courses at the Baltimore County Ag Center, as well as building a new apiary there. She is an environmental and education advocate and has become a public speaker for and written extensively about stewardship and the creation of habitat for birds, pollinators and other wildlife. She speaks extensively about curtailing the use of lawns and other chemicals, and reducing and eliminating turf lawns in lieu of planting for habitat.

2019 Lecturers
2018 Lecturers
2017 Lecturers
2016 Lecturers
2015 Lecturers
2014 Lecturers