Field Trip to Maggie's Herbs for DGers in Jacksonville area

We've decided on a date and time that seem to work best for most of the people that have expressed interest in getting together for a day of nursery hopping. We will meet Saturday, Aug. 20, 10:30 AM, at Maggie's Herbs .

Take exit 318 off I-95, west on State Road 16, immediate left on State Road 208 all the way to St. Johns River, south on County Road 13 (NOT 13A).
Maggie's Herbs is located1-1/2 miles south of Picolata on County Road 13 on the left side of the road

www.maggiesherbs.com for more information, a map showing the location is included on the website

After Maggie's Herbs, we will decide on a location for lunch, and head for S & J Nursery on the southside of Jackonville on St. Augustine Rd., south of I-295

Looking forward to meeting new DGers and becoming reacquainted with old friends!

Jeremy




I'm coordinating a trip to Maggie's Herbs, 11400 County Road 13 near the intersection of SR 208 at Picolata (close to St. Augustine) with a friend and garden enthusiast.

I think it would be fun to have other DGers in NE Florida to meet us at Maggie's Herbs at a mutually agreeable time and date, shop and chat, and even go to lunch somewhere in St. Augustine or at a nearby restaurant (though I doubt there are many eating establishments located in the tiny dot on the map that is Picolata). (Maggie's Herbs phone # 904-829-0722)

Let me know if you are interested in joining me for an herb shopping foray. The website:

http://www.florida-secrets.com/Florida_Gardens/Maggies.htm

provides a list of available herbs and also states that the nursery grows and sells plants that attract butterflies and hummingbirds.

If anyone has been looking for a special herb and haven't been able to find it, and if they have it available at Maggie's, I can pick it up for you and ship it to you.

It would be very interesting, I think, if we start having once-a-month plant shopping adventures to various small local nurseries in our area. I'm sure the nursery owners would appreciate the support from DGers!

Jeremy

This message was edited Aug 8, 2005 11:39 PM

Jeremy,

I've ridden my bike in that area. there's a crab restaurant within biking distance. I've passed that place several times but on a bike, there's no place for plants.

Maggie

I have been to Maggie's several times Jeremy and think this is a great idea. Will be a good time to meet new DGers from Jax.
We might ask if we could get a DG discount???
sidney

This sounds interesting to me!

Oh dear, wherever am I going to put whatever I can't resist?! :)

Gracie

Of course it wouldn't be a complete group without you and Peter. Katie will love this place too. This is the shop that I thought about going by when I left your house last winter. Has Katie joined DG yet?
sidney

Have you found a date yet? The 23rd would be good, 30th would be bad.
sidney

I haven't set a date yet. The heat and humidity this summer seems especially insufferable to me, so I was waiting for some possible cooler, dryer days when it would be more comfortable to stroll around and peruse the herbs. Also, with another deadline looming of Aug. 7 for an art show, I'll probably be chained to the easel again for the next few weeks to crank out paintings. How about sometime mid or late August? I would like to include S & J in the same day if they are near enough to Maggie's. It may be cooler then and we may have a few more people interested in attending by then.

Jeremy

Looking forward to the field trip. Is your art show local?

Maggie

Yep, Maggie. My art show will be at the Jacksonville Beach Pavillion on, Noon to 8 PM, Sunday, August 7. I rented a booth at the Gay Pride Festival. About 10,000 people are expected to attend, so I'm hoping for some quick profit -- if I can tear myself away from the garden and knuckle down to all the paintings I want to get done in the next 25 days! (Which hasn't happened yet!) LOL I'll be offering everything again by silent auction so that I can be certain everything will sell and I won't have to bring home unsold work and find storage space for it at home. That method of sales has worked well for me from previous art shows. I'm also offering one painting as a raffle item to raise funds for a local HIV/AIDS funding organization. This is my first venture into outdoor art fairs, but it seemed like a good place to start since the beach pavillion offers covered sheds and I don't have to try to set up a tent and deal with all of the concerns of whether the tent and the art will blow away!

No hurricanes allowed the weekend of 8/7!!

Jeremy

Hi Jeremy,


Sugarweed sent me a link to the Jax roundup with a photo of one of your paintings -GORGEOUS! Keep us apprised of the date of the festival- I'd love to go.


Maggie

Thanks, Maggie. I posted some other pix of my paintings at the DG Photo Forum under a thread asking for photos of rainbows. The DGers in that thread sent me some GREAT rainbow photos that I'm currently working on as paintings for the Pride Festival show on 8/7. I'll post photos there of the completed paintings, as requested by the people that loaned me their rainbow photos, as the paintings get done.

I do look forward to meeting you on 8/7 if not before. I think in another thread or E-mail you requested some of my C. esculenta 'Illustris'? You are welcome to come by anytime for the plants. Their runners have produced a whole new crop of offspring, even though I gave away about 10 of them at our May Roundup! They spread much more rapidly than any of the other Colocasias or Alocasias that I have.

I drove my friend, Marilyn, to the shop for wheelchair repair today and we made a day of it with lunch at French Pantry on Powers Ave and lots of shopping. She needed some things from the the St. Augustine Rd. Lowe's and that was near enough to S & J Nursery that we drove down to get a look at the nursery. We didn't get out of the car (too hot & humid again today!), but we drove around through the acres of plants they have there. I saw several "gottahaveit" plants: a deep red Crepe Myrtle that my girlfriend, Christina, has been urging me to find and plant since she first saw it a couple of years ago, and possibly a new form of variegated ginger (though it might have been variegated Aspidistera -- I couldn't tell without closer examination). It would be well worth stopping there on our field trip to Maggie's.

Jeremy

You mean there's a nursery that big I don't know about????
I'll call for details.
sidney

Yep, Sidney. S & J is the largest local nursery I've seen in our area! Truly ACRES of plants, dozens of each variety of things commonly offered in nurseries here, and everything looked very healthy and well maintained. Lots of palms and other trees and shrubs as well as a good assortment of perennials and annuals. I was able to see some of the price signs from the road, and they are within the same range as the mega-stores. There was enough room between the rows of plants that I was able to easily maneuver Marilyn's car around the place for a "drive-by" viewing of many of the plants.

I think it would be an easy stop, going or coming from Maggie's Herbs (which is, I think, much further south of S & J) or we could do a trip to S & J soon and maybe Maggie's later in the season?

I do want one of the deep red Crepe Myrtles from S & J. They are gorgeous and I've not seen them available anywhere else.

Jeremy

Jeremy and friends, since Jeremy's show is Sunday, let's think about August 12th or 13th or even a weekday for me is okay.
Everyone interested can post a good time then Jeremy must weigh in too. What cha think?
sidney

A weekday is out for me, I have to work. We have a trip to Gainesville planned for the Perseids but if that's best for the group let me see what I can do. Have house painting planned after that but that too is dependent on other factors. a firm Maybe ;-)

Maggie

Hey include me in on this adventure !!!

I was at a larger nursery off Old St. Augustine road not too long ago.. it was pretty nice.. they had a lot of plants...

Chris

Yoo Hoo Jeremy. Whatcha think?
sidney

I'm watching to see what date you all pick. Aug 13/14 th is out for me but if you come up with a latter in the month option, I would love to tag along. Sarah

My head will hopefully be screwed back on after this Sunday, Aug. 7, and the art show demands on my time are behind me.

Let's tentatively plan for Saturday, Aug. 27, and go from there. If that date is a problem for anyone following this thread, we can shoot for a date in September, or maybe move it back to Saturday, Aug. 20.

I want to stop painting and start gardening and am ready for a fun break! I truly can't get to some areas of my yard due to weeds having their way without any control on my part for the past several weeks. I can honestly say, "It's a jungle out there!"

Jeremy

Jeremy, the weekend of the 27th, Peter and I will be in New Orleans, but any other date you choose is fine with Peter and myself.

That S & J nursery sounds too good to miss!

We expect to see you tomorrow at the art show!

Hope we can find you! :)

Gracie

Me too Gracie.
Jeremy. Need any help?
Didn't go to NC.
Will bring Frank with me.
Sidney
How about August 20, so far it's good for everybody.
sidney

It's beginning to sound like a plan to me! :)

Gracie

I hope so. What time are you and Peter planning to be at the show tomorrow?
sidney

Sidney,

We'll be leaving the house about 9:30 so as to get a decent parking spot........and, also to find out exactly where we need to go!

We'll have breakfast out then come to the Festival. Frank needs to be close, he carries way too much weight.
It will be good for him to get out.
sidney

So let's firm it up for Saturday, Aug. 20 and hope we can get a good group together to raid the plant stores. I'll give them a call to let them know we are coming as a group and see if we can get some discounts or special deals lined up. So, far we seem to be planning to go to S & J and Maggies. Anybody else have suggestions for other nurseries to visit down that way?

Also, if you will suggest a time that works best for you, morning or afternoon, we will plan accordingly. I would think morning would be best to avoid the heat, but for those traveling a distance, an early afternoon time may work better.

Thanks, Gracey, for making the trip up to see my art, and congratulations on winning the bidding for both my "Zen" scrolls! I'll bring them along on Aug. 20 to deliver them to you. I hope I didn't miss you if you came by the festival Sugarweed. Christina and I packed it up around 4:30 PM. Just couldn't take the heat anymore. It was an interesting learning experience, not very profitable, but it did motivate me to settle down and paint for a few weeks so I have several paintings on hand for the next art show (nothing currently scheduled) and won't have to neglect my garden quite so much the next time the push is on to make art!

Jeremy

Well heat and health made the jaunt impossible for Frank today.
Sorry you didn't do better. I'm anxious to see the pieces Gracie got. I will be in touch soon.
sidney

We could go by Maggies about 10:30 or 11;00 then eat and go by S & Js.???
sidney

Ooooh, goodie, goodie! Peter and I love our new 'Zen' scrolls.

We had some lunch, then went back into the masses......then, decided it was time to head back 'cause the heat was getting too much.

Sure glad we decided to go early! :)

Gracie

The 10:30 AM meeting time on Aug. 20 sounds good to me too, Sugarweed, with plans for lunch together after Maggie's Herbs, then going to S & J. I suppose it would be easiest for us just to meet at Maggie's Herbs so that those coming from the south have less distance to drive. You and I could car pool to save gas. I plan to take my old Chevy utility van with 12' cargo space so that I can get a good sized bright red crepe myrtle that I saw on my "drive by" scoping out of S & J. I will also make the van available for those in the immediate Jax area that may end up buying more plants than your vehicles will hold -- I can do a plant delivery run to your houses on the way back -- but I imagine most of you have already come up with vehicles where your first consideration in buying it was "will it hold enough plants." LOL

Jeremy

Great with good company and saving gas too. I've put it on my calendar. Now go back to your first post and edit so everyone will know from the first post the final plan. Thanks.
sidney

Good deal......... I'll be there!!

I edited the first post above, as requested. I note that Maggie has an E-mail address listed on the website: maggie@maggiesherbs.com

I'll send her an E-mail to let her know we are coming. You can go to the website www.maggiesherbs.com to look at the plant lists. You may also want to E-mail her for any special requests.

Looking forward to it!

Jeremy

I got an E-mail reply back from Maggie of Maggie's Herbs and we are good to go for 8/20. She says her plants are not at their best this time of year, but we are certainly welcome to come visit and shop. I suggested she provide some things "on sale" to those of us that are devoted "bargain hunters."

I'll call S & J Nursery today and let them know we will visit them on 8/20 also.

Jeremy

I made phone contact with S & J Nursery today. They are open on Sat. Aug. 20 and we are welcome to come by.

Jeremy

I'll be there. what do you think of lunch at the crab place near Maggie's?

Maggie

This message was edited Aug 10, 2005 7:00 PM

Oh yes, the food my other favorite part of this party. Tell us about this Crab place please Maggie. Do you remember the name?
I'm getting excited.
sidney

Hi Sidney,

Here's the info. I've never been there, only ridden near on my bike. Not enought nerve to walk in alone in Spandex LOL.
I've included the reviews. a couple people mentioned pricy- might not be bad for lunch though. I can also see if I can find out any info from local bike people on value. The reviews seem to have been written by tourists mostly.
What other restaurants do you know of out there? There's always the store on Joe Aston Road- good for watching people but the menu is fried chicken and other convenience store food.

Maggie

MAP

http://search.travel.yahoo.com/bin/search/map?nomaptip=1&yid=&ylat=&ylong=&yname=&yphone=&yaddress=&ycity=&ystate=&yurl=&clat=29.960181&clong=-81.543103&zoom=9&sid=2979569&pop=0&id=&pan_x=&pan_y=&.done=&.title=&cat=none&map.x=269&map.y=291&lodging_price=-1&cat=dining&dining_price=-1&yp_search=&num_result=20
Interactive Map - Yahoo!

Travel directions

Travelhttp://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-2979569-outback_crab_shack_st_augustine-i
Outback Crab Shack, St. Augustine, FL - Yahoo! Travel

Review

http://travel.yahoo.com/p-reviews-2979569-prod-travelguide-action-read-ratings_and_reviews-i;_ylt=AkLvX6541BP8dXwJHcXMIdkuQGoL

This message was edited Aug 11, 2005 6:54 AM

The idea occurred to me that we could bring along food in coolers and have a pot luck picnic somewhere along the route after the visit to Maggie's Herbs. There may be a public park somewhere nearby or enroute to S & J. The only concern, I think, is whether the weather will be conducive to eating outdoors and if we can survive a meal without air conditioning. I'm up for either a restaurant or a picnic, so let me know your thoughts.

Jeremy

Let's keep it simple and let someone else do the cooking. Also it's still HOT, so a break from the heat sounds great. On the other hand, that's $10. more for maggies.
I will call that resturant tomorrow.
sidney
sidney