BizBeat

 

BY MORRI MOSTOW

 You know it’s finally spring when Maya and Russell Lightbody open their magnificent gardens and Coriander boutique to the public on their 120-acre property on Stagecoach Road. Maya Lightbody, a clay sculptress specializing in garden goddesses, saints and other garden ornaments, is also an organic gardener with a passionate interest in medieval herbology. “Herbs were used for everything from cooking to cosmetics,” says Lightbody, who began raising culinary herbs nine years ago with her husband. “I like to eat well and for that, you need all kinds of herbs not available on the market. When I started growing my own herbs, the garden got bigger and bigger, and suddenly I found I was producing more than I could possibly use.” So, she began experimenting with herb jellies and opened a boutique, called Coriander, to sell them.

Today, Lightbody raises over 90 different culinary herbs in a garden covering more than an acre. She sells dozens of different herbal products created from her own original recipes. “It can take me four years of research to arrive at a marketable product,” she explains. Her boutique stocks her jams (mint-raspberry, orange-rosemary, lemon thyme, red current, black current, rose petal), jellies (tarragon, basil, thyme, rosemary), teas (Shakespeare’s Tea, a blend of lavender, savory; and other herbs; Summer Meadow, a blend of rose petals, violets and other flowers; Mint, a blend of five different types of mint; Fruity Mix, a blend of  raspberry, black current and strawberry leaves), bath oils, and herb mixes for soups and meat sauces. She also makes pillows stuffed with different herbal blends: one for insomnia, another for headaches, yet another for dreaming.

The public can wander around her large flower gardens, as well as the herb garden, where they will find many unusual herbs, including six-ft. high angelica and fennel plants and the large, bushy sweet cicely.

Coriander, at 670 Stagecoach Road in West Bolton, is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday to Monday, until the end of October. For more information call (450) 243-6467.

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Spencer’s Pub at the Auberge Lakeview Inn has gone Italian. The new pub menu, available for lunch and dinner, now features a selection of antipasti, pastas and sauces, salads and focaccia, along with duck confit, fish, chicken and steak. “There was no Italian restaurant in Town of Brome Lake,” says owner Ron Blair, “so we decided to fill this niche. Our chef has many years experience in Italian food so it’s a good fit.”

Many locals were disappointed when the pub recently broke a longstanding and popular tradition and discontinued its Brome Lake Duck wings, baked Cajun style and served only as complimentary appetizers on Friday during Happy Hour. BizBeat is pleased to report that these spicy morsels have just been reinstated. They can now be enjoyed any day of the week, in baskets of eight ($3.60) or 16 ($7.20).

Spencer’s Pub is located at the back of the Augerge Lakeview Inn, at 50 Victoria, Knowlton. (450) 243-6183.

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Several local artisans got national exposure in the June issue of Chatelaine magazine. An article showcasing the late 19th-century Knowlton cottage, which has been lovingly restored and decorated by Jodi Mallinson and Nils Fluck (who also own designer-clothing boutique Hurricane Grace in downtown Knowlton) also features hand-painted pillows by Jane Walker, ceramic dishes by Robin Badger, a hooked rug by Anne Johnston, and soap and other bath accessories from Station Knowlton.

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