Different kinds of herbs and plants filled the tables on Thursday at the North Carolina Estuarium as the Washington Garden Club prepared for their annual herb sale.

According to Washington Garden Club President Mary George Hocevar, the herb sale, which will start at 9:30 a.m. and last until 12:30 p.m., has been the club’s annual fundraiser for about 15 years. Eleanor Broderick, the event’s chairperson, said the 78-member club conducts this fundraiser every year to raise money for local gardens and organizations, including the Brown Library Garden and Harding Square Garden. The club even contributes to gardens in other areas such as the Elizabethan Gardens in Manteo. Hocevar said that the club helps support Habitat for Humanity as well.

“They get garden donations from us,” said Hocevar.

According to Broderick, the club gets their plants and herbs for the sale from a local grower, Raindrop Ridge Farm in Beaufort County.

Hocevar said the club meets monthly and follows a program in which members learn about gardening in the south.

“We’ve learned about pruning, we’ve learned about topiaries, we’ve learned all sorts of garden things,” Hocevar said.

This southern gardening theme is the root of how the club chooses the herbs and plants that are featured in the herb sale, which meets the needs of gardeners in the area. In addition to herbs, plants such as tomatoes are sold.

“We are pretty aware of what consumers are looking for in herbs,” Broderick said. “Most of the herbs are common, but we have some unique ones at times. It’s usually basil, mint, lavender, rosemary, oregano, sage—your basic type of herbs that people look for. It’s a whole realm of different types of herbs. A lot of people use them in cooking today.”

Hocevar said that the herb sale appeals to a big population of gardeners and consumers in the county as well as surrounding areas. These people look forward to the herb sale and having access to their own supply of herbs.

“We have people from Greenville and New Bern who show up,” Hocevar said. “There’s a line at the door at 9:30. There is nothing better than going out in your own little herb garden and picking your herbs for dinner.”