Small tents featured fresh flowers and herbs and soap made of goat’s milk, a sidewalk cafe offered lavender lemonade and rosemary chicken-on-a-stick, and the strains of “Ebb Tide” could be heard being played by a harpist.

The 12th annual Herb Festival in Greene Sunday brought out large numbers of Northeast Iowans willing to brave the heat to sample herb goodies, check out unusual handcrafts and attend seminars on topics such as perennials and feng shui.

The festival was situated under shady trees on the front lawns of houses within a two-block area of North Main Street.

“We decided to have a fun day to teach people about herbs,” said festival co-founder Rita Barth.

Owner of Under The Spell herb shop, Barth and a friend organized the first Herb Festival hoping to attract 100 people and ended up with 300.

“It’s just mushroomed every year,” she said.

This year, 41 vendors signed on for the festival, although three did not attend due to the heat.

The products they brought are related to the garden and nature in general, Barth said.

Five hour-long seminars also were presented by some of the vendors in the Greene Public Library.

Among the vendors was Greene stained glass artist Eddie Hesalroad, a festival regular.

“Most of my things are designed to go in front of windows,” he said, surveying the glass wall-hangings suspended around his tent. “Most of my designs reflect nature.”

Harpist Susan Sinnett, of Waterloo, played quietly in the background, seated on a wooden platform near a lush garden of purple coneflowers, orange tiger lilies and yellow sunflowers.

“It’s kind of interesting, and I like the people that are here,” said Sinnett. “It’s a pretty casual setting compared to where I usually play.”

Sally Ross, of Rolla, Mo., lamented to a friend that in her first few minutes at the Herb Festival she had already spent $70.

“I love it,” said Ross, who was visiting her husband’s family in Greene. “I love the crafts. This is the more arty stuff I like.”

Her sister-in-law Sandi Ross said the Herb Festival is “great for Greene.”

“It brings in a lot of people,” she said. “They have a nice variety of things.”