Happy 2005 to all of our herb gardening friends.

You are probably wondering just what happened to 01, 02, 03, and 04! Well as most all of you know we finally had to agree top sell our property, including the herb gardens. The gardens became more work than we were able to manage. The decision to sell was a difficult one as we had lived there for thirty-eight years. The first ten years were spent operating the River Grove Park on highway 9 in Felton. We packed up the children on the first day of summer vacation and didn't return to Saratoga until labor day. During the week, when business was slow, Louie would return to Saratoga and start to replant our acre into an herb garden. His first thought, when we would sell the camp ground, was to wholesale herbs to nurseries etc. We had no idea that we would eventually become Saso Herb Gardens, selling herb plants and teaching workshops on herb growing and making wreaths. We actually did this for twenty-six years! They were the happiest years of our lives. Many of the people that we met during those years have become close friends. We truly miss interacting with all of the wonderful people who came to take our classes or just visit to visit the gardens.

Louie had always talked about someday moving to the Santa Cruz area, so the decision about where to move was a simple one. On September 8, 2000 we moved ourselves and a whole lot of herb plants to 405 Esmeralda Drive, Santa Cruz, 95060.

The last thing that we tried in 1994 was to start an apprentice program. It was a work exchange program. We continued this program until we sold in 2000. This was a very rewarding program, bringing together many different personalities. Some came to escape their Silicon Valley office, others to learn about herbs and their uses and others just because they loved gardening. We still have an apprentice reunion where many of our apprentices come together to share plants, to get new ideas and just to enjoy each other's company. If any former apprentices are reading this and would like to be included please let us know.

 All did not go well for us in 2001. In March of that year Louie suffered a stroke. He has had a few problems since then but has always managed to get back enough strength to continue in the Cabrillo college stroke center program. He now goes Tuesday and Wednesday mornings. He is still able to do some gardening even though he has to use a walker to get round. We have a little greenhouse and it is filled with his cuttings and veggie seedlings. With the help of other people he has grafted on to many of the fruit trees that he planted when we first moved here. His pride and joy is the success that he had putting apple grafts on our one larger pear tree.

We are going to have an Open House on May 14, 2005. All of our former customers are invited to the new mini version of the “Saso Herb Gardens” in Santa Cruz. The hours will be 12:30 to 3:00. Call us, (831-423-8005) or email us virginia@saso.com for directions to our home and gardens. Our old email address, (herbgardens@saso.com) is no longer valid.

Here are some links that you might find useful:

www.mountainvalleygrowers.com. They carry a very wide variety of herb seeds and some plants, www.horizonherbs.com They carry medicinal herbs and seeds. If you’re thinking of starting an herb business, this site is for you: www.herbworld.com

When we retired, our daughter, Marylou, continued to teach classes on herbs and wreaths. She teaches through the Saratoga/Los Gatos recreation department. The St.Fiacre garden statue that we sold at the herb garden is available from her website: www.stfiacre.com.html Her classes and information on her dried flower crafts can be found on this website: http://www.saso.com/herbalwreaths.html