I was born and raised in the Niagara Region of Ontario, Canada. I’ve always been grateful to live in this beautiful, diverse and unique area. I am surrounded by two Great Lakes (Erie and Ontario), the Welland Canal, the Niagara Escarpment, Niagara Falls, lush farmland with juicy peaches and many, many vineyards! There is no shortage of hiking trails in this area as well. I live in the city with my 14 year-old son Lucan and my dog Freya, and we escape frequently to the country to hike.

My passion for herbology began about 20 years ago. It was in 1994 that I picked up a copy of The Way of Herbs by Michael Tierra. It was my very first herb book. I was working in a pharmacy, as a pharmacist’s assistant at the time. I became dismayed by the massive amount of prescriptions that folks were taking. It was a stressful job, very busy and the customers were sick and tired and angry. I made a decision to stay as healthy as possible and avoid the drug dependency. A co-worker’s wife worked at my favourite health food store and told me they were hiring. I’ve been there 18 years now. I’ve learned a lot about the field, but found myself especially drawn to the over 50 bulk herbs we sold. I acquired more books and wanted to devour every bit of info I could.