Mary Ellen Wilcox has been writing since the middle of the very first year.  Each issue, you'll find recipes and crafts culled from her experiences of running a shop in upstate New York, and the many classes and tours that are still being done under the heading of SouthRidge Treasures.  Mary Ellen now spends much of her time traveling with her husband and enjoying life in various surroundings.  We never know where she will be sending her column from, but it always gets here, filled with ideas that are traditional, yet have her own twist added.  Always seasonal, they are universal, giving us ideas that can be tailored for other seasons, other herbs, other times.  

Susan Evans of ChrysalisHerbs.com has also been with us from the very beginning.  Her columns run the gamut, from recipes, to crafts, to wellness.  Susan has been working with herbs for over 20 years, and gives classes, workshops, and retreats in addition to designing gardens and leading herb walks on edible and medicinal plants.

Michele Brown and Pat Stewart -  Who couldn't find an herbal subject to write about when standing amongst the pineapple sage, basil, rosemary and lavender?
 Michele writes, "Even my kids, parents and Pat's husband get in on the act. Helping hands make for light work so everyone digs in. Whether it is washing pots or potting up herb plants into their new homes for the next few months, no one minds getting dirty. The scent that wafts out of the greenhouses is enough to entice even the most reticent brown thumb into giving herb growing a go. Some of the plants move quickly to new climates throughout the U.S. and some stay in the local Chattanooga area. Farmers markets and local wholesale accounts keep us busy for most of the year. Weather plays a serious factor so while it is hot and humid we are inside writing articles, blogging and keeping up with the website and newsletter." Enjoy Michele and Pat's Down on the Farm segments in every issue. And visit, Possum Creek Herb Farm online for herbal tidbits, shopping and fun.

Sarah Liberta writes our "Louisianna Lagniappe" column.  Sarah is an educator, presenting programs and spreading the word about herbs, currently at the White Oak Plantation in Baton Rouge, LA.  Our very own Southern Belle of the highest order, Sarah has long been involved in many herbal organizations.  She brings her wealth of recipes, culled from a lifetime of loving cooking and good food.  When we visited her in the spring of '07, she warned us to bring loose-fitting clothing, telling us that we'd either be talking about "what we were about to eat, what we were eating now, or what we would be eating later."  She wasn't kidding, and it was a delicious trip!  Visit Sarah at Herbs By Sarah.

Geri Burgert frequently bewilders her neighbors in suburban Port Jefferson, New York, by harvesting her lawn for cooking and medicine. Once a known killer of even the most hardy houseplants, Geri’s skills (or luck) changed when she became fascinated with using infused oils to make herbal salves. Her life ambition is now to propagate every plant that will grow in Zone 6B, no matter how ugly or invasive. In the meanwhile, she edits medical journals, makes herbal soap and skin care products for her company New York Attitude rather than paying attention to that pesky editing, and happily writes fluffy nonsense for The Essential Herbal. Her website is currently undergoing a makeover and should be ready by the new year, at www.ny-attitude.com.

Susanna Reppert writes a column entitled "Never Enough Thyme" for the magazine.  

Betsy May is a graduate of Mt. Nittany Institute of Natural Health in State College, PA where she received her certification as a Holistic Health Practitioner.  She is a Certified Yoga Instructor. In the tradition of her holistic training, she teaches seasonal themed yoga classes several nights a week. She is currently a student of Jeanne Roses’s Herbal & Aromatherapy home study courses and is enrolled in Rosemary Gladstar’s Apprentice program.
 Her professional career includes work with victims of crime and providing crisis intervention services. Current interests include integrating her holistic teaching into the field of victim services, offering victims and victim advocates with alternative tools for healing. Other hobbies include cheese making, writing, and gardening.

Alicia Grosso is the author of some excellent books on soapmaking, including The Everything Soapmaking Book, and Soapmaking:  A Magickal Guide.  Alicia started making herbal potions at age 5 in Port Orchard,
Washington. Convinced anything that pretty must have a secret,extractable scent, she crammed pink camellias into dozens of big mason jars, covered them with sugar water, screwed down the lids and set them in Great Grandmother Hilda’s sun porch, waiting for perfume to happen. The excitement generated by the eventual explosions and the exhortations to please do something else with the plants has carried her through a life of herbal inquiry. (There was a detour at age seven into marine biology when she repeated the cramming, sealing and fermenting with tiny crabs from the beach in South Colby. Those explosions re-focused the desire for pleasing aromas.)
In their Los Angeles back yard, Alicia and her husband John have created a green haven. With varying degrees of success, Alicia now experiments with growing cycles in a place where seasonal change is subtle. The state of the herb garden varies between obsessively tended and utterly neglected, depending on what other projects she’s got on. Soapmaking has been the primary activity for over a decade, and the garden has been generous and forgiving.
Alicia’s real job is as a theatre professor, tending the developing artists that have been coming in waves over twenty years of teaching. She is fascinated with ancient Welsh myth and belief. One set of parents
are theatre people, the other set archaeologists, all of them teachers, all Renaissance people, setting her on a mixed path that is always evolving. Grandmothers and Great Grandmothers tended gardens, put up
preserves, baked, did needlework of all kinds and Alicia carries the skills and love of all things homey that were their great gifts.   Alicia can be found at Annabellaandcompany.com

Maryanne Schwartz is our lay-out director.  Besides having extensive experience with running an herb shop and a wholesale soap company, she has now taken on the challenge of one of her first loves, jewelry making.  She makes lampwork glass beads, and employs many techniques to finish them creating exquisite pieces, each one unique at Torchsong Studio.  Besides that, she is sister to the editor.  They goof around together with the still, fumble around in the woods behind their houses, and work together on almost all of their projects.  She writes columns, adds recipes, and can be found for several days after each deadline obsessively-compulsively juggling the contents of the magazine until it suits her artistic leanings.