THIS IS A LOVE STORY. On a rare snowy night, in an almost empty university campus coffee house, a young redhead hippie woman (Tricia) with poetry and camera in hand meets a young college professor (Forrest) passionately playing guitar. How romantic.

We quickly wedded common passions: nature, gardening, photography, writing, music, health and fitness, helping others, and very importantly, daily meditation. As forms of service, our interests are supported by a philosophy of Reverence for Life. This is exemplified by the word Cortesia, derived from the 12^th century ancient French word cortese, meaning a deep noble courtesy, i.e. reverence and respect for life.

For over 37 years, our 22-acre wooded ridge top Cortesia Sanctuary, high above Eugene, Oregon, has been the creative and spiritual hub for all our endeavors. It has fueled our passion for organic gardening (2-acres!) and teaching others how to grow their own food. Our two gardening guides are used by millions of people worldwide: Home Composting Made Easy, and Grow Your Own Food Made Easy. Our bestselling The Sanctuary Garden inspired a worldwide movement to create peace, healing, quiet and sanctuary gardens. For many years, our Garden Stewards Project created hundreds of raised-bed gardens for people in need in Oregon.

No gifts sacrificed here! Now that we are in our 70’s, and the world is strangely different, we see even more the need for people to sustain their own food supply and to create a sense of sanctuary and peace daily.

Of course, with age comes concern of health and fitness. Mother Nature provides a natural pharmacy for health and healing. At Cortesia, we naturally integrated healing plants into our gardens and began creating herbal remedies for family and friends.

The foundation of our herbal practice, you now see, comes from a deep respect for life — from the word Cortesia. And the foundation herb for all our remedies is Solomon’s Seal. Why? Having used it as a tincture for our muscular-skeletal issues with success, we were convinced this ancient plant (medicinally used for 4,000 years!) was a significant herb with great restorative potential. Over 20 years of sales have provided us with repeated verification by satisfied customers that this is true!