Sundown Seasons

Ever just want to drop out of your hectic life and get back to basics? Maybe

buy a little plot of land next to a peaceful lake and grow your own herbs,

flowers or vegetables? Well,that's what Dorothy Holderbaum did 30 years

ago, and she's never looked back.

Dorothy didn't know a lot about gardening when she and her husband Russell

abandoned city life in Detroit and bought Sundown Acres located near Allegan,

Michigan, just a few short minutes from Lake Michigan. "The soil was sandy and dead when we arrived," Dorothy says. "The neighbors thought we were crazy trying to grow a garden there. But we kept composting and digging and composting and soon the soil began to come back to life."

Fascinated by the rich Native American history of Allegan and the wealth of

information about gardening, she unearthed in old herbal books and local

folklore, Dorothy quickly became a student of nature. Soon she knew the birds,

bees and insects of Sundown Acres like old friends. She began to look forward

to each season as it brought out new neighbors from the woods in the form of

chipmunks, squirrel, deer and owls to keep her company and help her in her

gardening efforts. Over the next few years, life for Russell and Dorothy changed. Dorothy studied nutrition and worked hard to raise foods to feed them that were both healthy and enjoyable. Soon she fell in love with the process of planting tiny seeds in fresh turned soil and watching them grow rapidly into something she could cook and serve on the dinner table, or freeze and can for winter.

"Having things canned and frozen was like storing up treasure," Dorothy says.

Before long neighbors began to consult her on her strategies for growing such

wonderful herbs and beautiful flowers. For years, Dorothy wrote about her

experiences and shared her recipes in the Allegan newspaper. Those columns

soon grew into a book. In addition, she was hired by Rodale to do research

on the planting, cultivation and harvesting of amaranth. Over the years, she's

done presentations for local libraries, and garden clubs. She's also appeared on WKZO TV Studio, to discuss herbs and their healing properties. During this

time Dorothy was a guest on the Suzanne Geha Show.