A message from Jonna Cayabyab

(Personal grower and owner of SunLife Herbs)

    SunLife Herbs started out as a hobby when we got tired of using the store bought dried herbs and wanted to start using fresh herbs in our cooking. We searched the local nursery stores hoping to find a supplier of fresh culinary herbs. We looked and found a few types of herbs here at one-of-the larger, local supermarkets; however, we noticed that their plants had no aroma and were quite bitter to the taste. It appeared that these plants were hybrids grown for their hardiness and not the flavor. That's when we asked the question, "Why don't we just grow our own herbs in our own garden?" From that day, we started to grow different kinds of herbs - especially a few basil varieties.

    We have a few friends who love to cook, and we had them try our home-grown, organic herbs. Their positive feedback was very important to us in continuing our herb growing. An additional inspiration was when one of the local, fine-dining chefs here in town encouraged us to grow more; and if we did, he would be our number one customer. We then decided to turn our hobby into a full-time business. We studied and learned modern cultivation techniques and borrowed ideas from some of the local growers. For example, we avoid using toxic chemicals such as insecticides and pesticides on our plants or products. Additionally, we only grow our herbs using organic materials and plant food. Plus, we produce our own organic compost.