Pacific Northwest Gardening: Slugs and Salal

The Slugs & Salal Team

Gardening Writer

Helen Chesnut, writer of many of our gardening articles, is a 2nd-generation newspaper gardening columnist and book author. She provided the initial gardening content for the site.
[more about Helen]

Editor

Louise Lungle, designer of the Slugs and Salal Web site, is also its managing editor. She is a marketing communications consultant with a technology background and an enthusiastic amateur gardener.
[more about Louise]

Webmaster

Webmaster services are provided by Louigi Addario-Berry, a Web site developer from Salt Spring Island, BC. Louigi has built Web sites and designed print publications for a variety of businesses in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec.

Tim Hicks provided Webmaster services to help launch the original Web site.

The idea for the Web site was Tim's, as was the name, Slugs and Salal.
[more about Tim]

We also thank our suppliers:

Chris Lee, Images Art Direction, for the Web site logo design
Islandnet, our Internet service provider.

Our name

(Scene: Helen, Louise and Tim sit at Helen's kitchen table one dull, west coast day in November.)

We needed a good name to reflect our Web site devoted exclusively to the Pacific Coast region (from Prince Rupert on the central British Columbia coast down through into northern California). As we wondered aloud about what grows MOSTLY and/or ONLY in our area, Tim joked that slugs and salal were his first thoughts. Louise looked at Helen. Helen looked at Louise. The lights went on in their eyes. Without a word, they both looked at Tim, who said, "Oh no! You wouldn't!" They did.

Slugs and Salal it would be.

Our philosophy

We agreed from the start to be independent. There are plenty of sites run by an individual garden center or nursery, or landscape architect, and most of them are as fair as they can be - but they can't help having a point of view that's biased in their favor, to help support their own business interests. We may invite businesses to sponsor a page or section, but we will never allow any business to "buy" our endorsement or influence our content.

Online community

We are fortunate to be able to garden in such a unique and beautiful part of the world. So we want to use the Internet's unique capability to help nurture an online community of gardeners.

Slugs and Salal will help foster this community of Pacific Northwest gardeners by adding ways for you, our Web site visitors, to participate. By commenting on what we do, by asking questions, and even by contributing content to our site, you contribute to the community of gardeners. Our welcome mat is always out.

Personal privacy is an important principle that we strongly endorse. We pledge not to exploit your visits to our Web site, and to respect your right to privacy.

We will not use any personal information, such as your Email address, your Internet location or any other personal information you choose to give us, for any reason other than the purpose you have agreed to. We gather statistics about the amount of traffic to our Web site, but that does not include any personal information about you, only that a visit was made by someone. Any other information we may receive from you through Email or other contact, e.g. by contest entry forms, will not be used by us, or given to anyone else, for any other purpose other than to award contest prizes or other reasons which you have agreed to (publication of event or club notices, Q&A responses, etc.)