"Some problems you can't do anything about," Suzanne says, showing me marks of ant bites on her hands. "These beds are ant condominiums. They just love it when I build them another one." She won't use any kind of poisons to kill the ants because "herbs concentrate chemicals in their oils." Suzanne adds, "To be honest, the ants aren't all bad. All that tunneling does loosen the soil. I hardly notice the bites any more."

Although she has her moments: "Last spring when everything else was flooded, I was threatening to get out the pistol to shoot crawfish, then plant rice." When she's not in the garden, Suzanne is usually planning next year's experiments or working on marketing her vinegars. When I asked about a recipe for an herb vinegar, she smiled and said no. "There's nothing a Louisianian likes more than a secret recipe."

Kit Anderson, a former editor-in-chief at National Gardening, received her doctorate at Louisiana State University.

Photography by National Gardening Association.