Paul Strauss is a legendary modern-era settler, a NYC kid who came to Meigs County, Ohio in 1970 and fell in love with its mix of breathtaking woodland beauty and mine-scarred hillsides. Paul bought land and worked it in the old-time fashion, learning tricks and skills from a man who had grown up in those hills learning from his father, and his father, back to the first white settlers and the First Nation people. Over time, Paul was able to reclaim much of the strip-mined land, restoring forest and wildlife to areas that had gone barren in the wake of coal mining. And he was able to synthesize a rich lore of knowledge passed on from the First Nations about medicinal herbs and the ways to put them to best use. Fifty years on, Paul has codified an enormous amount of detail information about the forest, flora and fauna with whom he shares his paradise, and which supports him in all ways. His Equinox Botanicals provides hand-made products from his FDA-approved apothecary, serving customers globally with high quality natural medicines at affordable prices in a sustainable manner. The Big Herbs is Paul's story -- how he came to find this place and build a life and personal economy that graces the land gently and seeks to celebrate and protect its treasures.
