Operating the small but charming Woodland Herb Farm and Twisted Whiskers shop for more than 40 years now has always been a labor of love for owner Pat Bourdo. The shop was once a garage on the property and transformed into a storefront in 1977. Since then, many people have come to know the business as a unique place to find herbs and seasonings galore, as well as other popular crafts such as various designs of hand-sewn catnip toys.
“Going 40 years back is quite an expanse, I’ve always been doing just about everything I’ve been doing now… I just like cooking with herbs and smelling herbs,” Bourdo said. “I was selling a lot of plants (from the garden) before like Thyme, a major perennial herb. This whole place is covered with Thyme… It smells heavenly. So when I got here, I started growing all kinds of herbs.”
The business has operated in different locations since it first opened in 1977, Bourdo explained, including downstate in Saugatuck, where she lived for a couple of years to be near her mother. The late John Bourdo, Pat’s husband, was the reason she originally moved to the Traverse City area so many years ago though. The couple bought the farm in Northport just off N Manitou Trail from John’s parents in 1976, opening the shop a year later after renovating the garage and taking it from a dirt ground to actual floors. While John worked as an artist and operated a display business in Traverse City, Pat would be working at the shop with other employees.
