Downspout Gardens

Merlin Erb

Merlin and his wife Loretta have lived north of Dalton for 40 years where he founded and operated NSWS Labs since 1985 and now has either sold off or discontinued all four labs except for the milk microbiology lab as he still services two clients. Loretta, a retired dental hygienist, enjoys her family and friends, anxiously awaiting the arrival of their first grandchild in June. She researches food preparation YouTubes and recently taught a class on Basic Sourdough at the Kidron Small Farm Solutions conference in February. Because of Merlin’s numerous health challenges, Loretta’s nutritional and health research has literally kept him alive, beginning first in ’93 with a mis-diagnosis of terminal bone cancer with perhaps a year to live, as finally corrected by the third oncologist. Bottom line, because of a genetic bone condition, IO, Merlin was told he definitely takes incriminating body scans and to avoid such situations. Since an auto accident forced his retirement in ‘18, Merlin has become an avid reader and writer, so his sons set up a blog for him titled merlinsmustache.com which he contributes to weekly. Merlin promotes continual lifelong learning with a quote from an unlikely source, Oscar Wilde. “It is what you read when you don’t have to, that determines what you will be (or do) when you can’t help it.”