I've always been interested in plants and the outdoors, with nature and how we interact with it.  After working in the UC Santa Cruz arboretum during college, I ran an edible garden curriculum at an elementary school in San Francisco for 3 years.  I left that job to get an MA in Literature, but the memories of dirt beneath my nails and the sun on my neck kept calling me back.  It only took a year for me to know that it was time to leave the program and get back to the soil.

That was in 2003, when I started the business.  At the same time, I started taking courses at the Merritt College Horticulture Department, based out of Oakland.  Here, I learned a great deal about plant identification, California natives, permaculture, ecological landscaping practices, water efficient irrigation, landscaped design, and graphics.  Over 50 units later, I left and began to work full time. 

No longer being enrolled hasn’t slowed down my education though, as I’ve found new ways to continue my professinal development.  I got my Landscape Contractor's License in 2007.  I became a UC Master Gardener in 2009, and continue to volunteer in the Napa Valley.  And I became an EPA certified WaterSense Partner in 2010.  Who knows what’s next?