On Growing

As a horticulturist, ecologist, teacher, and lover of plants and living ecosystems, for the past 15 years I've explored how humans engage with our landscapes, and how we can be stewards of place and the bioregional communities to which we belong. I've managed and worked at various native plant nurseries in the coastal wilds of Northern California, collected native seed along the tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay, hosted community plant sales and seed swap events, and managed several community-based restoration projects in riparian, woodland, meadow, and marshland habitats within the San Francisco Bay Watershed. I’ve also managed a three-acre biointensive farm and orchard at an arts & ecology center, designed native habitat gardens for schools, mentored numerous apprentices and volunteers, and taught classes in ecological gardening and horticulture.

Throughout my career I have approached horticulture and gardening not simply as the making of a product, but as a window into the nature of life—through which we can not only cultivate relational diversity, but bring dependency back into our understanding of ourselves. I firmly believe that through the cultivation and stewardship of our landscapes, we also cultivate our sense of place and social-ecological identity—reminding us what it means to be whole, and to be human.

~Michelle Krieg