Meet Annie: An Ohio Garden Coach

Gardenary's mission is to help you GROW YOUR SELF and make the kitchen garden an 'ordinary' part of life again, for everyone.

But 'everyone' starts with 'some one.'

And this 'Meet Me' series will introduce you to the 'some ones' who are growing themselves in the very best ways.

Seven years ago, I was living in New York City and working in the Fashion industry. I was craving a change in my career, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do next. Little did I know, I was already starting down a path that would lead me to start my business as a Garden Coach. You might say, the seeds of change had already been planted. (See what I did there?)

NYC is where I learned to grow food. While living in the East Village, I joined a community garden on my block and fell in love. When I joined I knew nothing about gardening. NOT. A. THING. My fellow community gardeners taught me everything from planting seeds to composting and everything in between. Learning from other gardeners was such an amazing experience and it’s part of the reason why I started my business. In a world where Google can send you down a research hole so overwhelming it makes you cry; I wanted to give people the experience of learning and growing with a fellow gardener.

Fast forward a few years and one move to Columbus, Ohio. I got married, bought a house, and became a mother. I decided to move away from my career, that I was no longer in love with, to stay at home with my baby. During this time, I designed myself a large urban garden that my husband and father-in-law lovingly built for me. It was the second garden I had designed, having designed one for our tiny apartment yard when we first moved to Ohio, and I was starting to get the itch to do more. 

I started designing and planning kitchen gardens for friends and family. I knew pretty quickly that this was what I wanted to do with my life. So, with lots of fear and hesitation, I started Seed Babies, now Seed and Vine. My first season was not a smashing success by any means. I had about 5 clients total, one of them may have been my mom, but my goodness did I have fun. I had so many ideas for growth, but I had no idea how to get to where I wanted to go. 

That is when I stumbled upon Nicole and The Kitchen Garden Society. Nicole had done so many of the things with her business that I wanted to do with mine. I knew instantly that I had to join the Society and learn her ways. It was one of the best decisions that I made for my business. 

Having a mentor on my side who motivates and challenges me has made such a difference. I’ve been able to grow my business and expand my services and I continue to do so while learning every step of the way. 

Now I get to spend my days designing amazing spaces for clients and coaching them through the season. The excitement I see on clients’ faces when they learn or master something for the first time brings me so much joy. It reminds me of that same excitement I felt when I first started my gardening journey back in that East Village community garden.