On a farm visit, I got to see the annual migration of many seedlings from their cozy spots under lights to their new digs in the greenhouse. One hard working member of the Gaia crew had a moment to chat. Gaia is a true community effort with multiple connections. Introducing Jess, baby plant carer extraordinaire.

“Wow lots of seedlings. It looks so much like spring down here. Nice what with the sleet outside. How long have you been working here?”

Jess, “Oh awhile now. Two years.”

“What drew you to this sort of work?”

Jess, “I’ve always had a green thumb. I have a garden at Arc Acres in Manotick Station, and a little herbal business called Handmade Herbology I fell in love with herbs and fresh ingredients when I was working in the restaurant industry. And for a while I lived at Mariposa Farm, having my own garden there which got me started. When COVID began, I found myself with more time on my hands. Manish and I were connected through mutual friends when he was looking for help.

“Is there anything that really surprised you about growing?”

Jess, “Yes all the different varieties of plants. There are 100s of varieties of tomatoes for example. Or garlic. There are so many types of garlic but in the grocery store you can find like two.”

“Yeah, the white or the red. You really appreciate their diversity when you work with plants. Recently you got the opportunity to go to a Seedy Sunday in Eganville. Is that right?  I remember those used to be busy fun.”

Jess, “Oh yes. It was wonderful to meet fellow seed people. I even met the person who originally gave Manish the Algonquin Speckled bean seeds (link). She was happy to know they would continue to perpetuate and that if she ever had a failed crop, she had a source.”

“That’s so important. Kind of like building in redundancy into the seed commons. So what are you guys doing now?”

Jess, “Jane and I are moving all these seedlings out into the greenhouse for spring sales. That’ll free up more room for these little transplants.”

“Let the spring weather commence!”