Hey, I'm Taya
The Garden Faery · Arcata, CA
The Mud Pie Kid
I grew up in Florida making mud pies in the backyard and catching bugs before I could spell my own name. While other kids were inside, I was outside. Digging in the dirt, climbing trees, getting as dirty as possible and loving every second of it. That never changed. It just grew into something bigger.
Costa Rica and Permaculture
I studied permaculture at Verde Energia in Costa Rica, where I got to learn how food systems work from the ground up. Living and working on a tropical farm taught me how to think in whole systems. Soil health, water flow, companion planting, composting, all of it connected. It changed the way I see every garden I touch.
Mystic Roots Farm
I worked as the Specialty Farm Manager at Mystic Roots Farm in North Carolina, where I built out a mushroom grow and a microgreens operation from the ground up. I designed the grow spaces, dialed in the systems, and ran both programs while they got established. On the days I wasn't working mushrooms and micros, I was in the market garden greenhouses and out in the medicinal herb fields two to three days a week. It was a lot of hats, but that's how I like it.
Bees with Missy Bee
I'm learning beekeeping under Missy Bee, and it's changing everything for me. She's teaching me how to work with hives gently, how to read what the bees are telling you, and how to relocate swarms without chemicals or harm. I keep my own hives, do gentle swarm relocation, and sit bees for other keepers when they travel. Pollinators are the quiet engine behind everything that grows, and they deserve someone in their corner.
Why Humboldt
I came to Humboldt County for the redwoods and stayed for the people. There's a community here that genuinely cares about the land, about growing things the right way, and about looking out for each other. The growing conditions don't hurt either. Between the coastal fog, the rain, and the mild seasons, this place wants to grow things. I just help it along.
Always Organic
Everything I do is organic. No synthetic fertilizers, no chemical pesticides, no shortcuts. I work with the soil, not against it. That means compost, cover crops, companion planting, and building up the ecosystem in your garden so it can take care of itself over time. It's the way I learned, it's the way I believe in, and it's the only way I work.
What I Do Now
Garden Faery is where all of that experience comes together. I'm a hands-on gardener serving Arcata, McKinleyville, and Eureka.
Ready to get started? I'd love to hear about your garden.
Send a Flutter