Katie Savalchak

I have been gardening and farming for 20 years. In 2006 Iwas a MOFGA apprentice at a homestead and tree nursery in Franklin, Maine,where I was introduced to permaculture and biodynamics. From there, I moved onto develop my own permaculture- focused homestead with perennial and vegetablegardens, and livestock including poultry, dairy goats, honey bees, and meatrabbits. In 2013 I was accepted into the MOFGA Journeyperson program,initiating 4 growing seasons of running my own cut flower farm. Utilizing biodynamicmethods, I grew on a half acre and marketed to wholesale accounts, studioflorists, farmer's market, CSA, and did wedding design. In addition to my ownfarm, I have worked on other flower farms in Maine as co-manager and harvestcrew, as well as on various vegetable and goat farms in Maine and Vermont. Withnearly 30 years of self-study in herbalism, I have been growing  medicinal plants for my own use for manyyears. More recently, my focus has shifted to learning about the ecology ofnative plants and pollinators. I believe there is an urgent need to providesafe haven for pollinators and to restore and revitalize as much land aspossible with the native plants they co-evolved with. In recent years I havebegun self-study of native plant cultivation and ecology, and volunteered atNative Gardens of Blue Hill (NGBH), a public native plant demonstration garden.I completed their Certificate Program in Sustainable Landscape & GardenManagement in 2021. Today, I garden with organic, permaculture, and biodynamicprinciples raising a diverse mixture of annual and perennial flowers,vegetables, and herbs for home use and sharing with friends and family.

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Currently I am interested in acquiring land to restoreand develop into a native plant and pollinator sanctuary. This endeavor wouldbe guided by permaculture and biodynamic principles, and supplemented by salesof medicinal herb and native plant starts, fresh and dried herbs, andcut-flowers.

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