Helping communities grow food security
Sequoiah grew up on a two acre homestead in the San Francisco Bay Area with chickens, horses, goats, and her own vegetable garden. She began gardening at age 5 and hasn’t stopped since. At age 24 she began to study Permaculture and Landscape Design and Construction at Merritt College in Oakland, CA. This is where she first became enamored with plant propagation and soil science.
For the next 20 years, Sequoiah ran a successful garden design and installation business. During that time, Sequoiah purchased a purple tree collard for her urban quarter acre farm. She noticed that anytime the garden was scant on greens, the purple tree collards were always abundant. In winter storms, frosty nights, and hot fall days, the tree collards were always beautiful, delicious, and plentiful. She also noticed that tree collards were difficult to find for sale and wanted to make these amazing plants available to people far and wide.
After studying holistic health and medicinal herbs at Vital Ways in Portland, OR, Sequoiah founded Project Tree Collard and nursery work uncovered her passion for cross-pollinating perennial collards and kales, growing out the seed, and coming up with the best new varieties. Sequoiah loves actively searching for varieties with shorter bloom times, higher production, larger leaf size, less attractive to aphids, good flavor and texture, and of course aesthetics!!! She also became more and more interested in nutrition, health, and herbal medicine. She also propagates medicinal herbs and other perennial plants that complement Tree Collards in the garden.
