BOISE, Idaho - For many of us, springtime signals the start of the gardening season. But getting a garden space cleared, created, planned, and planted can be overwhelming, especially if you're tight on space.
That's where local garden expert Jamie Brennan comes in. Brennan is the founder and creative force behind Gold Feather Gardens, Boise's only coaching and consulting business for kitchen gardens. A kitchen garden, Brennan explains, "...is a raised bed filled with nutrient dense soil and locally grown plants with some irrigation, some trellises, and other sorts of structures."
If you've ever planted a garden, you know it can be an overwhelming process. But Gold Feather Gardens takes the guesswork, and grunt work, out of getting a garden up and growing by helping homeowners plan, plant, and even irrigate their perfect patch of produce.
One of those homeowners is Boise resident Jamie Brajcich, who says Brennan "...has really helped us make this dream a reality instead of having to spend time at the store with all of that guesswork." Brennen helped Brajcich and her husband design a custom two-box kitchen garden with a trellis and custom irrigation pipes, and is stocking their space with a wide variety of vegetables from kale, onions, and radishes to bok choy, tomatoes and carrots.
Brennan has a background in food and wine writing, and has lived and breathed local agriculture for years. She started Gold Feather Gardens in 2020 as a way to not just "green up" the Treasure Valley, but also to help keep it connected."I believe that if we all grow a little bit of our own food, we're going to be way more invested in our local communities," she says.
In fact, every product used to build a Gold Feather garden is rooted right here in southwest Idaho. "I have a local carpenter who makes these beds, I use a local soil yard, all of our plants are grown by a couple of different local nurseries," Brennan tells us.
Even the seeds are local, sourced from Snake River Seeds right here in the Boise area. Brennan says locally-grown seeds are vital to an abundant harvest:
All of which helps this "grown in Idaho" business reap just as much as it sows. "In Boise," Brennan reflects, "we're such a conservation minded community that planting a garden is probably not only the easiest, but also the most rewarding way we can celebrate conservation and celebrate the Earth."
If you'd like Gold Feather Gardens' help with getting your garden up and running, it's not too late! Visit their website here to learn more about what they do and to reach out to Jamie to set up a consultation. If you already have a designated garden space and simply need some advice on what to plant and or how to make the most of it, they also offer coaching services and you can learn more about that at their website as well.
