MEET YOUR HOST
Audrey Crawford
Audrey is the founder of Audrey's Little Farm where she teaches others how to grow a garden, raise chickens, and learn skills related to living a more self-sufficient life.
Audrey is an expert gardener, with skills and techniques passed down from 3 generations of family farmers. She has grown a garden her entire life in the Central Valley of CA (Zone 9b), and has such a passion for helping others which is why she started her online business in 2018 while finishing up her Ag Business Degree at Fresno State.
She's a wife and mom who is blessed to say that her online business has allowed her to stay home mom with their son, work on the ranch, and run her little farm.
Meet Your Speakers
Join these incredible gardening experts as they speak on various topics throughout the Spring Vegetable Gardening Summit. They come from various backgrounds and experiences and they each provide so much value!
Carly MacQuarrie
Founder of The Little Green Shoot
Carly MacQuarrie, founder of The Little Green Shoot, and creator of Homestead in the City, helps new gardeners find their way to grow, harvest, and preserve their own healthy, delicious, foods to enjoy all year—even in the city.
Robert Pavlis
Owner and Head Gardener of Aspen Grove Gardens
Robert Pavlis is a well-known speaker, and educator with over 40 years of gardening experience. He is the author of several books, Building Natural Ponds, Soil Science for Gardeners and Garden Myths and publishes the popular gardening blogs; GardenMyths.com and GardenFundamentals.com. As the owner and head gardener of Aspen Grove Gardens, a six-acre botanical garden, he grows 3,000 varieties of plants.
Shelby DeVore
Founder of Garden Farm Thrive
Shelby is a multi-generational homesteader and former high school and college agriculture teacher. She enjoys teaching homesteaders how to grow incredible gardens, raise livestock and embrace a simpler, more traditional lifestyle.
Charles Malki
Founder of IV Organic
Charles J Malki, author of Saving The World With The Home Garden, and host of IV Organic YouTube [America’s leading Garden-Product YouTube Channel] is one of the founders of IV Organic, Inc. and truly loves teaching, educating, inspiring and developing garden products for gardeners, both beginners & experienced, all over the world—to help make each growing season, your best growing season. IV Organic brand products are innovative, organic, effective & USA-made.
Kellye Jeansonne
Founder of Wild Child Kitchen Gardens
Kellye teaches busy women how to grow their own food in any space…with a toddler in tow, baby on hip, with an aching back, single, married, newlywed, or retired. Her clients growing space ranges from one pot on the patio to a backyard full of raised beds, and her method is guaranteed to increase your harvests, decrease your labor, and transform your life.
She shows gardeners that she coaches the beauty of living a life in season, one that follows the rhythms of nature, where lost skills are restored, hours are stretched, and your roots are dug deep into what inspires you. It all begins with a garden.
Bo Whitfield
Chief Tomato Officer (CTO) - San Diego Seed Company
Bo is a dedicated Urban farmer and started gardening in the late 60's. He has grown over 600 varieties of tomatoes and fell in love with the new Dwarf Heirloom varieties. His goal is to share these new tomatoes with everyone since they are close to perfect!
Alicia DeVore
Founder of Create My Garden
Alicia is an expert in gardening, presently pursuing her horticulture certification from UCLA. In addition to being a garden designer, she's also a certified Life Lab teacher, specializing in school gardens. As a homeschooling mother of three, Alicia takes great joy in taking the classroom outdoors into her own garden. She has a knack for making gardening accessible and enjoyable for busy families. Through her personalized guidance and practical tips, Alicia helps people achieve their gardening goals. She offers online courses and coaching, empowering individuals on their journey to gardening success.
V. Lynn Quintard
Founder of Freedom Gardens Electroculture
A few years ago her family was unhealthy and unhappy, and she knew a lot of that was due to their diet. They made a major life change and started growing their own food, but how do you grow enough to feed two growing boys, two adults, dogs, and a flock of chickens? Then she discovered electroculture and it changed their lives. Now they eat exclusively from two 20’x20’ gardens, they are healthy (V. Lynn lost 70 pounds and her husband recovered from other health issues) and they are happier than ever. Her goal is to help others do the same by teaching about electroculture and helping them to grow their own food bigger and faster.
Jill Ragan
Founder of Whispering Willow Farm
Jill Ragan is a farmer & shop owner at Whispering Willow Farm, nestled in the hill country of Central Arkansas. She's been on this gardening, homesteading adventure for the last 10 years. Jill and her husband have a small farm where they grow food, livestock and flowers for their family and community. Through online courses, they teach others how to plan and steward their own farms and dreams. Jill finds joy in walking with thousands of people across the country as they cultivate their land and begin their own journey of living a self-sufficient, sustainable lifestyle. It’s more than just a career for Jill; it’s her purpose.
Brian Melton
Founder of Profig
Brian lives in the Central Valley of California and is the founder of Profig. Profig specializes in rare and unique fig varieties. They also provide fresh figs to their local customers from over 200 varieties of figs. Their newest products are their edible plants. They carry an assortment of Blackberries, Raspberries, pomegranate, pineapple, kiwi , banana and fig trees.
Renee Shepherd
Founder of Renee's Garden Seeds
Renee Shepherd is widely regarded as a pioneering innovator in introducing international specialty vegetables to both home gardeners and gourmet restaurants. After receiving her PhD from UC Santa Cruz and teaching in the Environmental Studies department, she founded Renee’s Garden, offering seed varieties for exciting new and time-tested heirloom gourmet vegetables, culinary herbs and a wide range of fragrant and cutting flowers, sourced from seed growers both large and small around the world. Renee's Garden seed packets are available directly from www.reneesgarden.com through independent garden centers in the US and Canada.
Renee directs the company’s large trial gardens, selects new seed varieties, and writes the variety descriptions and growing information for all the company's seed packets. A long-time garden to table advocate, she has written three kitchen garden cookbooks.
“Renee’s Garden is my practical way to spread the joy of gardening as a meaningful, productive and satisfying activity that connects us to each other and the earth.” – Renee Shepherd
Amber Benge
Founder of Grace Walk Farm
Amber Benge is a writer, gardener, and pastor's wife from the foothills of North Carolina. She homesteads at Grace Walk Farm with her husband, children, chickens, rabbits, dogs, cats, and a friendly groundhog named Frank. Amber teaches how to grow and preserve food.
Caleb Crawford
Plant Scientist & Conservation Agronomist
Caleb was born and raised in the Central Valley of California. During that time he developed a love for agriculture, gardening, and science. He currently spends his time working in research for the University of California and moonlight as a conservation agronomist. In his spare time, he enjoys hunting, video games, bachata dancing, and sharing his knowledge about plants with others.
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