Name: Amy Pennington
Age: 34
Location: Seattle, Wash.
Education: No formal education
Job Title: Founder, Go Go Green Garden
What She Does: Amy is the green-thumbed gal behind the Seattle-based urban farming company Go Go Green Garden. As the company founder, Amy tends a variety of organic backyard vegetable gardens for clients who are too busy to do so themselves or who lack a green thumb.
How She Got Her Gig: For years, Amy worked in restaurant kitchens and gardened for locals on her days off. She fell in love with the rhythm of gardening, but didn’t look at it as a viable career until a client asked her to plant an organic vegetable garden in their yard. “I got to thinking that other people would want me to plant veggies in their backyards, too, and hence the idea was hatched,” says Amy.
A Self-Taught Trade: Amy lived off the land at a young age, having grown up in a family that kept a vegetable garden and raised their own animals. “From that internal memory, or maybe it’s just in my blood, I started gardening a few years back. To educate myself, I’ve read hundreds of gardening books and taken some specialized courses here and there, but mostly I think it’s safe to say I’m both self-taught and I very much operate with intuition. It just feels right to me,” she says.
A Gardener’s Lifestyle: Amy starts her day by answering e-mails and watering the orphan plants (herbs, squash, tomatillos, chard, lettuce, tomatoes, etc.) she stores on her deck before heading out to make “go-go rounds.” Each day of the week, she visits gardens in different parts of the city to tend and harvest them for her clients. Then it’s back home to fit in more computer work, garden planning and mapping, and e-mails.
Everyday Reading: Amy spends at least an hour every day keeping current on the growth of her industry via three daily news alerts for certain catchphrases, such as “urban garden.” Additionally, she reads the national news, The New York Times (for business and global happenings that affect small-business owners), and any blogs that discuss gardening or food news.
Erratic Hours: Amy’s always-changing schedule makes it difficult to determine how many hours she works a week. And, since her career intersects her hobbies—gardening and food—it’s arguable that she’s always at work. “I love what I do and it all starts to meld together. I might be walking the grounds at the Center for Urban Horticulture to see what’s in bloom, but I consider that work, so I guess I work all day every day. But I love it,” she says.
Grow Garden Grow: Amy’s business achieves new heights—literally—each summer when she discovers flourishing gardens on her weekly rounds. “This August, as I was stopping by on my rounds, I turned the corner to a garden and it took my breath away. There were tall flowers—cosmos, borage, and marigolds—swaying in the breeze, lettuces and beets were in full, strawberries had little red gems all over them, the tomatillos were forming their papery lanterns, and I thought to myself, ‘I did it.’ It was a proud moment for me,” she says.
This Job’s for You if: You have an even temperament and the ability to multitask. A background in food can’t hurt either, because it’ll help you educate your clients about the foods you are growing and the ways they can use them in the kitchen. Gardening may not be a cash cow, but the lifestyle it affords is worth it. “My career opens doors to a rich and fulfilling personal life, which I think is severely lacking in our culture,” says Amy. “ I am able to take time for family and friends, for myself, etc. That freedom is priceless—one of the biggest ‘doors’ imaginable.”
