About Radical Roots Nursery

Sam Radical Roots Nursery

Sam

CO-OWNER

I’ve had the pleasure of working on various farms and nurseries for the last 7 years. I grew up in Colorado, but my farming career started in Costa Rica, where I fell in love with all things cacao – grafting and growing the trees, making bean-to-bar chocolate, and teaching workshops at Talamanca Chocolate. There, I also worked at Finca La Isla (a fruit tree farm and nursery) and taught other classes on homesteading skills like fermentation, farm-to-table cooking, and soapmaking. I then made my way to Tooley’s Trees, where I met Garrett and continued honing my grafting and orcharding skills–this time in a high-altitude, arid ecosystem in Northern New Mexico.

Since arriving in Maine, I’ve loved getting to know the ecology of this water-ful (usually), vibrant place, and it’s been a dream to steward this land, grow food, and increase food sovereignty for the human community, while making things a little bit better for all the other species we’re cohabitating with. I’m forever grateful to the mentors (Ancel, Peter, Gordon, Margaret) who generously shared their knowledge with me over the years, and I hope that our farm can also be a place where people get excited about their role in the food web! 

Garrett Radical Roots Nursery

Garrett

CO-OWNER

I have been working in the nursery industry for the last 20 years starting with my first nursery job at 15. After becoming disillusioned with the industrial horticulture practices that rely on precarious workers, labor violations, and intense resource consumption I sought out different ways to grow.

With the help of my mentors and support from family and friends I was able to meet and learn from some of the most experienced and respected horticulturists. Being inspired by Gordon Tooley, Margaret Yancey, Scott Skogerboe, Michael Phillips, and others, I was able to find the path that matched my values.

After moving to Maine with my partner Sam as climate refugees we met the owners of Winter Cove Farm, Jill and Brian. Due to unforeseen circumstances they had to sell the farm. Not wanting to sell to someone who would discontinue their hard work they needed to find growers who would continue to care for the land. As fate would have it Sam and I were connected to Jill and Brian. The rest, as they say, is history.

Sofia

FARM DOG

Sofia is our beloved farm dog, seen here in one of her favorite spots - nestled in our soil pile. Born in Costa Rica, she has wholeheartedly embraced life in the Northeast. She’s a superb vole-catcher, an exuberant customer greeter (if you’ll have her), and in her free time, a couch potato and forest explorer.