Sylvie Rowand
Sylvie Rowand
She gardens because she likes to eat.
Although interested in – and growing – many ornamentals, Sylvie Rowand’s first love is the kitchen garden. She’s been “seriously” food gardening for almost 2 decades, and since moving to Rappahannock County has been establishing two large kitchen gardens with the triple goal to become self-sufficient in fruit, herbs & vegetable for her family, provide fresh seasonal produce for her cooking and personal chef business, and sell the extra. She grows a wide variety of herbs, vegetables and fruit – without pesticides – using time-tested methods of crop rotation, cover-cropping, composting, interplanting, succession planting, and other techniques. She grows year long, selecting species and cultivars carefully, and starts the vast majority of her plants from seeds (some saved from year to year) or cuttings. From Amaranthus (amaranth) to Zingiber officinale (ginger) via sorrel & lovage, from asparagus to zucchini via cape gooseberries & sweet potatoes, from currants to yard long beans via chayote & tomato, there is a good chance she’s grown it.
Sylvie shares her love and experience in food gardening through her kitchen and garden blog, her gardening workshops offered throughout the year, and through private coaching. She may be contacted via her website (http://www.LaughingDuckGardens.com) or via phone at 540-675-3725.