meet the team

aloha friends!

Autumn here with a little peek into who we are and why we're here.

Jake and I found each other in 2022. each of us has a love for nature that runs straight to our bones and have found inspiration in learning what it means to be stewards of the land on which we live. our passions lie in conservation and sustainability--we dedicate most of our free time to preserving and celebrating mother earth through any methods we feel called to undertake.

I started taking my service industry job more seriously and made my way into upper management, gaining the knowledge to operate a business successfully--the dream of operating my own business some day ever present in my mind. I never found true satisfaction managing for a large corporation and needed an outlet to pour myself into that would bring me a little peace and light; plants became my solace.

mom and mawmaw always had a green thumb growing up, but I never understood the motivation. to me, it just looked like work. looking back, and looking forward--i was right.

it is work.

I believe it was Theodore Roosevelt who's quoted as saying "the best prize life has to offer is a chance to work hard at work worth doing." I heard it from Leslie Knope. she follows up the quote with a call to action--"find your team, and get to work."

it really stuck with me. what was my work going to be?

plants became my escape from the things I was not ready to change. caring for my little plant friends showed me what it means to change based on your environment. they became my teachers of what it looks like to leave things behind in pursuit of positive growth. that in order to thrive you must have a symbiotic relationship with your environment; your environment must feed your soul and in return you can thrive and share your light with the world. (we're still talking about plants...right) 

I spent years working with my hands, communing with my plant teachers and learning how to respond to their needs. just like anyone else diving into plant care, I stumbled many times along the way and lost countless plants--which I now see as just part of the dealio--no biggie. doesn't mean I wont cry over a dead obliqua.

Jakes connection to the earth is one that you can really only find from walking through the woods for hundreds of miles as a youngin. he's met countless critters of all shapes and sizes--not a single one a stranger...except maybe he doesn't care to interact with wasps so much (can ya blame him). he brought the crew of reptiles to the relationship while I brought a couple hundred plants. things just started making sense once we found each other. 

the signs that we wanted more than corporate jobs became impossible to ignore, especially as our knowledge of plants and our environment continued to grow. we both feel fiercely passionate about protecting the wildlife and the land that supports us; sharing that love through a small business seemed like the only path that made any sense.

as of mid 2024, we operate out of a state licensed home nursery in the greater Baton Rouge area and currently provide a variety of houseplants, both common and rare.  my favorite thing to share with a fellow plant person, though, is information. I love to hear about your plants--answering your questions, mourning your losses, celebrating your wins. I love what houseplants have done for us as humans; i saw so many people find their love of plants during the pandemic and it just gets my little heartstrings every time I feel someone's excitement over what plants have shown them. 

once you spend enough time loving the earth, your eyes and ears become attuned to the way she speaks through every living being. my time here on this planet has steered me in the direction of preserving and protecting our natural world--plants, animals, and humans alike. I truly believe there is a way in which we can steward the land and live in symbiotic harmony with other life forms, and I intend to spend every second I can working toward just that. 

our learning is currently focused more on our local environment and turning a yard into a sustainable refuge of edibles and natives. we have planted tons of fruit trees and bushes that thrive in our south louisiana climate while also fostering a symbiotic relationship with the native landscape. permaculture has become our revolutionary act, and while I'm not saying any of this is easy--it is the most worthwhile thing I can imagine. 

we are in the baby steps of this journey to combine business with sustainability and transform our living world into a permaculture oasis. Looking forward to all the possibilities (and all the work involved) can be overwhelming but I am so grateful for the opportunity to share this journey with you and for those of you who can see our vision and have already supported our dreams. 

my favorite way to connect is in person at local markets! come out and see us one day. while we do not currently operate a store front, you can bring your questions/love of plants to a local market; I pop up all over Baton Rouge and even as far as Hammond. 

Instagram is the best place to interact with us. there you'll find monthly giveaways, information about any upcoming local markets/pop-ups and just general corny plant content, maybe a cat or a snake every once in a while. 

if social media isn't your jam but you'd still like to get information about local markets, shoot me your email at the bottom of our website to be added to our email list and you'll be informed about any future market/pop-up dates.

we are coming up on a whole year of being married and of owning Ponderosa Plants, and I am humbled all the time by the love we have experienced so far in sharing our plants with all of you. I am so grateful for everyone who has believed in us and shown us such overwhelming support in the first year of our small business.

we have huge plans for the future and I cant wait to keep growing alongside yall. 

I have found my team,

and I am getting to work.