Meet Mary Hunt, FBG Vice President

This is what most people see of  Mary Hunt -- what comes off her fingertips.  She's been responsible for the website content, the GreenMap of our gardens, the FBG look and feel, newsletters, artwork, spreadsheets for garden maintenance and automation, photos…  As a retired communications specialist, it's just another day at the office, but with one client and purpose -- "to grow, gather, and give to others."

Mary is a lifelong gardener who planted and picked far too many Kentucky Wonder green beans growing up in Michigan and ever since looks for ways to make gardening tasks less back-breaking or boring. Like many gardeners, she's had her heart broken by crop failure in the fall only to be revived each year with the arrival of the first seed catalog. While she still drools over the biggest squash, she only plants what will grow the best in NW conditions and can be preserved for her household to use over winter. As the Red Hen garden manager, she relies on Grow Veg.com and simple Google Doc reports to automate the needs of the 33 raised beds and a dozen volunteers.

Blending her needs for fresh food with less back-breaking effort, Mary has a 10x25 foot Aquaponics greenhouse at home. Each day the goldfish water from a 300 gallon tank cycles through gravel feeding plants and returns cleaned up into the tank. Her most productive plants are tomatoes, cucumbers, Basil, and brassicas all growing away with no need to weed, feed, or worry about animals or pests. This year, seedlings for the Red Hen garden will be gracing the floor. 

Mary shares her plant based life with husband Mike and loves to hear about all verdant exploits face-to-face or typeface-to-typeface. She can be reached at maryclarehunt@gmail.com