Meet Our Team » Eli W.
Eli W.
Seed Production Manager
In early spring I am known as The Germinator, and can usually be found back in Seedville, which consists of the germination chamber and the seed room- -home to the seeding machine and a fridge full of tote boxes of neatly organized seed packets. It’s often freezing in the seed room, so I always have a cozy stocking cap on under my sound protector muffs and over my earbuds. Come shipping time, find me in and around the veggie houses, wearing my wide brimmed straw Amish hat and sun sleeves balancing three flats of kale and squinting at the tiny print on the tomato tags. High summer finds me sweating in the same sun protection gear, and taking breaks from outdoor work to swear at the production software program and the USDA website. More earbuds here because it’s easier for me to crunch numbers and fine tune formulas to the sound of loud music than the sound of three simultaneous co-worker conversations. Blessed autumn and it’s time to pull out the safety orange stocking cap for my breaktime walk down the road or around the back field. Winter brings snowshoeing season and I don a lightweight buff to tramp down the trail around the back field and do a lap every day at lunchtime, checking out all the animal tracks and getting in some big sky time.
Germinator- I start all the baby plants
Seed Queen - orderer and organizer of all things seed
Keeper of the most cluttered desk --animal bones, sparkly quartz crystals found in the driveway, lichen covered tree knots, wasp nest fragments, butterfly exoskeletons, napping cats… who needs room to work?
Creator of the most over the top spreadsheets - every color indicates something important. Really. Yes the headers DO need to be in bold and the column titles need to be centered.
Weather Girl- ask me what time the wind will shift to the west and how high the dew point will be this afternoon.
Ladder Lover - it’s roofing season. I’ll climb the tall one. Just let me find some wood scraps around here to level it first.
The 2027 staff musings prompt is to write about a plant we believe is a underrated or unsung hero.
Eli: It was a tough choice between some of my favorite natives and some of my favorite border gems but I've got to give the cheerful sweetness of orange Emilia coccinea some love. Only a couple feet high, the scarlet – orange blooms float on nearly invisible delicate stems that wind their way through the larger items in a mixed border and allow the flower clusters to pop out here and there and add a little zing to the cottage garden. Common names include ladies paintbrush and tassel flower. And they do look like small orange puffs or tassels. If you deadhead them you'll get another round of blooms a month later. Originally from southern and eastern Africa, this plant is definitely tropical and will not over winter. It has never self-seeded for me but maybe it could in a milder climate. Tough through hot humid weather, I definitely recommend grabbing a six pack and popping them in somewhere where they won't get lost among the taller plants. They will bring you joy throughout the summer.