Courtney Thomas of Naive Melody Front Yard Farm is an entrepreneur, gardener and mother. This season, she can be found at the Sequim Farmers & Artisans Market with a vibrant display of edible plants ready to find their new homes in your backyard.
Thomas is the first to admit that the offers at his booth can be a bit… wacky.
“I like weird stuff,” says Thomas. “I’m focusing on growing vegetables that you can’t find in the grocery store or maybe you didn’t even know existed. One of the bestsellers is a dark blue cherry tomato which contains the same amount of antioxidants as blueberries.
“Soon I’ll have green beans that are red and can grow up to three feet long, and then there’s a cauliflower that’s purple but turns lime green when you cook it.
Thomas says she is particularly drawn to the stories behind her plants.
“I really like making sure I am informed about the varieties I am growing,” she says. “I know where they were pollinated, which farms the seeds came from and all the little special tips to make them grow successfully.”
Thomas started gardening in his early twenties. Newly married and single, she wanted to glean a better understanding of where food comes from.
Photo by Emma Jane “EJ” Garcia
“Only five percent of the food in your average supermarket comes from our general region; it’s kinda crazy, ”she says.
“When you start to see the current reality of our food system, you can’t help but want to do something about it.”
Naive Melody Front Yard Farm exists to encourage the people of Sequim to grow some of their own food. “Anyone who gardens learns by trying, you might have failures, but you also have these little successes that you really get excited about,” Thomas says.
“I’ve been doing this for fifteen years now and I feel like I’ve finally learned enough to focus on helping others get started.”
Thomas is a community wellness advocate and is recognized by many community members as an accomplished practitioner in orthopedic massage for over 12 years.
In 2020, Thomas’ business was forced to shut down in response to the pandemic.
“It was a great financial and emotional success,” she says. “I loved owning my own practice, I loved the work I did, I loved the relationships with my clients. Suddenly, one night, everything was gone. It was very shocking.
As a mother of young children, Thomas says finding child care during the pandemic was a challenge.
“I really had to go back to my number one mom job,” she says. “It was my top priority.”
The Front Yard Farm seed has been planted.
“It’s something I realized I could do during the week, at home with my family, and go to the market one day a week,” Thomas says.
With an experience that fuses personal wellness and gardening, Thomas says she is passionate about the myriad of benefits gardening can offer.
“I think gardening is so amazing for us as humans. There are so many studies on how this can heal, ”says Thomas. “The fact that dirt physically touches your skin produces hormones that improve your mood.”
“When it comes to mental health, the stigma can be so great. People don’t always like to talk about it, ”says Thomas. “When that happens, we also don’t talk about the things we can do to feel healthier. For me, gardening is a cure. It is something that anyone can try.
“That’s what it was about. I needed it for my own sanity. I needed to feel like I was contributing to my community, as if I was expressing my passions and using my skills and strengths to help others.
I could have continued gardening in my backyard, spending this romantic moment with my apron and my flowers, but I needed to go further. I wanted to help people not only grow tomatoes, but hopefully feel better in body and mind.
Thomas says she is excited to join the 2021 SFAM vendor lineup.
“If someone buys me a tomato and six weeks later they say, ‘Oh, I have this problem,’ they can just come back to me and I can help them,” Thomas says. “It’s one of my favorite things in the market, it’s a whole day I’m just talking about gardening. I can’t do this the rest of the week. “
Thomas also says she believes farmers’ markets are a great environment to connect with local business owners.
“You have the option of talking to the farmers or to the people who directly manufacture your product,” she says.
“Making that connection is really important. You just don’t understand this by going to a grocery store. Meeting the real person and hearing their story is so meaningful to everyone involved. “
Emma Jane “EJ” Garcia is the Market Manager at Sequim Farmers & Artisans Market.