About Kathy

Kathy Blakeslee received her Bachelor of Science in Design from the University of Minnesota in 1980 and worked on her Master’s studies in Ethno-Botany at the University of Wisconsin in 1982.  She now works as a consultant and Associate with the Harmony Project llc .along with being is a Phyto Medicine Specialist.  She is an ethno-botanist, master gardener and garden designer and has worked with many organic growers and healers in the San Francisco Bay area as well in Santa Barbara and the Esalen Instutute in Big Sur, California.

Through the years Kathy has accumulated a formative array of experiences. She is a professional gardener, licensed nurseryman, herbalist, horticulture teacher, a 20 year member of the Dane County Farmer’s Market in Madison, Wisconsin, a chef, travel writer and former business owner of 23 years of her own plant nursery which was received and written about nationally. Her extensive knowledge in rare and medicinal plants and herbs continues to expand as she stays abreast of developments in the organic, environmental, indigenous and medical aspects in the phyto (green plant) medicine world both here in the U.S. and abroad.

A successful businesswoman and former owner of Spring Valley Herb Farm and Ashbury Herb Garden.  Kathy was the founder and creator of her own cutting-edge plant nursery and cooking school in the 1980’s called Spring Valley Gardens.  She was a charter member of the International Herb Growers and Marketing Association and a current member of The Herb Society of America, Slow Food Nation, Bioneers, Panchamama Alliance,  Marin Organics, the Dane County Farmer’s Market and the International Crane Foundation.

Kathy has been featured on the covers of the professional trade publications,  ’Grower Talks’ and  ‘Horticulture Magazine’ , along with numerous articles in gardening and is currently writing her book ‘  HEALING FROM the ALCHEMY GARDEN’.  This will feature her exploits with alchemy, growing her own organic gardens and going green.   She will describe her apprenticeship with shamans that she has worked with in her travels to far away places and will also share her journeys through the jungles of the Amazon, the outback of Australia Kathy will extend the wisdom of the various indigenous cultures  she encountered along the way including the Masai villagers in Tanzania, Africa ,and native peoples in Costa Rica, Central America