Our Crew

After graduating with a degree in International Business, John spent eight years learning Spanish and pursuing social-focused businesses in areas dealing with systemic poverty. That journey led him to studying permaculture at the Bullock’s Homestead on Orcas Island with his wife in 2011. In the summer of 2012 John completed an intensive course in edible forest gardening with Dave Jacke.

To continue his education in natural systems and wildlife processes, John moved to Vashon Island, where he puts a practical application to his studies in edible forest gardening, mushroom cultivation and integrated holistic landscape design. John’s main concern is designing and building gardens that people can use for food, pleasure and medicine. John enjoys soccer and bicycling. He and his wife have two young daughters, who specialize in eating berries and digging holes in the garden.

Special expertise: Permaculture, Food Forests, and Edible landscape design. Plant education. Spanish.

Otong (Oi) hails from West Java, Indonesia. A graduate of Indonesia College of Art in Bandung, he spent over 10 years as a professional set designer and builder. After moving to the states in 2007, his landscape design and building skills were inspired by the permaculture vision at the Heartwood Institute in Northern California. Since 2008, he has been creating functional beautiful structures independently in the Seattle area. He now lives with his family on Vashon Island.

Originally from the Southeast, Kelly has a passion for gardening, the arts, good food, wellness through plant medicine, and dogs. She’s new to permaculture and is so excited to learn more! After graduating from SCGSAH with a focus in silversmithing/secondary in sculpture, Kelly spent 9 years in Charleston, SC before journeying west to check out life in WA.

Passionate about preservation of happy soil microbiology, KnF farming methods, organic options, and continued practices that are sustainable and restorative of natural balance, she looks forward to contributing to an already amazing team. Kelly loves to paint, make jewelry, photograph nature, nerd out on horror, scifi and fantasy, romp with her dog Cosmo, and explore the mountains and coasts with her sweetheart.

Relocating to WA from the midwest, Mark has always enjoyed spending time in the woods and outdoors. This evolved into cultivating personal gardens and a love of plants. A creative team player with experience from preschool teaching to carpentry, he is always looking for new things to learn. A budding interest in permaculture made the alignment with HGO a great fit, and we’re so glad he joined our install team last summer!

Originally from North Carolina, Alanna studied design and horticulture at NC State University. Through her studies, she noticed an imbalance between the design and plant worlds, and wrote her undergraduate capstone on the environmental and social impacts of the linear economy. Now, she is an advocate for sustainable and intentional living, encouraging others to be conscious consumers and to reconnect with the earth through gardening. This summer Alanna will be volunteering with City Fruit in Seattle to help redistribute food to vulnerable community members. A perfect Saturday looks like: pancakes, listening to podcasts while gardening, and a horror movie in the evening, or a tough hike!

Growing up in the heart of the Willamette Valley in Oregon, Hayden gained many experiences from the land. With an interest in land stewardship, environmentalism, and a creative knack for the arts, what started as high school job at a 560 acre biodynamic vineyard and winery turned out to be much more. The knowledge obtained while learning and implementing the biodynamic practices as well as the business side of the wine market have stuck with him and are ready to be pulled out of his toolkit when the opportunity seems fit. Hayden joined our install team in February 2019 and is always working hard and great to have around… but you won’t ever see him on the job site during the months of September – November because he’ll be gone making wine then back to tell the tale upon his return come December.

Liam originally hails from England, and attended high school in Oregon. He’ll soon be coming up on a year of being in Seattle and looks forward to continuing to settle in and explore the area. Liam has extensive experience working in vineyards and wineries (7 years!) and though he is newer to gardening, that experience is a fantastic base to build on and ensures attention to detail. He loves nature, working with his hands (a bonus if outside) and finishing good hard work that he can be proud of. A big fan of cooking, he’s also a soccer fan. Welcome to the team, we’re so happy you joined us!