Ellen Vande Visse

About Ellen

Ellen Vande Visse, MS, was, somewhere in her shady past, an Environmental Education Consultant in West Michigan for 20 school districts, and a developer of a nature center. In Alaska, she has played in the soil as a organic market gardener, both in her own Good Earth Gardens and then for the kitchens of the National Outdoor Leadership School, Alaska Branch.

Ellen is especially fond of all things decaying, and is known in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley as The Compost Queen. She has been known to mysteriously brew compost tea for farmers and farmers’ markets. She consults on compost/compost tea and eco-agriculture growing systems. Since 1987 she has been training folks how to farm and garden using organic methods. Teaching topics include selecting organic fertilizers, managing pests non-toxically, building living soil, composting successfully, growing lush flowers, lawns, and herbs, and raising nutrient-dense vegetables. She instructs through her own Good Earth Garden School, as well as credit courses through University of Alaska Anchorage, Matanuska-Susitna College, and Alaska Pacific University.

Ellen offers various workshops that combine the science and the spiritual methods of organic growing. These classes utilize the Findhorn-Perelandra-style of communication and co-creation with nature, and are based on her book, Ask Mother Nature, a Conscious Gardener’s Guide. To learn more about the classes Ellen instructs, or to host a class in your community, click here!