people OF the palouse by
gayle anderson Let’s get to know our neighbors, those like us and those who are different from us. Please send any introductions to: Heather@homeandharvestmagazine.com
Nicole Flansburg Maybe it was my time of having once lived in Genesee that gave me an appreciation of the beauty of small-town living. And that is probably why I have been enamored for so long with Palouse, Washington. Anytime you see a thriving and vibrant small community, you know there are active, committed people behind the scenes, the movers and shakers who give of themselves to create a better place for others. If I could put a face in the dictionary of what community spirit looked like, it would be a picture of Nicole Flansburg . With that let me introduce you to a woman with a mission. I met Nicole at their farm on a hot July day and which happened to be the first day of wheat harvest. Her husband, Aaron was off in the distance on a combine, bringing in the crop that ends up in some form or another on most American’s dinner table. As we chatted in their farm shop, which by the way I now have “shop envy”, Nicole shared the two things outside of family that she loves, plants and community activism. Growing up in a farming community, it wasn’t the act of farming that inspired Nicole’s love of being outdoors and growing things, rather it was her time spent with her mom gardening and bringing beauty in the form of plants to their home. She recalls going to a couple of nurseries in Spokane that were game changers of what kinds of exotic plants were available and ways to incorporate nature into artistic landscape settings. Farming seems to bring out the practicality in people and despite the love of nature, Nicole graduated from college with a double major in Human Resources and Business Management. This seemed a good pathway to being able to enter into the business world. During her senior year, Aaron proposed, and during that time his 5th generation farm had recently acquired more leases which means in “farmer talk” that he now had a place in the family farm operation that could support him and his new wife. So instead of ending up working in a large urban area, she and Aaron settled in Pullman as newlyweds in a rented apartment. In hindsight this was a blessing as Nicole’s mom was diagnosed with cancer and being close to home, Nicole was able to help care and spend quality time with her beloved mom before she passed away.
