Budding Success
BROWN THUMB MAMA MAKES HER MARK IN THE GARDEN
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Pam Farley Photo by Linda Smolek
rown Thumb Mama is a mother of two, garden writer and corporate world escapee who wields her superpowers from a suburban Sacramento home. With her Brown Thumb Mama website (brownthumbmama.com), weekly newsletter, social media sites, videos and TV appearances, Pam Farley recently exceeded a website milestone— more than 1 million annual readers. The next bite of the tomato is her first gardening book. “The First Time Gardener: Container Food Gardening” will be released next spring by Cool Springs Press. “It was a big project and I’ll be excited to see it in print,” Farley says. The Brown Thumb Mama weekly newsletter targets people who want to learn but know little about sustainable lifestyles. Her newsletter offers tips on gardening, kitchen chores and natural living. Topics include nutrition, the environment, saving money and eliminating “hidden toxins” in homes. “But what does everybody ask me about?” she asks. “Gardening!” Trial and error have been her gardening tutors. She’s not shy about discussing failures. The Brown Thumb Mama brand defines Farley’s experiences. “My garden is not always successful,” she says. “The year my russet potatoes were the size of golf balls comes to mind. Folks that can’t grow anything say they have a ‘black thumb’ and those who are great at gardening have a ‘green thumb.’ I’m somewhere in the middle, always learning new things about gardening.” Brown Thumb Mama was created in 2009, but Farley gave it full attention in 2015 following a career change. After 20
DV By Dan Vierria Garden Jabber
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