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OJAI MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2021
Catching
Carbon
with a
T
Goddess
he garden goddesses of world mythology — Pomona (Roman), Demeter (Greek), Jacheongbi (Korean) and Pachamama (Aztec), to name just a few — are complex female figures associated with more than harvests, plants, and vegetation. They are also powerful yet gentle mother figures: strong, loving, nurturing, and connected to everyone’s Mother Earth — kind of like Jessica Thompson
by KAREN LINDELL Photos: Green Goddess Gardens
Kind of like Jessica Thompson. The owner of Green Goddess Gardens in Ojai — a holistic landscaping design and garden maintenance company — Thompson talks tenderly but with authority about the “energy” of the garden: “We’re all connected, and you need to love your garden for it to thrive, and for yourself to thrive,” she said. But Thompson, who has a degree in horticulture from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, is also an expert on the ground-level basics, like soil and water. In Southern California, drought is real and dirt can be less than ideal, so she is a proponent of permaculture — using the natural qualities of plants, animals, and the environment to create an integrated, sustainable ecosystem. She also practices regenerative agriculture, another holistic technique that uses photosynthesis to keep carbon in soil, which makes it healthier and more capable of retaining water and nutrients. Thompson is especially concerned about water, and keeping it in the ground instead of gushing into gutters. “The old designs for landscapes captured water and put it into the sewer,” she said. “Now, we want water to sink into soil before it runs off.” So she and her gardening team create natural landscapes that preserve water and nurture the soil organically, and create beauty using color, texture, and fragrance.
