Henrik Nordström, grew up in Helsinki, Finland. My gardening activities started at age 6, when I sprouted a bunch of orange seeds from those notoriously seed-filled 1960s oranges and ended up with a dozen of little orange trees in my parent’s living room. To my great dismay, my mother considered my orange trees perfect housewarming gifts, and soon I only had one orange tree left. Next, I was introduced to outdoor gardening when helping my father plant and harvest potatoes at our summer house 35 km north of Helsinki.

When little old ladies asked me at age 6 what I would become when I grew up, I confidently responded “A Master Gardener”. This dream was finally realized at age 33, after straying for a quarter century in the world of book knowledge and science.

To keep life interesting, I’ve decided to garden on two continents at the same time: at my house and community garden in Seattle, where I’ve lived since 1985, and in Ekenäs, Finland, where my family has a vacation home. In Seattle, I also serve as Master Gardener Advisor and Community Garden Coordinator. I also volunteer as project manager for urban beautification projects. To spread the gospel of gardening to a larger audience, I write gardening articles, speak to garden clubs, and have been fortunate to have the opportunity to produce gardening shows for Finnish Television and radio since 1994.

I am an organic extremist. Not only do I not use any poisons on my gardens, but also I use exclusively velocipede power to reach my garden sites (except, unfortunately, for my yearly transatlantic flight). I also avoid using plastic and other non-organic materials, and minimize the use of wood products in gardening.

The secret to my inspiration? My daughter Linnea, age 12, whose vision has ensured that my garden design is as far removed from mainstream as possible: a lush “managed chaos semi-jungle look”, spiced with a backyard playcastle complete with moat and goldfish.