Rachel Freifelder found her green thumb as a young child, planting dahlias and nibbling on scallions in her father’s garden.   She holds degrees in ecology and environmental science from Stanford University and UC Berkeley, and studied agricultural ecology and horticulture at UC Davis and herbology at the Pacific School of Botanical Medicine.  She apprenticed on two working farms and left the university world to join in the founding of Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage, an intentional community in rural Missouri.  She returned to city life for the purpose of integrating social justice work with sustainable living, and began working as an organic land care professional in 1998.    She is committed to helping her community enjoy the deep connection to the natural world that a garden can bring.

Rachel has taught garden skills to both adult and younger neighbors in various schools and neighborhoods since 1996.   Since settling in Portland’s Cully neighborhood in 2007, Rachel coordinated the garden at Rigler School for 5 years and has offered many food gardening classes at her abundant mini-farm, first solo and since 2011 as a member of the Living City collective.