Quick Takes With: Fritz Haeg

During the COVID lockdown of 2020, we spotted captivating images on Instagram of life at Salmon Creek Farm that made us want to immediately pack up and take up residence in one of its ramshackle cabins. The commune was founded in 1971 on the Mendocino Coast by a bunch of hippies but by the 1980s, it had run its course. Its reincarnation came about when artist Fritz Haeg scooped up the property in 2014 with the intention of turning it into an arts colony. “I have been consumed by it ever since, establishing the community, cultivating new gardens, and tending to the land,” says Fritz, who, prior to this, was best known for being the mastermind behind Edible Estates, a project that encouraged people to replace their front lawns with edible landscapes. With help from a long list of like-minded artists who don’t mind getting dirty, Fritz has, over the years, restored the off-kilter buildings, cultivated the land to grow fruits and vegetables, and revived the spirit of the original commune. And recently, he announced the founding of non-profit Salmon Creek Arts, which will award annual residency fellowships to artists, allowing them to spend time at the sanctuary.

We are thrilled Fritz is sharing his thoughts here on gardening—including his favorite way to keep weeds at bay, the “tool” he uses every day, and more.

Photography courtesy of Salmon Creek Farm, unless otherwise noted. (For more images, check out Remodelista’s post.)

Your first garden memory:

Harvesting string beans and gathering peonies with my mother in our backyard family garden in Minnesota.

Garden-related book you return to time and again:

One Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka. It describes an approach to cultivating that doesn’t fight—but surrenders—to the nature of plants and soil, where for example the dead stalks of one season are left in place to decompose and feed the next seasons.

Instagram account that inspires you:

My friend, artist/photographer Paul Sepuya’s—@misslottiesgarden.

Describe in three words your garden aesthetic.

Structured, wild, free.

Plant that makes you swoon:

Artichoke.

Plant that makes you want to run the other way:

Vinca.

Favorite go-to plant:

Borage.

Unpopular gardening opinion:

Let most annuals, set seed, dry up, and remain dead in place, until chopped down for straw mulch.

Hardest gardening lesson you’ve learned:

Don’t plant anything you’re not prepared to take care of.

Gardening or design trend that needs to go:

Unused lawns.

Favorite gardening hack:

Thick layers of cardboard for weed-block starting new beds.

Favorite way to bring the outdoors in.

Fresh cut anything (flowers, branches, seed heads, fruit) on the table everyday year round.

Favorite hardscaping material:

Brick.

Every garden needs a…

A place to sit.

Tool you can’t live without:

Straw hat.

Go-to gardening outfit:

I’m a cliché: big straw hat, garden clogs, felco holster, linen work shirt…

Favorite nursery, plant shop, or seed company:

Our Mendocino Winter Abundance Seed and Scion Exchange. It’s an annual gathering of local home gardeners to share seeds, scions, and general information about growing food in our region.

Not-to-be-missed public garden/park/botanical garden:

Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens.

The REAL reason you garden:

To create beautiful spaces, cultivate food, care for the land, plus an excuse to spend hours of contemplative time outside with hands in the dirt, alongside friends and my dog Zucca.

Thank you, Fritz! You can follow him on Instagram @salmon_creek_farm.

See also:

• Quick Takes With: Leslie Bennett
• Quick Takes With: Claire Ratinon
• Quick Takes With: Molly Sedlacek