The Tangled Web of Calendula Farm & Earthworks
At our core we are plant-loving, dirt worshipping, tree-hugging artists and general contractors with an intense passion for growing plants and creating gorgeous & functional outdoor living spaces for other humans to enjoy. Here at Calendula Farm & Earthworks, we follow our passions and we like to share the results in hope that we are contributing to a more peaceful and beautiful world. We acknowledge that Calendula Farm and Earthworks exists on and does its business on the traditional lands of the Puyallup People. The Puyallup people have lived on this land since the beginning of time and we gratefully acknowledge their stewardship, grieve their forced removal, and honor their continued fight to live on their ancestral lands. We affirm our responsibility to stand with the Puyallup Tribe of Indians and do everything we can to protect their land and culture from further encroachment and destruction. Here is a link to a video - Puyallup Tribal Lushootseed Land Acknowledgement https://youtu.be/KGnac8x-SIM
Currently, we focus on offering:
Potted nursery stock for landscapes and home gardens
Landscape construction - from small gardens to whole yard makeovers
Production of flowers and other botanicals for dried arrangements and decor
Skincare products made from traditional herbs grown and processed on our farm
In the nursery, we specialize in plants that produce food or are used in traditional medicines and also grow an extensive selection of ornamental flowering perennials, shrubs, and trees. We use these plants in our landscaping projects and sell them at the Proctor Farmers’ Market on Saturdays in Tacoma. We grow plants that are best suited to the Pacific Northwest climate and range from garden variety Blueberries & Raspberries to unusual, old-fashioned, or hard-to-find plants like Wasabi, Carnations, Marshmallow, and Crape Myrtle. We are general contractors (licensed, bonded, insured # CC CALENLN883RE) specializing in anything that contributes to artful outdoor living. Whether you are interested in a space for entertaining, a cut flower garden, a food forest, improved curb appeal, or a peaceful, private sanctuary where you can retreat from a too-busy world, we build creative spaces to suit your style. We are particularly passionate about stonework like patios, pathways, walls, and steps and also build wooden arbors, trellises, fences and construct raised planting beds from either wood or stone. Other services include outdoor lighting, irrigation, and drainage solutions. In the fields, we grow a huge selection of flowers, grasses, trees, and shrubs whose blooms, buds, leaves, branches, seeds, and roots we dry or preserve in various ways. These are used in our studio to become seasonal decorations and art. The wreaths, swags, bouquets, and sculptures are permanently dried and preserved and can last for years. Each piece is unique and can range from more or less traditional looking to fanciful and kinda weird. Our fields also produce a number of wild herbs with long histories of use in traditional medicines. We use Calendula, Plantain, Yarrow, Cottonwood Bud, and Comfrey in our line of skincare products that include creams and balms for soothing self-care. We harvest, dry, and infuse these herbs in oil for several months, then create our basic Rejuvenating Cream, Calendula Cream, Soothing Balm, and Arnica Joint & Muscle Balm. Who we are:
Scott Gruber is the principal weirdo and owner of Calendula Farm & Earthworks. He was trained as an artist and earned a BFA in Sculpture in 1986. Since then he has operated several creative businesses in design, manufacturing, wholesale, retail, and construction. He loves creating beautiful things and getting his hands dirty. Alina Mikolajczyk is the principal sensible one in the operation and contributes a staggering force of creativity, both in the studio making botanical sculptures and decorations and in our landscaping projects. She has a long history as a health care worker, culinary artisan, and has spent years doing all of that while simultaneously working at a local organic farm and raising two teenagers.
