About

FOUNDER, CONSULTANT & CONTRACTOR

Nicole fell in love with sustainable agriculture and gardening during college. Her hands have been in the soil ever since!

Nicole brings over 25 years of experience growing food, flowers, herbs, and medicine. She is a certified Garden Consultant and Licensed Landscape Contractor. She has a B.S. in Ecology & Resource Management, a Masters in Business Administration (MBA). and a graduate certificate in Social Innovation & Entrepreneurialism.

After completing her undergraduate degree, Nicole backpacked through Europe and volunteered for Willing Workers on Organic Farms. She worked on an olive farm in Spain, then in a kitchen garden at a meditation retreat center on the Canary Islands. Here she learned biodynamic, intensive farming practices and how to grow enough food to feed a community on a small plot of land.

After returning to the States, Nicole pursued her love of plants working as a botanist, managing native plant restoration projects, and conducting field surveys for endangered and culturally significant plants. She enjoyed a career in environmental and education nonprofits before coming full circle to launch Noble Root.

A lifelong learner, Nicole experimented with gardening methods over the years growing flowers, medicinal herbs, berries, and vegetables in her own backyard kitchen garden. Outside the garden, she begins each morning with meditation and ends many days in the yoga studio. She is inspired by nature and enjoys hiking, traveling abroad, and backpacking deep into the wilderness.

LANDSCAPE DESIGNER & PROJECT COORDINATOR

Rachel is passionate about helping clients bring their garden dreams to life through thoughtful design development and beautifully rendered plans. Rachel has been a landscape designer in the Portland area since 2017. With a degree in Landscape Design and a B.S. in Chemistry, she applies art and science to create garden oases that nurture people and pollinators.

For many years, Rachel worked as a laboratory analyst running tests for nutritional composition of food. She now helps clients find the perfect place to grow their own nutritious food at home! Rachel still thinks science is cool but is happy to have found her way into a career where she can be analytical AND creative… and work outside with plants some of the time!

Rachel grew up in Alaska, where she developed a love of nature at an early age. In her free time, she loves to curl up with a good book, work in her garden, try new recipes, kayak, cycle, camp, and try new things!

CARPENTER & GENERAL CONTRACTOR

Rick loves problem-solving and building! He has been working in construction his whole life leading him to pursue a degree in Engineering. Working as a Manufacturing Engineer in the corporate world for 30 years at places like Boeing, Plexus, and Opryland, Rick was primarily involved in prototyping where he mastered the art of overcoming obstacles and finding innovative solutions.

Today, he finds satisfaction working outdoors and bringing his honed skills to support homeowners with creative and functional landscape building projects, like raised bed kitchen gardens and more! When he’s not working, Rick’s favorite thing to do is explore the beautiful PNW on a Harley and go camping. At home, he enjoys tinkering in the woodshop and making furniture.

BOOKKEEPER

Kristen has over 20 years of experience bookkeeping in QuickBooks with both certified and hands-on training. When she’s not crunching numbers, you can find her getting outside to walk a new trail in the city, swimming at the gym/a river, or meeting up with friends at a new coffee shop. She loves cooking healthy and likes the challenge of finding new foods and recipes to follow a Paleo diet. She also spends her free time supporting women to help them improve their relationships. She lives in the Vancouver, WA area.