How I found my tribe for one month working at Fiddler's Ridge in rural Idaho.

An hommage to this humble, family-owned business.

Spring flowers and chives outside the main store at Fiddler’s Ridge Nursery.

Why come back to the US after loving my life in Tangier?

In a nutshell, I needed a job!

I wanted to work while building more income sources online after crazy markets, a some bad decisions and luck left me in, let’s say, a different financial situation than I was before.

So while visiting old friends in Idaho, I applied at Fiddler's Ridge Farm in the tiny town of Potlatch for seasonal work.

With Theresa and John and their son.

I ended up feeling like part of a family.

And to a solo nomad, that feeling is pure gold!

This is a true family-owned and run plant nursery for over 30 years.

One of the gems of the Palouse. (The Palouse is a unique region in Idaho and Washington with rolling hills and rich soil).

You feel it is special when you walk in the door, walk along the grounds and when you work there. You feel relaxed and grounded.

And amazingly, you feel at home. Like you are part of the tribe or at least part of a community that has your back.

You feel that they have your back. And they do.

It’s in all the little things: Theresa taking all the time needed to help you solve your garden problems; cats living in the store like family; sharing extra lemons or last year’s huge carrots with workers; chatting about life when you come back for more work instructions.

And it’s busy there for sure, but not hurried.

You feel a peace, a kind of relief from the buzzing anxiety of modern life.

You know where else I felt this kind of tribal belonging? In Tangier, Morocco.

During the month I was at Fiddler’s Ridge, I transplanted herbs in the greenhouses and listened to rain on the roof.

I listened to frogs in Frogtown (one of the greenhouses) and horses stamping in the Outer Banks (another greenhouse) while I clipping perennials from last year.

I played with the two teenage cats, hauled bare root trees and cleaned and sorted .

If you are local and reading this, you must come to Fiddler's Ridge if you need almost ANY kind of plant, tree, seed or planting mix.

Or if you need any plants or planting advice.

Theresa will take the time to teach you what you need to know.

I used to visit Fiddler’s Ridge in past years to get seedlings, gifts, and to just relax among the plants and in the general good vibes.

Below are some photos from my time there, and I hope you catch some of those good, grounded vibes:

The main greenhouse. I clipped those chives and moved those petunias into place.

The inside of the main store. Lots of gifts here and often cats.

An old sign from a popular local Chinese restaurant in Moscow, Idaho. You can see Frogtown Greenhouse on the left in back.

Helpful road signs and a glimpse of the Palouse region in the background.

The “Outer Banks”. I cleaned perennials that over-winter here and listened to horses snorting from the field next door.

The two resident teenagers.

Recycled art is everywhere.

Old farm equipment and bones turned into rugged art. You see these rusted farm equipment-turned-art pieces all over rural north Idaho.

A final thing I want to tell you - the rusted old farm equipment-turned-art is special to me.

You see it all over rural Idaho and it reminds me of growing up in a small farming town.

I wonder if the same is true in other rural areas outside the Pacific Northwest? In the South/Midwest/East US? Did they keep the old farm equipment in the same way?

In France, England, other parts of Europe? I don’t recall seeing the same kinds of old equipment, but maybe I missed it?