Kate Frey

Kate grew up in Berkeley, California. Her father was a librarian at the University of California, Berkeley and he instilled a love of reading and literature. She began her career of working with plants and interest in nature as a seasonal employee with the California State Forestry, Federal Forest Service and California State Park system, where she worked fighting fires, on timber crews and on trails. At Fetzer Vineyards in Hopland, Calif., where Kate worked for 20 years beginning in 1986, she managed and designed the six-acre, world famous organic gardens, as well as extensive sustainable landscaping around the facilities and the biodynamic Bonterra Ranch.

In May 2003 her garden at the Chelsea Flower Show in London won a silver/gilt medal, and in 2005 and 2007 her gardens illustrating many elements of biodiversity and sustainability, won gold medals and were visited by the Queen. In 2009 she competed in the World Garden Competition in Hamamatsu, Japan and in 2011 participated in the Floria garden show in Putrajaya, Malaysia. She consulted for two years in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on a Prince’s organic farm. She currently works as a consultant, designer and a freelance writer, specializing in sustainable gardens and farms that encourage biodiversity. From 2008-2013 Kate directed the Sonoma State University Sustainable Landscape Program. Kate earned a B.A. Summa Cum Laude with Distinction in English at Sonoma State University in 2006. Her book on bee-friendly gardening, co-written with Professor Gretchen LeBuhn, was published in 2016 by Ten Speed Press. She is a frequent speaker and instructor for garden clubs, horticultural groups and The University Extension Master Gardeners Programs.

Her website is: freygardens.com