ediblecentraloregon.com | 23 Previous page: Wilkins (left) and Nagel founded and have run Mahonia Gardens together since 2013. Above: Nagel (foreground) plays the dobro with Skillethead at a recent performance in Sisters. While benefiting financially from one’s art is sometimes viewed as the antithesis of the creative process, for Nagel it is quite simply the vehicle that allows him to keep his art alive. “When I’m in the thick of farm season, the only thing that keeps me playing is having gigs on the calendar,” he says. “In the summer, I’m not sitting at home playing and practicing, but having the gigs keeps me playing. “I grew up without a lot of money so there was a bit of necessity as I came into adulthood to figure out how to focus on music but also make money.” He continues, “There is a thing in me where I need to play music. Monetizing it helped me stay with it, rather than killing it.” Wilkins and Nagel moved to Sisters in 2013 to a welcoming and active music community. The tiny city of fewer than 3,000 residents is known for its robust folk music scene, demonstrated in part by the enduring strength of the annual Sisters Folk Festival. Having grown up here, Nagel’s roots are deep. “When I moved back, I already had a built-in music community of older gigging musicians who were my music mentors when I was growing up. All these people offered to get together and jam, and that led to gigs,” he says. “I moved back to my hometown in large part because the community here is so strong and supportive.” The established community of support in the area also helped when he and Wilkins started Mahonia Gardens that same year, fueled by the “agrarian dream” that they had shared and cultivated since meeting at SOU. At that time, “there were very few people farming here, meaning very little local food,” says Wilkins. Tricky growing climate notwithstanding, “we thought it would be a good place to provide food.” They launched the business with a Kickstarter campaign, which generated a lot of interest and got Mahonia off the ground—or rather, in the ground. The land they cultivate is owned by and adjacent to nonprofit farm Seed To Table, and has been the farm’s home since its inception. While the farm is not certified organic due to its small scale, they approach growing with a holistic perspective and a focus on biodiversity. Perennial flowers and herbs are planted throughout the garden at the end of the beds and feed into a general principle observed at Mahonia: “The more diversity, the more natural checks and balances
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