Meet Sherrie Ottinger
USA Regenerative Ag Director and Social Media Manager
Born in the foothills of Cherokee National Forest in Sweetwater, Tennessee, Sherrie’s deep love of the land comes naturally. Her family lived closed to land as some of the original pioneers in the area. While life was difficult in Appalachia, she fondly remembers simple pleasures of living in tune with the earth.
“My great grandmother had a gift with nature. She seemed to have intuitive knowledge that enabled her to grow plants and heal wildlife. She was a wildlife rehabilitator before there were formal programs. Rescuing bobcats, owls and squirrels, we never knew what we find at her place.”
To survive in that time and location, people had to work within the confines of nature to sustain themselves and their families, Sherrie explains. “I grew up with a regenerative mindset. As I observed how Maw worked, I understood if you take care of the earth, it would take care of you.”
Sherrie continued her love of the earth with gardening at home, become the go-to horticulture specialist in gardening stores, and taking landscape and horticulture classes at the University of Tennessee. She became Tennessee Nurseryman Landscape Association and Master Gardener certified.
Sherrie continued to learn and teach others the best practices to improve their yards and gardens while also running a landscape business. She worked as a gardening guru on live television, answering gardening questions on air, hosted a horticulture call-in radio program, spoken at gardening clubs, and wrote a book, “Behind The Veloki Garden Gate” to share her knowledge.
In a newspaper column, “The Garden Gate” in the Greenville Sun, Sherrie has answered readers’ questions for the last 15 years and continues to write about anything ‘dirt folks’ are interested in. She and her husband, Craig have a small farm where she practices what she preaches, “Everyone can do their part to improve their small piece of the earth. In an apartment, one might practice recycling, and grow potted plants. In town, you can have a compost pile in the backyard then use the compost in your landscaping. Everyone can plant flowers for the pollinators, feed the birds, and grow herbs and vegetables in containers.”
“I tell people you don’t have to have a farm or lots of land to participate in regenerative agriculture. You just have to love the land, understand its vital role in our existence, and decide to make a difference.” Grow herbs in a window box, don’t use weedkillers or herbicides, and use compost for natural fertilizer are all regenerative activities Sherrie suggests.
At Plastic Innovations, Sherrie is designing a regenerative garden. An orchard, herb, vegetable, flower gardens, and beehives are all in the works for this spring and summer to showcase the wonderful opportunities available to TN residents to grow healthy food and positively impact the earth.
Sherrie joined USA Regenerative Ag Alliance to advocate for those who might otherwise think that the regenerative movement doesn’t have a place for them. “We all can make positive regenerative choices in our daily lives that will benefit each other and the planet.”
