We Are SplitPea
At SplitPea, permaculture runs through every service we provide. We intentionally use the permaculture principals whenever possible in our work.
Permaculture is an intentional and earth centered system of management and design that seeks to mimic functioning systems in the natural world. Permaculture teaches us to work towards systems of symbiosis between humans and nature that maximize sustainability, diversity and self sufficiency. In permaculture, all parts are considered and closed loop systems are utilized to create an equally beneficial exchange between people and planet. We look to the twelve principles of permaculture when working in a space and apply these methods whenever possible.
Niky
Niky is Owner and Operator of SplitPea Edible Landscaping. Graduating in 2007 with a Fine Arts degree in painting and jumping ship from the corporate world 10 years in, Niky set out to connect people with the planet in 2014. Niky has always had sustainability and environmental responsibility driving her. With human connection and environmental responsibility on the decline, she created a business model that centered on reconnecting the two. Growing up in home gardens, creating outdoor spaces as an adult, helping friends in their spaces, and enveloping herself in the wild, she was eager to dive into the world of landscape research and build a foundation with business values that supported healing the earth and all its inhabitants. She took her experience and passion and signed up for workshops, learned from professionals, experimented a ton, networked and connected with like minded folks in the industry and finally booked her first clients. She still keeps in touch with those folks today!
Creating relationships rooted in earth stewardship are what make her tick. If you speak such treasured words as self sufficiency, water catchment, pollinator habitat or holistic systems, you might find her dancing.Today, her design ideas are centered around intentionally interacting with a space, resource building and utilization, supporting wildlife and insects, and responsibly growing in a desert climate. She continues to research and educate herself in the newest and oldest ideas involving responsible land management. With the planet in decline, she hopes to inspire folks to put seeds in the ground, share what you learn with your neighbor, care for our home and build our community.
Niky currently runs a ¼ acre homestead in Boise with her teenage kids, husband of nearly 17 years, and a gaggle of critters. When she’s not working, she can typically be found knee deep in her own permaculture experiments, cheering on her kids during sports, or wandering in the mountains.
Brianna
Brianna is joining SplitPea for her 8th season this year! Working closely with Niky, together they focus on earth first install work. Brianna will be taking the lead on some of the behind the scenes operations this season, keeping order of business on an efficient track. Don't blink when she is working, or you might miss her. She is always thinking of fluidity within processes and brings new perspective to systems in place.
She loves all things outdoors! Sitting amongst the flowers and birds in her garden and hiking into the wilderness with just a pack on her back are her favorites. Brianna can find herself getting lost amongst the beauty and awe of the natural world.
The work she does with SplitPea has taught her everything she knows about sustainability so far. Brianna gets most excited when she learns new and creative ways to use something, making it a multi-functional item. One of her favorite discoveries was one of the most demonized "weeds", the Dandelion! Dandy's are dynamic accumulators (google that term for some very cool info), the earliest pollinator fodder and every part of the plant can be used for human consumption too! Win!
In 2021, Brianna got seriously excited about fungal activity in soil and how she can foster that activity in current and new spaces. Bring on the Fun-Gal experimenting!
Brianna has some favorites in the garden too! Lately she has been most excited about artichokes. Incorporating them as a show stoppers in edible landscapes and allowing them to bloom to support pollinators. What a cool plant!
Michelle
Michelle is joining the SplitPea team for her second year. She is a returning Idahoan currently living with family in Weiser while her home is under construction in Elmore County. She is a devoted wife and mother to her husband and grown children. She loves her running buddies/rescue pups, now 8 and 9 years old. She has run half marathons and hopes to run Robie Creek again, soon. Michelle finds it gratifying using her physical abilities to accomplish tasks whether at home, work, or volunteering with Arrow Heart Adventure Camps. She has an affinity towards learning how things are made and enjoys the art of making them homemade, the “old fashioned “ way.
Michelle is excited to continue her work as the Greenhouse and Land Steward. She discovered the SplitPea interests are aligned with hers when it comes to the ecology of home landscapes. Michelle has a Bachelor of Science in Ecology from Idaho State University and is currently working on her Associates of Applied Science in Horticulture at CWI. She likes to test her creativity in the landscape setting. She has a keen interest in planting combinations for optimizing functional diversity. She is hoping to learn more about the processes of landscape design in a professional setting as she interns with SplitPea for school credit. She is happy to keep working with Splitpea’s clientele this season for she is eager grow her new community here along with her family.
Amy
Amy will be joining the SplitPea team this year for her first season! She moved to Boise, Idaho with her Husband and her two sons in 2016. She enjoys physical exercise both for its physical and mental benefits. She enjoys biking, running, fitness classes at the gym, and long brisk walks with her two-year-old buddy Mac, the Border Collie/Aussie mix who she rescued as a puppy from the Idaho Humane Society.
As a homeowner, Amy has always enjoyed working outside on her own property and getting her hands in the soil. She gained her initial perspective of gardening from her grandmother, an avid home gardener. As a little girl she spent hours upon hours by her
grandmother’s side learning about growing food and caring for the land. She learned how prepare the garden beds, plant the many seeds and seedlings in the garden, build and care for a compost, and harvest all the goodness that mother nature provided after all the hard work. Much of Amy’s time as a young girl was also spent among the trees in the forest of Massachusetts on trails foraging for edible plants and berries. This was something that fostered the love she has now for growing her own food, exploring the outdoors, and tending to the plant world.
Amy spent all her twenties and thirties in a career as a hairstylist, but her soul was crying out for a deeper connection to the outdoors and all its living things. She is in her final year of the Horticulture program with the College of Western Idaho where she will gain her Associates of Applied Science in Horticulture. She is excited to meet SplitPea’s
clients this season and work alongside her colleague Michelle, whom she met at the horticulture program. She looks forward to building her knowledge and skills with SplitPea.