Master Gardener

Susan R. Stoltz

Susan's interest in regenerative gardening began when she worked at the Phoenix Zoo where she spent a decade teaching guests about ecosystems, conservation, and wildlife. An avid gardener for 25 years in three very different climate zones across the USA, Ms. Stoltz earned her Master Gardening Certificate from the University of Arizona in 2023. She's spent the past 5 years exploring and adapting seeds to warmer climates and has had great success with several varieties of vegetables and herbs. Susan is currently scheduled to begin the Cornell University Medicinal Plants program and is very fortunate to be teaching regenerative gardening and other classes at the Arizona Worm Farm. She also gives tours of the farm explaining how that ecosystem works.

Ms. Stoltz has spent the past two years writing a column for the University of Arizona's Master Gardening Magazine with her specialty being insects of every kind. She now writes featured pieces about invasive species and insects, peat bogs, what weeds tell us about our soil, Artificial Turf: It's Effects on Soil, Water, Flood Resilience, Urban Heat, and Humans... pretty much anything she finds fascinating or needs a push into our awareness as gardeners. 

Her new custom seed line, Gardening The USA, is designed to teach gardening, soil health, and how the animals and plants interact in the ecosystem. The curriculum she's writing for grades K-5 will be designed to integrate so many subjects such as gardening, science, math, space, art, creative writing, and more. Did you know that you can learn to plant the T-Rex pepper and segue into prehistoric plants, and animals? Or that the viola flower can introduce an entire curriculum built around music? And stay tuned for another big project on the way to help adults learn how to implement regenerative agriculture/gardening into their lives with in-person learning hands in the soil!

An award winning children's book author with a #1 best seller, Ms. Stoltz has had many opportunities in her lifetime, but one of the most challenging has been her adventure into children’s book authorship. “It’s not as easy as some would think,” Susan explained. “You have to know age appropriate vocabulary, relevant topics, how to stimulate learning and inspire critical thinking, and then wrap that all up into something entertaining as well. Not a task for the weak of spirit." She has 14 traditionally published books that focus on conservation, information, education, wildlife, as well as humor. Her #1 award winning book is entitled Steve The Dung Beetle: On A Roll, which has won many awards in the USA and Internationally. Kids and adults alike enjoy this book. With the word poo on every page you can't go wrong teaching ecosystems while making kids laugh.

An avid horse-woman and dog-lover, she also has a particular affinity for prairie dogs and giraffes. Susan is also a stained glass artist, Jack Russell Terrier fanatic, and spends most early mornings in the garden. When she’s not writing or gardening, she's reading, researching, teaching, or trying to coerce someone to play a game of Scrabble. She does, occasionally, clean the kitchen! Susan lives in Arizona with her two Jack Russell Terriers, Dash and Zoom, and is well known for eating chocolate cake for breakfast.