Today we’d like to introduce you to Victoria Phouangbandith.
Hi Victoria, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I guess if you really want to go back in time, it all started on my family’s organic coffee farm in the Bolaven Plateau of Laos. Being raised by Lao refugees parents, it is instilled into my genes — the need to grow food, nourish people, and work with mother nature. My family would grow lots of Laotian herbs and vegetables that they couldn’t find at our local Asian market. I remember one year, my uncle grew Lao pumpkin, which is similar to kabocha squash, all along our 60 feet driveway fence. If you know anything about winter squash, they need a lot of space because their vines grow wild. I loved how green and beautiful it made our property look — instead of seeing the dull chain link fence. That was the experience that triggered my fascination with plants.
Shortly after, I remember asking my mom to take me to Home Depot so I could plant flowers all over the property. Seeing purple pansies sprout (aka the rude flowers Alice in Wonderland stumbles upon along the way) was one of the greatest joys of my childhood and sparked my love for flowers and color. Now I plant them all the time, as they are edible and bring beneficial pollinators to the gardens. I was also very picky with food and didn’t like to eat too much meat or fish. With the amount of fruits, carrots, and rice I used to consume, my elders all thought I would eventually become a vegetarian. So flowers, trees, and edible crops were something I was very curious about, growing up as a young city girl in Echo Park.
Fast forward to senior year of high school, and it was time for me to attend college. I had always loved art and creativity — so I knew I wanted to go to an art school. I wanted to study either architecture, landscape architecture, or interior design. Most college programs would focus on only one of these, and this was frustrating for a teenager who had no exposure to any of these majors. But luckily, just on the other side of town was Otis College of Art & Design, which had a major that focused on all three. That is where I received my Bachelor of Fine Arts in Environmental Design in 2009.
Laos is one of the poorest countries in the world, thus a culture that truly values food and communal living. I had always loved the idea of community gardens and public orchards and didn’t have that experience in urban Los Angeles. Food can be so easily grown in the LA climate, as I witnessed from my family’s urban garden in Echo Park, and I didn’t understand why more people didn’t grow their own food. One of my goals while attending Otis was to learn how to incorporate agriculture into urban settings, because to me, that is beautiful, and that is what our city needs.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
After college, I worked in an architecture firm, then a graphic design firm, and finally an interior design firm, which is where I learned how to really create experiential designs, cater to different client needs, and collaborate with vendors. I loved it — playing with colors, patterns, and textures, creating spaces to evoke various moods that reflect different personalities, and furnishing areas with contrasting needs. It was there that I really launched my professional career. And this led me to seek out opportunities to create spaces outdoors.
My knowledge about cultivating was limited to only herbs, but Heart Beet Gardening believed in me and asked me to start off by spearheading their design department — drafting edible landscapes and branding. As my design proposals began to be accepted and built, I decided it was time to let go of my interior design job and focus full-time on gardens. I also started to get my hands dirty in the fields and not only design edible gardens, but plant and tend to them. Mother earth was my new canvas and playground.
Now 10 years later, I am co-owner of the business and proud of the high-profile projects I’ve seen from beginning to end. My background in Environmental Design has allowed me to create edible landscapes that blend seamlessly with the aesthetics of properties while feeding people the most delicious, nutritious crops they’ve ever eaten. We have designed and built gardens for celebrities, restaurants, schools, and universities. Our projects have been mentioned in People Magazine, LA Times, Vice Media, and we have had the privilege of being showcased at the Virginia Robinson Gardens Tour.
We’ve been impressed with Heart Beet Gardening, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Heart Beet Gardening is LA’s first urban farming business. Since 2006, our company has been designing, building, and maintaining organic urban farms — vegetable gardens, orchards, berry patches, herb gardens, complemented with rare fruit trees, endangered specimens, and native landscaping.
Our goal has always been to connect Angelenos with their soil, their food and their city through beautiful and productive edible gardens. In the process of growing food, we encourage our clients to utilize regenerative agriculture techniques whenever possible, using biomimicry and permaculture techniques. Our gardens are water conserving — the understory of our orchards and plants surrounding the gardens are low-water use and native. We are also a licensed organic nursery and help care for livestock.
Aside from design, nursery work is also a passion of mine. There’s just something about the little sprouts that pop up from the soil after just a few days of watering and providing them with adequate sunlight. Then sending them off to their permanent homes, knowing they will one day grow to nurture a healthy nutritious body — a full life circle from seed, to soil, to body, to life.
We pride ourselves in our stunning, cutting-edge garden designs, where we are able to practice regenerative agriculture methods, high-yielding crop production, integrative organic pest management, all while giving back to nature. With proper care at the hand of a professional urban farmer, the gardens we create are epicurean experiences that even make vegetables enjoyable for kids to eat. We combine aesthetics with optimal growing conditions. We offer consulting, design, building, maintenance, and education.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
My father would say I am definitely lucky because according to the lunar calendar, I was born in the year of the Rabbit (coincidentally, this year 2023). In many cultures, rabbits are a symbol of good luck, fertility, growth, and new beginnings.
Ironically, they are one of our worst enemies in the garden because they love organic vegetables, just as much as we do! Most of our gardens are out in the open, but in some areas of Los Angeles, there is too much wildlife — birds, bunnies, squirrels, deer, and city rats — that get to your garden produce before you can harvest them. This challenge has allowed me to design what I like to call, So-Cal greenhouses, which is a spin on your typical greenhouse that is made out of glass. It is essentially a garden enclosure that is built to keep your local furry friends from eating all of your tender produce, so your crops can grow and mature in peace. Also a plus, it filters out the sun during heat waves, and prevents sunburn on your veggies.
Whether a superstition or not, luck is helped by hard work. With the constant vagaries of a business that relies on the sun, earth, water, and air, I do know that I work extra hard to deal with all the unpredictable elements that mother nature brings upon us. In the end, it is soothing to my soul, knowing I am a stewardess of mother earth.
Contact Info:
- Website: heartbeetgardening.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/heartbeetgardening
