About

Hello! Welcome to Laughing Radish!

Meet your Local Garden Educator…

Michaela, the founder of Laughing Radish, is no ordinary farmer. Born and raised in Ottawa, Canada, Michaela has always had a passion for the environment, sustainability and food security.

Michaela started her journey in sustainable agriculture and organic farming in an unconventional way. She was a city girl through and through. However, after completing a BSc in Biochemistry with specialization in Cellular and Molecular Biology from Bishop’s University and working for the University of Ottawa as a Summer Student Researcher, she gained a great understanding of the importance of exercise, nutrition and healthy lifestyles. She decided that she needed to be proactive in supporting the health of her community, by targeting the source of many common chronic diseases – poor nutrition and inactive, unhealthy lifestyles.

In her final year of her BSc, she was introduced to the concept of Permaculture through the Bishop’s University Department of Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems. She received her Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) at the top of her class; today you can see her design skills in action at the Laughing Radish Garden.

Michaela continued her studies with a Post-Graduate program at Fleming College in Sustainable Agriculture. This program included a co-op placement, so Michaela packed her bags and moved to the Beautiful British Columbia! She spent her time farming organically in Pemberton, BC at Plenty Wild Farm, where she honed her market gardening skills and learned immeasurable knowledge.

Throughout 2021, Michaela was contracted to design, develop and maintain a sustainable, no-dig permaculture garden for Family Earth, an Family-based, Agri-tourism Center in Ingleside, Ontario. She created a 1-acre ecological teaching garden, complete with a 15-ft sundial and a Children’s Sunflower House. She spent the summer tending to the gardens, teaching workshops and creating events in the space.

In 2025, Michaela started the next chapter of her journey by pursuing a Master’s degree in social work, where she is specializing in community-led and land-based programming- with a focus in mental health, community capacity development and social advocacy. She has experience developing and facilitating youth/young adult programs, including the ARTicipate project, The Zine Scene: Tools for Social Change with the Shenkman Arts Centre and Arts Ottawa, as well as the Imagining Otherwise program with Ottawa’s Civic Imagination Lab.

By blending a background in Sustainable Agriculture, Permaculture Design, Biochemistry and now Social Work and justice-based facilitation, Michaela has an intimate understanding of the intricacies of human health and nutrition, whole systems thinking, and creating food security. Her greatest desire in life is to connect her community to the Earth, to our health and to good food. And do this with a smile and a laugh on her face.