We recently connected with Patricia Logan and have shared our conversation below.

Patricia, appreciate you joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Well guess what?! We are a covid baby I was unhappy with my current job so I made a tough decision to just grab a part time job that I could love and find peace with minus the money. I was working in Santa Barabara for 3 months and then everything came to a hault as I left, there closing the doors behind me with uncertainty like all of the world navigating a pandemic.

During my search for work happiness I was told over and over through my tarot cards to be patient something big was coming and that it “will blow my mind.”

During covid lock down I felt the need to create peace and grounding in my daily life, and so it began;
I opened a garden shop on the side of my house, filled with plants for sale, a conversation on plant parenting to set everyone up for success with raising their new plant baby.

Our customers fell in love with our outdoor garden space and kept coming back, bringing friends, family, new customers every day. This started to “blow my mind”.
The outdoor garden was filled with peacefulness that welcomed everyone to share in a little joy, still in a time of uncertainty with the pandemic.

I knew this was a business opportunity sitting in my lap, now I had to be open and brave how to move forward.

I walked the town with my husband and friends looking at buildings to rent, nothing felt right.
A good friend who has been in the retail world for 17 years offered me a spot in her new location and this was beginning of fiddle & fern. My daughter gave me a list of business name options and fiddle & fern just jumped off the page for me.

The shop has her own peaceful presence, folks come in and are happy, comfortable and ready to share their story with us even if it is not plant related, we feel so lucky to have a shop that transcends joy & happiness.

Welcome to fiddle & fern, we are still having fun approaching our 3 year anniversary Nov 14, 2023

Patricia, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Hey I’m Patricia Logan my pronouns are she/her, I am the lucky owner of fiddle & fern located in majestic downtown ventura,
our little shop opened her retail location late 2020 with our rescue shop dog Ellie

Growing up my mom always had a collection of plants that allowed me to learn and care for as a young child, this is the beauty I carry with me every day, she’s my angel who oversees what’s happening around me

My first professional intro to the plant community was several years back as my career was providing residential design work including interior plantscaping, outdoor landscape and a bit of home upgrades that complimented my clients needs.
As fulfilling as this was I knew there was more out there just waiting for me, I kept my mind open and clear to allow a gentle change

There came the moment when fiddle & fern began her transformation from side yard garden to the eclectic little garden space we found with the most amazing skylight, the shop began her transformation from a prior storage area to fiddle & fern our plant shop with all sorts of complimenting products.
We love our plants and the care advice we give all of our customers as we set them up for success with the new plant baby they are excited to take home.

Shop deets, books, ceramics, air plants, stickers like no others, if it works with plants we hope to bring it to you,
Why not a Taylor Swift 3D printed ghost?! A live moss ball with a western or beanie hat?
Our women potters who create ceramic snakes & air plant holders.
Family run soil & fertilizer suppliers with a conscious decision to have a low to no environmental impact,
We pride ourselves in supporting wholesalers who are persons of color, queer and majority women and family owned.

I spent the first year of opening getting my plant suppliers really dialed in, although we love to have a big brand supplier the excitement is real for our private growers, family run and the passion we get from working with talented folks that help our growth and learning for us to take back and share with you

Proud moments are many, getting fiddle & fern her registered trademark was a big moment for us, we just knew how special our name and designs are that we wanted to protect our hard work by accomplishing this big to do on our list of many

The best moments in the shop are when we hear someone step in for the first time,
“OMG, I love this place, it feels so peaceful in here” “I want to live here it’s so cool”
As we provide a safe space for queer community, black lives and so many kids questioning themselves, their identity and just trying to grow up in this hectic society. We get to provide just a moment for a few deep breaths, a peaceful hang out and good conversation with whatever is on your mind, or just silence, and our great music selection, I must say we play some great jams in our shop!

The NOOK, is a craziness of little notes left behind and revisited by our customers,
This was born from a short moment I took to sit down in the what was becoming a sitting nook, I left a note on the wall, my initials and as I intentionally walked away leaving the markers for someone else to take the next move, it quickly became extra in our shop. Also it’s Ellie’s sitting space as his terrier life is elevated as #shopdogellie

Budhha fountain and our fish tank adds to the peaceful space we love to share with ya’ll

Our set up is unique as we share retail space with two other women business owners, Plum Gifts and Greysen Jewelry, we share the rental space and have a lot of fun together, this gives an extra bonus to all of the customers that stop in

We are growing fast and loving all the crazy moments that come with this, we want to make your day feel good and we want you to know that we will be here for ya next time you want to grow your plant collection with a easy to care for ZZ or an exotic Monstera Albo, Thai constellation, pink princess, oh my the list can keep going, lets see whats next

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

As we started in our side yard garden, the picture was clear that people wanted plants, and the beauty that made me happy was they also wanted plant care advice.

We consider ourselves a bit of a boutique experience without the big price tag

Maybe it’s your first plant, maybe you have 100 plants and just want something different, whatever your journey is in this space we love to take you by the hand and walk with you to grow this

Care advice is available from all of us in the shop, we will not leave ya hangin!
Lighting, aesthetics, watering routine, proper drainage, it’s all for real and we make sure you get the best of what we have to offer, this is why folx come back and bring friends, the success stories we get in the shop are so fun and honestly super entertaining for us.

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

As the shop was growing, adding in ceramics was a big deal. We watched what products did well, what people wanted more of and what did not do well. The risk was real, taking the time to consciously choose brands that we believed in, that ethically met the mark and that pay fair labor wages.
I tried several big brand products, small brands, independent brands, this is an area that requires a large investment.

Like so many creatives who’s paths we cross, I got this super cool email from Veronica the owner of LBE Designs. OMG for me, this was a brand I had been wanting to try in the shop.

The email, hey Patricia, this is Veronica, we want to invite you to collaborate with us on a plant photo shoot we are doing in Ojai soon. Can we rent plants from you to star in our photo shoot? Me= what is happening? I am so totally freaking out right now. First of all, my plant babies are going to be famous. And I got to try some LBE designs in the shop as we quickly negotiated a ceramic drop in my shop delivered by Veronica and Jon as they finalized their photo shoot. Yep, we did a swap, so perfect for me to try their designs and not have to commit to a large invoice.

LBE Designs is a staple ceramic brand in my shop, the quality, the craft, the fair labor practices, this family business stole my heart and my customers too.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://fiddleandfern.net/
• Instagram: @fiddleand.fern
• Facebook: fiddle & fern
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/fiddle-and-fern-downtown-ventura?osq=fiddle+and+fern