shiny flanary is a queer Black farmer living in so-called Portland, Oregon. Shiny wears a lot of hats. She runs her farm and herbal products business, Scrapberry Farm, and is also the founder and manager of Come Thru Market, a Black and Indigenous incubator market and farmer training program. She also manages the Black and Brown Herb Exchange, which connects farmers with buyers, learners with teachers, and offers business support to farmers and makers.
Shiny grew up in Oakland, California – not a place traditionally known for inspiring little Black girls to grow up to be farmers. Despite trying (and mostly not succeeding) to grow carrots and sunflowers as a little girl, it never occurred to her to pursue farming. She imagined that “growing things” was the purview of wealthy white people.
A meandering 20-year journey as a telephone operator, tow truck dispatcher, community worker, and librarian/teacher in community colleges eventually brought her full circle to growing carrots, sunflowers, and medicinal herbs. Add in a little community and a lot of sweat and she now proudly calls herself a farmer, food justice worker, and farmers market manager. Oh, and most recently, Interim Executive Director at BFSC!
Want to work with shiny? Start here.