Kristen Renaud has found a way to turn her small gardening operation into an agent for healing and support for herself and others. Her business “Lightning Struck Gardens” sells painted pots, herb gardens, dried herbs, native plants, seeds and more. Every purchase benefits her nonprofit to support survivors of gun violence.

After surviving the unthinkable, a mass shooting in Denver in 2021, Renaud has poured her heart and soul into an Etsy gardening shop that benefits fellow survivors across the United States. Lightning Struck offers support through healing gardens, plant medicine and community support for trauma. Renaud provides survivors with plants and seed packets to begin memorial gardens as well. Every purchase from Lightning Struck Gardens helps keep the support for survivors a free resource.

“Plants and gardening help transform trauma into seeds of hope and change,” Renaud said.

Her Etsy shop (visit here) has been open for 11 months and the TOG market became her first in-person market stand, which is now expanded to Greenfield  Farmer’s Market on Thursdays and Spa City Market on Sundays.

“The Greenfield market has been an amazing way for me to engage with this community,” Renaud said.  All the vendors know each other and even the patrons are community driven. The market is the perfect setup for me because everyone is so approachable.”

Renaud recently received the Saratoga Arts Community Grant to help support her project, after submitting a proposal for her community-based project last fall. Funding for the grant is determined by a panel of community artists and individuals with strong ties to the local arts community.

Renaud grew “burned out” from her former profession as a lawyer and consultant at Deloitte for seven years. Gardening used to be something she loved but wasn’t great at. But one step at a time, she taught herself to grow from seed, to rewild and nativize local plants. (She introduces and cultivates plants that are native to the region into the garden and landscaping.)  Renaud said her education and then career in environmental law taught her the importance of reproducing native species to improve biodiversity. 

Renaud and her husband of seven years, Luke, had already purchased the 14-acre home in Greenfield to move closer to family when the shooting occurred during a final visit to pick up the last of her personal belongings. Renaud has been on a pathway to recovering from the incident ever since.

“I’ve been growing metaphorically and literally,” Renaud said. “I have fallen in love with spreading life in defiance to all the violence in the world.”

Renaud said her land on Hyspot Road is perfect. “I love the land and the ability to have so much space. while also being close to Saratoga.”

In addition to her art and gardening projects and helping people across the country, Renaud also fosters kittens with the Saratoga County Animal Shelter. She has three boy cats of her own named Purdue, Chianti and Diggs.

“Lightning Struck Gardens is an amazing addition to this community,” said Town Supervisor Kevin Veitch. “This kind of organization demonstrates the impact a close community can have. I think that Greenfield offers the best in offering the space and local support for a business like this to thrive.”

Renaud’s tale is one of warmth, positivity and regrowth, while we must remember that lightning can strike at any time in our lives. Renaud is an inspiration and important reminder of the importance of community, self-love and helping others.

Visit Renaud’s Lightning Struck Gardens to help this cause. She will be at this week’s market on Thursday from 4-7 p.m. at Middle Grove Park. Her online store is here. She can be reached by email at krenaud10@gmail.com.

This article is meant to inform the residents of Greenfield about a local business. The Town of Greenfield does not endorse one business over another. Instead the Town supports all local business and wishes to highlight as many businesses as we can to foster a sense of community and help encourage our residents to shop locally.

If you are a legitimate business or nonprofit organization that is based in our Town, are you listed in our online community directories?  If you would like to be added or possibly featured in an upcoming article like this one, please email information to info@greenfieldny.org.