Vision and Mission

Flowering Sun Ecology Center was born out of a communal vision to offer our family and community beyond organic nutrient dense food grown in harmony with the Earth. We are a land based organization with our hands in the soil and our eyes on the stars.

We believe that working in cooperation with the land is the best way to learn and continually improve our growing practices. As such, our land is the experimental grounds for the creation of future offerings and educational research.

We want to create a meeting ground for our plants, trees, employees, and community to learn and grow together. We are focused on supporting the health and vitality of humanity and the earth through our growing practices.

Through the disciplines of research, experimentation and seed saving, we are committed to preserving sacred traditions and biodiversity to benefit future generations and to be in service to a healthy, sustainable humanity.

History

Flowering Sun Ecology Center is the culmination of many years of studying and searching for a natural way of living. While looking for a place to connect to the earth and community, we landed here in Ellenville, NY and purchased a home with a large open lawn ripe for transformation. It took a lot of work and many hands picking rocks, turning soil, adding amendments, and planting the beautiful seedlings to get to where we are today.

Starting in 2017, we began to grow produce for our family and community. As we grew, we began to expand our team and our vision. We began a tree nursery in 2019, and initiated a mushroom growing business the same year. Both have continued to flourish and grow. We are now entering our fifth year of production as a farm, and are continuing to deepen our roots and blossom.

Meet the Team

  • Daniel Kanda

    In his early adult years, he spent five years living in meditation centers, immersed in inner development and contemplative practice. At one point, he intended to renounce the material world entirely. During that time, he became deeply fascinated with mushrooms — studying their ecology and teaching himself how to cultivate them at home. What began as curiosity evolved into devotion, and through self-directed learning and hands-on experimentation, he laid the foundation for his life’s work.

    In 2019, he arrived at Flowering Sun Ecology, an oasis in the heart of the Catskills dedicated to sacred ecology, regenerative farming, and education. The farm’s values and community-centered mission inspired him to channel his business acumen into building something that serves the greater good.

    He started as an intern but quickly realized he had found his home. He became instrumental in launching and developing the farm’s mushroom cultivation operation, helping grow it into the thriving enterprise it is today.

    Today, he leads sales and business development, cultivates relationships with chefs, markets, fellow farms, and local businesses, and supports accounting and financial oversight. Like many in small, mission-driven farms, he continues to wear many hats — stepping into operations, strategy, and systems-building whenever needed.

  • Alexander (Z) Hackney

    Z is a co-founder of Flowering Sun Ecology. He is married to Sara Philkill with three children who love to help on the farm. He is a member of the Golden Drum community and a devoted student of Maestro Manuel Rufino. He loves designing and creating using the natural elements nature provides. For nearly a decade, Z has been living in community and practicing natural healing, building and farming techniques. Z’s previous experience includes managing permaculture gardens at the Paititi Institute in Peru, tending to tropical species in Waipio Valley botanical garden in Hawaii, and studying in a monastery in Vermont.

  • Sara Philkill

    Sara's love of home grown food began at a young age, while playing in her mother’s garden. Her appreciation for the natural world continued to expand through her studies in biology in college, and her years working on organic farms all over the US and Peru. Sara is studying to be a midwife, and provides high quality education and support on holistic pregnancy and birth with Maible, at Catskills Birth Collective. Her studies have been strengthened by the growth of her own family and her time shared with her elder and teacher, Maestro Manuel Rufino.