Kelly Smith Trimble is an author, editor, writer, and gardener living in Knoxville, Tennessee. Her book Vegetable Gardening Wisdom, a collection of seasonal advice and inspiration for edible gardeners, was released in April 2019 by Storey Publishing (now part of Hachette). Her second book, The Creative Vegetable Gardener, released in February 2023, also from Storey. Kelly and her books have been featured in Southern Living, Sunset, The Washington Post, Real Simple, and various blogs and podcasts.

Kelly is currently the senior editorial director for HGTV, where she leads a diverse team of editors who assign, create, and promote digital content around topics including gardening, decorating, design, crafts, holidays, and travel. She’s especially steeped in SEO trends and enjoys the service-journalism aspect of fine-tuning writing and research to reach audiences and address their needs, ultimately helping them grow and make things on their own. Through HGTV’s social video platforms, Kelly answered 100s of vegetable gardening questions in a series called Dig It, with more than a million views collectively, from her home garden during 2020-2021. 

Previously, Kelly spent 10+ years at Time Inc.’s Southern Progress division in Birmingham, Alabama, including roles in corporate communications and custom publishing, where she was lead editor for Lowe’s Creative Ideas for Home and Garden magazine. She also wrote for Southern Living and Coastal Living magazines at Southern Progress. At Bonnie Plants, where she worked for two years, Kelly dug deeper into her passion for growing food and got a crash course in the gardening industry and retail marketing along with a Master Gardener certification from Auburn University.  

Kelly is passionate about sustainability and conservation and holds a B.A. in English with a concentration in Environmental Studies from Sewanee: The University of the South, and an M.S. in Environmental Studies with an emphasis in writing and communications from Green Mountain College (now the Green Mountain Center for Sustainability at Prescott College). She was born in Knoxville, grew up just down the road, and has spent her life in various parts of southern Appalachia.