I am a passionate land steward, small-scale regenerative farmer and designer in my late 30’s. I grew up in towns outside of the Catskills of upstate New York and the Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Half of my 10 years of experience in farming and landscaping happened in and around Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. For the past 5 years of living in Oregon, I have spent 3 years stewarding a 20 acre historical homestead orchard and nonprofit in the Willamette Valley of Oregon and 1.5 years managing and directing an Earth Care program for a care farm nonprofit in the Applegate Valley.
In October of 2024, I earned my MA in ecological psychology and environmental humanities. I have worked hard to find the intersections of the things that support myself and my community. I love what I do and I am ready for the responsibility and sovereignty of farming land I can call home and build a reciprocal relationship with—one that extends to the larger community. I have a lot of love, energy, creativity, hard work and dedication to bring.
I am looking for some form of housing. I will be attending a Natural Building Workshop in June 2025, and dream of building my home, but am a bit away from that. Aside from that, established fruit trees or other fruits would be great, as well as some woodland. Some slopes/views are also very welcome! Let's talk about water.
Beginning in 2014, I worked on two different small-scale diversified organic veg farms for three full seasons in rural western PA. For several years during and after, I helped with farmers' markets in Pittsburgh for one of the farms. Out of those experiences, I came to realize my interest in working for myself and knack for business, but I was living in the city and not ready to own land or settle down. So, while apprenticing with Pittsburgh Permaculture, I began my back-and-front-yard urban farmette for personal consumption and fermented foods. I soon thereafter began my work in ecological landscaping both independently and along with a collective of other women landscapers for a total of five years.
While at GeerCrest Farm & Historical Society, I managed a camping program; pruned large orchards of historic fruit trees; grafted fruit trees; cared for goats, sheep, chickens, turkeys and ducks; and grew food and medicinal herbs while living more closely to the land. I also to managed a neighbor's vegetable garden during that time.
Before ever traversing the paths of farming and landscaping, I had graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with degrees in Interdisciplinary Arts and Psychology. More and more, I am smitten to find that my creative, curious and exploratory nature is very at home in the potato patch with the song of red-winged blackbird or the mason jar of "interdisciplinary" garden contents.
Annual vegetable cultivation and sales/donations—10 years
Perennial garden design & business—10 years
Livestock and poultry experience (goats, sheep, pigs, turkeys, chickens, ducks, geese)—6 years
Perennial plant cultivation and propagation—4 years
Fruit trees—5 years
Study and practice of healing with herbs and food - both cultivated and responsibly foraged from the wild—13 years
I want to learn about the local and surrounding ecosystem of the land I am living or working on. I want to create systems for caring for the plants, animals, and buildings already present on the land; build soil; procure other basic landscape, infrastructure, farm, and business systems; and start to design a business plan for my long-term goals.
My long-term vision is to establish a fruit, vegetable, herb and mushroom farm that includes animals (ducks, chickens, and possibly sheep and/or goats). I am interested in incorporating woodlands into the animal and food systems over time, experimenting and record-keeping my experiences in agroforestry as I go. (I hope to support the research and development of this field over time.)
In addition to producing value-added products of fruits and medicinal herbs and possibly fungi on-site, my commitment is to steward and develop land that may become a place of retreat, education, and/or working community/village. I am a dirt-minded designer who really enjoys the behind-the-scenes work of creating beautiful, accessible, and enjoyable spaces. I envision the farm ultimately having experiential and/or educational components such as minimal retreat-style offerings, plant medicine consultations, and workshops on topics like ecological psychology and land-based arts. I strongly believe in finding creative ways to make the land accessible to all, without funds limiting that access.
I am independent, systems-minded, organized, and thorough. I am also an open-minded and creative person and I am happy when I am able to lead projects and organize systems. I know that, just like the land, I thrive and flourish within a supportive community. I have been involved with cooperative, collective, and guild-styled organizations, and love to see how experts, specialists, and lovers of their craft can support the larger vision while reciprocally being supported in their callings and livelihoods.
I would prefer housing for myself and my indoor/outdoor cat.
I will welcome all beings, ideas, and conversations on the land where I farm. I will strive for balance and support a diverse environment where diverse needs can be met.
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