I am a passionate land steward, small-scale farmer, and regenerative gardener and designer in my 30’s. I grew up in towns outside of the Catskills of New York and the Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. While most of my experience in farming and landscaping has been in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, I have recently had the opportunity to steward a 20 acre historical homestead nonprofit and orchard in the Willamette Valley of Oregon for three years now. Most recently, I have been learning about regenerative land and animal systems while working with the land and animals, pruning the apple orchards, grafting fruit trees, managing the family camping program, and coordinating general farm operations.
Additionally I am working towards an 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 once I have completed my grad program, I will be ready for the responsibility and sovereignty of farming the 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 give to the land and its creatures and currently I am looking to find work and grow relationships in the Rogue Valley.
Currently seeking work/building community
Beginning in 2014, I worked on two different small-scale diversified organic produce farms for three years in rural western PA. For several years during and after, I helped with farmers' markets in Pittsburgh for one of the farms I had been growing produce on. After some time of farming (and selling) for other people, I came to realize my interest in working for myself and my knack for business. But I was living in the city and not ready to own land or settle down. So I began my back-and-front yard urban farmette for personal consumption and fermented foods as I apprenticed with Pittsburgh Permaculture. 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.
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 the subjects of art, music, and the mind are very at home in the potato patch with the singing red-winged blackbird or the mason jar of "interdisciplinary" garden contents.
Annual vegetable cultivation and sales—7 years
Perennial garden design & business—7 years
Livestock and poultry experience (goats, sheep, pigs, turkeys, chickens)—3 years
Perennial plant cultivation and propagation—2 years
Fruit trees—2 years
Study and practice of healing with herbs and food - both cultivated and responsibly foraged from the wild—10 years
I want to learn about the local and surrounding ecosystem of whatever land I am living or working on. I want to create (or learn the current) systems for caring for the plants, animals, and buildings already present on the land; build soil as needed; get other basic landscape, infrastructure, farm, and business systems established; and start to design a business plan for my long-term goals.
My long-term vision is to establish a fruit, herbs 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 fungi on-site, my commitment is to steward and develop land that may become a place of retreat, education, and/or working community. 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 a very open-minded and creative person. I have been uncovering in recent years how happy I am when I am leading projects and organizing systems. I know that, just like the land, I thrive and flourish within a supportive community. Depending on the size of the property, I may hope to be a part of a team of stewards over time. These may be individuals from the community, or possibly folks who would share the land. 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 do not currently need housing.
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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