I started this blog because I wanted to document my experiences, lessons, and journey into the wild world of farming...a quite recent endeavor, interests which developed within the past year-year and a half. It started out with me making some lifestyle changes, cutting out processed food, dairy (which I wrongfully reintroduced for a period), and continuing to keep meat, fish, etc. out, as I've done since I was pretty young. I started watching documentaries on this back to the land movement, seeing what younger people my age were doing around the country and world. Listening to story after story about how it just felt right and how connected they felt was inspiring for me. I watched these as motivators and inspiration to keep going, to stay on the path I chose, and yes, it did and has done just that. But it's also sparked something else in me.. this desire to connect with what we as humans have always been connected to up until the industrial revolution. This disconnectedness we have in relation to an understanding and respect of where our food comes from is a very new thing. We are meant to be interdependent of what surrounds us, and if you let it, you will become connected again the way we all were when we were children. This idea of full interdependence was buried in my mind about six years ago by a buddhist teacher in NYC when the seed was planted. It stayed burrowed and confined for a while, but started sprouting this past November. A lot has happened since that seed was planted; good and bad, but all has shown to be valuable in due time. I spent a few years in Chicago, originally working on my doctorate in psychology. That sort of unraveled a couple years in and I quickly realized that place was like poison and I needed out. I opted to finish off my masters instead and get out of there. I couldn't seem to have any grasp on the foresight of why it was happening. Looking back, that was one of the best things that happened to me. Sometimes cutting off a tumor in your life is risky and painful, but worth it.

I'm in a transition period right now. I have my masters, applying to a PhD program in community health for next fall out in Oregon, on two research teams (one very related to food insecurity at said school), involved with a local non-profit, and some farm related things. I'm starting to come around to what's important to me.

Thanks for stopping by and lets connect!
Jessi