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Writing Samples

My writing journey

I do not have any prestigious awards or many published works. I am first and foremost a farmer. I was born to tend the earth, to observe it, and let is speak to me. Albeit sometimes we do not speak the same language, but we are learning to communicate.

I have always had a great love of writing and have a set of very angsty adolescent journals to prove it; poetry of love unrequited, attention, disappearing from society. I can't say my journals feel much differently now, just new focal points.

The practical pragmatic person inside of me would never dream of going to college for something like creative writing, so instead I went for the more potentially job-attaining writing career of Journalism. On paper, I did well, graduating with a respectable GPA. In real life, I failed pretty miserably at making Journalism my calling, my passion. I could not stand the 24-hour news cycle, the misinformation due to hurried work, the stale precision of words. I could not stand the material, pushing people further out of touch with the natural world and their inherent knowledge. As I was falling out of love with career writing, I was head over heels for farming, local agriculture, food, and food systems.

I spent most of my time after college immersed in the work of local food systems; working cafe and bakery jobs, acting as a culinary tour guide, volunteering on farms and ranches of all sizes,

working for non-profits and serving on boards, planning local food events and marketing campaigns. I used my skills in writing to aid my work in grant writing, copy writing, social media, etc. I gave every hour and thought I could produce to strengthening the local food system. After years of abusing myself within the confines of non-profit martyrdom, I was given the opportunity to start a farm with my partner.

Writing and food systems. I had tried combining the two and ended up tired, uninterested, and uninspired. Farming gave me an entirely new perspective. My muse is now the earth and not the deadline. My material the heart and not the head. My pragmatism nonexistent and non-important. Farming gave me the gift of art over production.

Writing and farming. I finally discovered they could coexist happily in my being. The harsh, fast, modern priorities of journalism and of working in non-profits broke me. The gentle, slow, intrinsic qualities of poetry, prose, and farming revive me.

I want to use my writing and farming to help others discover their connection with place. Connection to this land, the macro and micro, the flora and fauna, the native and the invasive, the ancient and the modern, has grounded me. Has minimized my anxieties. Has given me purpose. I want to give others the gift of rootedness.

Creative

Creative writing is where my true passion lives. Check out my Substack for a wide variety of writing topics and legnths.

Magazine

Occasionally, I write for food and farm focused publications. I often only seek these out now out of interest and enjoyment.

Misc Journalism

The days of Weekly Magazine freelancing are over for me. Occasionally, I will pick up fun writing gigs (like environmental nonprofit blog posts or prose for local publications)

Research/Activism

The deeper I feel, the closer I connect, the more I strive. Activism plays a role in much of my creative writing, but thorough research projects arise from time to time.

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