The REAL Beginning?

I was born in 1965. I grew up loving the outdoors! Living on the Gulf Coast, I enjoyed frequent trips to Dauphin Island and Gulf Shores. Back then (the 70s) we could drive in a Jeep down to the West End of Dauphin Island and collect sea shells and fish from the beach. I swam for oysters, baited my own hooks, breathed deeply in the warm salt air.

Later we spent a month in Missouri on a farm. I chased piglets, climbed cherry trees, bottle fed a calf, and slept on a screened-in porch in the total black of night with no electric light. I went to market to sell pigs, went to a rodeo, and ate homemade biscuits and sausage gravy.

In college I volunteered for Greenpeace, attended Earth Day celebrations, began recycling, visited the arboretum at Auburn University and botanical gardens elsewhere, and began identifying with "hippies." (LOL)

My courtship with my now-husband featured lots of plants: growing peppers in pots on the balcony. We love spicy food, but we also loved what happens in our souls when we connect with soil. We worked with his department to restore an old greenhouse at Delta State University (home of the Fighting Okra!), and we gathered wild coreopsis flowers that became "our flower."

Now, we live on a small farm. My husband maintains a garden at least two seasons of the year. We have chickens, guineas, turkeys, ducks, a couple good ol' mousers, and a herding dog. We have raised goats and sold them at market. We hosted a few sheep for a while, and although they were not wool sheep, I kept some of their hair to try to do something with. We have a great system here, involving eggs, composting, slopping the chickens, recycling, non-pesticide gardening, and (in the design phase) rain collection. Nothing goes in the garbage without serious consideration for composting, reuse, crafting, giving away, reviving/repairing, or responsible disposal.

The newest thing is organic living. We recently visited a Whole Foods store (aka Heaven on Earth) and loaded up on lifestyle magazines, food, healthcare products, and green household cleaning products. I am researching green skincare, and I am learning dozens of uses for white vinegar.

So it has been a process of greening since childhood. I'm OK with being a "Green Freak"!