Introducing Annie

Who am I?  I am complex.  For the purposes of this blog, I am a curious person that is focusing on FOOD, every single aspect of it.  I am in pursuit of knowledge on how to prepare land, plant seeds, protect, harvest, and prepare abundance.  Food becomes a meal when it is shared with others in a community that nourishes the soul as much as the nutrients from food give strength to the physical body.  The beauty of this project is that my two fabulous, intelligent, and innovative partners in this exploration will be contributing their thoughts, research, and insights on the topics of community, creation, and implementation.    

I will be conducting experiments on my own small piece of land in urban Tucson, although my project is farther reaching than my backyard.  Just as this blog is an expression of my thoughts, my garden will be an expression of my actions.  It will be a place to apply the knowledge that I am collecting and sharing.  Innovation is what characterizes this project guided by creativity and empowerment.

How can we learn to enter a partnership with our natural surroundings so that we exist in a mutually beneficial relationship that keeps both us (humans) and nature thriving?  

I am looking for methods of creating abundance that can be implemented by anybody using materials that are easily accessible.  This project will also be shaped by my intention of featuring techniques that require minimal energy use. 

We all have unique situations in our current urban and rural living.  There is a huge gap between what currently exists in my “backyard” and what I would like to be there.  I place backyard in quotations because a more accurate description would be a corner of baked and cracked earth overgrown with weeds that surrounds my elegantly decaying triplex.  Facing this gap can be intimidating to the point of paralyzing.  While I intend to research methods of durable agriculture and food production, I may not be able to mirror them in my own space.  I will parallel my research and my actual implementation with the hope that reality will more closely resemble research as the project progresses.

The message that I hold within me is that empowerment begins with action and grows with experience.  So cheers to beginnings and to a space of shared contributions, experiences, and anecdotes.  I welcome all feedback asking that the author have respect for themselves and for me while pressing the ‘post’ button.