A message from, farm steward, Linda...

Like many in my generation, I grew up on a farm, which was small but fed our family well despite our modest means. I could not imagine when I left to pursue a career in nursing that I would come full circle back to my childhood experience. Now I had a new understanding of the fundamental requirement for good health: locally grown, organic, nutritious food. Becoming pregnant with the first of my two sons brought a special passion and sense of urgency to that understanding. Knowing how to feed myself is a priceless gift from my parents. Growing food is a way of keeping their memory alive and preserving some of my cultural heritage.

I now believe that producing nutrient-dense food without the use of synthetic chemicals, teaching others to do the same, and in doing so protecting our Earth home, represents a most fundamental nursing practice. Pure food, produced through sustainable growing methods, is a necessary ingredient for healthy, thriving bodies, and the future of our planet. 

Though I have been growing food organically for over 30 years, I am a perpetual student. I enjoy experimenting and learning about the peculiarities of edible plants, especially those native to this region. While there are many challenges to organic growing, the fabulous flavors and variety more than compensate for the effort. 

Growing food organically meets our needs in the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. Thus, it is sustainable. Read labels of anything you contemplate eating, putting on the food you grow or in your environment. If you don’t want to drink, eat or breathe it, don’t use it. Nothing you use stays exactly where you put it and everything you do affects something else.

I hope it will inspire you to become an intentional participant in feeding yourself, your family, and your community. Though our homes have displaced wild habitat, growing diverse and resilient plants in our yards, gardens, and on our farms can begin to restore food and habitat for other species while providing us with new tastes, superior nutrition, and visual delights.