Here are a few of my favorite farming endeavors that I’ve been a part of over the years…
Trailside Farm: This was the first farm my then-partner and I built in Calhoun, Missouri, USA. Having just returned from a year-long backpacking trip through the Middle East, India and China, we were motivated by the idea of learning to make a living off the land. Click here for a few images and information.
The Cultivate KC Community Farm: The Kansas City Community Farm was the farm run by Cultivate Kansas City (formerly the Kansas City Center for Urban Agriculture), the organization I co-founded in 2005.
The Cultivate KC Food Forest: I started this project in 2010 as a fellow of the TogetherGreen Collaboration between the Audubon Society and Toyota. The goal of this project was to establish an urban food forest using permaculture principles and creating a series of workshops and learning opportunities for the community. Click here for a handout telling the story of the food forest.
Plum Village Happy Farm, Thénac, France: In 2012 I headed from Kansas City to the Dordogne in the South of France to spend a year in Plum Village, the monastery and mindfulness practice center founded by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. My aspiration was to deepen my mindfulness practice and help found a small market garden, which we named the Plum Village Happy Farm. I returned to it for another year-long stay in 2015. I am immensely grateful for this special opportunity to live and practice in Plum Village — clearly the most in-depth experience in mindful community living I could have imagined.
Prinzessinnengarten, Berlin, Germany:
In 2016, I moved to Berlin and a year later I took a job with the nonprofit collective Prinzessinnengarten. I started coordinating an urban gardening project in Berlin, Hellersdorf, called “Gutsgarten.” The garden was modeled after the main Prinzessinnengarten insofar as food is grown communally in raised beds and many other artistic and cultural activities take place here. The place has become an important community resource that has transformed over the years just like the neighborhood it is located in. Check out the blog posts that tell the stories and show the pictures of the Gutsgarten project (please note, the blog is in German but browsing the stories and pictures should be fun even if you don’t speak the language).