About FarmerPhoebe

I started this blog in part to promote my organic gardening teleclasses but mostly to share my passion for gardening and to connect with other backyard gardeners.

I’ve been gardening organically most of my life (starting with a few bean seeds in Dixie cups). I guess I just like to play in the dirt.

Until January 2, 2009, I’d been calling myself an urban organic gardener. I had a little patch behind a Catholic girls high school on the far North Side of Chicago. It was a great location; several people in the neighborhood were already firmly established in their plots, which the nuns from the convent graciously shared with us. A statue of Jesus blessed all who entered. I carried my gardening tools around in my car (nicknamed the “Tool Shed”).

Life-changing events over the past year (including a death in the family and my need to reduce living expenses) forced me to take stock. Ultimately, I want to wind up on a piece of land somewhere in the Midwest where I can stable a couple of horses, take care of rescue dogs, run a profitable home-based business, and garden – organically – to my heart’s content. I could reach a few of these goals as an urban apartment dweller, but not all of them.

So, I recently moved from a city of 3 million to a little town of 14,000 in western Wisconsin. (You can read all about it here.) I moved into a funky (thanks, Doug Green) little 2-bedroom rental I found on Craigslist. I’m on a month-to-month agreement ’cause I’m hoping to find my permanent home sooner than later.

It’s colder up here than I’m used to (and Chicago winters can be pretty brutal). But the countryside is beautiful, I can see the stars at night, and everyone I’ve met so far has been super friendly and hospitable. I couldn’t be happier.

I’m feeling like a gardening nomad right now, though. I don’t know yet whether I’ll be here long enough to plant flowers and grow some cucs and tomatoes this summer. I had to get rid of my gardening tools to make room in my car for clothes, towels, books, and my home office stuff. But it’s all good ’cause it’s only 15 F degrees outside and there’s a foot of snow on the ground. No major decisions have to be made today.

In the meantime, I’ll continue sharing my passion for organic gardening by hosting teleclasses. I’ve lined up some of the most respected organic gardening experts in the U.S. to talk about what they know. (Teleclasses are on hiatus indefinitely.)