Welcome,

The older I get, the more convinced I become that the world around us is the greatest teacher.

As a child, I kept snails in little villages beneath overturned flowerpots, collected leaves to see if any two were truly identical, and ran from classroom to classroom collecting pencil shavings and lunch scraps to turn into compost for our school garden.

I don't think I realized it then, but I wasn't just collecting things. I was collecting questions.

For as long as I can remember, I've been fascinated by the natural world and the systems that shape it. Over the years, that curiosity has led me down more rabbit holes than I can count. I've researched agricultural systems, built kitchen gardens, visited historic sites, and searched for answers to modern problems in the simplicity and elegance of ancient solutions. I've become just as captivated by a spring house or an Incan irrigation system as I am by an orchid in bloom or the way light filters through the branches of a willow tree.

The more I learn, the more I realize that everything is connected.

Gardening leads to soil. Soil leads to agriculture. Agriculture leads to history, economics, and community. A single question almost always uncovers ten more, and somewhere along the way I realized that I didn't want to keep those discoveries to myself.

This blog is my place to think out loud. It's where I collect ideas, document projects, share the lessons I'm learning, and introduce you to remarkable people whose work has shaped the way I see the world. My hope isn't that you'll agree with everything I write. It's that you'll leave just a little more curious than when you arrived.

I hope you'll slow down enough to notice the things most people overlook. I hope you'll ask better questions, seek thoughtful answers, and find yourself more deeply connected to the people, places, and natural systems that sustain us.

Thank you for being here.

Sincerely,

The Grower