chrissi

I’ve been gardening since I was about 8 when my Mom would pay me to collect snails at a penny a piece. I think I have soil in my blood as many of our ancestors were farmers. My husband, Stephen and I farmed in Idaho for several years in the ’70’s, but school pulled us away and I’ve had to work in what soil I could find. I later became certified as a Horticulture Therapist, which literally means it makes you feel better when your hands are in the dirt. For eight years I was the Garden Director for the Homeless Garden Project in Santa Cruz, then worked with the extension service in both Texas and Wyoming. I have really enjoyed doing international consulting with the Farmer to Farmer Program of the USDA, working in the organic field with post Soviet countries. We are now back in Santa Cruz and have a tiny raised bed in the back yard and am converting the front yard into an edible landscape.