"In 1994, at 26, I sold my little bakery cafe, packed 200 boxes of books & antiques, & waved goodbye to California. Armed with a basic knowledge of gardening, an overenthusiastic sense of adventure, & lots of naivete, I dragged 4 cats, a huge dog, & my equally greenhorn husband to a 280-acre, 140-year-old farm in the middle of nowhere. I became cook, gardener, shepherd, farmhand, vet, surrogate mom, wildlife expert, midwife, & undertaker. My prep school education & design degree were useless. I went from attending restaurant openings & gallery receptions to working the rural fire dept's BBQ booth at the crafts fair & munching fried pies at country auctions.
Twelve years later, much has changed: a new farm, a new garden, a new man in my life. I have sheep, chickens, 2 dogs, 7 cats, & an adorable donkey named Dan. My life revolves around food. I've taught cooking classes & contributed to cookbooks. I've written for Kitchen Gardener, Garden Design & others. I'm slowly building a wholesale artisan bread bakery on my farm. And my name is Susan."
Susan is one of many fascinating members within the Gather community. She is also a Food Correspondent, and writes for Gather Essentials: Food. During the time I recently spent reviewing the columns and biography information for my "Meet the Correspondents" article series, I became intrigued by many of their personal stories, reflections, and life experiences.
Then, through my interviews with member authors and artists, I became even more aware of the rich, diverse history that occasionally is brought to life through the writing and contributions of members within the Gather community. Everyone has a unique story to tell, and these stories are often fascinating, entertaining and even educational. Thus, similar to my author and artist interview series, I will begin a series of shorter interviews with members from across the community, beginning with some of the Gather correspondents, like 'Farm Girl' Susan, Birdie Jaworski, and Richard Frisbie, to name a few.First up will be Farm Girl Susan later this week.
If you are aware of a member with an interesting story to tell, please let me know, and you may see their 'member story' appear soon!
Note: This is a member sponsored activity.
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Comments: 28
I think DW has a good idea. For example, I believe I'm the sole representative of the rubber frog community here on Gather. Not everyone knows the contributions that rubber frogs have made to society and the discrimination they have to face, even in this enlightened era of diversity consciousness. Beside that, many of us have squeakers.
I can't wait for the full interview....this should be fascinating!
Thank you, Kevin and thank you, Susan!
This looks like fun
What's an interpreneur?
Thanks for the reminder! I meant to change it to a more common (English) form of the word, but didn't get to it before I published. :-)
What I want to know is this: How do you slow Susan down enough to talk to her? Do you have to share the lamb-herding to get her to answer questions? Knead bread while she talks? (not to self: if Kevin does housecalls for interviews, arrange a "participatory kitchen experience")
But what about you, Kevin? You don't even have a profile! How are we supposed to find out about You?