The two of us have been friends for many years. It started on a stupid internet game that we both played. We grew out of it, but still talked frequently as we grew up. Through plenty of fights, we always kept coming back, realizing that our shared interests and common ground still kept us together. Though we met online, and didn’t see each other in person until many years had passed, we had plenty of ties in our love for the natural world and in seeing what we could create, grow, and do with our own hands.
Along the path of knowing each other, we changed. We got older and smarter. We both obtained college degrees, and both fell into great debt when we failed to find reasonable jobs. Still, beyond our setbacks, we realized that there really was a lot we could do for ourselves. There was a lot of knowledge we could still obtain. We longed to share our stories – to spread what we had learned, so that others could share in our ‘adventures’.
This blog is the realization of something the two of us have talked about for many months. How do two people, who come from different backgrounds and live in very dissimilar environments, pursue these shared interests? How does working the dirt, celebrating nature’s vast glory, battling the elements, and feeding their bellies unite them? How does a woman uprooted, thrust into urban apartment living, still maintain her set of gardening and homesteading skills despite her situation? Alternatively, how does a lone punk rocker pursue her dreams of acceptance as a farmer in a world run ragged by soaring costs and low sale prices – one that also isn’t always inviting to the new or offbeat?
