I was born in Concord Califonia, a suburb in the East San Francisco Bay Area. A lifetime of tadpole catching and lizard chasing in backyard creeks led me to study Natural Resource Management at UC Berkeley. During college, I explored working in environmental education, watershed management, and community organization. After college I found my way back into the creeks - as a field biologist at a consulting firm in Berkeley, I helped hydroelectric projects manage salmonid and trout fisheries.

I've always tried to give back to the natural world around me through my carreer, but in the back of my mind were doubt on my effectiveness. What was my true footprint? How much fuel did I consume driving SUVs to remote mountain streams? How much red tape was binding my work? Where was my food coming from? How about the packaging? How far could I really trust Whole Foods with these decisions? The questions drove me quite mad.

I joined a CSA, Riverdog Farms in Sonoma county that delivered to my home in Berkeley and a whole world opened up for me. About the same time, I heard about WWOOFing (Willing Workers on Organic Family Farms.) A lifelong traveler, I was thrilled to learn that farms around the world offered free room & board to enthusiastic part-time workers. Between the CSA and WWOOFing, a new reality opened up for me. A paradigm began to emerge. I saw a future that didn't hold so much compromise, and at the center was farming. So began the search for a homestead. I visited a food forest full of little mud huts and a rice farm in Thailand. I moved to a 425 acre farm in Willits completely off the grid.

In 2008, I wound up in Venice Beach, Los Angeles. Here I offered neighbors edible urban landscaping, took a part-time job at a farmers market and one at a farm stand on PCH. I also started working with HOPE gardens, teaching transitional homeless how to grow food, and Westside Permies, the beautiful and energetic army of gardeners and community builders.

So now, I am settled here in Malibu, on the most beautiful and interesting permaculture farm I have seen in all my travels. I'll continue to WWOOF around the world - this year I visited a permaculture farm in Northern India, next year perhaps Madagascar. I feel so lucky to be at Old Chimney Farm at this crucial period. The soil has been prepared, enriched and loved for many years and we are just starting to ramp up food production and allow the place to come to its full potential. We live a dream life here, eating fresh clean produce while enjoying the sea breeze. I can't wait to share this food with the rest of our community and get to know you all.

Thanks for reading. Blessings.

Contact Mary 

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