Garden, Forest, Field is a blog about gardening, naturally, but also about cooking from the garden, forest, and field, and about paying attention to the natural world.  I live in Northeastern California, in Lassen County.  It’s a varied landscape here:  the east slope of the Sierra, high mountain lakes, mixed conifer forests, high desert/Great Basin topography and ecosystems.  I love this land.

I’ve been living and gardening on the same three acres since 1987, and I’m eager to share what I’ve learned in a lifetime of gardening while I learn from you at the same time.  I also preserve much of my garden produce for winter eating, so I’ll be sharing that with you as well.  It’s easier than you might think!

I grew up in a family of hunters and fishermen.  It wasn’t a hobby for my father and brother; it was subsistence.  I don’t hunt, but I married a hunter, and I raised one too:  our son, Joel.  We eat a lot of wild game in this family, and I’ve learned (and am still learning) how to prepare it properly.  For the boys, the adventure is in the hunting.  For me, it’s in the kitchen. Until you’ve had a pair of bear steaks in your hands, wondering how to cook them so the family doesn’t ingest any parasites, you haven’t really had a kitchen adventure.  I’ll share that kind of experience with you in this blog.

I’m very aware of the world around me; nature is a constant source of joy.  I’m fortunate to live in a beautiful landscape; it’s like living in a perpetual state of grace.  I’ll share my observations with you—of birds, lizards, deer, squirrels, sometimes a bear, and let’s hope for a mountain lion (but not too close), and whatever else comes my way.  This is Garden, Forest, Field.