Hello! I’ve called myself a homesteader since 2015, when my passion for gardening, love for the outdoors and deep desire for delicious, nutritious food led me on a path to pursue permaculture, homesteading and herbalism.
Along the way I’ve aligned myself with many mentors, who’ve generously shared a slew of hard skills and influenced my personal homesteading philosophy. I’ve held paid positions in horticulture, such as working for a native landscape designer, an organic citrus orchard and a permaculture garden. I earned a permaculture design certificate from San Diego Sustainable Living Institute and was trained in seed stewardship through the Seed Academy at Siskiyou Seeds.
Prior to co-establishing our family’s homestead gardens and food forest, I spent 3 years in an adhoc, self-designed apprenticeship, volunteering with 10+ urban farms, rural farms and family homesteads in Southern California and the Pacific Northwest. I chose to pursue an emphasis on polyculture gardening, permaculture, basic livestock care and gardening in the forest. Through this multi-faceted apprenticeship, I picked up skills working with market gardens, food forests, herbs, animals, food preservation and much more.
Over the years I’ve established and tended four personal home gardens—two urban and two rural. Today I live and homestead in Southern Oregon with my partner Ann Nguyen and our young son. Together we steward 10 acres of partially forested, moderately degraded land in the foothills of a beautiful oak savannah and mixed coniferous valley. Here I take part in intensively cultivating under half an acre of food, medicine, flowers and seed crops. I’ve also planted a diverse population of fruit & nut trees, many of whom I’ve grown from seed.
In 2023, I co-founded Homestead Culture out of a desire to share my knowledge and skills with folks who are actively taking steps to live more naturally and regeneratively. I teach homesteading skills online through Homestead Culture, as well as in-person for my local rural community.
I’ve been growing seeds professionally, on a part-time basis, since 2018 with a specialty in perennial vegetable seeds, perennial herb seeds and genetically diverse mixes. I am grateful to offer these seeds to gardeners, small farmers and permaculture enthusiasts.
I enjoy writing a homesteading blog and email newsletter, where I explore topics such as cultural transformation, homesteading from the heart, seed saving, gardening and other homesteading topics. Since 2025 I’ve been honored to write a column in our local newspaper called “Gardening from the Heart”.
In 2026 I co-founded a local seed saving club to spur more gardeners to participate in our rural seed library’s gift economy. Our club’s goals are to build community around seed saving, to share knowledge and to increase local resiliency through tending locally adapted seeds in community.
When I’m not saving seeds, teaching or writing, I prefer to spend my time tending our family’s forest garden, making yogurt, fermenting wine, preparing herbal remedies, cooking nourishing food, preserving the garden’s bounty, practicing Tai Chi, and hanging out with my beautiful family.
