Farmer

Amanda Howell

My Philosophy...
My husband Paul and I are tree-hugging, worm-loving, bee-friendly, free-range, chemical-free, small-scale farmers and outdoorsy people. We dug up the mown lawn to grow heirloom vegetables without chemical pesticides, and started selling our produce a year later. We believe people can take back their food future from the agro-industrial complex one garden at a time, and we think there are lots of reasons why it is important to do so. We like to share what we’ve learned and what we works for us, and learn more ourselves along the way.

My Story...
I grew up on a small farm, from a family of many generations of small farmers. A love for land, nature, and growing things has been with me since childhood. When I was about 6 years old, I began building rock gardens and moving plants into them as play. Since then, everywhere I have lived I’ve grown gardens, or taken plants with me, and explored every garden I could manage to see on travels. I have a Master’s degree in Medical and Biological Illustration, did an intensive research project on the history of botanical illustration, and have taken field botany courses through CMU and UofM.
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My husband Paul and son Teddy and I live on a tiny farm called Dragonwood, and we grow a wide variety of plant foods, and chickens for eggs and meat. We have sold plants, herbs, vegetables, flowers and eggs at farmers’ markets every summer since 2009. We specialize in heirloom tomatoes, garlic, and unusual and gourmet veggies. Paul is also a geologist and former college professor and computer guy, and I work part-time as a licensed midwife.