About

Just a simple Hillbilly…

Born in Atlanta, raised in the North Georgia mountains, spending summer vacations in the Blue Ridge mountains and Sand Mountain Alabama….all my life has been spent surrounded by some of the most glorious natural wonders in the South. My love of nature is deep and well nourished by some amazing women.

My Great-Grandmother taught me how to work the soil and bring forth bounty from the earth. She could grow the most beautiful wildflowers and herbs, knew their names and what they could be used for and the most delicious strawberries and any vegetable that could possibly come from sandy red Alabama soil. She and my Great-Grandfather raised bees and preserved the harvest from the garden.

I had a wonderful Great Aunt from the Blue Ridge mountains, she taught me what wild blueberries looked like and where they grew, she shared the secret places where the few remaining American Chestnuts still grew and taught me and my brother and cousins how to release the sweet nuts from those horrible spiny hulls. She taught me the benefits of ‘snuff’ on a bee sting…long story, it was gross!

Last, my mother was one of my greatest teachers. She was my Girl Scout leader, my fellow veggie gardener after Great-Granny died…she taught me, as Great-Granny had taught her, how to preserve the harvest through canning and freezing. Through Girl Scouts, she taught me outdoor skills like lashing sticks for a table, digging your own latrine and the art of using a Dutch oven. Poisonous plant identification and useful herb identification and use were also skills she taught me, along with snake identification!

There is much more to me, so much more, but for now…that’s enough.