At Farm To Crag, we know it’s hard to grow things! We believe that if everyone just tried to grow a few things in their backyard, windowsill, or balcony, the world would be a better place. We are incredibly inspired by Michaela Kiersch as a climber AND gardener, so we asked her to tell us a bit about her garden :)

Out the kitchen window, 40 mile-an-hour gusts rip dry, brown leaves from the cottonwood branches. Beyond them, snow covers my garden. The oven has warmed the house, and steam rises as I rake a fork across golden strands of spaghetti squash.

There’s no doubt about it: it’s summer. It’s the season of eating luscious, sun-ripened tomatoes with nothing but a pinch of salt and a napkin for the sweet juice that inevitably drips down your chin. We devour raspberries by the handful, and eat our food raw or cooked outside on a fire, preferring casual picnics and simple meals that complement summer schedules and hot days.

I have been daydreaming about homesteading since I was a kid. Three years ago it happened; I was a couple years into my thirties, mid-career at the North Cascades Environmental Learning Center, and about to lose my apartment. I bought a 4-acre piece of land in Marblemount, Washington. On the property was one shoddy old cabin and a woodshed. Along the swift, green Skagit River, I put down roots for the first time in my adult life.