Backyard Bounty

There’s never a dull moment in our household. Between raising 2 high-energy boys who will be schooled at home; working as a freelance writer;  being a video and podcast personality; helping with River City Harvest; cooking for fun and profit; and keeping up with my husband who’s equally as industrious with keeping bees and all sorts of home improvement projects, there’s little time to complain about being bored. I figure I’ll sleep when I’m dead; this is my blog to prove it.

My writing focuses primarily on gardening, cooking, living simply (notice I didn’t say slowly), outdoor recreation and profiles on some of the fascinating folks of Montana - all topics near and dear to my heart. And the beauty is I can do much of the work from home. People often ask me when I work, and I tell them it’s usually between 10 p.m. and midnight after everyone is in bed. When I do have to conduct interviews during the day, I can keep the boys occupied with Play-doh, or an educational program, although, as any mother knows,  it’s always a crap shoot when I’m on the phone. That’s when they’ll start fighting or insist on climbing up my leg. So if you hear me spooning out ice cream in the background, don’t be a hater.

Fortunately, part of my writing involves hardcore gardening, and the boys often step up to help. Sam, our oldest, will have a garden all to himself this spring, and both of them work with me from seeding to harvest. The gardens around our home are experimenting grounds for many of my articles. I test new varieties, and put various gardening tools and techniques through their paces to see how well they fare in the real world. This is a harsh growing climate so when something thrives it’s impressive. And what comes from the garden ends up in the kitchen since I’m also always trying new recipes for articles. It’s one big circle.

Work is fun and fun is work in my life, but we do try to go out and enjoy what Montana has to offer as a family. With the Missouri River flowing through town, and just a short drive to either Glacier National Park or Yellowstone there is plenty to do. My husband Grant is a fisheries biologist for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, and has spent his life in the outdoors so it’s a big part of ours. In addition, Great Falls is a vibrant town with a strong sense of community, and a plethora of events and activities in the region.

Prior to my life as a child-wrangler, I spent nearly a decade chasing grizzlies and other wildlife while working on natural history films for National Geographic, BBC and others. While raising children is much more difficult than working with wild animals, I learned a lot from my years in the field, such as you don’t want to tick off a mother of any sort. There’s nothing worse than having a cow elk stare you down because you know in a fraction of a second she’s going to be coming after you to stomp you into a grease spot. As a mother myself, I’m working on imitating the look so the boys know I’m serious.

The purpose of this blog is to share my adventures with the readers. Sometimes you’ll see where things work out great, other times, you have a front seat to see an epic fail. It’s all part of life and a big aspect of the learning process. Join us and watch the fun.