My Food Freedom Book is Complete!

Here I have perched and here I have written ….

It is here, with no internet and nobody to talk to, that I shielded myself from the distractions of life and overcame a four-year struggle. Many of you have heard me say that my book is coming, and then again, my book is coming. I’ve had some writing blocks over the years, but more importantly, I’ve simply had more commitments than I had time for.

Today, a new chapter of my life begins. I have completed Food Freedom and I finally have this gift to offer to the world. There are many books out there and in my opinion this book is not absolutely needed. However, I feel certain that those who pick up this book are going to deepen their connection to the plants. Both the plants that are already growing freely and abundantly around them, and the plants they begin to grow through the inspiration and insights they receive from this book. Those who have never foraged a plant will forage their first. Those who have never grown a plant will grow their first. And those who are already on the plant path will take another step.

This is my gift and I offer it to you. Food Freedom documents my year of growing and foraging 100% of my food. It shares my journey of exploration and connection with our plant relatives and my realization that I could live in reciprocity. It explores the industrial food system that I depended on for decades and that most of us are eating from today. It shares how communities are taking control of their food and creating food sovereignty. And it shares how you, too, can grow your own and forage to gain food freedom.

I don’t own the words that I’ve written. The book is offered on a donation basis, whether it be a financial contribution or a commitment to utilize the book as a tool for personal liberation and the liberation of humanity.

Learn more here: Food Freedom: A Year of Growing and Foraging 100 Percent of My Food

This has been my home for the last 37 days and nights as I completed my Food Freedom book.

I have come to know the creatures of this land.

Every morning I watched the songbirds foraging in my kitchen for the grains and seeds I dropped. A turkey hen gave birth to six chicks and I have observed them near daily. Just one of the chicks is alive today. I know which perches the hummingbirds sit on and I watch them with joy. Each night that I inspected my spring water bathtub, the same three tree frogs were in there. They laid eggs and I’ve watched the tadpoles develop from a state of barely living to exuberant exploration. The pine trees have put out their vibrant green tips and many are maturing into their darker green state.

There is no doubt that the essence of this land has influenced my last 200 hours of writing and working on this book. But this is not the only land that has made its mark. The writing began in my tiny house in the city of Orlando surrounded by my gardens. Then came the simple wooden home in the food forest of Costa Rica where I nourished myself with tropical fruits. The spring season of Southern France as the hills re-greened during lockdown came next. There was the stint in the Chequamegon National Forest of Wisconsin and then in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina. A trip to the Florida Everglades and then back to the shores of Lake Superior in a wood-fired cabin.

At each of these locations I thought the book would be complete. And each time I left with some disheartenment. But, today I wholeheartedly feel that the book was not ready until this very moment. I have learned so much in the last four years and the book has developed greatly. I’m ready to share this gift with the world.

For most of the last 40 days, Dan and Martha were the only humans I saw!
And before then we’d never even met!

In the urban setting of Los Angeles, I was losing some of my balance, feeling a disconnect from Earth.

I put out into the world that I was seeking a place where I could settle in for a month to finish writing my Food Freedom book, while living simply and connected with Earth. Without all the distractions and stimulations.

Martha responded and said “come on out to our little piece of land in the forest!”
Seven years ago, Dan had found my first book at a used book shop in Santa Cruz and Martha has been following me on social media ever since. They live off the grid out here in the Santa Cruz Mountains and have been out here for 40 years. It was a delight to hear their stories. At one time, Martha lived out here with no electricity (not even a lightbulb!) while raising children!

I took joy and inspiration from their simple living and I found their space to be one of great rejuvenation. I only left the land three times and never felt a desire to be anywhere else.

They took a lot of joy in sharing this oasis they have been stewards to. They said a lot of people just don’t understand why they live the way they do. I guess most people want a lot more convenience and comfort. They really liked sharing the space with someone who was on the same page as they are.

Some see my life and assume that I am dependent upon others for my way of being. And the truth is, yes I am. But my dependence does not take from others. Rather, it enriches the lives of others, in most cases. The most wonderful gift that most of us ever receive is to share what we love with someone and to have it loved equally as much.

Not all of us have chosen the scarcity mindset. Some of us have chosen abundance, and that includes me.

I am grateful to Martha and Dan for receiving me with open arms and sharing their home! And I am grateful to each of you who has supported my life of living in connection with humanity and Earth.