A few people out there might remember Furrow & Trowel started as a gardening and place-based blog in 2017. I'd been an avid food blogger for several years, and the original Furrow & Trowel served as a spot where I could write about a long-time love of horticulture, environmental ethics, and DIY food gardening to understand my adopted home along Colorado's Front Range.
Last year when the global pandemic bore down on us all, I found myself at home more than I had been in years. Quarantined in a small house in Englewood, Colorado, with a husband, small child, full-time job, and the psychological exhaustion of constant uncertainty and fear of death for my loved ones and myself, I didn't have much physical or mental space to write.
Breathing through the anxiety-ridden months was a lesson in patience I had not realized I needed to learn. I tried to focus on the small daily activities that would allow me to continue to grow and was grateful I could turn my attention toward spending time with my family and practice presence through gardening, knitting, and recipe experiments.
For all its trauma, 2020 planted the proverbial seed that I could relaunch Furrow & Trowel as something that captures my DIY interests and the underlying reason I care about them — they motivate me to slow down and observe the world around me, the project in my hands, and the food I’ve been fortunate to grow, prepare, and eat.
The DIY spirit behind Furrow & Trowel even found its way into the site’s design. Last December when deciding to relaunch the site, I decided to also design it from scratch. With little serious design experience, I took the leap, unsure exactly what I was getting into.
Three months later and many hours of learning, I have a fully functional website that captures the earthy aesthetic I was aiming for. I'll never be able to toggle through web pages on a site again without acknowledging that every color, button, hyperlink, image, menu, and logo laid out on the screen was a strategic decision someone had to make (and remake and remake again) until what they envisioned in their head became digital reality.
As you explore the site, you'll notice that the writing still leans heavily on gardening and a love of the natural world, but it also makes a space for my interest in making and selling knit and crochet goods, my writing and editing services, and my favorite, well-tested recipes. Each of these passions help me pursue an intentional life, and I hope you might be inspired by them, too. Here’s to a season of sowing seeds and being present as they take root and grow. Welcome (back) to Furrow & Trowel.
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