Zia Gallina

I am an expat, a botanist, a writer and full time (resilient) farmer.

elderberry

Farm like an Ecosystem

From my vantage point — which is sitting in the chicken yard, eating just-harvested mulberries, my fingers all blue — farming within an ecosystem can be joyful and meaningful, life-affirming. It should be an integral part of the way we feed the world and revitalize our degraded land.

August 3, 2023

saving seeds

Saving Our Seeds

Each year I save more seeds, from my own plants, from what I forage, from neighbors… This is where Charles Darwin and Mother Nature converge with our new climate extremes.

April 5, 2023

Winter Reflections: Engaging our Children

It wasn’t enough to observe and have a front row seat at issues I felt were important. The students had to care about what they were studying. It had to be relevant to their lives.

February 13, 2023

garden in snow

January: Planting an Idea.

Once we understood the intrinsic value of the natural world, not just what it contributes to our well-being, our economy and the local ecology, there was no going back.

January 16, 2023

egg

The Winter Solstice

Tomorrow a new cycle begins. I wish renewed vigor for all of us. I wish for fresh insight with which to see our challenges.

December 22, 2022