Welcome to Postcards from an Iowa Transplant
…Because Iowa is not what you think it is
If you’re not from here, you may not think about Iowa much, and if you do, it’s probably “flyover” or “white” or “farms.”
Live in Iowa? You’ve probably only seen it from either the city side or the rural side. As an Iowa transplant from Upstate New York who’s lived in Iowa’s poorest neighborhoods and now on a sweet rural property outside of a small town, as a person who fell in love with Iowa in the 1980’s and came back to an entirely different state in 2011, I promise you it’s so much more than you can imagine, hope or fear.
Ignore it at your own risk. Explore it to your own benefit.
Let’s get creative
Stories are how we share our hearts, our values, our fears and our loves to one another. Let’s find a way to tell our stories that offer new insights into human behavior and give us something to wake up for in the morning. I want to surprise you. I want you to come away with something that sticks with you. I will provoke you. I believe it’s how we change and grow.
There’s a lot to read out there…
I prefer quality over quantity. Expect a post every couple of weeks, more photos - gee, like postcards! - during the growing season when I’m out in the orchards, prairie and timber, and more words in the winter when I have the time to tend to the craft of writing.
Let’s start here for paid subscribers - Join by the end of the year and you’ll get early-bird registration for day-long writing retreats hosted on our fruit farm in Eastern Iowa in 2024. Love to camp? Paid subscribers will enjoy FREE freeze-dried sweet corn or other available goodies if you come camp at one of our Hipcamp sites.
Like most of us newbies on Substack, this is an experiment. Please join me, offer constructive feedback and let me know what you’re thinking! I look forward to our conversation.
Here’s a taste of Iowa from my backyard
These are heartnut trees, also known as Japanese walnuts. At our farm we grow them with honeyberry (known as Haskap) bushes between them next to swales that capture heavy rains and store the water in berms for the plants to access when they need it. When you grow food like this in a state hooked on growing feed and fuel, you’re bound to have a different perspective!
Learn more about what Iowa looks from here by subscribing today. Thank you!