Background and Personal History: A nature lover since early childhood in the Garden State (New Jersey), Deb grew up in a miniscule suburban Cape Cod-style cottage surrounded by a white picket fence. Her family grew grapes, tomatoes and other vegetables, canned summer’s bounty, went twilight fishing on weekends with a stopover at Carvel’s on the way home. Early on, she developed skills in sewing, cooking, gardening, home repair and yard work.

As a kid, Deb always had a strong desire to be close to nature. In winter, she’d be sprouting radish seeds, bird food and herb seeds pilfered from the kitchen cabinet in homemade terrariums. The rest of the year, she could be found in the woods nibbling on birch bark and wild berries, trying to trap wild mice for pets (they always outsmarted the traps), and bringing home tadpoles, frog eggs and baby turtles from the lake. She would run through the woods trying to be like an Indian and not make any sounds (she still startles people because of that early training). Deb was adopted occasionally by both wild and domestic animals, caught full-grown fish with her bare hands by “hypnotizing” them with her touch and had an innate sense for herbal remedies and food as medicine.

She was also “that” kid who dismantled broken clocks, watches, appliances out of curiosity… and as an adult is able to put some of them back together without too many parts left over. She’s always learning how things are made and then (usually) trying to make them herself — just because.

Current Projects: Deb is currently fermenting pickles and krauts (ongoing); canning tomatoes to hopefully carry her cooking passion through the next 12 months; designing and sewing a custom apron for a blind friend (the pattern will be downloadable once the post is published); making soap, lotions, and toothpaste; once again, improving her tomato cages, hoop houses and garden in general; and planning next year’s garden. Sleep? Nah, no sleep.

Other Fun Facts: Deb is an urban farmer. She lives in the most suburban of suburbs. She has always wanted to live on a farm, but so far that hasn’t happened. She has gardened, indoors and out, all her life. As of the past few years, she keeps a few chickens and has been known to cook, preserve, sew, make her own soap, personal products and household cleaning supplies, paper and candles, knit, crochet, paint and make jewelry.

Deb can use power tools and used to own a horse. She can catch fish and clean and eat them, too, but prefers using a pole these days. She’s made food from scratch for her dog, parrots, chickens, husband and son. She also knows Photoshop, other Adobe software, Wordpress and three independent Web development tools. She has an intuition for natural remedies, and she loves her planet.

More Places to Find Deb on the Web:

The Herban Farmer

The Herban Farmer on Facebook

Tejada Designs