What’s the one thing that’s a must in this world?
Narrowing it down to one, that’s tricky, there are so many levels and its all a tangle of interconnectedness. Clean water and clean air. I would have to say this lies somewhere in sustainable, clean food systems—that don’t degrade the environment, that operates locally to feed every increasing population, that harvest and distrubute in ways that reduce and eliminate food waste, and in ways that nourish the body and microbiome and don’t bring about obsesity. I know that is a lot. It is going to take radical shifts in thinking in not only how and what we produce but how we eat. (And fermentation is in there somewhere…)
What is the best purchase you’ve ever made?
This question has had me stumped and has kept me from pushing submit for hours and then I looked accross the room at our masonry stove—Tuli Kivi—6500 pounds of soapstone keep us warm with soothing radiant heat with very little fire wood.
What brings you the greatest joy?
My family! (Oh, and a yard full of blooming flowers.)
What’s your favorite smell in the whole world?
One I will never smell again, but I would know it in a heartbeat—my grandmother’s house.
What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
Enjoy the messy, tiring moments of being a mother while your children are growing up, while each day is long the whole of the journey is just a blink. I found this to be profoundly true.
Kirsten K. Shockey got started in fermenting foods with a farmstead food company, creating more than 40 varieties of cultured vegetables and krauts. Her current focus is on teaching the art of fermenting vegetables to others through classes and workshops. She blogs at www.Fermentista.us and lives on a 40-acre hillside homestead in the Applegate Valley of southern Oregon. For more on Kirsten check out MotherEarthNewsFair.com!
