I was raised in a Mennonite family. I went to college and studied computer science, philosophy, and literature. I worked for my father building conventional houses for about ten years. At one point, I gave away all posessions except what I could carry on my person. I worked in Alaska, also building conventional structures. I lived in a teepee for awhile with my first border collie, Marty.

I lived at Acorn community in Virginia and then Sandhill Farm. I was also a resident at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage for almost two years before co-founding Red Earth Farms.

My current projects include building structures on the land, planting trees, scything, training my border collies Gus and Boo, and raising ducks. My interests include permaculture, grafting fruit and nut trees, organic gardening, blacksmithing, computer programming, and reading science fiction novels.