this project explores the relationship between gender and livestock care practices. specifically, i’m looking at how women livestock farmers reconcile their role in a traditionally masculine occupation with the carework they’re often raised to do. i’m also especially interested in how these women’s interactions with livestock shape their identities, relationships, and ethics.

through semi-structured interviews, this project is exploring the unique experiences of queer sustainable farmers in the midwest (oh, in, mi, il, and wi), with a particular focus on how embodied work and embodied identities inform one another. this project also explores queer alternatives to relational networks, ecoqueer spiritualities, and queer temporalities.

playing in the dirt builds on the experiences of more than one hundred queer midwestern farmers, this volume invites readers to explore queer joy, more-than-human relationships, and liberatory futures. printed in full-color with palettes inspired by midwest gardens, each piece in this collection celebrates the vibrancy and playfulness of queer growers’ lives. Immerse yourself in poems, photographs, essays, collages, and more that capture what it means to be a queer midwestern grower.

you can buy a copy on a sliding scale through combos press.

born from an everyday personal practice of gifting and trading, tigtrades is an open invitation to barter and trade for goods and services. read more about offerings and needs here, or reach out for more info <3

“playing in the dirt” for contexts blog (2023)

“cultivating safety and space for transgender and nonbinary farmers” for the natural farmer (2024)