About me, Pam Farley.

I first learned the principles of “leave no trace” in high school, when I took trips hiking and backpacking in California with friends. Each summer we’d go on a new adventure, carrying our gear on our backs and packing out all of our trash.

We camped at Point Reyes National Seashore, hiked up to a fire lookout in the Sierra Buttes, and finished our adventures by summiting Mount Whitney before leaving for college.

When hiking in the backcountry, our motto was “take only pictures and leave only footprints.”

At the time, I didn’t realize that this was causing a change in my mindset. But as I got older, these ecological concepts stuck with me.

When we got married and had a family, I didn’t want to raise them on fast food and TV dinners. I wanted our kids to know the cycles of nature and to help take care of their planet.

Even though we lived in the city, we made sustainable choices whenever we could. I started growing vegetables in our front and back yards, baking my own bread, and shopping at thrift stores.

Books like Radical Homemakers and Making Home showed me that I wasn’t alone in making these changes.

I created Brown Thumb Mama to share my natural living journey, and to help you live a greener life. Some people think it’s weird, and that’s fine. This is a place for the rest of us.

You’re marching to the beat of a different drummer? Good. I am too.

Let’s go change the world.