I was born in May of 1986 and grew up in Kitchener, Ontario. Kitchener itself is a pretty big city of about 200, 000 people. Not a metropolis by any means, but the kind of town that has more than one mall, and a few different Walmart stores. But just a short drive from our house was the St Jacobs farmers market. The most exciting place for me to go! There were dozens of vendors of fruits, veggies and hand crafted goods. Smoked meats, cheeses and mmmm apple fritters! If you have never been, you should make a point of going. I have to think that my weekends there, admiring the mennonites and their lifestyle has a lot to do with where I am today.
I moved to the Niagara Region in 2005 and have rarely considered leaving. When my other classmates moved into Toronto to get jobs in our industry, I stayed behind, adopted two dogs, built a chicken coop and settled in. The hustle and bustle wasn’t for me.
At one of my favorite spots. A local quarry. Perfect for swimming and watching the sunset
The people I have met here in Niagara are amazing. Not the kind of people who remember the way their grandfather used to put maple syrup on the snow to make taffee, the people who do it! I listen in awe at their stories of farming and country life and knew I was hooked.
I was lucky to have grown up in a house where my parents always made homemade meals. We weren’t big on “convenience foods” so I knew what real food was supposed to be. When I went to college I strayed. There was a lot of beer, pizza and diner breakfasts. This started to make me feel pretty run down and I decided to relearn my way around the kitchen. I was amazed how easy it was to make everything from scratch. And it tasted so much better!
I began to write everything down in an old binder. Recipes, homesteading, DIY, gardening. Everything I found interesting. I was discovering new blogs and articles every day that inspired me. And Pinterest!
I started thinking I could put it on a blog so I could share it with my parents (who had moved away to Nova Scotia while I was in college). And holy cow, people really liked it! It wasn’t just my parents reading it, and not just my facebook friends! It was hundreds (sometimes thousands) of people every day!
I began updating more often and eventually in August 2013 I knew it was time to get more serious with this passion of mine and started my own site!
So here I am! Sharing my life with you! My every adventure as it happens!
Do you want to get a hold of me? No problem!
Email me at andrea.backtomyroots@gmail.com
Facebook @BackToMyRootsCa
Instagram @BackToMyRoots.ca