Jordan Pendley's Contacts

Jordan Pendley's Page

What is your previous experience with Organic Agriculture and Sustainable Development?: I've been interested in gardening for the last decade or so. I grow some kind of vegetable garden every year. Over the last couple years I have been gardening a 400 sq. ft. plot in my backyard in the city of Portland, Oregon. I did this so I could learn about the potentials of food production in a backyard urban setting and so I could learn about the plant varieties, what they require how best to grow them. I had romaine lettuce, 3 types of kale, collard greens, mustard greens, spinach, red orach spinach, carrots, radishes, beets, garlic, tomatoes, squash, pumpkins, peppers, and various herbs. I successfully created usable compost and learned how to save seeds. When I was growing up I had my first attempt at gardening around the age of 17. I made a small plot in my backyard. On the other side of the fence was Mr. Napier, who was an elderly man with an enormous productive garden. It was really impressive, and sometimes he'd be working on his garden while I'd be trying to figure out mine and he'd come over to the fence and we'd talk gardening. It's one of my fondest memories.

What are your reasons for joining WWOOF Mexico?: Learning about sustainable living and agriculture, Getting to know Mexico better

What do you want the farms and fellow WWOOFers to know about you?: I'm a college graduate with a degree in Photojournalism and Spanish. I can speak Spanish. I'm not fluent but I am functional and can carry on basic conversations. I am interested in learning about organic farming because I would like to be able to start an urban farming business probably in my hometown of Louisville, Ky. I think local food production is extremely important for various reasons, and is one of the most constructive steps to take in strengthening communities and local economies. To me it represents a frontier that is presenting itself by the growing interest and necessity of organic farming in reclaiming peoples' health and correcting the fragile and foolish food system here in the US. I hope to start a business growing food within the city using the SPIN farming model. I want to do this in the most sustainable way possible using bicycles, creating compost from the scraps left from local businesses, selling at the farmer's market, a CSA, and local restaurants. I think the world needs truly sustainable business models to serve as examples of a more balanced way of living and making a living with less if any dependence on fossil fuels and that the local community is where these examples should be focused.