Leslie Allen

I was born in California, and have fond memories of homegrown tomatoes and freshly caught crawdads. My family moved a lot when I was growing up. I even lived on the East coast for a while. After I graduated from high school I joined the Marines. I wanted to do the most nontraditional thing a 17-year-old girl could do. I spent five years on active duty, and was stationed in Saudi Arabia during the Persian Gulf War. It was my time in the war that shaped the path of my future. The environmental destruction of the Persian Gulf War affected my deeply. After honorably leaving the Marines I went to college to study environmental science. I majored in conservation biology as an undergraduate at University of California, Davis and like learning the about intricacies of the natural-world so much that I stayed on to earn a Master's degree in Ecology.

During college, I learned to rock climb and this quickly became my passion. I met my husband when I was helping my friends teach a climber's rescue class. It was love at first sight, and we have enjoyed many rock-climbing adventures. After finishing graduate school, I got a job mapping plant communities in Yosemite National Park. Living, working and climbing in Yosemite was a dream come true. My husband visited as much as possible, and the following summer we both lived and worked in the park. However, all good things must end, and we decided we needed to get "real jobs." My husband accepted a management position with REI in Reno, Nevada and I followed.

Eventually, I landed a job with University of Nevada Cooperative Extension. Initially, I worked as an environmental educator, but the job had little to do with plants, and being a "plant geek," I jumped at the opportunity to work in the horticulture department of the Cooperative Extension. My knowledge of how plants grow serves me well, and I love teaching and writing about horticulture. I regularly write for Nevada Home Magazine and the Reno Gazette Journal.

My interest in eating homegrown food was deeply cultivated by enjoying my grandmother's garden, but was seriously ignited by reading Omnivore's Dilemma. I devoured the book and decided my husband and I needed to change our eating habits. I had serious doubts, however, that we would be able to eat as locally as people living on the coast. But, I have been pleasantly surprised to learn that the Great Basin Desert offers some fine opportunities for local eating. There are five farmers' markets in the summer, and year-round pastured poultry and beef farmers in the surrounding valleys. I was most pleased to discover that the University of Nevada, Reno has a meat market associated with the experimental agriculture station. The beef, lamb and pork are not injected with growth hormones and are mostly pasture-raised.

The local food scene in Reno is small, but growing. A local and organic food co-op opened a few years ago in the back room of an independent record store. Now, it has taken over the record store, and its membership is increasing. Raising city chickens is also gaining in popularity.

My husband and I enjoy cooking meals for friends and family. We have been able to produce entire meals composed of foods produced or grown by people we personally know. I started canning this summer, and have enjoyed many canning parties with friends. My husband was inspired by my efforts and has begun home-brewing fabulous beer. We have plans to build a chicken coop and expand our small vegetable garden. I hope you will enjoy the tales of our adventures and misadventures during this year of living in the Locavore Nation.