Colin, our younger boys and I visited Mt. Hood last week. It’s the first time I’d been back since I was a little girl, living on the mountain in our family gypsy wagon. What started as a plan to live there for a few weeks, as a part of a commune, turned into a long winter when the gypsy wagon became snowed in.
We played with old toy trucks and spent lots of time together – my brother, sister, and I. And they doted on me because I was the baby. We ate raw cloves of garlic, because our mom believed it made us stronger and resistant to sickness. And we liked it. And one time, my sister bit the head off a snake, probably because she was a garlic eating super girl. And sometime along the way, we began calling her Poomba Buckwheat – just because it sounded so cool.
It was good to go back to the woods.
IT'S ME, SERENA!
I bounced through the first years of my life in a hippie gypsy wagon, hand-built by my father, wandering the back roads of the U.S., Canada and Mexico. My family eventually settled into a tiny cabin in the woods on property that was once inhabited by Native American Indians.
I spent my childhood days searching for arrowheads, teaching myself to sew on a treadle sewing machine and to bake in a wood-burning stove, with no running water, refrigeration, or electricity in our home. My family lived frugally and early on, inspired by my parent’s thriftiness and style, I gained a knack for thrifty creativity and turning ordinary objects into something useful. And I dreamed of the home I would create for my own family someday.
Now I’m married to my husband, Colin, and our children are all grown. After 24 years of producing The Farm Chicks Vintage & Handmade Fair, I'm spending time visiting other markets around the world. You can watch episodes of Serena Goes to Market here.
I share more about my life story from time to time, here on my blog. You can also find me on Instagram, and Facebook.
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THE FARM CHICKS
P.O. BOX 9866
SPOKANE, WA 99209
COPYRIGHT 2026
THE FARM CHICKS
P.O. BOX 9866
SPOKANE, WA 99209