How a military career led this Seattle-area nurse to farming
“After encountering the garden last year, I couldn’t stop thinking, this could be such a better place if we could just get people excited about coming out and gardening.
By Hannah Weinberger
Crosscut
June 9, 2022
Excerpt:
Every day after her shift as an Army nurse, Kayla McCarthy retreats to her happy place: a half-acre field in the shadow of the horse stables and an RV storage park on Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
A year ago, the field near Interstate 5 was overwhelmed with invasive grasses. Today, thanks in large part to McCarthy, it is filled with the beginnings of intentional, edible plants nestled in three dozen raised garden beds.
McCarthy carefully steps around compost heaps, tall grasses and garden equipment at the Lewis North Community Garden on a sunny June Saturday, admiring the sprouts before grabbing a weed wacker to tame some of the taller remaining grasses.
The 30-something Second Lieutenant from Seattle never expected to become a farmer, let alone see gardening as the thing she builds her life around. But in the process of pursuing the Army nursing career she had aspired to since high school, farming became her passion.
