Interview! Robyn Jasko from Homesweet Homegrown and growindie.com!

Homesweet Homegrown author Robyn Jasko (also of growindie.com) and illustrator Jennifer Biggs are currently Kickstarting their upcoming BY-TRAIN BOOK TOUR! That's right: They're doing an AMTRAK TOUR and we were so stoked to hear about their upcoming adventure we just had to do an interview! Here Robyn talks growing season, tour plans, and more!

Q: So what's this we hear about you guys deciding to Kickstart your upcoming tour? Tell us a little about that ...

A: Yes, it’s true! We are spreading the word out about our new gardening and homesteading book called Homesweet Homegrown: How to Grow, Make and Store Food No Matter Where You Live. To fund the tour, we launched a Kickstarter campaign and are selling signed copies, organic/non-gmo garden seed collections, and lots of other schwag.

Check it out here.

There’s also a fun little video we made featuring myself, Classy Poppy, and illustrator Jennifer Biggs that shows off the book, and some of our homesteading shenanigans.

As for rewards, we are offering signed copies and super easy to grow seed collections for just $35. Or, for $65, you get a book and 20 packets of organic/non-gmo seeds—which is enough to grow a ton of food!

Q: One of our favorite things about this tour is you're doing it via TRAIN. Why go Amtrak?

A: There are so many reasons we wanted to take the train—we are big fans of public transportation and cutting down on fuel fuels/emissions, so the train was an obvious choice. Plus, there’s a drink cart! We hope to be hanging out there, talking about the book to whoever will listen and proselytizing our mission of homegrown foods as we trek through the US.

Q: Considering the material you're working from, this definitely doesn't sound like your boring ol' traditional read-a-chapter-in-a-bookstore-then-sign-books kinda book tour. What sorts of things do you plan to do?

A: Exactly, instead, we’ll probably be canning/pickling/and planting up a storm, or making a few projects from our Make section, like newspaper pots and easy homemade seed tape. Or, maybe we’ll make one of our 30 vegan recipes from the book that show you how to get the most out of your garden or CSA share.

Our plan is to hit up urban garden centers, indie shops, and bookstores to reach as many farmer/foodies and DIYers as possible. Through the Kickstarter we even have an option to come help you start a garden! So, you never know what we might be up to … but it most likely will be a good time.

Q: It's spring and a lot of us are growing stuff at the moment. (Many of us being excited beginners.) If you had one tip to give the new gardener/future farmer/homesteading urbanist, what would it be?

A: You can grow anywhere—even if it’s just a little windowsill basil plant or a rooftop tomato plant, that’s one less thing you have to buy at the supermarket, so give it a try! It’s not that hard, I promise.

Q: Finally, what kinds of things are you growing this season?

A: So many things—I have been obsessed with garlic lately, and we have 32 pounds growing in the test garden right now. We’ve also been really into ancient grains, and are experimenting with quinoa and amaranth—in addition to all the usual cucumbers, heirloom tomatoes, basil, potatoes, cabbage, zucchini, beans, corn, oh it goes on. Maybe I should have listed what we aren’t growing this year. (Probably peanut plants—although who knows?)

See the Homesweet Homegrown book tour kickstarter right here.