About the Field Notes Farmer

Hi, my name is Jessica. I’m an artist and a farmer. I created Field Notes Farmer, an illustrated journal of all the things I’ve learned farming, foraging, cooking, food preserving, and being a naturalist and student of science.

I am trained as a science illustrator. Growing up in Michigan, I loved to draw anything from nature. I was also the kid who would blurt out the latest animal fact I had learned to anyone who would listen. For instance: Did you know the fastest animal in the world isn’t a cheetah? It’s a peregrine falcon! When I learned there was a career that would allow me to make drawings to teach people cool nature facts, I was all in. After earning my BA from University of Michigan, I went on to get my graduate certificate in Science Illustration from California State University-Moneterey Bay. Subsequently I worked for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and numerous universities, scientists, and non-profits. My job, in the simplest terms, is to make art to explain science to the public.

In 2020, my partner and I moved to North Carolina together. He had experience working in the agricultural industry out west, and dreamed of growing food on a smaller scale. That year, he began growing and selling vegetables at local farmer’s markets. I signed up to be the farmhand. Having little gardening experience myself, I gained a lot of knowledge in a short amount of time.

In talking to other growers and customers at farmer’s markets, I quickly realized there was an abundance of misinformation about our food system. A lot of people didn’t know how the food we eat actually grows. I once had a customer ask me with a straight face whether we had gathered all of our produce (carrots, collards, beets, kale, etc.) from the forest. And yes, they were serious.

Other people had questions: what does organic mean? Why don’t you have tomatoes year round? What kind of pesticides do you use, and are they safe? Are GMOs going to kill us? Still more expressed fears around food safety, health, and access to nutritious food.

Simultaneously, I was seeing the gap between the academic world I had come from and the general public. I saw the need for more science communicators, like myself, to step up and set the record straight. With the stripping back of government regulations and the increased ability for anyone with a phone to spread misinformation, I figured, why not throw my hat in the ring? I wanted to share evidence-based information on the topics that kept coming up at the farmer’s market stand.

I began writing and illustrating my own articles. Some are as mundane as busting gardening myths, sharing recipes, and explaining how to preserve food. Other times I may deep dive into history, speak about climate change, or champion advancements in the STEM field.

It’s my job to use art to explain science to the public. As such, I am not an expert on any one topic, but I know how to convert research into something the average person can understand. I strive to cite reliable sources wherever possible.

I hope you’ll find my illustrations and writings to just as fun and engaging as they are educational. If there is a topic you’d like to know more about, or if you would like to correct me (with sources, please), leave a comment or e-mail me at jhfren@gmail.com.