“Sign the deed or I’ll sn:a:p your arm right here!” my brother screamed while slamming me against the truck outside Sunset Lavender Co. as our parents watched without emotion.

on the property was a collapsing 1978 shack with no heating and no hot water. During that first winter, I froze constantly while working fourteen-hour days and doing remote data-entry jobs just to keep up with taxes. But buried in the land, I discovered a strip of native wildflowers. With a $3,200 loan from my best friend Natalie, I slowly transformed continue reading …