As a suburban youth who was raised drifting asleep to the frontier musings of Laura Ingalls Wilder, it may be only a little surprising that Blair’s life choices have ultimately landed her with the job title of “pickler.” Her inspirations abound, but her journey most certainly began in two southeast Michigan food establishments: Silvio’s Organic Pizza and Tantre farm. These jobs left Blair deeply invested in augmenting the food system, and upon graduating from University of Michigan, she traveled to Connecticut. For 8 months, Blair lived in a community called ADAMAH (the Jewish environmental fellowship) working first as a fellow and later as an apprentice in a commercial pickle kitchen. It was here that she was introduced to the art of lacto-fermentation and her interest in food preserving of all sorts was piqued. With a 14 goat strong herd at her disposal, she also began experimenting with cultured dairy, mostly yogurt and butter. At the end of her apprenticeship, Blair felt pulled back to Detroit where she hoped to continue to work in the food industry.
Before moving downtown, Blair worked for two Ann Arbor food entrepreneurs, preparing seasonal meals with The Harvest Kitchen, and freezing fresh produce with Locavorious. Both of these experiences continue to inform Blair’s cooking and food preserving knowledge. In August 2009, Blair began working for The Greening of Detroit as an Urban Agriculture Apprentice, where her expertise in pickling and preserving food was immediately called upon. Teaching classes on food preservation for the Garden Resource Program, as well as freelancing for community gardeners and Jewish environmental events has helped Blair develop a cadre of skills for teaching about preserving food and the environment. After more than 5 years of working and apprenticing in a wide range of food growing and producing operations, Blair finally decided to launch her own business in August 2010. She hopes to pursue her dual passions of preparing/preserving food, and teaching others how to make their own delicious home grown products. She’s excited to continue her journey as a teacher, and a student.
