If you see anything on the farm built with a power tool or something requiring precision, Mandy did it.

That's Mandy Blackburn, who got her start in building things in high school when she participated in set construction and design for theater productions. Mandy's background is storied and legend. Born and raised in suburban Denver, Colorado, she earned her bachelors degree in chemistry at the University of New Mexico (go lobos). She has worked in fast food, retail, call centers, as a receptionist at a car dealership, a short stint as a long-haul trucker (??!!), and time in the U.S. Navy. To mix up everyone's expectations, she earned a PhD in chemistry at the University of Florida (go gators). She currently teaches chemistry at the University of Central Missouri (go mules). If you're local, you may know her as Dr. Blackburn, or Dr. B.

If there's tinkering to be done on machines, wood, computers, or ridiculously expensive lab equipment, Mandy is there. Mandy is the reason we haven't had to replace our sad, terribly abused mower, coming in clutch with on-the-spot repairs. She's why everything in the garden is so well watered. She handles the irrigation. And the fencing, gates, construction and maintenance of the hoop house, and our storage shed -- that she built.

With all these gifts, why does she feel the need to garden and share what we grow? She likes to know where her food comes from, to have some kind of control about what goes into what she eats so she can enjoy it more. And she's been so good at growing it that sharing with others is what's fueling her participation in Blue Bottle Gardens.

If you want to strike up a convo with Mandy out of the blue, try quantum mechanics, gardening, or Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, which she has read many times.