Since it's a bit of a drive out to Root & Sky Farm, we've put together this audio companion to help you get to know our host, Dr. Tiffany Eberle Kriner, and the story behind the land you're about to visit. In this conversation, Kate Austin (Upper House) talks with Tiffany about how a rundown 63-acre property in northern Illinois became a farm devoted to restoration, neighborliness, and communal art — and what led to today's project: building a giant honeysuckle "nest" in a field Tiffany calls the Hidden Five.

Grab a coffee for the road, and enjoy getting to know Tiffany before you arrive.

Runtime: 40 minutes

About Dr. Tiffany Eberle Kriner

Tiffany is a professor of English literature at Wheaton College, focusing on the intersections of theology, place, and race in American literature, where she also coordinates the Equitas Fellows Program in Public Humanities and Arts. Alongside her academic work, she and her husband farm 60 acres of woods and fields at Root & Sky Farm, raising lamb, beef, pork, chicken, and eggs, and this year, experimenting with vegetables. She's the author of two books, including In Thought, Word, and Seed: Reckonings from a Midwest Farm, which chronicles the farm's origins. She earned her graduate degree at UW–Madison, where she was a member and later president of the InterVarsity Graduate Christian Fellowship — giving her a personal connection to the Upper House community joining her today.