About Me
Annie Horkan
Early Life
I was blessed to grow up on a big farm in the foothills of the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. There is little doubt my passions for nature and beauty were cultivated in this idyllic setting. I spent many a summers day riding bareback on my Pinto pony as we explored the welcome shade of the woods, the rolling hills, the cool running streams and all of nature’s amazing creatures and wildlife.
My parents were both dedicated environmentalists. My father kept trash bags in the car, and often put us to work picking up beer cans and soda bottles along the dirt road to our farm. My mother began recycling long before the term recycle became a household name and a popular trend. We had gardens to grow our food, chickens for our eggs and cows for milk and beef.
Exploration
Our farm won many environmental awards over the years, and in 2010 the farm was the regional winner of the Environmental Stewardship Award and a finalist for the national award. We sold this magnificent farm in the fall of 2020, after 63 glorious years steeped in family gatherings, celebrations and unforgettable memories. We were fortunate to have new owners dedicated to the historic preservation of the buildings and the environmental integrity of the land.
I chose to escape from a girls boarding school after 3 years to spend my senior year at The American School in Switzerland. My travel adventures throughout Europe gifted me with a deeper awareness of the world, and filled me with an expansive appreciation for the diverse beauty I discovered everywhere and within the hearts of people. I have since been so lucky to travel and explore much of this amazing planet.
Land of Enchantment
I graduated from the University of Virginia with a B.A. in Art, married young, began to paint daily and became a mother. Joshua, 45, has now relocated to Vero Beach with his family after working on the family farm for 14 years. He comes with his wife, Megan, and my two beautiful grandchildren, Indigo, 6, and Body, 2. James, 43, resides in Miami with his lovely partner, Melissa, where he is a top sales rep for a high-end outdoor furniture company. I am blessed beyond measure to have my sons close by.
In 1996, I followed my bliss to live in the high desert of New Mexico, the land of enchantment. It was here I deepened my love for painting, ran my own art gallery, wrote my first book, explored diverse spiritual paths and developed keen passions for biodynamic gardening and sustainable energy and living. Santa Fe was home for 16 years.
Land of Enchantment
I graduated from the University of Virginia with a B.A. in Art, married young, began to paint daily and became a mother. Joshua, 45, has now relocated to Vero Beach with his family after working on the family farm for 14 years. He comes with his wife, Megan, and my two beautiful grandchildren, Indigo, 6, and Body, 2. James, 43, resides in Miami with his lovely partner, Melissa, where he is a top sales rep for a high-end outdoor furniture company. I am blessed beyond measure to have my sons close by.
In 1996, I followed my bliss to live in the high desert of New Mexico, the land of enchantment. It was here I deepened my love for painting, ran my own art gallery, wrote my first book, explored diverse spiritual paths and developed keen passions for biodynamic gardening and sustainable energy and living. Santa Fe was home for 16 years.
New Life
I left this enchanted land in 2012 for a new life in the tropics. After two years in Miami, I moved to Vero Beach where I bought a beach house nestled in a jungle setting beneath towering oak trees with a short walk to the beach and the sea. I remodeled the house, filled my jungle yard with tropical, edible fruit trees and built an octagon greenhouse in which to grow food.
After almost 4 years of endless ocean swims, long beach walks, new travels, paintings and books, I opted to leave living on the edge of the sea and bought a 5 acre farm 9 miles inland. I obtained my Permaculture Design Certificate, and have spent the last few years doing home improvements, building garden beds, food forests, a lath shade house, planting trees, native plants and staying true to my sustainable vision for this land. My pond is full of Tilapia fish, my 4 sweet hens provide fresh eggs daily, my kitchen garden feeds me all winter while my small orchard provides fruit all summer and Pica, a feral cat rescue from Miami, is in heaven.
Where I Am Now
I currently Airbnb during high season for added income, while I plan for a greenhouse, more raised beds and a large Mango orchard to fulfill my goal for Farm to Table events and Permaculture Adventure courses. New paintings, new books, new websites for both my art and the farm are forthcoming.
The last 2 years have been extraordinarily chaotic, challenging and uncertain for the entire world. Yet, such times bring us the opportunity to go deeper within to find the light of our courage, and shine it brightly into the world to dispel the deception which has reigned for too long. We are truly the ones we have been waiting for, and the co-creators who must begin to walk with the Earth before it is too late. Our return to living in harmony with nature, our vibrational alignment with our true narrative and the knowledge of the natural laws that govern all life are essential.
You can follow the road less traveled with me at my Walk with The Earth blog.
May peace on earth prevail,
Annie