There and back again
Our story begins
Palmer has always said that one spends their first twenty years trying to get off of the farm and the next twenty years trying to get back. We certainly spent many years working our way back to the farm.
Palmer's early work in journalism took us to several locations before he took a job doing photojournalism for mission agencies, non-profits, and NGO's. We spent over 16 years traveling the world together telling people's stories. That was wonderful and fulfilling, but at the same time made us long for a place and roots. We had a dream almost from day one of our marriage to farm and live off our land.
Due to some parental health issues, we decided to move closer to our families. Palmer continued his job and we were blessed to be able to live in his Grandparent's old home. Tina's traveling days slowed down after we moved there and had our son.
The three of us have slowly and steadily over the years turned it back into a working farm. Instead of globetrotting, we now spend our days homeschooling, growing flowers, and taking care of our Great Pyrenees, farm cats and chickens.
Though Palmer is still available for overseas journalism and local photography, he spends most of his time working at Alethia Fields. We are thrilled to finally be back on the farm, building the life we longed for.
About the Farm
We live in a book filled farm cottage on land that Palmer's grandparents farmed tobacco and vegetables on. We absolutely love living in beautiful East Tennessee, and never tire of our mountain views and the abundant wildlife that surrounds us. It is our joy to tend the piece of earth that God has blessed us with.
Why the name
Alethia Fields?
Alethia is transliterated from the Greek word ἀλήθεια, which means “truth.”
At night when our son was very small we told him stories of a land where the forest animals could think and speak as we do. We called their home The Forest of Alethia. Many of the stories focused on goodness and beauty, but somehow always about Truth. When choosing a name for our farm we wanted it to reflect something of who we are and for the name to mean something special to us and so our home became Alethia Fields.
More about Tina
Tina has always loved all things botanical. Growing up she loved visiting gardens, whether she was touring formal gardens or enjoying the flowers in her grandmother’s backyard and her mother’s landscaping. Her favorite field trip in kindergarten was to a local farm and her favorite outings were to farms of family friends. It broke her heart the day her parents decided to remove their vegetable garden when she was a child. Her grandmother is an artist and it was always her grandmother's paintings of flowers that she was especially drawn to. Her other grandmother was skilled at growing a variety of flowers and at times sold them to a local florist. Tina always had a secret dream to grow her own flowers but didn't take herself seriously for a long time. A career assessment test in high school suggested a career in horticulture for her. She thought that was hilarious as a teenager but now can look back at many things in her life that were pointing her right here to the farm. She is passionate about nature, books, music and art. She is inspired by all things lovely and old fashioned, and she loves to design in antique and handmade pottery vessels.
About John Palmer Gregg
Palmer grew up in a log cabin just down the hill from the cottage he lives in now. After graduating college with degrees in theology and journalism, he soon found himself working as a newspaper journalist and then a documentary photographer focusing on international non-profits, NGOs, and missionary agencies. Palmer enjoys books, music, and doing tin-type photography.
Palmer is still working as a photographer, here is his website, though the flower farm is his primary focus. He is the author of the young-adult novel Some Glow Brightly.
