Born in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains, Eliza A. H. Lord’s roots in this area go back for generations. She used to complain that olive, cacao, and lemon trees are the only thing Appalachia is missing… but now it is warm enough here to grow the olives and lemons.

She spent decades “studying” as a cheerful garden and nature geek. Also, she’s a SC Master Gardener (2001) and Upstate SC Master Naturalist (2007). She wrote as a garden writer for The Greenville News from 2008 – 2009, is a consultant for the Greenville Organic Food Organization (GOFO) community garden, writes occasional articles for magazines like edible Upcountry, and works with several other gardens in the upstate — including her own.  Although she’d rather be in the garden, sometimes she does speaking engagements such as the 2011 Greater Greenville Master Gardener Symposium and classes at the SC Organic Growers Conference. She maintains a regular schedule of permaculture related classes throughout the year. At times her backyard growing endeavors have been large enough to sell extra produce at Greenville, SC’s downtown farmer’s market.

Her garden has been featured on the Urban Farm Tour three times (2010 – 2012) and on WYFF Channel 4.

Her passion for sustainability led her to start the Greenville, SC chapter of Green Drinks International which now has over 200 members. She is the founder of the thriving SC Upstate Permaculture Society.

She also loves boiled peanuts.