Mariah Weber: 

on being a farmer, 

a breakfast lover

and growing her table.  

How would you describe your style?

Favorite song or album on repeat?

Always, always, always Marty Robbins. “My Love” always brings me home.  

Heart goals?

I think often of the James Baldwin quote, “I’m going to build us a long table and a whole lot of folks are going to be eating off it for a long, long time to come.” I feel in many ways that my life has been an act of building a long table. Intentionally collecting these experiences, connections, practices, skills and then erecting some kind of monument, a gathering space for them to be shared and celebrated by one another. My path has been one of building relationships within human and ecological communities. My work as a farmer nurtures this through the common language of food and its literal and metaphoric capacity to heal and connect. I find deep purpose in the work of building community around this idea. There is no greater joy in my life than witnessing a confluence of the people I love deeply admiring one another around a bounty gifted by the field. Sharing ideas and wisdom and grief and magic. Pouring wine, breaking bread. I believe this is true nourishment. I believe it can feed us for a long, long time. My goal is to continue expanding my table, in whatever way that manifests, until there is a seat for us all.

Ideal Morning

I am someone who falls asleep thinking about breakfast. If I’m being honest, sometimes I think about it all day. I am also someone who rises early. My eyes typically flicker open around 4:50, 10 minutes before my alarm goes off during the work week. On an ideal day, I can force them back shut until a more reasonable hour like 7 or 8 and then get up and do nothing but cook. For myself, for a lover, for friends, it doesn't really matter. So long as I have a good cast iron and an even better playlist, I’m set. If I were to get really specific, the windows are open and I’m in nothing but this oversized, striped cotton t-shirt I thrifted years ago and would live in if I could. There are at least three beverages on the table and one is fresh-squeezed orange juice. There is some form of eggs cooked in butter and soft bread to soak up runny yolks. And maybe chili oil? Anyways, now you know what my brain sounds like. Perhaps it’s lilac season and their heavenly scent wafts through the kitchen from a bouquet on the table. Perhaps the only plan for the day is to digest whatever feast was created and then bask in the sunlight by the Atlantic ocean. The best mornings start with a good meal and end with nowhere to be and all day to get there.

Favorite meal to cook at home? 

Favorite outfit & what you’re doing in it? 

9 times out of 10 you will find me in my favorite Levi 517’s (orange tab, thrifted and the only Levi’s to EVER fit me) and a nearing threadbare Edwardian blouse unbuttoned arguably one button too low to reveal the slightest hint of a dark underwire. Both pieces are characterized by masterful mends done by my dear and immensely talented friend Alyx (@alyxjacobs). This combination of pieces has become something of a uniform over the years and combines all my favorite elements of style.. The function and durability of good denim repaired tirelessly because you just know you’ll never find a pair just like them again. A buttery soft antique top that tells the secrets of women who wore it before me - an alteration here, a small cooking stain there.. And then something subtly rebellious peeking through (I never wear a nude/white bra under anything white). Paired with my go-to leather harness boots and it has just enough edge and softness to feel honest. 

I’ve practically lived in my car the past several years. At any given moment you’re most likely to find me in the driver’s seat, hand out of the open window and music blaring on the stereo. I’ve farmed coast to coast these past several years, but recently I rack up most of my miles driving the beach. On my ideal day, the jeans have a rim of sand around the ankle and the butt is slightly damp from pulling them up over a half-dry bikini bottom. I’ve spent the afternoon by the sea, perhaps on one of my routine driftwood hunts, and am now trailing all kinds of ocean relics into Astrid (my steadfast Mitsubuchi). Whether it’s a trip up the Maine coast or a cross-country road trip, my clothes and I have covered a lot of ground. My landscape seems to be ever changing, but having solid pieces to turn to that remind me of who I am and where I come from makes me feel at home no matter where I end up.