Field Notes 001 - A Daily Journal

🌟 Writer’s Note

Welcome to the first of many Field Notes entries. My name is Danielle, I’m 30 years old and I’m on a day-by-day mission to build the LGBTQIA+ community’s first-ever agritourism destination in New York. As I go, I want to take you with me, sharing the ins and outs of everything I’m learning, feeling, and building. Basically, I want you to know that you’re a part of this, and make you feel that way, too!

Hi friend,

I’m writing to you from the second bedroom of my apartment in Queens — a room that used to be chaos. Not charming chaos, not Pinterest chaos. Just… piles. But now? Now it's being reborn as the headquarters of Y’allsWell Ranch — a queer wellness farm that doesn’t exist yet, but will.

There’s no barn. No pasture. No rows of herbs basking in the Hudson Valley sun.

But there is a tower of greens by the window.
There is a folder full of LLC paperwork and brand samples.
There is a Shopify plug-in that now lets people donate to help build a future we deserve.

This is Field Notes.
Every day (or so), I’ll send you a dispatch from the trenches of building a dream — not from capital or generational land, but from Google Docs, vertical farming towers, and one-too-many tabs open at 1:41 AM.

📍What we did in the last two weeks (a sprint + a spiral):

• We filed for the LLC and got our EIN — legal AND legitimate 😌

• We plugged a donation feature into our store (yes, you can now support the land you want to nap on)

• We researched campaign tools like GiveButter — because butter makes everything better

• We scheduled land walks (!!!) in upstate NY next weekend

• We brainstormed product ideas and officially decided to sell grow kits and urban garden bundles from this very apartment

• And we started transforming my second bedroom into a grow lab / content studio / small-scale fulfillment center / soft queer HQ

All while still working my full-time job, drinking water out of mason jars, and whispering affirmations to my basil.

👀 What’s coming up next:

• Walking properties upstate (on the 15th and 16th — manifest something green)

• Meeting with municipal folks for zoning insight because we play this game smart

• Launching our YouTube channel

• Committing to consistent, valuable content that helps folks grow — literally

• Joining a community garden

• Signing up for Farm School (!!!!)

• Actually finishing the bedroom-to-lab transformation

• And most importantly: continuing to share the process in real time, with real feelings

✨This isn’t just a farm — it’s a movement.

A movement rooted in softness, survival, and soil.
It’s for every queer person who has never had a place to just be.
To plant. To rest. To grow.

And while we’re not there yet — we’re getting closer.

💻 Ways You Can Support Right Now:

🛒 Buy a tee, a sticker, or a future gift for your plant-loving bestie: YallsWell.com
🌱 Leave a donation — even $5 helps us walk land, file permits, and build the first acre
📲 Follow @yallswell across platforms (TikTok, Instagram, YouTube coming soon)
💬 And tell me in the comments:
What’s something you wish you could grow, but haven’t tried yet?

Thanks for being here. Seriously. Whether you’ve been following since I first said “I think I want to start a ranch?” or you just landed here after clicking on a cute hoodie — I’m so glad you’re part of this.

We start where we are.
And right now?
We’re exactly where we need to be.

With dirt under our nails and the future in motion.

— Danielle
Founder, YallsWell Ranch 🌾