aka Renaissance Mama

Nissa is a preservationist, stewarding what cannot be replaced — land, plants, and traditional knowledge rooted in place. Her work is based in Massachusetts, serving New England and a wider online community.

She is the sole operator of Renaissance Farms, where her work centers on protecting open farmland and wild lands, conserving rare and endangered plants, and carrying forward traditional skills and ways of knowing how to live in right relationship with the land. While the farm produces marketable herbs, flowers, and goods, these exist primarily to support preservation work whose value unfolds over generations rather than balance sheets.

She is a certified Permaculture Teacher and Designer. She completed her Permaculture education in 2017 under Andrew Millison, Marisha Auerbach, and Tao Orion at Oregon State University. Her approach to permaculture is rooted not only in systems design, but in ethics, long observation, and the understanding that land must be cared for beyond its immediate productivity.

She is also a skilled community herbalist. Much of her education has been self-directed, shaped by years of study with books, plants, and direct experimentation, alongside formal training through the Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine‘s Herbal Immersion Program. Her herbal work emphasizes common sense, safety, and respect for plants as living allies rather than commodities.

In addition to her land-based work, Nissa is a dedicated yoga teacher and Level II Reiki practitioner. She has studied under Samarthya and Preetika Bhatnagar, among others, and holds additional certifications in trauma-sensitive yoga, pranayama, yoga nidra, yin yoga, meditation, and chant. She offers private and group classes online, with a focus on nervous system regulation, embodied awareness, and care for the whole person.

She is the founder of Massachusetts Farm to Table network and the host of its podcast, created to strengthen connections between growers, makers, and communities across the region.

Day to day, Nissa tends the vision and operation of the farm — wearing many hats, from goatherd to chandler and everything in between. She is the mother of many and nana of three; an avid reader, needleworker, and artist; an adventurous cook and enthusiastic celebrator of feasts; a learner of languages; and a steadfast advocate for justice, dignity, and care for all beings.

At the heart of all her work is a simple intention: peace, continuity, and love — extended not only to people, but to land, plants, and the future.

Lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu
Om shanti, shanti, shanti

May everything I say and do be for the happiness of all beings
Om peace, peace, peace.

Links:

Instagram: @renaissancemama
Youtube: @AQuietLifeJournal