About

Dakota grew up in Easthallow, surrounded by rolling fields and limitless potential. Her family was a small conglomerate of farmers, always tending to the gardens and fields each day with the young girl in tow, teaching her the ropes so that one day she may carry on the family tradition. Luckily for her family, Dakota took to the craft swimmingly, and her growing adoration for gardening only blossomed further when she was old enough to learn how to can vegetables and other produce. In her family, each individual excelled in one area- her father in growing and cultivating the plants, her mother checking weather reports and sampling soil for fertility, and her grandmother in preparing canned goods. Dakota and her grandmother were two peas in a pod, never without the other; and the gentle matriarch took it upon herself to teach her darling granddaughter everything she knew about canning and making jams and jellies. Every morning the two would set up their kitchen with the necessary ingredients and tools, the house smelling of warm dill or sugar-sweet peach nectar every time the door opened. When Dakota was a child, the only opportunity for education was unfortunately boarding school, but due to the need for as many hands as possible on the farm. her parents arranged for her to be homeschooled, where she could take classes while also helping out at home on her downtime.

During her time being homeschooled, Dakota's grandmother unfortunately began declining in health, and by the time Dakota hit her junior year her dearest nana was bedridden. Every day after classes Dakota would do her best to can without her best friend beside her, always checking in the dark bedroom and calling out to her every so often to check in. One day though, her grandmother did not respond, and Dakota knew deep down that her favorite person in the world had sadly departed. She struggled through her senior year, the loss of her grandmother weighing heavily on her; but she pulled through as best as she could and graduated. After graduation Dakota ultimately decided to move away from her small rural cul-de-sac, making her way into the more densely populated areas of the valley. Upon doing so, she began her own farmer's market situated in her own backyard, her garden she had created herself the day she moved in a hit amongst those passing through to Aurelia. People far and wide would make their way to the valley to pick up fresh goods and canned produce- to which her grandmother's bread and butter pickles became a hit. One day, a native of Aurelia named Ginger purchased a jar; and that purchase changed the trajectory of Dakota's life forever. Immediately after finishing the jar, Ginger was back within a week, begging Dakota to partner with her in providing her services to her developing restaurant. Dakota immediately agreed, and the two have been working with each other ever since. To this day, Dakota still provides fresh produce and seasonal jams and jellies to sponsor at the restaurant- her best seller always being her bread and butter pickles.