It is telling that Marjory Sweet describes herself on her website as “a farmer, cook, and writer”—in that order. Though she no longer manages the organic vegetable farm in Albuquerque, New Mexico, that inspired her to write Farm Lunch (a sweet, spiral-bound, cult recipes book published in 2020 that encourages us to eat what’s on hand, what’s in season, and what feels right), “farming is still the work I identify with most,” she says. “Anything else I do or plan to do, farming is the origin point.”

After a decade living in New Mexico, Marjory moved back to her home state of Maine last year. Here, in the mid-coast town of Rockland, an hour from where she grew up, she’s re-put down roots, fashioning a new life for herself that’s focused on cooking (she and her friend, Marcy Taubes, started double grazie, a Maine-focused, Italy-inspired baked goods business) and writing (her poetic new book [   ] is a breakfast food was published earlier this year).

Yet, “I still have that farmer brain,” she says. Many of the ingredients in double grazie’s offerings are sourced from Marcy’s family’s farm. “And we’re working with our hands, we align our goods with the seasons, we sell at farmer’s market, we participate in the community. The product is different, but the intention and what I care about is the same.”

Her affinity for the honest, humble, and human can also be felt in her new home, a modest 1840s two-bedroom cottage she rents from her friend Adam McPherson, an artist who “has a nice light touch with homes,” she says. “He strips them down and doesn’t mess with the essential character so much. Adam’s style is a little more New England-y and ghostly. My style is a little more Donald Judd wannabe. The two end up being more complementary than clashy.”

Recently, Marjory gave us a tour of her “ramshackle-elegant” home. (Follow her on Instagram @marjorybsweet.)

Photography by Jo Silver for Remodelista.