Philippa Jamieson was born to two librarian parents, and has worked in bookselling and publishing. In 2002 she began a journey around New Zealand for two and a half years on the WWOOF scheme, volunteering on 40 different organic farms and gardens, and wrote a book about her experiences: The Wild Green Yonder (copies are now available direct from the author). From 2002 she became a freelance writer, penning numerous book reviews and articles, mainly for New Zealand newspapers and magazines. Many of these are about organic farming and gardening, genetic engineering and environmental issues. She was the editor of Organic NZ magazine for 13 years and is currently its marketing manager, and has been a marriage and civil union celebrant since 2005, and an occasional funeral celebrant since 2001.