“In all things that are purely social we can be as separate as the fingers,
yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress.”
– Booker T. Washington
Greetings Sunbeams,
Summer is full on! Between growing and distributing an abundance of food for our community, welcoming beautiful crews of Black, Brown, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) to the land to learn with us, inaugurating the new classroom and program kitchen, and welcoming 3 Nubian goats to the farm, there hasn’t been a dull moment.
Keep reading for some sparkling July highlights, and announcements about what to look forward to in August and the coming months.
We hope your midsummer days and nights have been filled with nourishing connections and that we see you on the farm or virtually soon!
With love from the land,
Azuré, Brooke, Cheryl, Dayo, Ife, Jonah, Kiani, Leah and Naima
*Photo above: Ronya Jackson (Solidarity Share Member, Soul Fire in the City Gardener, and now FIRE Immersion alumn) harvesting chamomile with guest facilitator, Farmer Tiffany LaShae
Ife Kilimanjaro – Managing Co-Director
“I was excited to join Soul Fire Farm’s first Immersion since 2019. It was an amazing experience with a wonderful group of facilitators, participants and staff. As the newest staff member at SFF, and one who lives pretty far from here, I was incredibly grateful to spend time in person with the SFF team, as well as the plant, tree and animal relatives.”
Kiani Conley-Wilson – Community Engagement Coordinator
“This month my podcast episode with Hey Change was aired! The episode ended up being dedicated to the Black Farmers Fund, and hopefully they were able to raise money for such an incredible organization and a great cause.”
Cheryl Whilby – Communications Director
“Last month, I had a podcast interview with news 10 abc to give updates on our work, the land, and new initiatives. I had an on-farm interview with Vice Media, and I’m participating in Food and Farm Communications Fund Storytelling Academy where I’m learning how narrative works and why personal stories matter in organizing, practicing crafting and telling compelling personal stories.”
Naima Penniman – Program Director
“I am celebrating the first Soul FIRE Immersions since pandemic and in my role as Program Director. My heart is overflowing in gratitude for the culmination of so much love, labor and intention coming to life in our coming together. (and from these adorable goats!)”
In June we welcomed Bucky, Nebula, and Nova to the farm, our spunky Nubian goat brothers who were born to Aurora on the first full moon of Spring. We are grateful to our friends at Sollohub Family Farm for entrusting us with the boys, who are now part of our silvopasture ecosystem, turning forage into fertility for long-term health of the fruit orchard. We give them lots of snuggles as part of their socialization, and they bleat with longing when it’s time for their human friends to attend to other tasks. Be sure to visit them when you come for a tour or community work and learn day.
We are well into our Solidarity Share season, the oldest program at Soul Fire Farm now in its 11th year! We deliver no-cost fresh vegetables, fruits, medicine, eggs, and pastured protein to the doorsteps of families surviving food apartheid in the Capital Region and to community organizations like the West Hill Refugee Center and Free Food Fridge. We feature cultural heritage items like Bee Balm, called #6 by the Mohican Nation and Hill Country Okra, as well as popular crops like lettuce, collards, sugar snap peas, strawberries, turnips, and basil. Participants in our Soul FIRE (Farming in Relationship with Earth) immersion program enjoyed packing the week’s bags in the pouring rain, knowing they would nourish body and spirit for people who deserve the dignity of quality food.
This month was a huge milestone for the infrastructure team and was a reminder of the big picture: for most of our existence, we have hosted the thousands of people who come through the farm on a yearly basis in the family home. This is where we gathered for workshops; participants and staff alike shared one downstairs bathroom for showering; and our kitchen team cooked all of the large community meals in the house kitchen.
This month, for the first time in the history of the organization, participants in our Soul FIRE immersion were able to use spaces appropriately sized for the group. They showered and used the toilet in a fully finished bathhouse, gathered and engaged in workshops in our wonderful classroom, and the kitchen team cooked up a storm in our spacious (temporary) program kitchen, which now shares the barn with the farm team.
This is monumental for us. We are so motivated by the educational work that we do, and by the passion, curiosity, and power of the people who attend our programs.
That motivation has driven our attention to detail; everything from imagining the space, choosing colors, materials, innovating pest protection, to enduring inclement weather, coordinating with various subcontractors, installing wiring, roofs, and walls with care and diligence, and so much more. There is much more to do–both in finishing details of the classroom as well as the new construction ahead, but what a blessing to witness people loving up the spaces we have worked so hard on!
Soul FIRE Farming Immersion
We did it, family!!! Our first Soul FIRE Farming Immersions (Farming in Relationship to the Earth) since the pandemic have been profoundly meaningful and magical. For 2 weeks in July, 22 BIPOC from 11 to 64 years old came together in our dignity to learn Afro-Indigenous farming skills, cook nourishing foods, connect deeply with the land, create ritual and heal with one another. We harvested raspberries and cherries and made jam, gathered calendula and comfrey and made salves, had an agroforestry scavenger hunt, cared for the goats, befriended plants, pounded drums at dawn, built a beautiful altar, shared stories of the lands and ancestors who have shaped us, and planted seeds in the earth and in our hearts.
In August we will have 2 more sessions with folks traveling from as far as Georgia, California and Puerto Rico to skill up in ancestral farming practices, heal from racial trauma and reclaim leadership as food justice organizers in their communities.
Check out theFacilitator and Trainer Bios & Photo Gallery and learn a bit about the beautiful team that is holding the container for the FIRE Immersions this summer.
Hands-On Introduction to Carpentry
On July 29 we will host a “Hands-On Introduction to Carpentry” workshop designed to equip and inspire change-makers, community builders, farmers and food fighters to “level up” our hard skills in building and construction. This in person skill share will be guided by Sean Desiree, Kai Thomas, Neshima Wolff-Vitale Penniman & Jonah Vitale-Wolff.
If you are interested in learning from the brilliance of Sean and Kai, check out these virtual resources: Carpentry 3D Virtual Skill Share – Zoom Recording, Liberation on Land Videos – How to build a Cold Frame & Planter, Carpentry Resources
Work + Learn Days
Our Work and Learn Days this month have been muddy and marvelous! We sprinkled copious amounts of love on that land and accomplished an immense amount of work with our collective effort: Pruning tomatoes, harvesting cherries, raspberries, and strawberries, gathering calendula, marigold, blue vervain, St. John’s Wort, and garbling mint, lemon balm, bee balm, chamomile, tulsi for teas.
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Our next Work and Learn Days are August 10 & August 31 if you want to get your hands on the land with us! Registration required. Learn more here
Seasonal Tours
Our tours have been full of whole-hearted stories and meaningful connections! We have three more coming up this growing season: August 13, September 10, October 8 (3:30-4:30 PM ET) so that our beloved community can experience some of the plants, animals and humans that grow here. We will guide you through the growing fields and agroforestry gardens, take you up close to the building projects, share, and answer your questions. 18 people can join us in person, and 500 virtually per tour. Register Here
Ask a Sista Farmer
On July 2nd we were joined by the brilliant and devoted Pandora Thomas, founder of EARTHseed Permaculture Center and Farm, Sonoma County CA and the Black Permaculture Network, who shared the benefits of applying ecological principles to social design and reconnecting humans to our non-human kin. You can watch that episode (#29!) on Soul Fire’s IGTV here.
Check out other past episodes here (FB) and here (IGTV) & catch the next episode August 6th (4:00-4:40 ET) with Karen Washington on instagram live @soulfirefarm
“Ask a Sista Farmer,” is a free online show to support people who want to grow their own food and medicine for self-reliance and community resilience. FIRST Fridays, 4:00-4:40 Eastern Friday, experienced Black womxn farmers answer audience call-in questions about gardening, livestock, agroforestry, plant medicine, and food preservation. Learn More
FOOD AS A HUMAN RIGHT
We believe that access to nourishing food is a basic human right. We also believe that farmers have a right to a living wage and dignified working conditions. The U.S. economy is not set up to support either of these values, and in fact, often positions them in opposition to one another. In 2018, we wrote “Sowing the Seeds of Food Justice: A Guide for Farmers Who Want to Supply Low-Income Community While Maintaining Financial Sustainability,” to share some of the lessons we have learned over 10+ years of providing affordable and no-cost food to survivors of food apartheid. Some of the strategies include a sliding scale CSA, accepting donations to cover the cost of food, leveraging government funding like SNAP/EBT, and partnering with community organizations who may have a budget to purchase food for no-cost distribution. Please read and share. We welcome your ideas as well. Please let us know how you make life-giving food available to those who need it, while maintaining a dignified income for those who work the land.
Soul Fire Farm’s new Praxis series reflects on how our community can best put our values into action, sharing resources, ideas, and practice toward collective liberation. These will be shared each month in Love Notes and also on social media.
Although we only planted our perennial herbs last year, the plants are thriving and we are harvesting, drying, and garbling them to create our invigorating tea blends. If you haven’t checked out our shop recently, we’re beginning to add new items as the harvest season progresses. We have a new tea that we’re so excited about, and we hope you are too!
Our Mineral Magic tea blend is in the shop and ready for you to enjoy.
An nutritive tea packed with vitamins and minerals, containing red raspberry leaf and anise hyssop. Raspberry leaf is cherished by pregnant and lactating parents. Anise hyssop’s sweet, alluring aroma lifts the spirit and relieves congestion.*
Seeding Hope, Sharing Resilience:
Alumni Spotlight – Dishaun Harris
Dishaun Harris is the founder of Root Life LLC, and Co-Founder of the Love Fed Initiative, agriculture companies that focus on community empowerment through urban farming, urban farm training, food justice education and community focused health events for BIPOC communities.
Dishaun recently launched a 14-Day diasporic healing retreat in East Africa aimed at reconnecting BIPOC folks with the tools needed to help heal their own communities.
To support their efforts please consider supporting their GoFundMe, or emailing dishaun.harris@gmail.com to sign up for a retreat.
- Article in Morning Calm (p.47)
- Podcast with Hey Change with Kiani Conley-Wilson
- Podcast with Real Organic Project with Leah Penniman
- Podcast with News 10 ABC with Cheryl Whilby
- Podcast with Youth to the People with Leah Penniman
- Broadcast with NPR’s Good Food with Naima Penniman
- WIRRED – Regeneration Specialist – Deadline July 30th! WIRRED is seeking an experienced Regeneration Specialist to be a valued member of its senior leadership team. The Regeneration Specialist will play a crucial role in carrying out WIRRED’s growth strategy for evolving Walkers Reserve in Barbados from an active sand quarry to a vibrant food forest, improving the effectiveness of regenerative works and enhancing the organization’s performance. Learn More + Apply
July 27th, 2021 5:00 PM EST
Hear from Leah Penniman in conversation with COA Partridge Chair in Food and Sustainable Agriculture Systems Kourtney Collum about food sovereignty and racial justice in this event in College of the Atlantic’s 2021 Summer Institute: Good Food and Food Fights. Register Here
Announcements
Caretaking Opportunity
A neighbor has reached out to us to ask if any friends of Soul Fire Farm might be interested in a barter-lease to caretake a nearby home. This is one of several opportunities to join the “neighborhood” that will be arising in the years to come.
This house is a 1200 sq ft, 4-small bedroom, 1-bathroom, on 5 acres about 1 mile from Soul Fire Farm. It is an 1865 rustic, hand-built home with a stone foundation that is well insulated with replacement windows and new doors. It has wood stove heat only. There are gardens, an old barn, and sugar maples for tapping. The property is surrounded by forest.
The water system is from a shallow well, sedimented, and is not potable without filtration. The basement is unfinished with a damp gravel floor, and a sump pump is necessary.
Local sites of interest include the Grafton Peace Pagoda, Grafton Lakes State Park, and Berlin Mountain/Petersburg Pass. Grafton is 25 minutes from Troy, NY, 25 minutes from Williamstown MA, 20 minutes from Bennington VT, and 40 minutes from Albany, NY.
The neighbor who owns the property is still in the process of finalizing the terms of the barter-lease, but most likely the tenant/caretaker would be responsible for property maintenance and utilities in exchange for living in the property at no cost. The most likely arrangement is a 1-year renewable lease.
The tenant/caretaker would need to be comfortable with rural living and handy. Please let us know if you are interested by completing this survey and we can connect you with our neighbor.
NOFA Summer Conference Scholarships Available for Young and Beginning Farmers
Thanks to a generous contribution from a donor interested in providing greater access to our conference, we have 24 scholarships available for young and beginning farmers to attend the 2021 NOFA Summer Conference at no cost. The Summer Conference will take place online from July 30th – August 6th and will feature nearly 50 workshops from expert presenters. This year’s conference features a learning track on indigenous land stewardship, workshops presented in Spanish, a celebration of NOFA’s 50th anniversary, and a keynote panel on no-till farming featuring Jen Salinetti of Woven Roots Farm in Massachusetts and Daniel Mays of Frith Farm in Maine. In addition to the live workshops, all presentations will be recorded and made available to attendees.
Those interested in applying for a scholarship can find details HERE
Oppression underwrites our food system, and a tangible action to address food sovereignty in our communities is taking reparations into our own hands through the creation of the Reparations Map for Black-Indigenous Farmers. We recognize that the food system was built on the stolen land and stolen labor of Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian and other people of color. We also know that we cannot wait for the government to acknowledge that stolen wealth and land must be returned. Some farmers have already received funding through this project, and we want to provide that opportunity to other Black and Brown farmers. If you have resources you want to share contact a farmer directly to share them, or if you have a project you want to include on the map contact Northeast Farmers of Color!