June ’25 Love Notes

No pride for some of us without liberation for all of us.
Marsha P. Johnson

Sweet Greetings Beloved Community

This month, we honored the layered intersections of Pride and Juneteenth, where Black liberation and queer resilience meet. These histories are woven and shaped by those of us who dare to imagine freedom beyond limitations. A freedom that embodies the fullness of self, of spirit, and of love. As we celebrate, we remember that liberation is not a single path but a shared journey that depends on the wholeness and truth of each of our stories. This is a time for joy, remembrance, and renewed commitment to our collective liberation.

As we hold space for the constellation of all that we’re holding and feeling this month, we invite you to join us in community—where joy, resistance, and solidarity come alive. Pull up for Community Work & Learn Days on July 8 and July 29. As well as Mohican Plant Medicine workshop on July 11.

May your breath be your anchor.

With love and solidarity,

Briana, Cheryl, Christina, Clara, Crysta, Danielle, Hana’, Hillary, Jaz, Jey, Jonah, Leah, Maya, Naima, Neshima, O’den, Ria, Shay, Susuyu, and Winter

Welcome our newest team member!

Jey Dale‘s (she/her), Deputy Development Director, professional career has reflected her path as a development strategist, communications professional, and social equity advocate, with a B.S. in Social Work and Citizenship & Service from Park University. She brings over a decade of experience across healthcare, social work, communications, and development; designing trauma-informed systems and mission-driven campaigns.

Alongside her career experience, Jey is an Anointed High Priestess, full-spectrum birthworker, and multidisciplinary artist. Through public speaking, teaching, and hosting, she shares insights on the spirit-earth connection and its essential role in restorative justice, collective healing, and self-alignment. Her practice is grounded in her Caribbean, Gullah Geechee, and Indigenous heritage, blending storytelling, spirituality, and community-building.

She is the creator of Her Steward, a space that reconnects women to themselves, each other, and the Earth through seasonal gatherings and intentional community.

In her free time, Jey enjoys singing, songwriting, dancing, reading, and volunteering at the animal shelter.

Clay soils get a bad rap for being chunky, soggy, and uncooperative, but if you take the time to get to know clay you can work out a harmonious relationship.

During our first weeklong FIRE (Farming in Relationship with Earth) immersion, the farm team had the privilege of training rising generation farmers during Hands-on-the-Land every morning, sharing the wonders of our clay-heavy soils. Clay naturally holds nutrients and water in place – and through the addition of loads of organic matter, careful no-till practices, avoiding stepping on the beds, and the deft wielding of the broad fork, we get yields that defy the cynical extension agent’s predictions. Our CSA bags are already overflowing with strawberries, green garlic, lettuce, squash, herbs, greens, celery, radishes, rhubarb, and more!

Clay was the star of the natural building workshop during FIRE as well. The site team demonstrated how clay can be mixed with straw and sand to make adobe plaster, a durable, natural building material. Our first building here on the land (the “lodge”) was built of straw bales and adobe, upcycling agricultural waste and taking advantage of the natural soils to make a self-regulating, low embodied energy, nontoxic building. Participants in the workshop mixed their own adobe and practiced modeling with it, generating ideas for how to integrate natural building into their own farms.

Community Work & Learn

Shout outs to everyone who visited in June helping us transplant, weed, seed the greenhouse, trellise raspberries, and so much more. Click on the links below to register for upcoming programs.

7/8
7/29
8/12

Group registration may be offered on select days to groups with participants 16 years and older. Complete this form if you’d like to request to register a group.

On July 11, Misty Cook will lead us in an in person discussion of the natural Medicines from the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans.

Together we will learn the lineage of Mohican plant medicinal knowledge, how to make tobacco offerings to the land, the stories of several of the native plants on the land, and hands-on harvesting and processing of plant medicines. Learn more and register here.

Tour de la Granja y Cena en Español

con interpretación entre inglés y español // Farm Tour and Dinner in Spanish with interpretation between Spanish and English

8 de agosto, 3:30-6:30 PM // August 8, 3:30-6:30 PM

Acompáñanos en un recorrido guiado por la granja, seguido por una cena y música en vivo con Adriana Pericchi, Ceci Pineda y Li Sierra. En el espíritu del intercambio y la convivencia, reunimos a nuestra comunidad para una tarde de aprendizaje mutuo.

Join us for a farm tour followed by dinner and live music with Adriana Pericchi, Ceci Pineda y Li Sierra. In the spirit of intercambio y convivencia, we bring our community together for an evening of mutual learning.

¡Obtenga más información e inscríbase aquí! // Learn more and register here

Sovereign: Reclaiming Black Land

In this podcast, rich in storytelling, history, and ritual, we explore what it means to be sovereign. With Black land at the center, this series brings together prominent activists, artists, weavers and the rising generation of Black land stewards. Crafting inspiring conversations that honor the past and create blueprints for the future.

Monthly IG Live series @soulfirefarm with audio later shared on podcast streaming platforms. Hosted by Clara AgborTabi and Crysta Bloom

Our next episode is titled Neighborhood Healer and explores lunar aligned herbalism and farming with Karen Rose and Yura Sapi on July 29 4pm EST

Listen to all the latest episodes here or watch previous IG Live shows @soulfirefarm

*Photos left to right: M. Dominique Villanueva, Angie Comeaux, Wambui Marian “Mars” Mwenja*

Soul Fire Farm, the National Black Food & Justice Alliance, and the Braiding Seeds Fellowship are supporting the launch of an Alabama farmer apprenticeship pilot led by Black and Indigenous farmers and land stewards.

This 12-month, 20 hr/week paid apprenticeship is rooted in land-based healing, ancestral farming traditions, and community stewardship. Apprentices will have the opportunity to learn a wide range of skills, from vegetable and herb production to livestock and agroforestry, in both rural and urban settings.

The apprenticeship is led by Wambui Marian “Mars” Mwenja, Angie Comeaux, and M. Dominique Villanueva—all Braiding Seeds fellows/alumni—and their farm teams at Haven Community Nursery, Hvrvnrvcukwv Ueki-honecv (Hummingbird Springs) Farm, and Fountain Heights Farms Cooperative. We’ll be sharing more details in the months to come!

Your questions are welcome!

We created the Praxis column in 2020 in an effort to increase our transparency to our wider community, and open conversations about putting our collective values into action. The topics address questions that we have received about Soul Fire Farm’s values, operations, and internal workings. We have offered over 50 notes with topics including nonprofit and coop structure, funding sources, conflict management, gender justice, theory of change, ecological practices, worker well-being, Black farmer legacies, celebrity activism, language justice, and more.

What else do y’all want to know? Please comment or write to us with your questions and we will cue up future “Praxis” notes to address them. Thank you!

Kenya Crumel [2022 FIRE 4]

Warm hugs to this incredible network of beings who are shining light across the globe!

My name is Kenya and I have the honor and pleasure of serving as the Director of Black Land & Power (BLP) at the National Black Food & Justice Alliance (NBFJA), a member-based organization that works towards food sovereignty via organizing, amplifying the stories of Black farmers, and building institutions. Since joining NBFJA in January 2021, I have been working with our members to shape the Resource Commons – a non-extractive financial vehicle created to support the removal of land from the speculative market, and ensure Black farmers are able to access necessary farm equipment and undertake infrastructure projects. I’m thrilled that we just wrapped up our third cycle of investments at a total of 14 member sites. Additionally, the BLP workgroup supports peer and community-wide land steward trainings. I invite you all to check out this year’s course catalog and reach out to me if you would like to participate or have questions. Lastly, I’m excited to share that we are also piloting our land defense fund in 2025 in order to mitigate Black land loss.

I’m eternally grateful to be a part of this community and always happy to hear from fellow SFF alumni!

PARTNERSHIP UPDATES

CALLING ALL NYC BASED COMMUNITY MEMBERS

Corbin Hill Food Project is seeking enthusiastic volunteers to assist for our seasonal farm stand at Central Park (110th x Malcolm X Blvd). Corbin Hill’s farm stand connects BIPOC farmers, producers and makers to the Harlem community. In partnership with the Black Farmer Ecosystem, our Farm Stand is more than a market—it’s a joyful celebration of food sovereignty, intergenerational knowledge, and accessible, community-rooted nourishment.

Please see our information sheet and link to sign up to volunteer: Corbin Hill Farmstand Volunteer Informational Sheet

To sign up, click this link

Please review this volunteer description and requirements/preferred

To sign up please put your full name next to the ROLE/SHIFT under the DATE that you are able to volunteer (blank line means the shift is available, if there is a name, it is not available!)

Please complete the contact information on the 3rd page

Please only sign up if you are sure you can be available. If you need to remove yourself from a shift, please do so as soon as possible! Our volunteer coordinator will be in touch with you the week of the event to confirm your shift. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to rebecca@corbinhillfarm.com.

BIPOC-led farming organizations are under threat. Please consider donating to these trusted and vetted movement partners who are in need in these times. With your support, we can make an impact on the Black food system.

Get Involved

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