Agraria_Journal_WINTER_2022

Growing the Carver Farm On a hot late summer day, Agraria Assistant Land Director River Johnson walked through green rows teeming with gourds, squash, green beans, peppers, and more in a new vegetable garden near Huston Road. Six weeks earlier, Johnson had planted the first crops of what would become the George Washington Carver Farm. “That was such a challenge, breaking ground,” Johnson said of planting in dry, depleted soils choked with thistle. “You want to give up. And I think some students without support might.” Agraria will provide that support to new and aspiring BIPOC farmers at its George Washington Carver Farm, an 18-acre demonstration, training, and incubation space at the western edge of its property. In the spirit of Carver, it will also be a site for observation and experimentation. “There’s so many things that we can start talking about in this space and to investigate and observe,” Johnson said. “Carver was about the observation of nature.” Demonstrations planned for the site include silvopasture, terrace gardens, grazed chicken orchards, fiber and dye gardening, high tunnel production, sweet potato trials, no- dig raised beds, and more. The vegetable garden Johnson planted this year will be a learning site for the Regenerative Farmer Fellows in future years, among other educational opportunities. “It’s a place that the public can access and learn from,” Johnson explained. “It’s where the problems can be worked out, where the students can get their hands on it and really learn. Including myself.” Agricultural pioneer George Washington Carver faced similar challenges when it came to working poor soils, in his case land devastated by the monoculture cotton industry. He promoted composting and growing a diversity of food and cover crops as ways for Black farmers to both restore their soil and find new income streams. As Carver helped transform an inequitable food system in his time, Agraria hopes to continue the legacy. Serving BIPOC farmers and other underserved growers is a critical mission of Agraria, and the new farm will further that work. In the words of Carver, “It is simply service that measures success.” To Johnson, the transformation comes one farmer at a time: “Each one, teach one.” ~Megan Bachman ALISA ISAAC An artistic and conceptual illustration of the George Washington Carver Farm 34 AGRARIA JOURNAL 2022