Category: Faith

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Happy Monday!

gregoryjoel

Good Morning Y’all! Saturday was eventful (and busy) for Opal’s Farm. We were unable to be at Cowtown Farmers Market due to the Dig Deep Conference at the Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT) and Community Resource Day 2021 at McDonald YMCA.

I was honored to be a presenter at the Dig Deep Conference this year. Dig Deep is a growers conference held annually by the Tarrant Area Food Bank and the Tarrant County Food Policy Council. I was excited to talk about Opal’s Farm, “Empowering Communities Through Food”, and giving everyone a seat at the table. I am proud to be associated with the sponsoring organizations. I attended several great breakout sessions and got to network with new friends and old. Kudos to Chef Robyn Frascella who prepared an incredible lunch for the attendees. The food justice community in Fort Worth – farmers, activist, and advocates – is an amazing group of people!

Stacey Harwood, our Volunteer Coordinator, manned our booth at Community Resource Day 2021. We want to thank all who attended and for the overwhelming support for Opal’s Farm. We especially want to thank Dr. Belay Reddick and Community Resource Day 2021 for taking this time to give special honor to Ms. Opal and Tarrant County Commissioner Roy Brooks for their service to our community. Well done, Dr. Reddick!

It’s Monday and the start of a spectacular week at the farm. We’ve started Fall planting and beginning to get a handle on the weeds that sprouted after the wet May. Moderate temperatures (a cold front is coming tomorrow!) and unusual July rains have stretched the tomato season into mid-summer. Purple Hull peas are in abundance, squash is producing steadily, and the test beds of bottle gourd and bitter melon are going well. We will have cantaloupe on Saturday as well. We hope to see you all Saturday at Cowtown Farmers Market.

We’d love to have you come by the farm too! We love our volunteers and we’re always happy to provide a bit of dirt therapy for all.

As always – if you’re unable to volunteer at Opal’s Farm you can always support our work by going to www.unityunlimited.org, the Opal’s Farm page and clicking on the donate button. Every dollar goes to the farm and providing food for your neighbors.

Community, Faith, Family, Friendship, Generations, Gifts, Gratitude, Heroes, Honor, Opal's Farm, Prayer, Recovery, Relationships, Storytelling, Thoughts From the Porch

How Do I Find a Title?

gregoryjoel

My heart is broken. My good friend, David Knight, passed away last night. I’m simply numb. The loss hasn’t hit fully. I can’t imagine what the days will be like without his oft bi-weekly visits to the farm and the looming silence of the telephone. I prefer not to even think about it today, but dwell on such a great loss makes that impossible.

I’ve written many times of my friendship with David. He holds a special place in my life. He and Nikki were the father and mother I could not be to my son Jeremy almost sixteen years ago. Jeremy lived with them for over a year while he got on his feet in life and recovery because I was unable to provide a home back then. David and Nikki were with our family when we gathered to mourn Jeremy’s passing last year.

I had a post-operative infection following brain surgery some eight-and-a-half years ago. I was in Neuro ICU for a month and friends and family worried about making the seemingly inevitable funeral plans. I was out of it for the first couple of weeks with only moments of consciousness. Yet, every time I woke up, I saw David sitting there in my NICU room. Later, when David found out about his cancer, I was given the honor and privilege of doing the same for my friend.

He beat the cancer and despite some lingering health problems (none of which were trivial by the way), he continued to be David – and for those who had the honor of knowing him you know exactly what I mean! He’d often visit me at the farm and Cowtown Farmers Market just to see what was going on. We shared about our lives and growing the best vegetables (both of us) in Fort Worth. We talked on the phone regularly. He’d often call just to say, “I love you brother”. It one of the highlights of my day.

I rushed to the hospital when Nikki called Friday. His survival odds were not good. He had received CPR earlier and was still unconscious until David Jr. arrived. He opened his eyes and looked at each of us. He couldn’t speak because of the intubation, but he knew we were all there. The greatest honor in my life was to have him know I was there. He slipped away on Saturday night.

I can’t tell you what I’m feeling right now. Loss, sadness, grief, numbness, extreme sorrow. I don’t know what I need to do next, but Nikki will need us more than ever. Right now, though, I think I’ll head to the farm and eat a tomato for David. I love you, my friend. Take Jeremy fishing again when you see him and keep our son In line…

May be an image of Nikki Davis Knight and David Knight and indoor
My two favorite people…