Category: Heroes

Communication, Community, Down On the Farm, Events, Faith, Farmers Markets, Food Justice, Gratitude, Health, Heroes, Neighbors, Non-Profits, Nutrition, Opal's Farm, Service to Others, Thoughts From the Porch, Urban Farming, What Can I Do

Coming Soon…

gregoryjoel

Thanks to everyone who braved the cold to come to Cowtown Farmers Market Saturday. I guess we needed the reminder that it’s still January in Texas and not to get too comfortable with the seventy-degree days that have marked much of this Texas winter. According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, our last frost date is March 21st, so we still have a couple of months of winter to go. Just because it is winter doesn’t mean that the farmers market and farm stand won’t have any great produce available though. It’s a great time of year for root crops like beets and carrots or greens like collards, turnip greens,  and salad mixes!

I’d also like to ask anyone who volunteered at Opal’s Farm last year to please get in contact with me. As many of you know, our Volunteer Coordinator left in November without notice. She failed to send the updated volunteer list. I know most of our corporate partners, but I would love to have everyone’s contact information to keep you all aware of special volunteer events as well as the new Opal’s Farm monthly newsletter starting in February.

We’re getting closer to the Grand Opening of Opal’s Farm Stand at our new location at the corner of Rosedale and Evans in Historic Southside. We’ll be there with bells on February 14th, Valentine’s Day, from 1 PM to 4PM.

Please remember that Opal’s Farm Stand is an authorized SNAP retailer and offers the Double Up Bucks program to stretch your SNAP dollar even further for fresh local produce. We’re excited and can’t wait to serve our neighbors in Historic Southside.

We’re so grateful to Texas Health Community Hope for administering the Double Up Food Bucks program here in DFW and the statewide program administrator, the Sustainable Food Center. They’ve been a fantastic partner to both us and other urban farms in Fort Worth. Look for several coming events such as cooking demonstrations and nutritional education in the coming year.

Photo by Unseen Histories on Unsplash

Tomorrow, January 19th, is the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service and once again, Texas Health is having groups come out to the farm to volunteer and help us get ready for Spring. We are so thankful to the Texas Health employees who come out several times a year, but especially on this important day when we honor the legacy of Dr. King through serving our community.

If your company would like to schedule a volunteer day, please let me know as soon as you can. The Spring schedule is starting to fill up. We love and appreciate all our volunteers and the amazing work they help us do!

Activism, Communication, Community, Democracy, Equal Rights, Events, Faith, God's Economics, Heroes, Hope, Neighbors, Politics, Role Models, Service to Others, Thoughts From the Porch, What Can I Do

Dione’s Running!

gregoryjoel

Last Saturday, Margaret and I had the opportunity to attend the kickoff campaign rally for Dione Sims for Congress. Most of you know that Dione is the Executive Director for Unity Unlimited, Inc., of which Opal’s Farm is a part. It has been my honor and privilege to work with Dione for the last seven years as the Farm Manager for Opal’s Farm. Dione is not only my boss, but my friend and mentor. Her joy, her faith, and her love for bringing people, all people, together in community has helped me become a better farmer, citizen, and man of faith.

That being said, a disclaimer is in order. I’m writing this as an individual who has seen firsthand her commitment to service for our community and not as the Farm Manager for Opal’s Farm.

Dione and I were talking about the difficulties facing our community, state, and nation when she said she was thinking about running for Congress. So much of what has taken place since January 20th of last year has harmed our neighbors and threatened the very freedoms we’ve known and attained in my lifetime.

Our neighbors were having to make choices between paying for food or paying for needed prescriptions; paying the electric bill or feeding their children; barely surviving, living in fear, working two and three jobs to just scrape by, or spending time with their families. They made these hard choices while the current Administration’s tech bros and billionaire buddies amassed greater fortunes and power. She could no longer sit on the sidelines and do nothing. Running for Congress was not about her. It was about us.  I knew immediately that she was the perfect choice to represent the twenty-fifth Texas Congressional District.

In 2025, Texas, under pressure from Trump, redrew Congressional District lines in a blatant attempt to gain five additional Republican seats in Congress, hoping to keep control of the House. Dione waited patiently for the redistricting plan to go through the courts and joined the race as soon as everything was settled. Her desire to truly represent the very folks whose voices the redistricting tried to silence led to this decision.

Dione is carrying on the legacy of service started by her grandmother, Dr. Opal Lee, with the belief that freedom is for everyone every day. Freedom means having the opportunity to thrive, to reach out for the American dream that has rapidly disappeared for most folks.

Unfortunately, I live just outside Texas District Twenty-five, but many of my friends, both urban and rural, live there. If you reside in District Twenty-five, know that Dione Sims for Congress will represent you and your issues in Congress. Please consider voting for Dione in the upcoming primary on March 3rd. Early voting begins February 17, 2026 and ends on February 27th.

Go to https://dionesimsforcongress.com/ for more info!

Birthdays, Community, Down On the Farm, Events, Faith, Family, Gratitude, Heroes, Honor, Role Models, Service to Others, Thoughts From the Porch, Unity Unlimited, Inc., Urban Farming

Happy Birthday Ms. Opal

gregoryjoel

Happy 99th Birthday to Dr. Opal Lee!!!! I am so honored and privileged to know and work for Ms. Opal.  I’ve learned more about loving and serving others in the last seven years than I ever could have imagined. I’m even one of the official “Grandkids” (she told me so). Being in the presence of a true civil rights icon leaves me so humbled and grateful. God has been good to me and to all that Opal’s Farm and Unity Unlimited do each day.

If you had told me when I entered recovery almost twenty years ago that I would be living the life I have today I would’ve told you there was no way. Today I get to go to work each day knowing that Opal’s Farm is making a difference for our community.

Photo by Pavel Danilyuk on Pexels.com
Activism, Citizenship, Community, Down On the Farm, Education, Equal Rights, Events, Faith, Freedom, Gratitude, Heroes, Hope, Prayer, Quotes, Thoughts From the Porch, Unity Unlimited, Inc., Urban Farming, Volunteers, What Can I Do

A Celebration of Freedom

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It’s hard to believe that June is already here. I haven’t written much this Spring due to how busy it’s been at the farm. I beat myself up pretty good for not keeping up with our social media and my writing, but I’ve finally given myself a break and returned to “it gets done when it gets done”. Do the best you can each day and go to bed knowing that you did everything that needed to be done today. The farm, and life really, moves at its own pace and we do the best we can do and learn to let go…

Opal’s Farm has had some great volunteer groups this Spring as well as our wonderful regular volunteers. I’m not going to mention you by name simply because I don’t have space to list you all. I want to let you know how appreciated you are. I’m not confused. I know for certain that without you Opal’s Farm wouldn’t be there to provide food and access to healthy food for so many of our neighbors. Please know that every task you help with is another healthy meal served for those that need it most.

I’m always surprised when our corporate volunteers, who often come from some very conservative businesses, talk about the craziness we are all experiencing on a daily basis if one listens to even a small portion of the daily news. The chaos of the last four months has reached each one of us in some way and the thing I hear the most is “What can I do?” Sometimes it’s asked with a genuine desire to find a course of action that really says something to the powers that be but mostly it comes with a deep sense of helplessness, powerlessness, and quiet resignation.

I certainly don’t have the answers. Fortunately, I have the honor and privilege of working with my grandmother (I know she’s everyone’s grandmother, but she told me I’ve been adopted), Dr. Opal Lee; nationally known as “The Grandmother of Juneteenth”. In addition to the farm, and perhaps most importantly, is my annual Juneteenth work and celebration. Juneteenth and Opal’s Farm are about bringing all people, regardless of race, religion, sexual identity, culture, or political beliefs to the table together. As Dr. Opal has told me any times, “It’s not a Texas thing, it’s not a Black thing, it’s a unifier.” There is a way for everyone to show our support for freedom and unity. Celebrate Juneteenth together!

Juneteenth celebrations are more important than ever this year. According to Dr. Charles M Blow, “many cities have cancelled Juneteenth (celebrations)”: mostly out of fear of being considered “DEI” and the current erasure of anything having to do with Black culture and history. ( https://www.cbsnews.com/news/from-celebrating-juneteenth-to-the-erasure-of-black-history-charles-m-blow-on-america-today/ ).

Juneteenth is not a “DEI” initiative. It’s a national holiday that passed with bipartisan support. Even the man currently in the White House (I still can’t say his name aloud or in print) tried to appeal to Black voters in 2020 by making Juneteenth a federal holiday in the last days of his previous administration.

Juneteenth is a day for all of us to remember that freedom is for everyone especially those had had been enslaved. We haven’t cancelled our Juneteenth Celebration here in Fort Worth. We still started our month-long celebration with the Ecumenical Breakfast of Prayer last Friday. The Miss Juneteenth Scholarship Pageant was on Saturday. This coming Saturday will be the stage play, Timmy’s Dance, followed by the “Walk for Freedom” on the 19th, the 1K Women Strong Legacy Awards Breakfast on the 20th,” Empowering You”, a job, health, and education fair on the 21st. The month of activities closes with “Your Voice Unleashed” – a week-long program for our young people including the culinary arts, music, and the choir concert.

We will be walking 2.5 miles (to symbolize the 2.5 years it took for the enslaved people in Texas to discover they were freed) with Dr. Opal on the 19th at 9:00 AM. The walk is timed with our sponsor cities across time zones – New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Tokyo, Japan – so that everyone will be walking at the same time.

We also have a virtual walk for those too far away from Fort Worth or our sponsor cities. We encourage everyone to get their “2.5” on and walk with your friends wherever you are. It’s a beautiful show of unity to demonstrate our love for freedom, especially in these difficult times.

I invite everyone to join us in the “Walk for Freedom”. We’d love to hear from those who walk in their own cities and towns. The Walk will be held next year in Washington D.C. in conjunction with the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. We’d love to have 1.5 million people walking together across the country to symbolize the 1.5 million signatures on the petition Dr. Opal delivered to Congress that led to the Juneteenth holiday in 2021.

Community, Environment, Heroes, Quotes

Thought for the Day

gregoryjoel

“Join with the Earth and each other, to bring new life to the land, to restore the waters, to refresh the air, to renew the forests, to care for the plants, to protect the creatures, to celebrate the seas, to rejoice in the sunlight, to sing the song of the stars, to recall our destiny, to renew our spirits, to reinvigorate our bodies, to recreate the human community, to promote justice and peace, to love our children and love one another, to join together as many and diverse expressions of one loving mystery, for the healing of the Earth and the renewal of all life.” – Dr Martin Luther King, Jr.