Category: Heroes

Community, Down On the Farm, Faith, Food Justice, Friendship, Grace, Gratitude, Heroes, Non-Profits, Opal's Farm, Persistence, Prayer, Service Organizations, Service to Others, Spirituality, Spring, Tarrant Regional Water District, Trinity River, Unity Unlimited, Inc., Urban Farming, Volunteers

Bumps in the Road

gregoryjoel

Farming has its challenges. The weather is either too wet or too dry, too hot or too cold; equipment breaks down at the most inopportune time; pest pressure; the list goes on. The latest challenge – water level on the Trinity River, which provides water for irrigating our crops, dropping lower than our pumps can reach, leaving us high and dry with new Spring seed in the ground. The Tarrant Regional Water District has construction going on by the Fourth Street dam just upstream from us and had to lower the water level in our section of the river to complete the work. It may be a month before the water level returns to a normal level. The farm can’t go for a month without water, and the weather forecast isn’t looking favorably for us. “Houston, we have a problem…”

The immediate issue was getting water on the new seed as quickly as possible. To make a long story short, it was too muddy to get our other pump close enough to the water to get to suction hose in, so I filled four fifty-gallon water barrels at home each morning, drove to the farm, and hand watered the new seed, all the while praying to seek a better solution. The process was long, slow, and really hard work for this old man.

I trust that God hears my prayers and always answers even though I don’t always listen very well (and if I’m honest, I’ll still try to figure out things my way because I don’t like the answer, but that’s another story). Still, I’ve gotten better as I’ve gotten older at watching and listening for God’s instructions.

This week, the answer came from one of our regular volunteers and friends of the farm, Amir (I haven’t asked his permission to use his full name and picture on social media yet). Amir is one of my favorite people. He comes most Thursdays and Saturday mornings to help at the farm and often brings his young son as well. He believes his son needs to learn the value of helping others (that won him Father of the Year in my book). When he saw our problem, he called to meet me at Opal’s Farm on Friday morning. He wanted to put our heads together to see if we could find a solution to the irrigation problem.

We pondered our options and then it occurred to Amir that we could pull the pump from its pipe to the river, extend the Pex piping and electrical wire and push the pump farther into the river. Great idea! I was fully expecting Amir to have to go on to his work and do it over the weekend. He looked at me and said, “If we can get the parts this morning, we should have water this afternoon”. Needless to say, after a very long Friday and very cold Trinity River water we have irrigation again.

The reason I mention this is because I need to tell you how blessed I am to have great volunteers, and especially Amir. He sees his time as an investment in Opal’s Farm, our mission, and our future. He gave up his work time to help at a critical moment. That’s the kind of people that God has blessed me with over the last seven years at Opal’s Farm. I just want to give him a special shout-out.

Texas Farm Bureau Day

We were also blessed to have a group of college students from around the state and the Texas Farm Bureau come by on Saturday morning. Many of these folks have production farming experience so the amount of work and the initiative they brought to Opal’s on a Saturday morning was beyond amazing. Thanks to these young people our tomatoes are planted, most of the trellises up, and the beds are weed-free (at least until the next rain…). Thanks to Kyndal with the Texas Farm Bureau for putting all this together!

If you would like to volunteer as an individual or as a group, please feel free to call 817.602.8225, but hurry as Spring dates are going fast.

Activism, Choices, Community, Connection, Equal Rights, Faith, Food Justice, Gratitude, Heroes, Hope, Neighbors, Non-Profits, Politics, Quotes, Role Models, Service to Others, Social Justice, Spirituality, Thoughts From the Porch, Unity Unlimited, Inc., What Can I Do

Freedom Every Day for Everybody…

gregoryjoel

I was sitting here this morning drinking coffee, reading a great book (Martyrs to the Unspeakable – The Assassinations of JFK, Malcom, Martin, and RFK by James W. Douglass), and thinking about the last year (although the last decade has been a debacle for democracy in general). I’ve been a bit nostalgic lately, grieving the loss of civility and the deep divisions between the communities around me.

My friend, Dione Sims, (who happens to be my boss and the Executive Director for Unity Unlimited, Inc. – the parent non-profit for Opal’s Farm), is running for Congress in Texas Congressional District Twenty-five. I don’t have the opportunity to volunteer with her campaign as I would like. Spring at Opal’s Farm usually requires more work hours than there are hours in the day. During our recent phone check-in, I asked her about her campaigning, and she told me something that gives me hope once again for a return to the civility and unity I long for.

Hood County, southwest of Fort Worth, is dealing with the issue of huge data centers being built next to there communities. I won’t bore you with all the arguments for and against, but many community members oppose the data centers and the noise, energy, and water pollution that accompany such behemoths in their neighborhoods. At a recent campaign appearance in Hood County, a community member asked Dione about her stance on data centers. Her response was telling about what she will bring to Congress – real representation of the people in her district: something we all wish would happen no matter which side of the political spectrum we find ourselves on.

She answered that the issue needed to be decided by the people, and that as their representative in Congress it was her job to reach across the divided and bring the community together and draw a consensus on whatever he issue was. She was there to represent them – to speak their concerns to power. Moreover, that what many of the new candidates, especially Democrats (of which I am not a part and a proud Independent) have the same goals.

I found a degree of hope in this for a return to what the democracy I was taught about growing up. Political Science might have been my college major but politics is no longer my forte. As I’ve grown older it’s no longer about Republican or Democrat, right or left, but about right and wrong, representative democracy over authoritarianism, the will of the people, all people, versus the will of a small few.

I certainly don’t have the answers to all the challenges we face as a nation, a state, or a community, but I believe that we do. Maybe it’s time to put aside our differences and elect real representatives of what we want from our government, people that will listen to us and not the voices of their corporate donors and lobbyists. Maybe, just maybe, we’ll start waking up to the fact that democracy isn’t guaranteed and requires our participation in making this a good place for all of us, no matter what color, race, gender, religion, ethnicity, or political affiliation we are. This is what Dione has been doing at Unity Unlimited, Inc. for over twenty-five years as the Executive Director of Unity and will do. as your representative in Congress.

“Hard work should pay off, and nobody should have to live one emergency away from losing everything.” -Dione Sims

The things that are important to most of us – the ability of afford a home, to have healthy food and clean water, to thrive in our communities, and to be free to live in peace has been ignored long enough. It’s time to ask our elected officials to really listen to us and act accordingly. I’m hopeful that people like Dione Sims and so many candidates like her will be doing those same things in the 120th Congress of the United States.

“I’m running to make freedom livable.” -Dione Sims

And remember, f you didn’t vote in early voting, please to vote on Primary Election Day, March 3rd!

“No one is free until everyone is free, and freedom has to show up in real life.” -Dione Sims

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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!