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What is bio-intensive farming?

We are asked that question frequently as we move our first third of an acre to bio-intensive farming versus the “tractor” farming we have done for the first four years at Opal’s Farm.. The simplest definition of “bio-intensive farming” is to use organic methods to achieve “maximum yields from a minimum area of land, while simultaneously increasing biodiversity and sustaining the fertility of the soil.”( http://bionica.org/library/biointensive-method/ )

When properly implemented, bio-intensive farming has the potential to:

  • topsoil at a rate 60 times faster than in nature” (Worldwide Loss of Soil – and a Possible Solution Ecology Action, 1996).

At Opal’s, the third of an acre that is being transformed this Spring has 134 twenty-five-foot beds. Most of these beds are for tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants but they also contain some of our carrot crop, radishes, greens, and lettuces/salad mixes. Each of these beds yield produce equal to what our 100-foot rows have done in the past. We hope to add more bio-intensive beds over the coming growing seasons.

Bio-intensive means just that – intensive. Management of these beds requires constant attention, but even the time spent on each bed is lessened as the soil becomes cleaner (less weeds) and healthier. The system is perfect for the home gardener or small producer like Opal’s.

Building the infrastructure for bio-intensive farming is time-consuming. That’s one reason we have not utilized it in the past. We’ve simply not had the labor to build and maintain these beds in the past. Now that we’ve added Amber Carr and Amanda Vogel to our staff, we are able to change our focus, knowing that once the infrastructure is in place we never have to build it again! We’ll be sharing our successes with you over the coming Spring and long-term plans are to have educational classes available to the community.

 

Side Note!

I would be remiss if I didn’t tell you how much we appreciate the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS). On February 23rd, they came in mass with engineers to help design a more efficient irrigation system for us. We already have drip irrigation for our bio-intensive section, but having more efficient water use over the whole farm is something we’ve been striving for since the beginning.

NRCS and its parent agency, the USDA, have begun to concentrate on urban agriculture and smaller producers in a big way. We can lead the way in developing practices and programs right here for future urban farms in North Texas. We would love to thank our Urban Agriculture representative, Michael Higgins, and our NRCS rep for this district, Michael Brookes, for the extra attention and help they are giving Opal’s and urban agriculture throughout the metroplex!

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Good Morning and Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend

Good Morning and Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend from Opal’s Farm. It’s been a great week and we’re taking a deserved day off today. Amber has been hard at work preparing our tomato beds and planting some of the blocks already. The weather has been so up and down that the plants might make an early Spring market!

I’ve been madly preparing the beds for our TCU/SSARE research project. Dr. Omar Harvey, the professor in charge of our grant, has done so much to help us find solid numbers to determine best practices and help us direct our resources in a strategic manner.

We’ve also had some great volunteers over the last couple of weeks. The National Charity League, the Young Men’s Service League, and the Fort Worth BaHa’I Faith Center did an outstanding job building beds this past Saturday.

We’d also like to thank Shelly Young with The Hills Church. Ms. Opal and I were on a panel yesterday talking about food insecurity and what steps each of us can take to address it in our community. Shelly did a great job putting this all together and we’d love to thank the Unity Builders ministry at The Hills for having us.

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The Phoenix Festival 2022

We may have woken to a chilly morning on Saturday, but the sun was shining, and it was a great day for the first Phoenix Festival at Evans Plaza! Thank you to Brave/R Together and the Tarrant County United Way for a fantastic day of vendors, events, and music for the benefit of the 76104 community. Thank you especially to Shawn Lassiter (and everyone at Brave/R) for putting it all together.

Opal’s Farm is happy to be a part of this effort to better serve our southside neighbors. CoAct was there, and Grow SE were represented by Black Wall Street, Ms. Jovetta, and Mind Your Garden MYG Urban Farm. Steve and Ursula Nunez (MYG) put on an amazing cooking demonstration that had many of our neighbors talking and buying fresh, nutritious produce from all the farms. We are looking forward to the next Phoenix Festival!

We’ll be right up the road next Saturday for the Funkytown Mindful Market at Texas Wesleyan University with tons of fresh produce for our neighbors in Poly Heights from 11-2!

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Where Did October Go?

It’s a slow, soaking rain this morning. I’m so grateful for a good rain, especially since we’ve been moving back in severe drought conditions the last few weeks. This month has been crammed with great things – so much so that this is the first time I’ve had to sit down to tell you all about it…

October brings celebration. The 7th was Ms. Opal’s birthday. Ninety-six trips around the sun deserved a weekend-long celebration.

We held a Nobel Peace Prize announcement watch party at the Paris Coffee Shop at 3:00 in the morning. The announcement was to be made at 9 AM Oslo time which is 4 AM here. We were hopeful but not surprised when this year’s prize went to the jailed human rights activist Ales Bialiatski from Belarus and two human rights organizations in Russia and Ukraine. Ms. Opal expressed her thanks to the Nobel Prize Committee and those that nominated her. She then reminded us that there is still much to be done. Even one person can make a difference. Each of us can become a “Committee of One” – committed to compassion, unity, and understanding instead of racism, injustice, and division.

Our thanks go out to everyone at the Paris Coffee Shop on Magnolia and Hemphill for an incredible breakfast and opening so early to host the watch party. They were so gracious and fun to be with. The Paris Coffee Shop is a Fort Worth institution. If you’re a Fort Worth native you’ve most likely enjoyed their breakfast or lunch. If you’re new to town then you need to stop by!

Saturday, October 8th, was Ms. Opal’s Walk for Hunger and Day of Service at both the Community Food Bank and Opal’s Farm.  People gathered at the Community Food Bank at 11 AM to join Ms. Opal on a 1.25 mile walk to end hunger from the Community Food Bank to Opal’s Farm. Afterwards, we cut Ms. Opal’s birthday cake (plural – there were several!) and enjoyed the afternoon celebration together.

I flew to Atlanta the following weekend for the Black Farmers and Urban Growers National Conference 2022. The speakers and breakout sessions were educational and practical for becoming better farmers and seeking agri-justice. My favorite session was led by Dr. Barret T. Vaughn from Tuskegee University on writing grants with the reviewer’s point of view. Unity Unlimited, Inc. and Opal’s Farm are growing by leaps and bounds this year. Knowing how to write grants is a big step toward securing available funding to continue growing.

Our National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) Urban Ag representative came to tour the farm with two NRCS agronomists. They asked many questions as NRCS has typically dealt with much larger, rural farms. Thanks to Secretary Vilsack and the USDA for beginning to pay attention to urban and small farms. We are here to stay!

This past weekend saw our return to Cowtown Farmers Market and the first monthly Funkytown Mindful Market for farmers. The full Mindful Market is held every quarter, but in response to residents we are holding the farmers market on the fourth Saturday of each month. We appreciate Texas Wesleyan University for their partnership and look to a long healthy relationship with the Poly Heights neighborhood. We’ll keep you updated on the progress.

We’ll be at Cowtown Farmers Market again this coming weekend with lots of fresh kale, salad mix, green beans, radishes, and assorted greens. Please stop by and see us then. Have a great week!

Happy Birthday Ms. Opal!
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Day of Service

Happy Sunday and the beginning of October! Thank you to everyone who participated in the White House Conference on Food, Nutrition, and Health at the Watch Party on Wednesday. We are so thankful attention is being given to the food insecurity and the health issues that stem from it. The conversation has started and now is the time for action – changing how we think about food, giving access to healthy food for everyone, and pursuing food justice. This is 2022 – there is no reason that 1 in 5 of our kids goes to bed hungry each night.

One of the things that stood out to me the most is that the food advocacy community here in Tarrant County is already doing and growing into many of the actions the conference discussed. We are blessed to have a small but vibrant community of food advocates here in Fort Worth and Opal’s Farm is proud to be part of that community.

In support of the White House Conference and the Administration’s drive end hunger by 2030, Opal’s Farm will be hosting a Day of Service at both the Community Food Bank and Opal’s Farm. Not only will be doing some excellent service work at both places, but we will also be walking “Opal’s Walk for Hunger” from the Community Food Bank to the farm, immediately followed by a celebration of Ms. Opal’s 96th birthday! Please come and join the festivities.