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Yes, It’s Another Best of List…

December 31, 2023 gregoryjoel

My inbox has been filled with “Best of 2023” lists from the various writers and organizations I follow. As 2023 winds down I find myself thinking about all the wonderful things that have happened at Opal’s Farm and the ups and downs of the past year I’ve encountered personally. So, with that in mind I present to you the Best of 2023 for Opal’s Farm.

Ms. Opal

The biggest happening at the farm is always Ms. Opal herself. Each passing year reminds me of the blessing of her presence. Her love for others, her stamina and exhortations to become a “committee of one”, and her tireless work for our community revitalize us daily to make the farm the place to come for food, education, and the promise of food justice. She constantly reminds us that the walk toward equality and justice is one step and often with one person at a time. Our energy is always revitalized by her leadership.

Tomorrow my wife and I will celebrate New Year’s Day the way we have since I started at Opal’s Farm. At two in the afternoon, we’ll be present for her New Year’s Day dinner – along with a couple of hundred others! When we received the RSVP invitation it listed her accomplishments in 2023 so I’ll share them here:

Texas Senate portrait reveal – hers is only the second woman’s portrait to hang in the Texas Senate Chamber. The other is Congresswoman Barbara Jordan.
Three honorary doctorates
Two events with Cynt Marshall of the Dallas Mavericks
Several assemblies at schools with young people
Conversation with Brian Stevenson for the National Juneteenth Museum
Several visits to the White House
Visit with the Governor to talk about the National Juneteenth Museum
Reveal of portrait for the National Art Gallery
Inducted into the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame
Received two EMMY Awards – both the Governor’s Award and the Award for best documentary

New Awareness

Ms. Opal also visited the USDA People’s Garden in Washington DC and was featured in a national article for the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS). Both our Executive Director, Dione Sims, and I were invited to a roundtable discussion with Congressman Marc Veasy and US Department of Agriculture, Xochitl Torres Small along with a small group of local non-profits and City Council members.

The USDA is beginning to take a serious look at both local and urban farms and our food system. They opened their Urban Farm office in Dallas this year – one of ten cities to have one. Opal’s is by no means the only urban farm in Fort Worth, but we have had the privilege of hosting the NRCS staff for our area several times as they learn and extend their work to urban agriculture.

NRCS engineers have given us new plans and specifications for better irrigation at the farm. We are changing our irrigation over the winter months so we can grow more food for our community.

New and Old People

The Spring growing season was a time of transition for Opal’s Farm. Our previous Assistant Farm Manager, Amber Carr, helped build the infrastructure for our bio-intensive third-of-an-acre. She left the farm in July, and we were blessed to have Joseph (Joey) Hughes step in this Fall to take over our bio-intensive section. Joey came to us from World Hunger Relief in Waco and has an extensive background in education and urban agriculture. We’ve extended our programs to include agrotourism and educational programs for the community. We’ve also partnered with Delve Experience to a make tours and education more accessible through their website https://delveexperiences.com/ .

We’ve continued to build our partnership with Tarleton State University. In the coming year two new programs for both the community and previously incarcerated individuals will begin. We are presently finishing the curriculum and the final details. We’re excited to share this with you as 2024 begins (more to come!).

On Friday, December 22^nd, we held our first-ever farmstand at the corner of Sylvania and LaSalle near the entrance to the farm. We are now able to support a regular farmstand on a weekly basis for the United Riverside neighborhood of which we are proud to be a part of (you don’t have to be a neighbor to come!). We are presently open from 10 AM to 2 PM but this might change as we get more input from our neighbors.

We’ve long hoped to be able to have our own farm stand and the final incentive came in November when we became authorized to accept SNAP benefits. This has been a game-changer for meeting our community goals. Please feel free to come by and check us out. You can tour Opal’s Farm while you’re there.

We’ve had some awesome volunteers this year and particularly this Fall. Stacey Harwood returned from medical leave as our Volunteer Coordinator in September and has done an amazing job getting some big projects done. We’ve had more time this Fall to plant more hundred-foot beds and expand our biointensive beds. We could not have done it without our volunteers and Stacey’s help. We want you to know how treasured and appreciate our volunteers are. You make the farm complete!

There have been so many things that have made 2023 a successful and major growth year at the farm. I have no doubt I’ve left some significant moments out. What I can tell you is that donors really stepped up this year to make 2023 and the coming year special. We’d like to thank the Enterprise Foundation with Enterprise Car Rental and the Stewart Family Foundation for the special awards that will keep Opal’s Farm expanding through 2024. We’d also like to thank KPMG Inc. and JP Morgan Chase for their continued support!

I cannot finish the “Best of” list without a thanks to our Executive Director, Dione Sims. We are a program of Unity Unlimited, Inc. and Unity’s support and belief in Opal’s Farm is what drives us. Dione spends many hours with all the various programs Unity does throughout the year, but she always has time for the farm. Thank you, Dione, for being an awesome leader, a friend, and a mentor!

On a personal note…

This past year has been incredibly hectic. It’s often difficult to “stop and smell the roses”. I, for one, have learned the value of tasking time to count God’s blessings. I am one of the most fortunate people I know. I get to go play in the dirt – to do what I truly love and am passionate about – and I get to do it every day.

Any kind of farming, whether it be urban or rural, is hard, but rewarding work. On the 110 degree days in August I ask the same question – why do I do this stuff? Then, I go to the markets we attend, and I get to see and know the people we serve. You all have made the year wonderful.

I hope and pray that 2024 brings you all joy, peace, and happiness. Thank you for being part of the Opal’s Farm family.

Happy New Year!!!

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The Farm Stand is Open

December 24, 2023 gregoryjoel

It’s Christmas Eve morning and the rain is falling outside the window of my humble home office. God provided a wonderful Christmas present for Opal’s Farm this year (He always does!). Even after some earlier Fall rains we’ve remained in various stages of drought. We got an inch-and-a-half on Thursday and it looks like another inch or two today!

We had our first farm stand market on Friday from 10 AM to 2 PM. It was a great success and we’re looking forward to being there on Friday’s starting after the first of the year. We can accept SNAP benefits as well. We’re excited! We’ll continue to be at Cowtown Farmers Market on Saturday mornings but serving our neighborhood – United Riverside – is what we’ve worked toward since the farm began.

Joey, Hao and I on our first farm stand day!

We didn’t have a lot of customers as this was our first day, but the customers we did have made it a tremendously successful day. One of the neighborhood members stopped and purchased for themselves and then bought several bags of truly local produce to pass out to his neighbors! What a Christmas present!

We also had the privilege of meeting Hao Tran Friday. Many of you may know about Hao’s Grocery and Café. We’re so excited to have Hao as one of our supporters and customers. She is bringing fresh, LOCAL, produce to Fort Worth and teaching the importance of fresh produce as well as how to prepare it (She’s a culinary instructor at Trimble Tech High School as well.

The Fall and overwinter crops are booming! Please come out to see us next week at Cowtown Farmers Market and then stop by our farm stand the following Friday and visit Opal’s Farm as well!

From all of us at Opal’s Farm and Unity Unlimited, Inc. – have a wonderful holiday and keep family and friends close.

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Christmas 2023

December 3, 2023 gregoryjoel

Time goes by far too quickly these days. It’s difficult to believe that December is here. It seems like I was planning Spring crops just a short while ago. It’s almost time to do so again. The seventy-five-degree high predicted is a reminder of that. Just so you all know, we still have tomatoes at Opal’s Farm. The first freeze hasn’t hit us yet. We get the “heat island” effect from being so close to downtown…

Today is one month since my last cigarette so I guess I can’t really call this “Thoughts From the Porch”. I’ve stayed away from the front porch and concentrated on the back yard outside my office. It helps with the cravings. The main thing that helps with the cravings though is the near-constant praying to stay smoke-free. So far, so good, and so much for the news updates…

The holidays are tough for me. My son, Jeremy, was born on Christmas Day. I’ve had difficulty with the holidays since his passing – so much so that my wife started calling me the Grinch last year. I try to show some Christmas spirit but I’m not successful at faking it. I’m hoping I can do better this year.

I’ve been especially blessed to be far more involved in my grandchildren’s life this past year. I’ve been able to spend more time with them than ever before. I’m not always sure they appreciate it as much now as they’re both young teenagers – why is it teenagers rarely give more than one-word answers?

Spending time with them is such a gift and sometimes, a curse – at least where grief is concerned.

They are both very much Jeremy’s children. Lucas looks so much like him that it brings tears sometimes. His mannerisms are – a constant reminder of Jeremy. Izabella, or Simone as Jeremy called (her middle name is Simone after Nina Simone) has every bit of his wit and often, sarcasm. Together they are amazing. My daughter-in-law, Amber, has done an amazing job raising them and getting them through losing their dad. She and I can share our grief that still comes in tidal waves at times.

But back to Christmas…

I’ve had a lackluster approach to Christmas since my parents passed away, especially Dad. He was Mister Christmas. It was his favorite holiday. He made the season special; especially where my boys were concerned. Much of that had to do with my parenting or lack thereof and my addiction had a lot to do with that. Still, he was my Christmas light and I enjoyed participating each year.

After his passing, Christmas was not as big of a deal. My mom moved to an apartment in a Senior Living Center so big celebrations rarely occurred. The last years before she passed in 2017 she moved to Atlanta to be near my sister. I always hated the idea of trying to find a gift for Mom. She was extremely hard to buy for and her body language often revealed her disappointment in my gifts. (***side note – she told me that my sobriety and my relationship with God were the best gifts I could’ve ever given her.)

When Jeremy died, the best thing about Christmas became January 2^nd as it would be in the past and I had survived what felt like unbearable grief. I’ve shared that with my wife (as if she couldn’t tell) and she’s always been understanding. This year has been different. I came home from work the other day and she told me that I needed to become Mister Christmas. It was my turn. Dad and Jeremy were no longer there, and the tradition shouldn’t die with them. My grandkids needed me to be that very thing. I think my wife needs that too.

Christmas was never a religious holiday for me. I grew up in the Church of Christ and they didn’t celebrate it as Jesus’ birthday because that’s not in the Bible – which begets the question why they didn’t celebrate Easter because we know what that date is, but I digress… It was significant to my wife though and now the holiday needs to be special for my grandkids as well.

When I finish writing this, I will climb the attic stairs and pull down the Christmas tree and decorations. I’ll rearrange the living room to accommodate the tree and place it where Margaret, my wife, can enjoy looking at it. It’s likely I’ll shed a few tears as I place Jeremy’s ornaments – both the ones he made and the ones we were given over the years – on the tree. I’ll brave the tangle of lights and let Margaret direct the decorating. Afterwards, I’ll turn on the lights for all of us and pray that I can be Mister Christmas this year. I’ll swallow my sadness and allow the grief to come when I’m alone. Christmas is about everyone else anyway and I’ll not deny them that.

I won’t lie about my feelings. God made sure of that. I was at a recovery meeting recently and met two other people for whom grief is all too real. One gentleman lost his wife. The other lost her seventeen-year-old son to an overdose in May. I can seriously relate, and I can offer support and an ear because I’ve three years of experience to offer. I don’t have any answers, but I can be present for them while they search for their own. God has a way of turning tragedy into something – I don’t want to say something positive – but an opportunity to show His love and grace – to love others better.

My sponsor and friend Jim told me a long time ago that helping others and being there for others was the best way to find peace. Maybe that’s what comes this year. I hope and pray it comes for all of us.

Merry Christmas everyone…

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It’s A New Year!

January 1, 2023 gregoryjoel

I went to bed in 2022 and when I woke up it was 2023! That’s how it is for an old farmer. I rarely make it past the ten o’clock news, so I haven’t seen the “ball drop” in years. I hope everyone had a super News Years Eve celebration and wish each one of you a happy and blessed New Year.

I’m starting the New Year right by heading to Opal’s Farm to take advantage of the seventy-seven-degree January 1^st here in North Texas. Rain is forecast for tomorrow, so I’ll make “hay while the sun shines”. That’s the way it is here. Christmas week was the severe winter storm that crippled most of the country. Now it’s Springlike for a few days and there’s much work to be done. Spring planting starts in six weeks.

The last two years have been difficult for Opal’s Farm. The weather has been a run between extremes – from the historic freeze of 2021 to the drought and extreme heat of 2022. Rain and lingering summer heat made for arduous fall planting. The recent winter storm, with its sixty mile an hour winds, blew the covers off the low tunnels and most of the fall/winter crop suffered freeze damage. We probably won’t be able to go to Cowtown Farmers Market this month, but we look forward to seeing you in February.

Extreme weather is becoming the new norm as the climate changes. We’re learning to adapt with new cultivars and vegetables that tend to be heat and drought tolerant. We’ll be bringing some new varieties of veggies to market this year. We are finally able to get some transplants started indoors so harvest will be earlier and more abundant than in the past. We’d also like to thank David Cole, Adjunct Professor of Horticulture at Tarrant County College NW Campus. He and his students will be starting our tomato and pepper transplants again this year. We continue the work of organically farming and building soil health. We’re looking forward to the New Year and we hope to serve more fresh, nutritious produce to our community.

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Christmas Feelings and Wishes

December 24, 2022 gregoryjoel

The sun is shining brightly reminding us that warmth is on its way after the brutal Arctic front plunged the thermometer for the last couple of days. We took the holidays off from Cowtown Farmers Market for the holidays so we could spend time with family and friends. The fifty-mile-an-hour wind that accompanied the freezing temperatures may have caused a longer absence from market – the low tunnels and bed coverings couldn’t stand up to the wind – but we won’t know the full extent of the damage until next week. At least we haven’t lost power and haven’t had to sleep with four big dogs and in insulated coveralls to stay warm!

I haven’t been able to muster a whole lot of Christmas spirit this year. Grief comes exceptionally strong this time of year – Jeremy was born on Christmas Day – and I associate the holidays with loss. I had planned to go to Kentucky to spend Christmas with Momma and the weather quashed that plan. Upon awakening this morning, I summoned all my energy to fight pulling the covers over my head and sleeping (or at least feigning sleep) until December 26^th. I got up, brushed my teeth, and made coffee. I made breakfast for my wife and sat down and stared at the computer screen for a long while.

There are some things I’ve learned about grief, mainly that it never goes away. The stretch of good days begins to become longer with time, but grief will rear its ugly head at the most inconvenient of times – a song, a scene in a movie, the holidays – the list goes on. This year it began early with an art show that was a tribute to Jeremy. Then came Thanksgiving and now Christmas.

Grief may never go away but difficult moments always pass. It will always go to sleep or at least retreat for a time. The retreats last longer than they did after Jeremy died. Greif may be overwhelming at times, but life still goes on. It only feels all consuming. I must no longer let feelings run my life, but I do have to feel them.

As I sat staring at the computer this morning it dawned on me that my grief has consequences not only for me but those close to me as well. I may not want to do Christmas, but my family does. Christmas is Margaret’s favorite holiday. I used to get the tree and Christmas decorations out early so she could wrap the house in decorations and Christmas spirit. Then her mobility became so limited. This year it fell on me to get everything out of the attic which I managed to put off until last week. My step kid was going to do the decorating, but it kept getting put off until finally my wife told me last night that I should put everything back in the attic. “Nobody else thought Christmas was important.” She didn’t say it with malice or sarcasm, but I could feel her disappointment.

So… I’m only going to sit here long enough to tell you that I’m off to set up the Christmas tree and decorate our home for tomorrow.

I want to wish each and every one of you a blessed and Merry Christmas. If you’re having a hard time with the holidays as so many do, please know that you’re not alone. My prayers go out to those for whom Christmas is a reminder of loss and pain. If you’re having a really tough time, I suggest what my friend Jim told me long ago, “If you’re wrapped up in your painful feelings, then go help someone else.” That’s what I’m going to do today. It’s always worked well in the past…