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Activism, Citizenship, Community, Down On the Farm, Equal Rights, Events, Food Justice, Freedom, Hope, Juneteenth, Neighbors, Opal's Farm, Role Models, Service to Others, Social Justice, Summer, Thoughts From the Porch, Uncategorized, Unity Unlimited, Inc., Urban Farming, What Can I Do

Just Can’t Wait

gregoryjoel

It’s an overcast Sunday morning here in North Texas. Rain is in the forecast once again and with a little luck it will continue Monday. Another “rain day” would be welcome during this busy time of year. Another peaceful morning drinking coffee and getting some well-deserved rest and some writing time would be amazing even though this is one of the busiest weeks of the year.

Juneteenth is this Friday and Ms. Opal’s Walk for Freedom is at nine o’clock at Will Rogers Coliseum. Opal’s Farm will be there for the celebration with lots of great veggies. I’ve been told that, God willing, Ms. Opal will be there to ride in the comfort of air conditioning to lead the walk and celebrate her hundredth year. After all the miles she has walked to advocate for a day of celebration on June 19th, she has definitely earned the comfort of air conditioning on a Texas summer day.

Our Executive Director (and candidate for Texas Congressional candidate for Texas District 25) will be in Evansville, Illinois (one of our sponsor cities) for Opal’s Walk and then in Chicago for the Grand Opening of the Obama Presidential Center. We’ll all be walking together at the same time as many folks around the country and the world. Please come and celebrate freedom and unity with all of us.

Event Details

📅Date: Friday, June 19, 2026
Location: Walks taking place across the country

Walk Host Cities:

  • Fort Worth, TX
    • Evanston, IL
  • Cincinnati, OH
  • Los Angeles, CA
  • Grants Pass, OR
  • Washington, DC

Juneteenth has never meant as much to me as it does this year. The constant onslaught of bad news – an unjust war, increasing economic hardships for the majority of Americans, the daily attacks on our freedoms and democracy – can be overwhelming, bringing hopelessness and despair. Juneteenth is a reminder that we all have something to celebrate – our freedom and each other. It offers hope for what we were always meant to be. It’s truly a statement of “we the people”. It’s so much more than a holiday simply honoring the freedom of African American enslaved people. It frees us all from the oppression of fear and hatred that old ideas of class and racism that have weighed on us all. It’s a time to join in unity instead of the deep divisions that so many of us feel.

It truly is a time to, as Ms. Opal says, celebrate freedom from Juneteenth to July 4th. In this 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, celebrating Juneteenth has never been more important – it’s about the freedom we all should have and enjoy. Please join us, whether in one of our host cities on in your town , as we walk together to celebrate unity and Juneteenth.

Community, Down On the Farm, Events, Faith, Farmers Markets, Food Justice, Gratitude, Neighbors, Non-Profits, Opal's Farm, Regeneration, Service Organizations, Service to Others, Spring, Uncategorized, Unity Unlimited, Inc., Urban Farming, Volunteers

Winter’s Last Gasp…

gregoryjoel

Winter will be making its last gasp (hopefully!) later today here in North Texas. We go from a high temperature of eighty degrees to a Monday high in the fifties with a frost warning for the morning. Weather in North Texas, particularly this year, can be diagnosed with severe bi-polar disorder. We go from extreme highs to extreme lows in a flash. It’ll be ninety degrees by Thursday. It looks like our tomatoes and peppers will be covering my kitchen floor tonight…

I picked up our transplants of tomatoes and peppers on Thursday. Tarrant County College’s Northwest Campus Horticulture students grew our starts again this year as they have for the past five years. I’ve been so grateful to have such a wonderful partner for the farm at TCC. Instructor David Cole has not only grown our starts every year, but he’s also brought his Food Crops class to Opal’s for a workday and tour each semester. We love having them out and the ongoing volunteer relationships that develop.

Steven and David

This year we had an additional treat as Steven Nunez, of Mind You Garden Urban Farm and Grow SE, joined TCC as head of the Horticulture. Steven and his wife Ursala have been a vital part of Grow and done amazing work with Mind Your Garden – a homestead farm in southeast Fort Worth.

I also had the privilege of hosting some of the IM Terrell Academy seniors for a volunteer day this past week. It’s always such a pleasure to see young people working hard and enjoying a day at the farm. They were a tremendous help and accomplished more than I could have imagined in their morning with at Opal’s Farm.

IM Terrell Academy Seniors

 I also had to reschedule our Grand Opening for Opal’s Farm Stand to April 4th (the first Saturday) and make some changes to the proposed days. We will be at 1115 Evans (Evans and Rosedale) every Saturday from 1 PM to 4 PM. We’ll still be taking some produce to the Funkytown Mindful Market, and they will have our produce available for sale as well. We are so excited to be serving our Historic Southside neighbors.

Y’all stay warm tonight and have sweet dreams of fresh Spring veggies!

Uncategorized

Spring Really is Here

gregoryjoel

This is a bit of a follow-up to this morning’s post. I’ve discovered yet again that my furry little rodent buddies are back. I heard them scampering about as I sat at the desk getting some work done. Contrary to popular belief, squirrels are not cute little creatures. They’re tree rats and probably spawn of Satan – at least to homeowners. In light of this I went back to a post from 2018 that seemed appropriate for today…

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
Squirrels in the Attic
Community, Down On the Farm, Farmers Markets, Food Justice, Non-Profits, Opal's Farm, Praise, Relationships, Service to Others, Spirituality, Thoughts From the Porch, Uncategorized, Unity Unlimited, Inc., Urban Farming, Volunteers

Spring is Here?

gregoryjoel

Welcome to the first day of meteorological Spring! I’ve always considered myself a more astronomical Spring kind of guy but given that this has been one of the hottest winters on record for North Texas I’ll claim this as the first day of Spring 2026. The two-week forecast carries beyond the last predicted frost date so I’m going to gamble with some Spring planting before the rain finally comes. It’s also been one of the driest winters on record so I’m loving the rainy forecast for the latter half of this week.

Opal’s Farm has only been able to make a couple of market dates in February because of some freezing damage to our winter crops earlier in the month. The greens and root crops have started coming back and new plants are about ready to harvest. We’re hoping to have a great selection of veggies for the Grand Opening of Opal’s Farm Stand at Rosedale and Evans later this month.

We also started the Taste the C.U.R.E. program at the end of January, so I’m now taking two Saturdays to teach the growing portion of the program for our Fort Worth folks (we’ve expanded the program to include Stephenville this year!). We have some great students this year and they’re hard at work on their garden plots so we can begin planting this month.

Unfortunately, new growth and expansion also created unexpected problems – mainly staffing of both classes, market stands, and volunteers on Saturday morning. I can’t be in two places at once so Opal’s will be hiring a new Saturday market person in the next month. I’m still working on the details of the new position and will open applications in the next couple of weeks. Thanks to Texas Health Community Hope for making that financially possible for us!

Texas Health Community Hope (formerly known as Blue Zones Fort Worth) has been a sponsor of Opal’s Farm since day one. They’ve helped Opal’s in more ways than I can count. Their support has taken many forms; grants, community farm tours, volunteer days, marketing, and the Double-Up Bucks programs. I hope they know how blessed and how grateful Opal’s Farm is to have them as a partner and supporter. I couldn’t do this every day without them.

We Love Our Volunteers

Yesterday, I also had one of our other incredible partners out for a Volunteer Day – Fidelity Investments. Fidelity started volunteering with Opal’s two years ago and the volunteers have come back over and over again to work at the farm. They also set up monthly volunteer Saturdays for the remainder of the year! I had such a great group yesterday. They mulched most of the bio-intensive section, weeded, and planted onions (My back loves them!). I’m looking forward to seeing everyone in a couple of weeks.

If you’d like to volunteer at Opal’s Farm, please sign up on our website (www.unityunlimited org/opalsfarm or call the farm at 817.602.8225. If you’re looking for group volunteer days, please hurry as Spring dates are going fast!

Community, Down On the Farm, Gratitude, Hope, Neighbors, New Year's Day, Opal's Farm, The Holidays, Thoughts From the Porch, Uncategorized, Unity Unlimited, Inc.

New Year’s Coming Fast

gregoryjoel

It’s hard to believe that in a few hours 2025 will be behind us. It’s been a long year for so many folks, but we’ve made it to 2026. It’s my prayer that the New Year brings joy and a renewed spirit of hope for everyone. May we come together in that hope and joy!

We’re looking forward to 2026. We’re making some big changes with the farm and Opal’s Farm Stand: one of which is a new location for the farm stand to better serve our neighbors. I’ll be announcing those changes in the coming days.

Happy New Year from all of us at Opal’s Farm and Unity Unlimited!

Photo by Leeloo The First on Pexels.com