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-You know, when I go down to Yes Farm early in the morning,
you know, I do feel a little sense of calm, right?
You move from the -- -- bustle of the city
to a real farm space.
So it is a calming place to go.
We actually started the Black Farmers Collective
in response to an opportunity to farm the freeway
right-of-way in central Seattle.
Yesler Terrace was being redeveloped
by Seattle Housing Authority.
And we put together a proposal to create an urban farm
and then started the project.
I've always enjoyed growing plants.
And after a career as a science teacher,
I was looking at health disparities
in Black and POC communities.
So I felt that growing a little of your own food
was one of the best things you can do for yourself.
So I started to try to support urban farming.
We started with small plots.
And then with community help
and help with lots of other organizations,
we partnered together to be able to build the farm
that exists today.
This includes a greenhouse.
We've got an area to grow crops
that we put out into the food system.
This whole area is our community garden plot.
And we give spaces for members of the community
to come down and grow the food
that they want to grow for themselves and their families.
-The last three years, I've been coming up
and planting my garden and praying over my garden
and watching it grow.
That's what I've been doing.
-One of our local connections is Seattle University.
And so over the years,
we've invited classes down there to be able to plant
and get connected with community,
and really learn about the local food system.
We certainly want to raise the capacity of Black people,
especially young people.
In order to be part of that food system,
and to create that culture there.
Hey, here we are.
About to start some science.
Today, we have, you know,
one of our opportunities that we like to offer youth.
and so ACE's program is bringing some middle school youth
to the farm today as part of their summer program.
You know, after you cook and eat,
you compost the food, right? Can we talk about that?
-Can you take this rake and get all --
you see all the brown leaves on the floor?
Just make them into a pile.
-And we're going to work on harvesting, I think, today.
And maybe if we have time,
they can spread some of the milfoil
around some of the tomatoes.
-This plant, you can tell, has a lot of aphids on it.
-Farming's a lot of work,
and so we really depend on our managers.
-This is my third season farming.
I'm a recipient of, like, Ray's dream here,
which is to bring up Black leadership.
And so that's why Ray's been a great mentor,
because that's what it's been.
-Got it. -Excellent.
-We look at it as not just growing food,
but being part of the distribution system.
And then we can just pick off this one right here.
-Okay.
-We sell it to organizations that are going to give it away.
So we have a lot of connections with hunger relief organizations
to get fresh food into the system.
One of the things we like to do
is teach folks about the contributions
of African Americans to the food system in general.
Black labor and genius really helped build this country.
Folks were stolen from Africa
because they knew how to grow food.
Post-Civil War, Black folks still were able to work,
and buy land, and have a lot of farms in the United States.
But over the course of the last 100 years,
there's been a real loss of Black farm ownership.
We certainly want to start to reclaim some of that farmland.
And we were able to lease these 4 acres,
Small Axe Farm in Redmond.
-Been here for four years and started the farm really.
It was just a field of weeds before that.
-I was very lucky to meet Masra, our farm manager here.
He's grown up with the farm in terms of managing the space.
Small Axe Farm is about farm production,
but it's also about supporting other farmers.
So we have five guest farmers here that are
either learning how to farm, expanding their operation,
or growing small businesses.
-Well, I've been here for two years.
My business is Urban Farm.
We grow herbs and hot peppers.
They're not ripe yet. They're just starting to ripen.
We make seasonings and hot sauce.
We sell at Pike Place Market year-round to tourists
from all around the world.
I've been in three lease spaces.
This is the third.
By far the most support, most structure,
and potential for good yield, as they say.
-Well, we really appreciate you, you know,
being out here and supporting this,
you know, by sharing your wealth here.
So it's great.
-My pleasure. -Yeah, yeah, yeah.
-Yes, it's been a great experience so far.
-Our hopes for the future
are to reverse the trend of Black land loss.
To be able to be in a position to buy land,
acquire land, create more and more farmland,
and support local farming.
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