What a year!

While it’s been a strange and challenging year, we’re still here so we’re feeling very fortunate. We’ve probably forgotten a few things, but here’s a quick summary of E.A.T. South’s 2020.

To kick off the new year, we threw a party for a sidewalk and all the people who inspired us and came together to create and use it. Today, you might walk down it and not even notice, but this sidewalk is an important if overlooked tool for connecting with more people on the farm.

Volunteers! Volunteer projects were rolling along in January and February. Boy Scouts earned their Eagle awards building beds and compost bins, and Officers in Training from Maxwell Air Force Base brightened our tables and helped us with a big clean-up.

Educational Programs - Remember when we could have workshops and classes? In February, we started our second season of after school programs. Children from local community centers visited the farm weekly to learn about pollinators and plants. Saturday Community Project volunteers learned about seed starting and transplanting, and for the week of Valentine’s Day, Lovers Log taught people how to make their own mushroom logs.

Seedy Saturday -The February 29 seed swap was the best ever because about twelve different community groups joined us for the day. Thank you to everyone who taught a workshop, brought seeds, organized crafts for kids, and staffed tables. Right now, we’re imagining new ways to seed swap in early 2021. Send us your ideas.

Going Virtual - Schools and community centers closed in March, and with no field trips, after school programs or summer camps, we were facing a summer without children. We decided to take our programs to children through virtual story time and activity kits. Think of the activity kits like Hello Fresh meets arts and crafts. One week, we packed cucumbers for “spa water” and snacks, another week we used the power of the sun to make smores in pizza box ovens. We studied soil and made edible soil layers of pudding, Oreos, and M&Ms (not our healthiest project, but yummy and messy). We ended the summer with a bugs & butterflies art project. Children emailed pictures of their bug art, we turned them into posters, and transformed the caboose into a gallery.

This fall, we expanded the activity kit project to include Highland Gardens and Regency Park Community Centers. Children are making crafts with seeds, turning plants into drinks like hibiscus tea, and learning about (and eating) sweet potatoes.

Growing Food - In January, we create our planting plans around our programs, order seeds, and start growing for the year. We build our plan around our programs - what can children harvest in April, June, July and enjoy? In April, we had a garden full of produce and no classes. With people losing jobs and lines for food banks growing, we decided the best thing we could do was give the food away. Partnering with a local church food pantry, we continue to harvest fresh, organically-grown food for distribution twice a month.

Growing Farmers- A high point of our somewhat quiet summer was working with Tuskegee University Animal Sciences major, Malachi Thomas. Now finishing his senior year, Malachi spent June and July packing the activity kits, building a chicken/rabbit tractor, creating new garden space, and even suiting up to work with the bees. We wish him the best in his senior year and after college adventures.

Animals! - Pandemic or not, Lola needs food, the ducks demand clean pools daily, and the chickens would like to get out and eat some bugs, please. We removed and re-homed about eight snakes from the chicken coop, attempted to catch a bee swarm, met skinks in the compost, and tried to keep the cat from eating the greenhouse lizards. We are truly blessed to work outside every day, watch he seasons change, and spend time with creatures great and small.

New Projects! Wrapping up this year, we’ve added new projects and new friends to the farm. Stay tuned to Facebook and the blog as we share our adventures with farm expansion and growing new-to-us plants. Better yet, come down to the farm and see for yourself. We’re open Monday through Saturday 8-dusk.