Strong roots bear sweeter fruit: matching your land with your mission and values

When you start your farm business, community garden, school garden, or educational farm, you’ll spend the first couple of years trying on and refining the values and goals that led you to create it in the first place. Maybe that means adapting different farming practices, perhaps starting a new apprenticeship program, or shifting the curriculum of your education program. At some point you will need to decide what is most important to you and how you want to evolve (usually more than once!).  If you are anything like me, problem-solving sounds a lot better than processing.  However, when it comes to the success of your organization or business, taking a little well organized time to process and vision together will lead you to surprising discoveries that yield sweeter fruit.

My most poignant example comes from my own roots. When the farm-based nonprofit GRuB (Garden-Raised Bounty) co-hosted the 2004 Rooted in Community (RIC) conference, over 125 youth and adults from across the nation came to Olympia, Washington to connect and reflect on our shared food and youth empowerment work. GRuB’s second-year youth crew led workshops and other activities, including a mural painting project at our small farm. That chance to share our space, our home, taught us a powerful lesson that led to GRuB’s recognition by the Washington State Legislature and educators across the nation. It’s a lesson anyone who works with the land should consider.

Youth crew meeting in the front field.
 Printed with permission.

At the time, we were seriously considering moving GRuB’s operations to a bigger space. We were on some of the last large parcels of land in a growing neighborhood. The Turner family who leased the space to us had slowly sold tracts of the original property over the decades until their 2 acre homestead was all that remained.  We used the land as the center of an empowerment and employment training program for cohorts of 15-20 high school age youth, as well as educational field/service trips for K-12 classes. Our farm and youth staff were set-up in the family’s dilapidated farmhouse, built around 1917, while our Kitchen Garden Project and the rest of the staff leased a small office space in the local youth services building. 

This kind of ad-hoc and evolving set up is probably familiar to many of you who started small. At a certain point, you discover you’ve outgrown your space. We were having trouble engaging so many youth in meaningful work without more land for them to steward. Our separated staff also struggled to stay connected. It was time to change, so we began looking for alternative sites. When the RIC conference began, we were weighing several possibilities that would double and triple our acreage.

Finishing touches on the RIC Mural. Printed with permission.

And then our minds were blown. The visiting youth loved our small and funky farm with its old outbuildings and homemade flavor. They liked the sense of ownership GRuB youth emanated when they talked about how they helped shape and run the farm. They were excited by the Peace Garden that offered a space for conflict resolution or check-ins when youth were struggling. Most of all, youth and adults alike shared the sense of welcome and belonging they felt there. “GRuB has a magic we want to take home,” they told us.

  

After the conference, GRuB staff, youth, and board members all excitedly talked about the unexpected reaction. We had shared with our visitors our intention to move and they were urging us not to. What had we created that was so special? What we ultimately realized was that GRuB’s strength lay in a balance between meaningful physical work, personal development, and community leadership and service – what we call farming land, self, and community. Bigger was not necessarily better if we didn’t honor our roots.

GRuB’s overlapping themes shape its programs.
Printed with permission.

The question had changed. Instead of asking how much acreage and production we needed, it became, “how do we identify and design a space that aligns and promotes our core values?” What kind of space and programs will support all three themes…and feel like home?

Of course, such fruit only comes from strong roots, and our work was far from over.  Over the next year we went through different visioning activities to figure out if we should stay at our farm and how to transform it to meet all three themes. We drew on the goals we had laid out in our first strategic plan and tested them against our current activities and programs. We did plenty of tinkering with curriculum, markets, and program structures. We made friends with an adjacent neighbor and convinced them to lease some of their land to us.  The core, however, was already there.  We knew what we wanted and could have fun figuring out how to get there. 

The process gave us the courage to start a capital campaign to buy the Turner’s land and to build a farmhouse to serve as office and classroom. Staying true to our strengths and values – and taking the time to evaluate and reflect together - brought GRuB to its current evolution that now includes a vision for Food Justice High Schools.

If you find yourself in a period of evolution, or better yet, you are looking ahead and anticipating it, remember to think about your roots before you talk about the fruits.

See the GRuB Farm on Google Maps - The GRuB Farm

Getting excited by these ideas? I’d love to hear your own poignant moments. If my story resonates with you, visit RootForward.net to learn more or to seek support as you build your programs and vision together.  If you are interested in hearing more about GRuB’s youth program, they offer workshops and yearly training institutes.  They will also begin consulting on Food Justice High School programming in the fall of 2013
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