[The choice to share this interview in the speaker’s dialect is his own.]
I’m an Ital Man from Trinidad & Tobago, coming from the Caribbean, picking herbs and veggies from yuh back yard is a normal thing. Either yuh get it at the market or from a local farmer. Many times I would walk over to the neighbor’s yard and ask for Bird Pepper (cayanne) or a hand-of-fig (green banana). So when I reach here in Baltimore looking for this real food I am so accustomed to, I can’t find it… ’cause everything is in a package.
I ended up following farmers’ markets all around Baltimore. And then I started a little garden a couple years ago with some friends of mine and we just decided to keep growing, growing. After that, the youths in the community started to come in, people started to build-ah-vibe, other urban farmers I met along the way jumped in and then it became what it is now.
In the beginning, we would just grow food and cook, and everybody in the neighborhood that knew about it would come, but every day the food would be done, so we ramped up. Then it started to get cold and we wanted a warm space to do more, so we approached Baltimore Office of Sustainability, Farm Alliance of Baltimore and some other non-profits here in Baltimore, so they can come in and do collaborations with us.
The next step is to create “AgriHoodBaltimore” – a thriving marketplace, community shared agriculture and urban farmer training resource institute right here in Park Heights. We want to make sure it’s 24/7, 365. Like a place where a regular person can come with a child in hand, get a meal for his or herself, get childcare in a comfortable environment where the kid is in view, and at the same time, while eating the best food, getting wraparound services to resolve the situation. Our aim is to create a safe comfortable space for children and their families in our community.
We’re trying to weave this big wrap-around net that encompasses the elementary school children’s parents, specifically targeting single mothers. These mothers want to better their lives and really do want to get ahead, but the childcare part continues to be the challenge for them. So as much as we persevere, we must continue to be inspired by the successes and the things we have already done.
It’s going to be a junior urban farmer resource training institute. I’m personally going to take those they consider the bottom of the barrel and I’m going to train them up for a year, one grow season in the summer and a preparation period in the winter. If they survive the ORDER, I can put them in a formal training class, like FHCASA Beginning Farmer Training or UMDExt Master Gardener Training. after that, it’s off to the races!!! I know I can get them interested in farming, it’s in their DNA.
Farmer Chippy is the founder of The Plantation Park Heights.
Photo by Abby Cocke.
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