With the support of a caring neighbor, a small organic farm in Amityville, NY, feeds the heart and soul of a community
Richelieu Dennis, founder & CEO of Nubian Heritage, at Homecoming Farm/Sophia’s Garden
In a pretty little patch of suburban Long Island, just down the road from the Sundial Brands factory (parent of SheaMoisture and Nubian Heritage), there is a happy surprise: a thriving, certified-organic, 3.5-acre community farm. Nubian Heritage supports its neighbor with funding, educational support and staff.
The Homecoming Farm/Sophia Garden was founded 18 years ago by Sister Jeanne Clark, of the nearby Sisters of St. Dominic, “because of our disconnect with the earth,” she says. “I wanted to get some land and demonstrate a sustainable way of living.”
Mission accomplished. School groups visit regularly, and local Eagle Scouts built raised cedar beds that help disabled and elderly residents get their hands into the dirt. The Scouts also built a wheelchair-accessible gazebo, by hand. When a local high school senior learned about Colony Collapse Disorder, she earned her Girl Scout Gold Award (the highest-level community service award) by setting up a beehive on the farm.
Community members stop by on Tuesdays and Saturdays, to pick up baskets of plump tomatoes, peppers, herbs, squash, garlic, green beans and more. There are 130 member-families, who each fall into one of three designations: paying shares, work shares and student shares. But the deeper mission of Homecoming Farm extends beyond its members, to the INN (Interfaith Nutrition Network), which addresses issues of hunger and homelessness in the community by providing food and support services. Through the Mary Brennan INN on Long Island, Homecoming Farm feeds approximately 350 people in crisis, each day.
Neat rows are planted under the nurturing eye of organic farmer Don Cimato, who grows everything from seed to make the farm more efficient and sustainable. Last year, a “Peace Bed” was created by collecting garlic seeds from war-torn areas of the world—i.e., Syria, Ukraine. “This unites us to their struggle,” says Executive Director/farmer Elizabeth Keihm. And, following the Native American tradition of planting synergistic crops, a “Three Sisters Bed” was created, with co-dependent beans, corn and squash: Beans and corn provide structure and support, and the squash keeps rodents away. “We’re seeing issues with pests that we’ve never seen before, because of climate change,” says Cimato.
Like so many dedicated organic farmers, Cimato and the staff are always on the lookout for ways to improve the soil, beat back pests, increase the yield and share the teachable moments with the younger generation.
Addressing a group of students from a nearby school, Keihm asks:
Q: “Do you know where your food comes from?”
A: “My mom, my aunt, the supermarket.”
Q: “But do you know who grows it?” she persists. Silence.
A: “The farmers,” says Keihm, “are the silent guests at all of our tables.”
homecomingearth.org