Farm REHAB: from hoarding to community gardens
Farm REHAB: from hoarding to community gardens
by Jamee Lea
Behind this project is a girl named Jamee, born and raised right here in Kansas. Exactly right here. I have lived here my entire life running wild and free, covered in dirt, creating Earthwork. My family has owned this land for four generations and I plan to be the one who evolves it. I am planning, preparing and working everyday towards self-sufficiency. Knowing and feeling the energy that goes into our food is very important for our body and mental health in todays society. I beleive that gardening can reconnect us to ourselves, the Earth and possibly enlighten us to our true purpose. I know that I was sent here to prepare this land for growth. Growing food with the earth, sharing wisdom and enlightening people that the old days of self-sufficiency is the new way to live. One day I would love to host summer camps, outdoor art classes, community gardening and ceramonies.
Sustainable gardens are in the works and farmers markets are also on my list to reach out in an organic, wholesome way. Many plans, dreams and goals are brewing for this freedom farm. But first the history of this 80 acres.
My Great Grandparents moved from Western Kansas to Southeast Kansas in the 40s with dreams of raising Angus beef cattle on this lush green grass compared to the dry soil out West. It worked! Great Uncle Moe inherited this grass from them and then my Dad bought it dirt cheap from him in the 80's. The land has been broken up into smaller and smaller chunks along this line. Understandable because a big peice of land is ALOT to manage, sharing it makes things easier, I believe!
My perception of farm life is a long, beautiful, crazy story and this is the part most apparent in my reality right now. I was raised almost souvenir, miles from civilization. We rarely left the farm except for going to auctions. My Dad loved auctions and it was hella fun as a kid. We would run around playing on all the old stuff for sale and sometimes the auctioneer would try to sell us messing around. Not to mention all the random "crap" we would bring home, trailers full we would pick through. It was AWESOME until I inherited 30 years of auction junk being collected on a large piece of land out in the middle of nowhere.
I had came back home after traveling for 6 years; I had to see what else was out there. I am so grateful to live on a sailboat in Florida, put down some roots in Tennessee, travel and experience van life, and kick butt at bicycle tour. All beautiful life enlightening experiences that have always led me back home. This last time I came home to visit I ended up building my Dad a small tiny house because his house (along with most the buildings out here) are ROUGH. I'm two weeks from finishing the 380 sq. ft. and going about my journey (hitchhiking sailboats was the plan) and POOF just like that Ol' daddy O is on to his next life.
So there I am; 26 years old, now a landowner, overwhelmed, wonderlust, still just going with the flow. 23 trips to the landfill, 2 huge dumpsters, 18 loads of scrap metal to recycler, long meditations and 2 years later I am so close to finishing the cleanup; I can taste the freedom from the clutter, I can feel the Earth beneath me breathing again, I can visualize the communities destined for this land.
My short term plan is to finish the cleanup which includes demolish the original homestead house. Sort, empty, remove two old trailer houses and remove the last bit of a thirty year garage pile. All while refurbishing materials into studios of all sorts.
My goals right now are to get a good working tractor to help simplify life around here! I am so grateful for the people sent to help me do it all by hand, truck and trailer and a strong will to advance. I believe our society is growing in a beautiful direction and I am another just doing my part with what i have. A kickstart would be life changing!
This is just the beginning, stay tuned for more!
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