Incubate THIS
From Guest Blogger and Office Intern: Keri Hlavin
On Friday July 27th, our group of “sustainabilibuddies” ( a group of friends who actively seek out more sustainable life practices and activities while having fun!) traveled to Johns Island to have lunch at a local restaurant and visit Dirt Works Incubator Farm. At first reveal of this office bonding field trip day there was much question, at least on my part about the exact type of operations that occurred on such a thing called an Incubator Farm. I had no idea that it was possible to grow farmers!
We started off our afternoon eating at Rosebank Farms Café with Nikki Seibert who is the Director of Sustainable Agriculture at Low Country Local First. We did not have nearly enough time to cover the wealth of information she provided, not only about LLF and how they operate here in Charleston, but about her expertise in the way of grant writing and raising funds for businesses. The whole goal of our lunch lecture was to learn a bit more about the process of grant writing, and who better to learn from than Ms. Seibert who has been awarded so many successful grants in her position. We were able to collect some very useful tips and strategies to take back to our office as we are starting to do some of our own grant writing. Office of Sustainability is seeking ways to get funded for several projects including the purchasing of seeds for our community garden.
We took full advantage of the day and met her at the Dirtworks Incubator Farm immediately after lunch. The Farm is an effort for new farmers to have a successful chance of starting their own livelihood on local lands with the use of shared equipment. It was really great to see this initiative in action that day. While we were there a small group of local farmers were harvesting their crops and even took some time to answer our questions. It was amazing to see a part of that process.
It was explained to us that there is a crucial need for the next generation of farmers to be born! The experts or those that have been in the fields for nearly 70 years are about to retire off the soil! We need to create more young and dependable farmers who will be around to grow food for years to come. And that is how Dirtworks comes in. Since the cost of starting up a farm is so incredibly high and the risk for losing everything remains, this farm provides all the resources a new farmer would need, including tools and land. What a beautiful location for such a simple yet crucial concept. Seeing this in action was powerful. These young farmers are creating a change that is definitely a part of the sustainable solution for our planet, starting right at home on Johns Island.