An obligatory year in review from the crew at Happily Natural Day. We did things. Alot. Here are 52 of those things in non-sequential order…
Farm Sites
Sankofa Community Orchard
Brook Road Youth Farm
8th District Mini Farm
5th District Mini Farm
Petersburg Oasis Community Farm
Trinity Family Life Center Greenhouse

Sankofa Community Orchard
New hugelkultur beds established this fall
Sankofa Community Orchard
We started Sankofa Community Orchard 2 years ago. The land has sat vacant for over 60 years. As a result of our work; the space now serves as a 2 acre food justice and climate resiliency demonstration.

Brook Road Youth Farm
Garlic popping
Brook Road Youth Farm
We established Brook Road Youth Farm last year 2021. 2022 we launched our first youth gardener training. We also added more rows for growing. Most importantly we were able to get a water line installed thanks to the amazing leadership at Ginter Park Presbyterian Church! Looking forward to 2023

8th District Mini Farm
New Greenhouse
8th District Mini Farm
We built a new production space on Southside! 8th District Mini Farm features a 20 x 50 greenhouse. Our first year growing peppers, tomatoes solely in the high tunnel plus we tried to grow hibiscus but it wasnt the variety the seed company said it was so…

5th District Mini Farm
Expansion for Forest Farming
5th District Mini Farm
We contacted lotscapes to help us clear the understory behind 5th District Mini Farm to make way for forest farming.

Petersburg Oasis Community Farm
Incubator Farm in Petersburg Virginia
Petersburg Oasis Community Farm
The credit for the work at the Petersburg Oasis Community Farm really goes to the comrade Tyrone Cherry (follow him on social media); we have been working to build this incubator farm since our partners at the Agrarian Trust helped us fundraise to purchase it this past summer. So far two farmers are on the land including Tyrone.

Trinity Family Life Greenhouse
We got seedlings for days!
Trinity Family Life Center Greenhouse
We would have been able to do any of our urban ag work without the Trinity Family Life Center Greenhouse. We literally grew thousands of seedlings across our eco-system this year in this 20 x 50 greenhouse. Seedling Donations from organizations like Shalom Farms and Greater Richmond Fit 4 kids came in clutch for the fall growing season.
Press

Featured in the seed catalogue for High Mowing Seeds
We in a seed catalogue!
Press for the Year
Getting the word out about our work is always a good thing and 2022 talked to us nice. We had a couple high profile features this year that really helped connect us to new audiences
Working With
The Agrarian Trust
Northside Food Access Coalition
Afrikana Film Festival
National Black Food Justice Alliance
Victoria’s Kitchen
ICAVCU
Iron Prep Academy
Cultural Roots Home School
Africulture
Maggie Walker Community Land Trust
Girls For A Change
Science Museum of Virginia
Bridging the Gap Virginia

Northside Food Access Coalition Cold Storage
We helped launch the Northside Farmers Market
Collaboration is the key
Collaborations were abundant this year, meaning we worked with alot of organizations to move the needle forward on equitable food systems for Black and Brown communities this year. From land acquisitions, to launching the Northside Farmers Market we are looking forward to even more partnerships in the new year!
Events

Feast De Resistance Dinners
We held 3 of these this year
We had a bunch of events
Events were abundant this year. Feast De Resistance Dinners introduced Sankofa Community Orchard to several dozen community stakeholders in an intimate dinner setting, plus we held the 19th Annual Happily Natural Day featuring Ron Finley. Excited about hosting more organizations at Sankofa Community Orchard this year – reach out if you are interested in having your event at our space!
Produce

We Grew Food (aka the point)
We Grew Food Across the City
This year was a prolific year for production at our farm sites. We estimate to have grown over a thousand pounds of food (based on the amount of square feet under production) – much of which was distributed to the Northside Farmers Market or picked by community members. Next year we plan on keeping much better records as we refine our distribution systems with cold storage and CSA farm shares.
Talks

We spoke at a couple events
Presentations
We participated in a few talks this year; several of which were in person while most were on zoom. I love giving talks. One of my favorite things to do is engage in discourse about this work and how it iterates in the real world. We arent just talking about food justice we are practitioners.
Awards

We won the Social Vision Award from the MBL
We Got Some Awards
Being recognized for our work in our city means ALOT. Especially because it helps us to further establish the value of the work we do. We got a couple awards this year, one from the Metropolitan Business League for Social Vision and another from the International Society of Arborists for our work at Sankofa.
Classes

We are training future farmers and environmental stewards
We trained Community Members in Urban Farming
Training community is a central pillar to our work in transforming the built environment. This year we trained over 40 individuals in how to grow food in community. Our Southside Growers Academy Bootcamp launched twice, we engaged young people for 12 weeks at our Brook Road Youth Farm and launched the Central Virginia Urban Farm Fellowship this year as well
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