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Farmers produce, educate and provide for community in the North Mississippi hillcountry: A relationship that works.
OXFORD, Mississippi—- Way out in the deep dark woods in the bottom lands of north Mississippi hill country resides a quiet little farm with a lot to say. Yokna Bottoms Farm is named for its location in the historic setting of many of William Faulkner’s novels, Yoknapatawpha. Known basically as land near the Yocona River and the surrounding community, yocona and patawpha were originally derived from two choctaw words meaning plowed or cultivated land. With the “certified natural grown” seal of approval, Yokna Bottoms emulates the spirit of a tradition sparsely seen in this fast paced, technologically advanced world we all now live in.
One of three certified naturally grown and certified chemically free farms in North Mississippi, Yokna Bottoms further pushes the movement towards locally supported, sustainable food production in the Unites States. Settled on 19 acres flanked by the Yocona River, the property is situated in the Yocona River floodplain, a location that sees more temperature differences and receives more rainfall and sunshine than downtown Oxford. In addition to water and sunlight, quality produce requires good soil, and attention to detail. Owner, Doug Davis, PhD. stresses the importance of both of those. “We are a farmer run, farmer controlled and peer monitored operation,” said Davis. “I think anything that gets healthy local organic produce into the local food chain is a good thing.”
He purchased the land in 2005, and produced the first season of crops in 2009. With the first two growing seasons under his belt, Davis leans back in his chair and grins as he says that they grew over 30,000 pounds of produce this past year.
On the first visit to the farm, my senses were inundated with the fall colors on the trees, the smell of freshly moistened crops, a musty dirt smell that sort of hung in the air accented by ripe fresh vegetables. The two acre plotted field is surrounded in all directions by Mississippi hardwoods and pines. Meticulously planted among the rows were spinach, arugula, mustard greens, carrots, several types of radishes, broccoli, okra, chard, peas, sprouts, cauliflower, leeks, parsley, cilantro and beets just to name a few. The farm also houses their own beehives for producing honey.
There’s plenty of work to be done around the farm on a daily basis, mainly from farm manager Taylor Murchison and farm hand, Montana. At any given time as many as three interns may be helping out at the farm as well. Produce is harvested every week on Friday and is offered to the CSA members. (Community Supported Agriculture) members get food weekly or bi-weekly depending on buying full or half shares. The shares are offered each January and last through out the 4 growing seasons. A full share, averaging about $400— would break down into a certain number of points per week. Points equal dollars, so a full share holder would be able to spend around $20 per week, with distribution once a week at various locations around Oxford. “We also offer a ‘U-Pick’ option to get people to come out and visit our fields and pick out their own fruits and vegetables,” says Murchison. “It produces a real hands on experience and people know they’re getting good stuff when they can pull it from the dirt themselves.” Most people leave the dirty work to the famers, though. Seventy-five percent of the cost of the farm is for labor. Davis is a full time employee of the university, so he relies on Taylor and Montana and the interns/helpers during the growing seasons.
Keeping it local is a recurring statement among these producers and consumers, and Doug believes that making choices to invest and spend locally can do nothing but benefit the community. “We’ve learned to successfully grow organic produce, BY doing it here in north Mississippi,” said Davis. With up to four growing seasons, opportunities to produce all kinds of crops come and go quickly through out the year. “Primarily, the bulk of our produce goes to our CSA members but we do sell some surplus food,” said Davis. Only local restaurants and chefs that have concern and care for this community get to reap the benefits of this literal “farm-to-table” operation. This short list includes, of course, John Currence and the City Grocery Restaurant Group, Chef Joel Miller at The Ravine, Shannon Adams of Honeybee Bakery and Main Squeeze as well.
Davis’ educational background brings a charming, informative, shared experience to the farm that is very open, and shares information, knowledge, supplies and even equipment with other farms in the area. “A big part of our mission is to share what we’re learning and doing and share what’s working/not working with others,” said Davis.
According to their website, the farm is “An Evolving Exercise in Organic Living & Sustainable Agriculture… Or Vice Versa.” To an outsider, the open-ness and welcome feeling received from Doug and the farmers and even the folks at food distribution created a real sense of community. These open minded, problem solving people living and working side-by-side in our community share that sense of being and existence among this group of people. Producers and consumers making the world go round. To see this working relationship between the educator, the rough-edged farmer, and the mother picking something up for dinner really put it into perspective why and how this whole thing works. These farmers grow their produce, and they rely on people like a teacher or neighbor or chef to come and harvest that produce. Those consumers rely on the farm to generate and produce the best crops. Putting money and trust in each others hands and in turn relying on one another for survival and existence.
The first year of operation at Yokna Bottoms saw hardly any revenue. After two hard years of trial and error, learning, adjusting, and of course sharing everything learned with others, this year not only yielded 30,000 pounds of produce, but saw nearly 75 percent revenue. It definitely brought a smile and look of relief to the faces of Doug and Taylor.
After all the picking is done, the vegetables peeled and chopped and put into stocks or sautéed and served, right down to the parsley sprinkled on my plate before it comes to the table, Doug and his minions are not only providing goods and a service. They are keeping alive a tradition that simply isn’t as prevalent as a career or means to a way of life anymore. They keep customers happy and provide the community with organically sustainable fresh produce all year round. Yokna Bottoms Farm has struck a chord that rings in perfect harmony with the close-knit community in which it operates, and they don’t plan on losing that touch anytime soon.
BY Tyler Davis
a link for a video documentary about the farm can be found here
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