Located at the New Hope Christian Academy, the Urban Farm is way beyond being just your typical garden. There, a 33 years old man, David Vaughan, spends his days working amidst flowers, herbs, and fruit trees. He played a role in creating this thriving education farm in February 2013. Vaughan had an experience of gardening for three months when he became a part of the Peace Corps and resurrected a community garden at a psychiatric ward in West Africa.
He says, “It was in Senegal where I fell in love with horticulture and gardening. Not only was it therapy for patients and their families, but it also became a therapy for me in that big jump from America to West Africa.”
The Initial Days
David came back to Memphis two years later. Then his family friend and a long-time teacher at New Hope Christian Academy, Mary Leslie Ramsay, invited him to visit the empty lot across the street from the school. Mary further asked David to share his vision on how the place could be transformed. As per David, “The school took a big gamble.”
He further added that formerly he was an idealistic volunteer at Peace Corps, and he had done some work during this line. However, he was mostly into researching the techniques that he was trying to implement. The school trusted him fully for the transformation to happen.
David got help from a fellow horticulturist and his mentor, Chris Cosby, to perform the transformation work. New Hope Christian Academy, including the operation of the Urban Farm, gets 90% of funds from donations. Further, the Farm is a cumulative effort of donors and volunteers under David’s leadership and guidance.
About the Farm
The school organizes special events centering on the Farm during a regular year. Besides, it presents the produce to the students so that they can try out new vegetables and new recipes. The Farm also comes with an outdoor kitchen at the heart of it.
The kitchen is for the older students interested in cooking classes. Even the smallest or the youngest student can participate in cooking classes. David gleamingly explains, “Kindergarteners put the seeds in the ground in May, and by the time summer ends and school is back, the sunflowers are 10 to 12 feet tall. The students who planted get to come back and see how incredible the growth was in just those few months.”
The opportunities for education at the Farm are endless. The Farm is much beyond only learning. It is a place that inspires students and makes them eager to know about nature and its beauty.
According to David, there are many people in the general area who do not have any access to the greenery around their apartment or house. So, it is important to the school to provide the students with a safe and green space to interact with.
Spreading its Reach Beyond the School
The Farm is undoubtedly a beautiful place for conducting outdoor classes. Besides, the benefits of the Farm have been able to reach out to the parents and the alumni of the school. Also, it is yielding joy to the surrounding community. David sounded proud as he has started preparations to welcome the graduates of New Hope school as paid interns in the summer.
He further added that no one would ever know there is a chain-link fence surrounding the property. The chain-link is covered with thornless blackberry vines. In his words, “We don’t harvest any of the blackberries on the outside of the fence. There are so many people who stop and pick berries. That’s one, small thing, but it goes a long way because it’s fresh healthy produce that people from all around can come pick and enjoy.”