Urban folks find farming a tough row to hoe

The Rev. Robert Jeffrey Sr. is a self-described city boy who admits he had some romantic ideas about farming — that is, until he got his hands dirty and realized how many things can go wrong when launching a small agribusiness.

Earlier this year, Jeffrey helped develop a vision: start a farm and bring affordable, organic produce to the poorest families in Seattle's urban core. If it worked, he figured, it wouldn't just help people's bodies; it just might give young people in his often-violent community a chance to grow a little themselves. He teamed up with a lifelong farmer, hired a crew of workers, and found land near Duvall, where they planted peas, turnips and greens. But as summer approaches, instead of finding a bountiful harvest, Jeffrey and his crew have discovered that farming is no picnic.

They had to lay off eight workers. Because of poorly prepared soil, thousands of young plants had to be uprooted from the Duvall pasture and hauled to a field in a Kent industrial park. If they aren't replanted soon, the plants will die. And then last week, the farm's pickup broke down.

Despite the setbacks, Jeffrey and his team still expect to bring their harvest to market — even if money is running dangerously short.

"Farming is so expensive and the logistics of it are so major ... It's a little more daunting than I anticipated," said Jeffrey, 61, who for nearly 22 years has been the pastor at New Hope Baptist Church, a stalwart of Seattle's African-American community.

"But we promised the people vegetables this summer, and we want to make sure we do that."

Harvesting an idea

The big idea sprouted in January, when a 57-year-old former Louisiana sharecropper named Jesse Grey walked into Jeffrey's church office in the Central Area.

For nearly two decades, Grey told him, he had been searching from Omak to Sultan for land to farm as a teaching tool for at-risk kids. For a time, Grey had 5 acres near Shelton, but it just didn't work, he said. It was too far for people King County's poorest African-American families to make the trek to Mason County.

Jeffrey liked what he was hearing. As a founding member of the Black Dollar Days Task Force, a local nonprofit aimed at helping minority-owned businesses, he has immersed himself in issues of "environmental justice."

It's just not fair that poor people don't have the same access to organic foods as their richer neighbors, he said.

A joint venture was born: The task force provided the funding and Grey, founder of Cutting Edge Inner City Farms, brought the organic know-how, culled from years of experience and research.

In February, the partners signed a five-year lease for 24 acres on West Snoqualmie River Road Northeast near Duvall on land they say has been certified organic.

Grey and a farmworker, Harry "King" Jones, moved into the rental house there and constructed a makeshift greenhouse.

Amid the weeds and rocks, Grey and a team of workers planted their crop and watched seedlings push up through the dirt.

Long, rocky road

But soon Grey realized a terrible mistake: The clay loam soil, compacted by decades of cattle grazing, had only been turned once, and it became hard and cracked. Water and nutrients weren't getting to the tender shoots.

But Grey found a widow in Kent who had 20 acres that had lain fallow since her husband's death. It, too, is considered organic, he said.

In exchange for clearing two miles of blackberry bushes along her driveway and planting alfalfa for her two cows, Grey, Jeffrey and their crew were given free use of her land until their first crop is harvested. In the meantime, they will be able to properly prepare the Duvall land for a winter planting.

Provided, of course, there's enough money for it.

It has already cost at least $40,000 to get the farm going, Jeffrey said. Cash is so tight that he wasn't sure the task force would be able to make the rent, which is due next week. But he vows they will.

Saturday, a planting party is planned at the Kent site, and Jeffrey says hundreds of hands are needed if the crop is to be saved.

He still hopes to be able to sell the first batch of vegetables in mid-July at a new farmer's market in the New Hope parking lot. He's inviting some Hispanic farmers from Eastern Washington to come sell their organic fruit there, too.

"I had a bad day and thought about calling it off," he said. "We're not rich people. We need some help ... We got to get it to market — that's the key because then, it's real."

Matters of persistence

As a steady rain fell in Duvall last Thursday, a group of men uprooted hundreds of pea plants and loaded them into a truck for the 35-mile trip to Kent.

Grey plucked a baby turnip from the soil: "We don't want to lose these — this is the cash money here."

He pointed out the mustard greens and red Russian kale. He hopped over rows of Georgia greens to show off Texas tree collards.

"These are good cancer fighters," said Grey, who hopes to eventually give free vegetables to the Central Area's elders. "These plants here are like the fountain of youth — they help revitalize you and if you've got a bad stomach problem, this will clean you out."

It's scary, Grey said, that kids "don't know where their food comes from."

Like Jeffrey, he wants the farm to eventually become a place where young people can work the earth and gain a greater appreciation for hard work — and respect for all living things.

"I feel if the kids are involved, we could cut down on crime and put a big dent in the unemployment situation," Grey said. "If they're working out here, they'll be too tired to get into any trouble."

The next day, Grey gave a Seattle chiropractor, Richard Haynes, a tour of the Kent land, where rows of tomatoes, basil, broccoli and greens are growing.

"You wouldn't think of this being out here in this industrial zone — this is very, very cool," said Haynes, who grew up on farms in Missouri. "I went to Whole Foods and saw how expensive it was. Good organic food is hard to find."

Grey continued past a bunch of plastic crates filled with the uprooted pea plants from Duvall. Thankfully, the cool, damp weather has prevented the roots from molding.

"As you can see, we're not exaggerating — I could use 100 people just to get the peas in," Grey said.

"We need lots of help — immediately. Whoever wants to get involved, they're welcome."

Sara Jean Green: 206-515-5654 or sgreen@seattletimes.com