We woke up bright and early today to prepare to visit Eloheh Farms.
As we learned the previous night, Eloheh Farms is an indigenous owned regenerative farm. What this means is that they use organic, non-gmo, open pollinated seeds which are then stored and kept to be replanted.
Eloheh is a Cherokee word which means harmony, wholeness, abundance, and peace. All of which are values which the owners, Randy and Edith Woodley, embody in their day-to-day lives. They’re truly such loving, welcoming people, and it was an honor to get to hear from them. One thing Randy said that stuck with me was how he believes indigenous practices, the ones used by the original caretakers of our land, are instrumental in helping to restore a hurting mother Earth, a perspective which I found insightful.
After getting a tour of the farm, we spilt up to work on the farm. Some tasks we accomplished included helping build a coop house, make compost, snip poison oak, or pull out Himalayan blackberry roots in my case. Some of the blackberry were growing right under the fence so it was difficult to get out, but you could say I got right to the root of the issue and preserved.
We finished with questions, getting to view their rather impressive seed collection, and reflection. All-in-all, the day felt highly successful, and I think I can speak for everyone when I say we learned a lot on the farm.
P.S. Shout out to the cats on the farm, they were the real stars of the show.
Grace Ireland