COLUMBIA, Md. — Want healthy, robust plants?
Reci High's advice: talk to them.
"I sing to them, I talk to them. We’ve done experiments on the two, and it absolutely works," she said.
High is the farm lead at Freetown Farm, a 6.4 acre property in Columbia. It's run by the non-profit Community Ecology Institute (CEI), founded by Chiara D'Amore.
"This farm is an amazing resource to be able to learn how to be self-sustainable at home, not just for a profession. So after a few classes, I just fell in love with the property, the staff, the volunteers," said High.
Angela Nichols, the community development manager of CEI, says their mission is to build relationships through nature.
"We use experiential hands-on education to talk about climate resiliency, how to grow food, food instability and food stability, and regenerative practices," she said.
Freetown Farm is down the road from the Harriet Tubman Cultural Center. Nichols said the land has ties to the Underground Railroad and was once owned by a slave owner.
"The owner freed his indentured people in 1865 and gave them land over this direction which came to be known as Freetown," she said.
Today, the farm has a number of garden plots. The Market Garden, where High works, helps organizations and non-profits to grow their own food, like Columbia Community Care.
There are also lots of native plants on the property. CEI partners with the Howard County Master Gardeners to maintain those gardens.
"People can come and look at this and see what might grow well in their yard," said Kristin Siglin, a volunteer with the Master Gardeners program. "People see things like that button bush covered with butterflies and they say, 'oh, I would like that in my yard.'"
CEI offers internships and camp opportunities to kids at Freetown Farm. They've also provided more than 70 nourishing gardens to 57 schools in Howard County.
And every Thursday night, they hold a free community dinner, open to anyone.
"If someone needs a meal, there's a meal here. If someone wants company and community, there's company and community," said Nichols.
"It's about relationships, it's about partnerships, it's about cultivating the community to bring us together," said High. "Because the plants are what's bringing us together but the property is where we thrive."
The farm is not open to the public daily but it does hold tours on the first Saturday of every month. CEI also has a location in Fulton. They are always looking for volunteers. For more information, click here.
