Atlanta urban farmer Jamila Norman teaches the do’s and don’ts of home food gardens in HBO Max series ‘Homegrown’
The HBO Max series “Homegrown” follows her as she educates aspiring urban farmers through the dos, don’ts and amazing possibilities of DIY home food gardens.
City Lights Staff
WABE
January 9th, 2023
Excerpt:
“Patchwork City Farms is a farm I started here in Southwest Atlanta in the neighborhood of the West End in 2010. I lived in the West End, I was raising my family here, and I saw a need for fresh produce and just access to that, and I just decided to start a farm. 14 years later, Patchwork is now five minutes away in Oakland City, and it’s a property that I have had the pleasure and the good fortune of being able to purchase,” said Norman. “There are lots of amazing things to come for this site. I sell at local farmer’s markets. I do online sales where people can come and pick up at the farm, and I do some restaurant sales as well. And throughout its whole existence, Patchwork City Farms has been growing food that is fresh, organically grown and healthy, and culturally relevant for the community here in Southwest Atlanta and the greater Atlanta area.”
“My mom talked about so much of her upbringing and her childhood in Jamaica. She was raised by her grandmother for about 13 years of her life, before she moved to New York and lived with her mom, and my great-grandparents were farmers, and they grew everything. My great-grandfather raised bulls, my great-grandmother… made coconut oil, which was her product that she mainly took to market with all the other vegetables and stuff. So my mom just was always talking about this rich history,” Norman recounted. “On and off, for a total of two years, we lived in Trinidad, and so, my dad’s native home. And so growing up in Trinidad, I mean, he’s just surrounded by food and surrounded by just freshness and lushness. And so I just was always just drawn to it, loved it, and I knew just in my heart of hearts, I would steward a garden of my own once I had the space.”
