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Alisha Howard

@deep.rootz.worms

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Black ✊🏾 Vermicomposter, Urban Ag, Farm2School, Food + Land + Climate Justice 💚connecting & convening Black folks + POCs 🖤 PDX, OR, Multnomah/Chinook
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Long Post! There are indeed so many meanings that this logo holds for me. Why I chose a Sankofa: Well, I’ve been tending worms for longer than most people would know but wasn’t super convinced in my growing and farming journey that it was something that I should invest more of my time and energy in. One day as I’m going to check on the worms my grandmother says,” Boy you remind me so much of my dad messin with those things. Yuck.” I asked,” what do you mean?” You see, she told me so many other things about my great grandfather over the years. Interests and hobbies that we had in common. He was a medicine maker. He was social, community centered. The Farmer’s Almanac was his Bible! He even dabbled in herbalism and used to make salves and “potions”, as she called them, that he would give out to community at Dawson Park. She even told me stories about his sister Mae Willie who had a farm back in Arkansas and grew lots of melons. But worms, she had never mentioned them. Not until I applied to be a member of the inaugural cohort of the Viviane Barnett Fellowship in 2021. She says,” you don’t remember? The big wooden worm pit he had in the backyard? He used to raise them and sell them to the fishermen.” I could almost cry. I called so many of my older cousins for confirmation. “Do you remember?” I was in such shock but was filled with so much gratitude. I was a month shy of turning 5 when he passed away. There is a lot that I cannot recall. This is why our stories are so important. That story is why I established Deep Rootz. Perhaps his dreams now serve as the memories that continue to spring up and guide my ways of knowing, leadership, and connection to the land and the beings that work to nurture it. They are indeed my inheritance. And so it is in the memory of Joe Frazier that I #gobackandgetit. Not just for the sake of environmental justice. This earth work is a practice of retrieval, preservation, and archival. I am reclaiming my agricultural roots with these amazing beings one moment at a time. They are deep. My family’s motto is “Our Roots Run Deep” and I’m a testament that they really do. So here’s to growing deep! #wormfarmer #blackwormfarmer #frazierfam by @deep.rootz.worms
26
3 years ago
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Land Stewardship x Food Waste Diversion x Soil Health 🖤🤎💚 To the Indigenous stewards of this land (Chinook) and their descendants, it was your ancestral ways of tending the land, pouring into community, storytelling, your survival, and that of my African ancestors too that have brought me here to do this. When I vermicompost, I am afforded the ability to reflect on and be reminded of the bodies and beings that have labored and continually make meaningful contributions to my well being and so many others. I harvest worms and the compost that is produced to support future food cultivation. I harvest to stay connected to those before me. I harvest as a small act of care as a guest steward on these Chinookan lands. I too am an answered prayer that these ways and people will always be remembered. by @deep.rootz.worms
2
3 years ago
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2 years too long. Happy bearthday Cicely 🖤🖤🖤 #fuckcancer by @deep.rootz.worms
0
13 days ago
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An alternative to drilling holes if you don’t have a power tool. Cheaper too! by @deep.rootz.worms
0
2 months ago
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Had a great time presenting an in-ground vermicomposting workshop at Blossom & Community Apartment garden today 💚 Residents learned about food waste diversion as well as vermicomposting basics and benefits before having a chance to make and install their own system. The garden is filled with beautiful raised beds that over 40 residents get to garden in. Alexis Harris, who has been the Community Garden & Food Security Coordinator, reached out earlier this year and I was excited to bring more people into the world of worms! I met Alexis 2 years ago at another presentation I did for FoodCorps on Racial Equity in Food Systems in Oregon (shoutout to Aaron Poplack). I love that this is what keeps connecting me to people and the care for this planet we call home. I’m blessed to make any attempt at thoughtful stewardship and be in greater community with those working toward a more just world 🪱🪱🪱 by @deep.rootz.worms
5
2 months ago
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A blessed Earth Day to you and yours! 🪱🍃💦☀️🌍 Earthworms are life ✨ Start your vermicomposting journey today! 🖤💚🫶🏾 by @deep.rootz.worms
3
5 months ago
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The farming runs deep. This is John Mack Frazier I, my great-grandfather, Joe Frazier’s grandfather. I remember seeing this chalk photo along with another photo of his son, Johnie Mack Jr. in my Aunt Rowena’s home when I was coming up. Blessed be the keepers of the receipts. He may have been born around 1867 in Arkansas. I have so much more to learn about my people. But what I do know is proof enough that I am where and who I am supposed to be 🖤💚 by @deep.rootz.worms
5
10 months ago
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Putting this here as a reminder. John Mack Frazier is my great-great grandfather and he was a farmer. 4 generations behind me isn’t that far behind y’all. Not that far at all. by @deep.rootz.worms
2
a year ago
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I’m a proud alumna of @fiskuniversity and saw my good bruther @steviemac415 posting artwork by his middle child about a month ago and inquired about a commissioned piece. Y’all I am floored! Kindergarten?! Granted it’s in his DNA but I am so impressed and honored to have this in my collection! My cup runneth over! by @deep.rootz.worms
2
a year ago
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I can feel summer leaving and it’s hurting my feelings 😭 but I’m also ready for the rain! Anywho, if you’re not averse to creepy crawly things, feel free to take a peek inside if you’re at the farm. It’s teeming with life 💨 🍂 💦 🍉 🥬 💩 🕷️ 🪱 🐜 🐝 Vermicomposting is one of my agricultural ancestral practices and I’m blessed to do it in community. Stay tuned! by @deep.rootz.worms
2
a year ago
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This brings me so much joy! Being able to see the entire life cycle of these magnificent beings up close is so cool! Educators, if you’re interested in a worm nursery holler at me. It’s a cool way to follow the life of our favorite little friends. Amazing things are happening all around us….in spite of! by @deep.rootz.worms
2
a year ago
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Proof of life!!! I don’t post as much as I used to. Living more. Performing less! Sharing what I can. There are so many ways to do this. Baiting is just the final wedge or pocket feeding. This is one way that causes the least amount of disturbance as possible. But it takes a long time! And it is impossible to get them all worms are hatching from their cocoons every day. I will still hand pick some of them and reunite them with their other friends. If you have a larger system or practice, sifting may be a quicker solution. by @deep.rootz.worms
3
a year ago
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