Custom Tour - The Power of Community Gardens with the Black Farmers Collective

Sample Itinerary for a Saturday Tour: 

10:30 AM: Meet your Tour Facilitator, Ray Williams or James King Jr. at the entrance of Danny Woo Garden, at 620 South Main Street. We will briefly walk through their gardens to learn how they serve the community and explain synergies and relationship to YES Farm’s mission.  

10:45 AM: Walk to YES Farm, with a stop at Kobe Terrace (0.4 miles)

11 AM:  Orientation and Check into YES Farm 

11:15-12:15 PM: Volunteer on farm with direction from Farm Manager

12:15-12:30 PM: Discussion and Wrap Up 

Participants are encouraged to visit the Panama Hotel & Tea House afterwards if time allows.

Nearby after-tour Black-owned restaurant lunch options:
Soulful Dishes	1800 E Yesler Way, Seattle, WA 98122
COMMUNION Restaurant and Bar	2350 E Union St, Seattle, WA 98122
Taste of the Caribbean	1212 E Jefferson St, Seattle, WA 98122
Meskel Ethiopian Restaurant	2605 E Cherry St, Seattle, WA 98122
Cafe Selam	2715 E Cherry St, Seattle, WA 98122

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Black Farmers Collective is a group of urban food system activists dedicated to providing opportunities to improve the health of our communities through all aspects of the food system. The Collective are growers, sellers, preparers, educators, and eaters.  The organization’s vision is based in the need for a place for African American leadership on the land, the Kwanzaa principle of cooperative economics, and the realization that mitigating the climate crisis requires action to support local production, carbon sequestration, and natural habitat creation.

Learn more here: https://www.blackfarmerscollective.com/

YES Farm is a new urban farm in the Yesler neighborhood of Seattle, perched above I-5 on two acres overlooking the downtown skyline. A partnership between Seattle Housing Authority (SHA), who holds the use permit from the Washington State Department of Transportation, and the Black Farmers Collective, the goal of YES Farm is to improve community health both mentally and physically, by growing food and rooting an African American presence in a gentrifying Seattle.

YES Farm is developing and running a cooperative urban farm with the goal of providing food, education, and community building in the neighborhood and the surrounding communities.  Link to their Facebook page to stay tuned for farm activities: https://www.facebook.com/yesfarmofficial/

At Global Family Travels, we believe the most powerful way to learn is through hands-on community-based travel experiences. We let the destination and its people be your teachers, and supplement experiences with reading lists, informal discussions, and a pre-trip orientation to better equip participants with the practical information needed to understand the culture, history, and community challenges of our host destination.   

This community-based experience provides participants with the opportunity to learn and grow through the lived experience of others.

Learning themes unique to the educational experience with the Black Farmers Collective includes:

• The history of this land includes Duwamish and Coast Salish peoples since time immemorial and later after colonization, Skid Row, Japan town, and the historically  Black neighborhood, the Central District.
• Understanding the intersections between urban farming, environmental justice, and food access.
• How urban farms like YES Farm and Danny Woo Garden can address environmental racism and bring community together.
• Sustainable farming practices as solutions for alleviating poverty. See this article.
• Health benefits from sustainable urban farming, including improving nutritional, mental and emotional health.
• Farming Seasons, food and regenerative farming
• Land access, ownership or control, and use
• Affordable Housing Policy initiatives in Seattle in the face of discrimination and gentrification that leads to the displacement of BIPOC communities.

Participants will volunteer for an hour at the farm, directed by Farm Manager, Hannah Wilson and play an active role depending on the time of year, our tasks at YES Farm will vary. Examples of farm work include:

•        Remove invasive weeds to create more room for future farm plots and garden beds
•        Build farm infrastructure
•        Organize and clean up farm
•        Plant or harvest crops
•        Distribute reclaimed potting soil to improve garden beds,
•        Seasonal: Collecting and saving seeds for replanting, preparing rows for planting, harvesting greens for local food pantry

• Immerse with Seattle urban black farmers who are cultivating community, equity, opportunity through a localized and resilient food system.
• While you volunteer in the gardens at YES Farm, you have the opportunity to engage with diverse community members who are from all walks of life, including neighbors of Chinatown-International District and Yesler Terrace.  

Ray was born in Seattle, WA. His mother was German- American from Rochester, NY and his father was African-American from outside of Pittsburg, PA. He identifies as African American and prefers the pronouns he/his.

He attended Franklin High School and received his BA in Biology from Harvard College. He returned to Seattle and worked in environmental conservation before becoming a teacher with Seattle Public Schools and earning his MEd from the University of Washington. His educational career includes teaching in Atlanta, GA and internationally in Curacao, Netherlands Antilles, serving as a Race and Equity Specialist for Seattle Public Schools and as a adjunct science teacher at the Art Institute of Seattle.

Ray has supported many Black community building organizations. As a biology and nutrition teacher he is keenly aware of the connection between lifestyle, food and health. He believes growing a little of your own food is one of the best things you can do for your health and wellbeing. He is a founding member of the Black Farmers Collective, an organization dedicated to supporting efforts to get more people growing: in their backyards or as part of our growing local food system.

After developing a number of small urban farms, Ray was part of a group selected to turn the I-5 freeway right of way into an urban farm. Since 2017 Ray has rallied volunteers, student groups and partner organizations to develop Yes Farm with its community garden space for local residents, numerous educational offerings, and row crops to produce food for the local food system.

Ray is on the board of the Seattle Farm Co-op, and supports efforts to develop a sustainable local food system.

Learn more about Ray and YES Farm in this article in Seattle’s The Evergrey:
Our Tomorrow: Meet the farmer who’s helping families put down roots at Yesler Terrace

 

Atlanta/Seattle based environmental & outdoor recreational leader is dedicated to promoting accessibility and representation of African Americans. He has spent more than 10 years of experience coordinating environmental stewardship projects throughout the United States. Through his work, he has engaged and inspired people to be active in outdoor recreation, sustainability, and environmental justice issues.

James was a Park Ranger at the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park in Seattle’s Pioneer Square and has earned several accolades from both local and national projects related to his work motivating people to get outdoors. He has been recognized by Washington Wilderness Recreation Coalition 2018: Next Generation of Outdoor Leaders, National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), and Next Generation Advisory Council Top 10 Under 40 (’18). James received his Masters degree from Antioch University’s Program of Urban Environmental Education in 2018.

Hannah Wilson is the Farm Manager at YES Farm. She grew up in California and moved to Seattle to study Environmental Science and Geography at the University of Washington during undergrad. At UW, she became passionate about the environmental justice work happening all over the city. After she graduated, she soon found her way to EarthCorps doing outreach and restoration work in the community. She fell in love with YES Farm and is deeply committed to the Black Farmers Collectives' vision of mutual aid and food sovereignty for BIPOC communities in the greater Seattle area. As a queer, deaf, disabled Black woman, doing this work feels like coming home because of healing relationships with the people and the land as a result of growing food. 
 

Please bring:

• Personal face mask is required
• Bring work gloves if you have them
• Clothing that can get dirty (because it will!)
• Long pants and long sleeves (helps protect against prickly plants)
• Sturdy shoes that can handle some mud (closed toed shoes are required such as work boots, hiking boots, rubber boots, (No sandals, flats or heels)
• Rain gear and warm layers -OR- sun protection (check the weather!)
• Full water bottle (we will have a jug on-site for refills)

Parking/ Transportation

We recommend parking on the street or in the lot across from the Danny Woo Garden, next to the Panama Hotel.

Approximate address of YES Farm is 715 Yesler Way-entrance behind the bus stop! (Incase you miss meeting group at Danny Woo)

Global Family Travels is a Transformational Travel Council (TTC) designer and we look at every journey, whether it is for a week or a day, as a chance to learn, grow and transform your life. In keeping with the TTC travel principles, we encourage you to travel with HEART, which means to be Humble, Engaged, Awake, Resilient and Thankful for the opportunity, whether your travel is across the globe or in a local community.

Having HEART is to care for yourself, others, and the destination. It’s being vulnerable and real in order to connect, and being humble enough to be a steward of the places you have the privilege to visit and immerse in the community and culture. Open yourself to be free of expectation, entitlement, and judgment. Accept the experience for what it is, what it has to teach, and accept yourself for who you are.

We also recommend that you keep a journal of the journey about what you learn during your trip or day experience. Consider even writing down your intentions for WHY you are taking this journey before you embark on the adventure and what you hope to get out of it. We also encourage you to share what you learned with friends and family! 

​The Danny Woo Community Garden was founded in 1975 and is located in Seattle’s Chinatown-International District at 620 South Main Street. The Garden is approximately 1.5 acres and contains nearly 100 plots that are cultivated and cared for by elderly Asian immigrant residents of the neighborhood. The garden is also home to a children's garden, chicken coop, outdoor kitchen, and fruit tree orchard. As the largest green space in the Chinatown/International District and Little Saigon area, the Danny Woo Community Garden is an essential place for the surrounding community to engage with nature, access safe and healthy food, and build cohesion with neighbors.

At the end of our tour, take some time to visit Seattle's National Historic Landmark Panama Hotel & Tea House and get a unique glimpse into Seattle’s Japanese history. The hotel served as home to generations of new immigrants to the US by settling in the area known as Japantown. You can also see some of the remaining belongings stored there during Japanese incarceration in WWII and never reclaimed.

 

 

During the tour enjoy a visit to Kobe Terrace Named after Seattle's International Sister City of Kobe, Japan. Adorned with Cherry Trees and winding pathways, your group will learn the history of the park and it's importance to the community, along with the importance of the Danny Woo Community Garden which can be found in the lower terrace of the park.

Global Family Travels’ vision is to unite humanity and inspire travelers to take responsibility for the challenges and opportunities facing our increasingly interconnected planet.  Our mission is to Learn, Serve and Immerse, using travel as a means to build cultural bridges and to foster global citizens. Using tourism to help solve community challenges, we organize sustainable travel opportunities in partnership with local and global non-profit organizations and support many United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Seattle Tours to Learn, Serve & Immerse 

Through partnerships with many Seattle-area non-profit organizations that address community challenges, our one-day educational outings in Seattle are designed to create meaningful connections and support Destination Stewardship, including the preservation of diverse and native cultures, conservation, education, and economic growth of Greater Seattle. 

Learn more here: https://www.globalfamilytravels.com/our-company

With the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19), the health and safety of Global Family Travels’ travelers, community partners, colleagues and guides are of paramount importance to us. Our COVID-19 SAFETY PROTOCOLS document, found under Tasks section, outlines our commitment to mitigate and manage the risks associated with COVID-19 when you travel with us.  Please also refer to the tasks which has specific details for your activity and destination. 

Thank you for helping to keep yourself and fellow travelers and guides safe!