Farmers of Color Offer Community Wellness at ‘Healing Farms’

Civil Eats

On a drizzly spring morning in North Carolina, the land at Hawk’s Nest Healing Gardens is alive with activity. Bees hum inside wooden hives while chickens forage, exposing the rich black soil. Vegetables and herbs fill the air with the aromas of mint and rosemary.

At the center of it all are farmers Hector Lopez and Phoebe Gooding, who say growing food is but one part of their mission on this urban permaculture farm. “We’re here to heal our bodies, the land, and our communities,” Lopez said, gently chewing a mint leaf he had just picked.

Set on 1.3 acres outside the couple’s split-level brick home in Durham, Hawk’s Nest welcomes community members for regular events rooted in spirituality. At the back of their property, between a towering teepee and piles of compost, is a dome-like structure made from bent branches. Here the couple regularly offer a temazcal, an ancient sweat lodge ceremony for physical and spiritual purification that Lopez has facilitated for decades.