Old Money and a Little Dirt

Once while I was being shown the Tallahassee area from the back of a motorcycle, we passed a little hippie enclave. I had shook my head at the time, remembering the internship (slavery) I had on the last organic farm I lived on.

But, all that aside: I believe, deciphering all the information of where we were and what I now know about the area, the hippie enclave was Orchard Pond Organics, a CSA and market farm. I had run into their name several times while I was searching and researching internships in organic and sustainable agriculture in Florida, and now people constantly point me toward them when they discover I'm one of those farming hippie types. Well, I assume they can't pay me enough to pay my student loans, but maybe I'll look them up again.

While I was at the Farmers Market at Market Square Saturday an expressive silver-haired farmer befriended me. When I shared some of my experience, proving myself as one "in the know," he folded his brown arms over his chest and started giving me the lowdown on local organics. He pointed across to Orchard Pond's table.

"Over there, that's the Phipps family. That blond lady there . . . when you talk to her, you are talking to "American Steel." They are huge. They have their organic operation right there on their land."

"Their land" is the Phipps Plantation, a huge tract of land north of Lake Jackson and Tallahassee, perhaps extending all the way up to Georgia . . . I can't remember exactly. I do remember zooming by a few greenhouses and VW vans in that area last year . . . must have been them. My Tallahassee acquaintance told me about the Phipps, sort of privately one-on-one like, but everybody else talks about them to me in the same way, as old money is typically everybody's business down here in the South. It's kind of like the USA in world news . . . the local superpower whose choices influence everybody.

So, why farm organically? It's such a poor person's occupation . . . hard work, long hours, dirt . . . why are the rich doing it? (Not enough rich people are doing it, unfortunately, think of all the land that could be built up and water kept clean if land-owners invested in such.) True, it's a band-wagon right now . . . organic is very popular. And its a good charitable move to go green. Is "American Steel" counteracting their carbon footprint? Sorry, it's probably not enough. Oh well.

But the question remains . . . who is the person who has decided to kneel down in the dirt, when they could do anything money could make available to them? This is the kind of person I want to meet.

From the motorcycle we observed ponds that were being dug on plantation property . . . probably for future land sales . . . waterfront property (natural or not) is much more valuable to housing developers. Good move, investing in that sale 10, 20, 30 years in the future. That's how the timber is managed too . . . there is a whole generational cycle to when trees are planted and harvested. I wonder how many people are paid (and how much they are paid) to make fiscal research and give advice for a tract of land like that? Old money . . . they are a patient and intricate kind of people. I guess that's perfect for organic gardening. Orchard Pond Organics is a rather small piece of that . . . I wonder what percentage of file space it takes up for those land and money planners. I can imagine its like me having a cat . . . a pleasant thing to have around and spend a little money on.

When I look at an areal map of North Florida, I can point out where the Phipps land is, and one of Tallahassee's biggest and most beautiful walking areas is on Phipps land. My little corner of the world is the tiniest of pinpricks next to that, but I chuckle, because somebody associated with that land plants rutabaga, swiss chard, and heirloom tomatoes and I want, and am working toward, the same thing. Organic gardening is for everybody who has access to a little dirt.

Amen.