The William Byrd Farm is tucked in between the highway, Hollywood Cemetery, and the James. It was definitely not the first place I would think to put a farm. The William Byrd Farm was not a farm by any typical standards. There were no barns, chickens, overalls, roosters, pigs, tractors, or alien crop circles. The Farm is a community center that provides fresh food, markets, daycare, and classes for residents of downtown Richmond. Urbanites for the most part do not have access to fresh produce, as supermarkets are located far from the city center. Food is a necessity that those with fixed incomes struggle to meet their own nutritional demands. This is just a small place that tries to alleviate some of the disparity in the downtown area and where Earth Lodge volunteered on a Saturday.
The Earth Lodgers were split into three groups. One group sorted window panes based on height and width for the construction of a greenhouse. The other group built wooden containers for earthworms and dirt. My group had the task of removing grass from the growing beds. This was no ordinary lawn grass, but rather a C4 plant that had many rhizomes. C4 plants are very successful in hot dry environments as they reduce the amount of water lost during their photosynthesis. Therefore during the hot Richmond summers they would invade the crop beds. What made the plant even more difficult was that it overwinters very well because of its rhizomes, which stores sugars for growth the next year. The rhizomes that were attached to its roots were upwards of a foot long in some cases. Unfortunately, we could not just rip the plant out because if an inch of the rhizome were left in the ground, it would grow back next year.
Thus began the four hours of toiling in the dirt. Mark, Adrienne, Celeste, and I partnered up to tackle the plant infestation. We would loosen the soil and follow each individual rhizome to its end. Each plant had multiple rhizomes in every direction outward. It was if we were removing natural grass carpeting from the ground. We all definitely got dirty in this weeding adventure. The grasses were collected en masse and dumped out on the side of the farm where they could dry out in the sun. This experience weeding was like none of us have ever seen. It was amazing how difficult it can be trying to prepare the garden for Richmonders to grow their own food. It felt really good to get dirty and help the Richmond community in a very small way. I hope next time we all visit the Farm we can plant instead of weed though!