Meet Charles Spencer, Apprentice Farmer | CSA for Oct 28, 2021

Charles Spencer growing a better Dallas at Hatcher Station Farm.

This week we would like to highlight a very important person in our Restorative Farm family: Charles Spencer, one of our key Associate Farmers.

Charles is a Dallas native who has personally seen the defamation of the Dallas community regarding fresh foods in lower-income areas. He is a firm believer in the mission of Restorative Farms to create a scalable, self-sustaining, community-empowering, urban farm system.

“We farm because growing food for our community makes sense. We farm out of care. We farm out of love—for the land and for people. We farm out of hope for the future.”

-Charles Spencer

Charles's journey to becoming an urban farmer encompasses a lot of hard work and a huge openness for learning. He believes that to eventually succeed and become a true “professional” farmer, you must first become a master of the basics. Farming is about the details and Charles doesn’t overlook any of them.

One of the tall tasks he finds both challenging and intriguing is not only how you grow food for a single harvest, but how to create a truly sustainable farm. Charles points out – and looks up to – Tyrone Day (one of our co-founders and the lead Hatcher Station Farm Manager) who brings 20+ years of experience being a horticulturist as being a mentor as well as friend in the work to uplift the community that they both come from and call home.

“I like to farm because I truly feel it has made me a better person, individually and for our community,” he says. Although Charles’s journey in farming has really only just begun, he is dedicated to having his own farm one day. For now, as he learns the ins and outs of planting, growing, and farm management, he takes pride in providing fresh fruits and vegetables to those in need in his community. 

Thank you for supporting our mission to Grow A Better Dallas!

Don’t forget to check out our RECIPES page to see this week’s featured recipe for what you can cook with some ingredients from your CSA.

If you make this dish or another on our Recipes page, please send us your pictures HERE. We all enjoy seeing you and your families enjoying our products.

A CSA Box prepped for pickup.

The list of items in this week’s box includes:

PLEASE NOTE: We do our best to fulfill every item, however substitutions may occur.

Bib lettuce (GroZilla Farm)

Red oak leaf (GroZilla Farm)

Radish “Crimson Giant” (Hatcher Farm) with greens 

Radiash “Diakon” (Hatcher Farm)

Radish “watermelon” (Hwy 19 Farm) with greens.

Lacinato Kale (Hwy 19 Farm)

Squash & pepper mix (Hatcher & Hwy 19 Farm)

Okra (Hwy 19 Farm)

Microgreen radish (Hatcher Farm)

Thai and citrus basil (RF Apprentice Farm)

Fresh Eggs (Mars Farm)

Pound cake (Wize catering) NOTE: this is a baked item.