Attendees at UMES’ Small Farm Conference are in store for a special keynote address Friday, Oct. 24, as Tomia MacQueen (at left) takes the podium at the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center. MacQueen is the driving force behind Wildflower Farm, Dance for LIFE, Gardening for LIFE and the Healing Waters Project.
She has worn many hats over the past two decades, including farmer, master gardener, educator and dancer. MacQueen will share her passion for closing food security gaps, community empowerment through farming, education, imparting healthy habits and positive body image through dance during the conference’s luncheon.
Wildflower Farm is among three Black-owned certified organic farms in New Jersey. It produces specialty varieties such as callaloo, molokhia greens, heirloom tomatoes, sorghum and scotch bonnet peppers. The farm also raises pastured, soy-free poultry and grass-fed lamb with a focus on humane husbandry and conservation.
True to her training as an educator, MacQueen hosts tours and holds classes for all ages focused on sustainability in homesteading, small-scale farming and edible gardens.
MacQueen partners with schools and organizations, including the Outdoor Equity Alliance Agrihood Program, Upward Bound and the Princeton University Seed Farm. She sits on the board of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Jersey, is a governance member for the Ujamaa Cooperative Farming Alliance, teaches at the Ira Wallace Seed School and serves on the North Jersey RC&D Regenerative Farming Network steering team. The certified (N.J.) teacher also served as the pilot coordinator for Princeton Public Schools’ Food Systems Literacy program.
Attendee and vendor pre-registration for a single day or both days is required before Oct. 10 at www.umes.edu/extension/events. Space is limited for the tours and workshops and is first come, first served. For more information, email smallfarms@umes.edu.
Gail Stephens, agricultural communications and media associate, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences, UMES Extension, gcstephens@umes.edu., 410-621-3850.
Photo courtesy of Tomia MacQueen
