Farm Brigades: Rooting Down in Collective Work

Farm brigades are a model of community resilience and collective work that is undergirded by community self-reliance that has grounded Persimmon’s intentions with farmers and reminds us why we do the work we do. These collective workdays push back against the image of an isolated, siloed farmer toiling alone and without support. The brigades remind us that we have a heritage based on many hands contributing to our survival and that thriving is possible when we rely upon community and shared work to sustain us. That shared work is in and of itself a demonstration of care that has been upheld by agrarian communities past and present. Farm brigades have been a core of Persimmon’s work since 2022 and keeps us connected to our local ecosystem. Each Spring and Fall, we hold workdays on the land of the farmers in our local ecosystem. These 10-12 brigades are spaces that embody mutual aid, with farmers supporting each other’s on farm projects while joyfully sharing knowledge, camaraderie and a meal. The projects we have taken on in the past 4 years have ranged from bed prepping chicken coop build, cobb building, planting and seed saving. We are currently expanding brigading with groups of farmers in SC and VA.

Many of the farmers in our NC brigade ecosystem are farmers we were previously in relationship with. As we add new farmers we consider proximity to the other farms we are currently working with to make travel to bi-monthly brigades feasible for busy farmers. Additionally and most critical, each farm agrees to show up and participate for at least 50% of all the brigades that season, strengthening the mutual aid ethos of the ecosystem. As farmers gauge their availability and capacity, some farmers roll out of the schedule and others are added.