When Beatrice Kamau would visit the African and Caribbean markets in the Chicago area, she would find thyme that was dry, grassy, and void of the nutrients the herb offers. The other traditional Kenyan vegetables she was looking for were hard to find. So she decided to grow them herself.

“I am a land steward cultivating a farm in a rural setting where most of my neighbors are large-scale, commercial farmers. It’s kind of challenging to move into such a situation where you know no one and there is no one to guide you,” Kamau said.

Kamau’s family has owned a small tea farm in Kenya since the 1960s. Small to medium-scale farming was ingrained not only in her DNA; it was also a key part of her community. Growing up, most of her neighbors farmed or gardened something, even if it meant renting a plot of land a few blocks from home. 

“When I came to the U.S., everything was so grandiose. Everything is so large-scale that you couldn’t even see the impact of small-scale farmers,” she said.

Kamau reconnected to the practices she grew up with by purchasing six acres of land in the rural town of Beecher. She named her farm Multiple Harvest, and there she’s able to grow the foods that her community connects with, such as Egyptian spinach, African nightshade, amaranth, saget, and cowpeas, among other greens.

When it came time to protect those crops, a high tunnel proved to be prohibitively expensive. So she sought advice from another farmer who had faced similar challenges and could empathize with her difficult situation. That’s when she first learned about the Regional Conservation Partnership Program. 

That same farmer suggested she apply for the Regional Conservation Partnership Program, made available by the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. This long standing USDA program recently received increased funding through the Inflation Reduction Act. The cost-sharing grant supports climate-smart solutions for farmers, ranchers, and agricultural landowners. 

“I was surprised to get it because it was the first time for me applying for anything from the USDA,” she said. “The application was really simple.”

Since then she has come to see the local USDA office as a vital resource. In fact, she’s had USDA officials walk her land to help determine which grant opportunities would make a good fit for her current conservation practices and the stage of her farm operation. 

“I was just lucky I was able to get that grant. That made it a little bit easier,” Kamau said, noting that she’s using it to finance conservation practices like cover cropping, the establishment of a pollinator habitat, and soil and water conservation. “I’m still using it to build the farm. I would not have anything to use to pay for the things I’m doing.” 

She recently received approval on an additional USDA cost-sharing grant, which she plans to use to fund two acres of alley-cropping as part of the agroforestry practice she wants to integrate into her farm. She hopes to secure funding for irrigation in the coming years. 

All of it means she can continue with her mission to grow foods that sustain her community while deepening connections with her cultural roots. 

“Growing cultural vegetables is important because that’s something that your gut health is used to. When you eat it, it’s something that is familiar,” said Kamau. “I’ve seen people that when they see the vegetables, they get so excited, and say ‘Oh my grandma used to cook these.’ It brings up stories and it connects people and it’s good for mental health and overall wellbeing.”