Small Farm Spotlight: THE PROMISED LAND FARM

In this series, get to know more about the small farm operations that are using sustainable methods to help meet the local demand for fresh food. And meet the farmers that are making it happen!

Located in Port Wentworth, The Promised Land Farm is owned and farmed by brothers Robert and Willie Johnson - better known as Uncle Bob and Uncle Bill, self proclaimed farmers “in training”.

The brothers have a long and complicated relationship with farming. Both spent their boyhood growing up and working in the fields with their mother and grandparents. Their father was a truck driver and their grandfather was a sharecropper.

As boys, the two had very different attitudes toward farming - older brother Bill loved working on the farm and has very fond memories of those early years. On the other hand, Bob hated farming. “I’d be the last one to come into the field and the first one to go out,” he recalled.

It was during his time overseas that Bob gained an appreciation for farmers. In a hurry to get away from farm life, Bob joined the Army and served during the Vietnam War. During his 21 years in the service, Bob spent time in Vietnam, Korea and Germany.

He began to see farming through a new lens and to recognize the vital role that farmers play. Once he saw farming as the means of putting food on his table and feeding his community, Bob’s attitude toward farming changed.

After retirement in 1989, Bob bought the land they currently farm. Local history has the land originally going to freed slave Roderick Steele who was given the land for his service in aid of General Sherman - the fulfilment of the promised 40 acres and a mule.

“We got the acreage but we didn’t get the mule,” Uncle Bob says with a laugh. “So, we went with ‘The Promised Land’ as our name."

While Bob had a newfound love and appreciation for farming, his brother Bill was very content to be retired. “I was determined I wasn’t farming,” Bill said. “I was going to sit here on the porch and take it easy. He kept asking me to help him.”

According to Bob, Bill came to the farm one day to help him with a fire that was being used to clear some additional farm land. Bill didn’t remember it that way and the brothers laugh and argue over the specifics. But it’s clear that once Bill did get involved with the farm, the two have enjoyed both working the land and working together!

The farm is well known for its cool weather crop - collard greens. Bob’s birthday is March 6th and for the past 13 years, the farm has hosted a Collard Green Festival on or around that date. Very community minded, the brothers donate free greens to veterans and the elderly to help make sure that these sometimes vulnerable groups are able to have a source of nutritious food.

Another means of serving their community, the brothers offer the opportunity to rent-a-row. Anyone wishing to grow some of their own produce can rent a row and plant it with anything they would like to grow. Planting, tending and harvesting are the responsibility of the renter.

Herbicides are not used or allowed on the farm. “We don’t use herbicides here,” Uncle Bob states with a straight face, “we use ‘hoe-besides.” Picking up a hoe, he demonstrates, “you use the hoe beside the plant.”

A recent addition to the farm is an area leased by a KnUW Way Homeschool Cooperative. Kids who are a part of the cooperative are able to come to the farm and see and experience where their food comes from. The group has a small chicken coop, composting area, play area and herb garden.

Rodney Parker was a customer who befriended the brothers and now spends time helping them work on the farm. His children are also part of the cooperative and are learning about the farm through firsthand experience.

Visitors are always welcome to the farm! The farmstand is open most days. Summer crops will include watermelon, corn and sugarcane.

They are located at 269 Montieth Road, Port Wentworth GA. 912-631-2949. Follow them on Facebook!