Deep Roots CPS Farm

"The big talent is persistence.”
— Octavia Butler

This Week’s Lesson: Watch the sky because you have to. Then look back down and do the work. Worry has never once made it rain.

As we come up on the Juneteenth holiday, I have been thinking about freedom and how closely it connects to the work we do every day.

For us, freedom is not only a word or a date on the calendar. It is about our ability to make choices in our daily lives that align with our values. It is about having the agency to act on those choices without unnecessary barriers standing in the way.

Oh, what a wonderful life this is.
To choose to grow food. To choose to care for land. To choose to raise our children close to the work. To choose community, stewardship, and the belief that people should be able to know where their food comes from. This is one of our greatest exercises of freedom.

That is why this week on the farm felt especially meaningful.

It was the start of summer break for our girls, and it also felt like the true start of summer on the farm. The high heat and humidity crept in. Our cucumbers and squash are coming in nicely, and we are quite proud of them. We thought the rain was coming too. We kept checking the forecast, watching the sky, and waiting for the clouds to give the crops the deep drink they needed.
But Mother Nature does what she does.

It reminded me of a lesson Wisdom and I learned in Cape Verde in 2015. We had traveled to the small islands off the coast of Africa for a destination wedding, and while we were there, we wanted desperately to fish on the open water. The forecast kept calling for rain. Every morning, we woke up checking it. It said rain was coming for sure.

We went out anyway.

When we shared our concern with the guide who was scheduled to take us out on his boat, he looked at us with this calm expression. After we brought up the rain one more time, he finally smiled and said, “Are you all worried about rain?” We said, “Yes.”
Then he said, “Well, don’t look up.”
And then he added, “No stress.”

We shrugged it off because the saying "No stress" was like an island sales gimmick. But in that moment, it was our reminder to stop worrying. Guess what? It never rained and we had a beautiful time on the water. In fact, there was so much joyed carried during that trip.

I have carried that lesson with me. Not because we can ignore the weather. Farmers cannot do that. We have to watch the sky, check the soil, move water, protect crops, and make decisions with care. But we also cannot live only in worry.

So we do the work and trust the rest. We water when the rain stays away, we harvest in the heat, and we keep our eyes on what is growing.

I have been writing more over on Substack (https://cheriejzar.substack.com/) lately, including a recent piece on food sovereignty and what it really takes for a community to hold onto its farmers. If that is on your heart, come read it.

Next Friday, June 19, our farm team will be taking the day off for the Juneteenth Holiday. We will spend the day with family on the farm, resting, gathering, and remembering that freedom has always been connected to land, labor, family, food, and the ability to care for one another.

However we will be at the Market on June 20.

~ This week's harvest ~
Arugula, amaranth leaves, beets (red and white), lettuce, kale, chard, cucumbers, yellow squash, zucchini, watermelon radish, green beans, dragon tongue beans, green onions, bok choi, white onions, shallots (Nero, Monique, and Roderigue), garlic scapes, a small offering of strawberries and sugar plums.

Fresh herbs include chamomile, cilantro, chives, sage, rosemary, oregano, parsley, tarragon, mint, and thyme. We also have English lavender flower bunches in limited quantity this week.

Chicken eggs and duck eggs are also available.

Gourmet mushrooms: Chestnut, King Oyster, Oyster, Shiitake, and Lion's Mane. Our signature drinks: Ginger Mint Lemonade and Lavender Lemonade. Flower bouquet vases will also be available in limited quantities.
Come Shop With Us This Weekend
There is no substitute for meeting your food and the people who grew it. Come find this harvest with us.

Uptown Farmers Market (https://www.uptownfarmersmarket.com)
Saturday, June 6, 8:00 AM to 12:30 PM

You can shop seasonal produce, fresh herbs, English lavender bunches, eggs, mushrooms, chicken, flower bouquet vases, black garlic, Ginger Mint Lemonade, Lavender Lemonade, and other farm goods as available. Come early.

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Join our Summer CSA
We have opened up a few additional slots for our Summer CSA, and we would love to welcome you to join. Our CSA is a direct partnership between you and the farm. It gives you a steady connection to fresh food, harvested and packed for you every other week. The Summer CSA starts July 11 and runs biweekly through September 19. Cost: $375. Interested? Visit our website to learn more and sign up (https://www.deeprootscpsfarm.com/csa) .

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Sunday Farm Tours - Reserve you ticket
Our Sunday Farm Tours officially open last week and we had a blast hosting couples, individuals, and families to tour the farm. Our next scheduled tour day is Sunday June 22, 2026. Tours times are 12:00 PM, 1:30 PM, and 3:00 PM, and each tour is capped so the experience stays personal. Reservation is required.

A tour is a chance to walk the farm, meet the people behind your food, learn what regenerative agriculture looks like up close. It is Deep Roots beyond the market table.

Reserve Your Sunday Farm Tour Here:
deeprootscpsfarm.com/sunday-farm-tours

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Only 10 seats remain for our June 28 Farm to Table Dinner Experience. Fire & Farm on June 28 at 5PM
We'd love to see you at the dinner. We're nearly sold out. For more details and ticket information, visit our website here: deeprootscpsfarm.com (https://shop.deeprootscpsfarm.com/dinners-workshops-and-events)

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About this week's photo
Wisdom & Cherie visiting Cape Verde in 2014 on a day out at Pedra de Lume salt flats, in Sal, Cape Verde after a fun time floating in the salt lake.

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Thank you!
We appreciate each of you. Thank you for shopping with us, sharing our newsletter, joining our CSA, booking tours, coming to the farm stand, bringing friends to the market, and reminding us that this work does not happen alone.

May we all keep choosing what gives life. No stress!

Just care, gratitude, and the work in front of us.

With gratitude,
Cherie, Wisdom and The Deep Roots CPS Farm Family

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If this newsletter moved you, share it with someone who would love it.

To learn more about our CSA, workshops, Sunday tours, and the rhythm of this farm, visit us at
www.deeprootscpsfarm.com

No Stress. Update from Deep Roots CPS Farm Click here for an update from Deep Roots CPS Farm!

When farmers unite ❤️
Thank you Small City Farm for hosting today’s Growers Network meet up!!

Our Sunday Farm Stand is open today from 12 PM – 3 PM.
📍 2401 Primm Road, Charlotte, NC 28216
🕛 June 7 | 12 PM – 3 PM
🌱 www.deeprootscpsfarm.com

Also note: we accept cash, credit, Apple Pay and pay to tap, and SNAP EBT.
You can double your SNAP/EBT when you shop our farm stand.

We also have slots available for anyone who would like to join one of our three open farm tours today. Registration is required, so please sign up before arriving.

Farm Tour Registration:
www.deeprootscpsfarm.com/sunday-farm-tours

"When you've got 400 quarts of greens and gumbo soup canned for the winter, nobody can push you around or tell you what to say or do."
— Fannie Lou Hamer, founder of the Freedom Farm Cooperative

This Week’s Lesson: Sovereignty lives in the names of our food, the hands that grow it, and the land that makes it possible.

We can call our food by name.

The beets are not just beets. We have a white variety called Avalanche. The shallots are not just shallots. They are Rodrigue, Nero, and Monique. The lavender we cut and bundled this week is English lavender, and it carries a scent that stays on your hands long after the work is done. The first zucchini, cucumbers, and peppers of the summer are coming in now, green chili and jalapeño among them, along with green garlic pulled young and tender.

Knowing your food by name is not a small thing. In the industrial food system, everything is anonymous. One crate looks like the next, and no one remembers where it came from or who grew it. When you know the name of a variety, when you can tell one beet from another, you are in relationship with your food. That relationship is what sovereignty is made of.

We felt that same truth in a photo we posted in last week's newsletter, the photo we shared of our summer farm team. Looking at it again gave us chills, because it is a record in time of exactly what we set out to do. We wanted to build a place of employment. A place of learning. A place where the desire to farm becomes real work in real hands. There it was, all in one frame. That is sovereignty too. It lives in the food we can name, and it lives in the people who are learning to grow it.

Fannie Lou Hamer (https://snccdigital.org/events/fannie-lou-hamer-founds-freedom-farm-cooperative/) understood this truth. She founded the Freedom Farm Cooperative so that Black families could grow their own food and never be pushed around again. She knew that a full pantry and a piece of land were not just about dinner. They were about freedom.

Her cooperative did not survive. It leaned on outside donations that eventually ran dry, it was worn down by hard years and thin harvests, and it was working against a system that denied Black farmers the credit and support others received freely. After fewer than ten years, it closed. We do not share that to take anything away from her. We share it because the failure was not in the vision or the labor. It was in the weight of the conditions around her, and many of those conditions have not gone away.

We do not pretend that what we are building is the answer to all of that. What we believe is that the work is still worth doing. So we carry that same belief onto our work every single day. We are not only growing vegetables. We are growing the conditions for people to stand on their own ground. For people to be nourished by chemical free fresh food.

We do it knowing the ground is still uneven, and we do it because someone has to keep that possibility alive.

That is the work.

We hope it reaches further than we can see, leaving names, lessons, and abundance for the people who come after us.

We're honored to bring this care and intention to you each week. Many of you shared our newsletter and last Saturday we meet some new faces at our farm stand. We're grateful for this growing community and hopeful that you'll continue to share the good news!

Thank you for being here.

~ This week's harvest ~
Arugula, amaranth leaves, beets (red and white), lettuce, carrots, kale, spinach, chard, red cherry radishes, watermelon radish, green beans, dragon tongue beans, green onions, tatsoi, bok choi, white onions, shallots (Nero, Monique, and Roderigue), garlic scapes, a small offering of strawberries.

Fresh herbs include chamomile, cilantro, chives, sage, rosemary, oregano, parsley, tarragon, mint, and thyme. We also have English lavender flower bunches in limited quantity this week.

Chicken eggs and duck eggs are also available. Chicken: breasts, leg quarters, thighs, and wings. Gourmet mushrooms: Chestnut, King Oyster, Oyster, Shiitake, and Lion's Mane. Our signature drinks: Ginger Mint Lemonade and Lavender Lemonade. Flower bouquet vases will also be available in limited quantities.
Come Shop With Us This Weekend
There is no substitute for meeting your food and the people who grew it. Come find this harvest with us.

Uptown Farmers Market (https://www.uptownfarmersmarket.com)
Saturday, June 6, 8:00 AM to 12:30 PM

On-Farm Stand (https://www.deeprootscpsfarm.com/markets) located at 2401 Primm Road Charlotte, NC 28216
Sunday, June 7, 12:00 PM to 3:00 PM

You can shop seasonal produce, fresh herbs, English lavender bunches, eggs, mushrooms, chicken, flower bouquet vases, black garlic, Ginger Mint Lemonade, Lavender Lemonade, and other farm goods as available. Come early. The named varieties and the lavender are limited, and they go quickly.

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Join our Summer CSA
We have opened up a few additional slots for our Summer CSA, and we would love to welcome you to join. Our CSA is a direct partnership between you and the farm. It gives you a steady connection to fresh food, harvested and packed for you every other week. The Summer CSA starts July 11 and runs biweekly through September 19. Cost: $375. Interested? Visit our website to learn more and sign up (https://www.deeprootscpsfarm.com/csa) .

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Sunday Farm Tours Open This Weekend
This is the one. After so many of you asked when you could simply come walk the land, our Sunday Farm Tours officially open this Sunday, June 7.

A tour is a chance to walk the farm, meet the people behind your food, learn what regenerative agriculture looks like up close. It is Deep Roots beyond the market table.

Tours times are 12:00 PM, 1:30 PM, and 3:00 PM, and each tour is capped so the experience stays personal. Reservation is required. Reserve Your Sunday Farm Tour Here:
deeprootscpsfarm.com/sunday-farm-tours

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Join us for a special Farm to Table Dinner Experience. Fire & Farm on June 28 at 5PM
We would love to see you on Sunday, June 28 at Fire & Farm, our farm to table dinner. We are excited about what is to come and would love to welcome you to the farm for an evening of food, fire, and community. For more details and ticket information, visit our website here: deeprootscpsfarm.com (https://shop.deeprootscpsfarm.com/dinners-workshops-and-events)

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What we believe.
We believe a farm can be more than a place that grows food. Deep Roots stands as a family farm where we serve as land stewards. We are first-generation farmers committed to regenerative agriculture, local food access, and community empowerment.

This place is a record in time. It is a place of employment, a place of learning, a place of nourishment, and a place where the love of farming becomes real work. That is what we set out to build. That is what sovereignty looks like in action.

This belief lives in everything we do here. You can read more of our story at deeprootscpsfarm.com/about-our-farm (http://www.deeprootscpsfarm.com/about-our-farm) .

In community,
Cherie, Wisdom and The Deep Roots CPS Farm Family

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If this newsletter moved you, share it with someone who would love it.

To learn more about our CSA, workshops, Sunday tours, and the rhythm of this farm, visit us at
www.deeprootscpsfarm.com

The Freedom of Knowing Your Food by Name Click here for an update from Deep Roots CPS Farm!

Growers Network Meet up, this Sunday at 5pm - June 7th. DM for full details.

Join us for a Top Chef inspired dinner on the farm. A night to remember.

Some dinners feed you.

This one connects you to the land, the fire, the farmers, the chefs, and the story behind every bite.

On Sunday, June 28 at 5:00 PM, we are hosting Fire & Farm: A Farm to Table Dinner Experience on our seven acres of working urban farmland in Charlotte.
This is not a traditional seated dinner. Guests will move through curated chef stations, taste dishes inspired by the summer harvest, enjoy music, gather for a fireside conversation with farmers and chefs, and experience what happens when some of Charlotte's most respected culinary voices come together on the farm where the food begins.

This year feels especially meaningful. Following our feature on Bravo's Top Chef, Season 23 (https://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/season-23/videos/the-cheftestants-step-outside-the-kitchen-at-deep-roots-farm-they-pass) , we are bringing together a powerful lineup of chefs and food creatives, including James Beard-recognized chefs, Top Chef talent, Michelin-recommended culinary leadership, and some of the voices shaping Charlotte and North Carolina's food culture. Every dish is built from ingredients grown right here in our soil.

Our chef lineup includes:

Chef Greg Collier of Uptown Yolk (https://www.uptownyolk.com/)
Chef Chayil Johnson of Community Matters Cafe (https://communitymatterscafe.com/)
Chef Andres Kafer of Customshop (https://customshopfood.com/)
Chef Dre of Emmylou Wine Bar (https://www.instagram.com/emmylousclt/?hl=en)
Chef Aaliyah of Soul Afromex (https://www.instagram.com/soulpeafromexcatering/?hl=en)
Chef Brittany Cochran (https://www.instagram.com/brittanycochran_clt/?hl=en) of Stagioni and Top Chef Season 23
Chef Oscar Diaz (https://www.instagram.com/brittanycochran_clt/?hl=en) of Little Bull and Top Chef Season 23

Harvest inspired craft beer from our friends at Pilot Brewing (https://www.pilotbrewing.us/home) , and cocktails from mixologist Justin Hazelton (https://www.instagram.com/justindrinks/?hl=en) .

It is culture. It is memory. It is land stewardship. It is community. It is the relationship between the people who grow the food and the people who transform it with skill, creativity, and care.

Fire & Farm is your invitation to taste that relationship.

You will not just eat a beautiful meal. You will walk the farm. Meet the people behind the plate. Hear the stories. See the fire. Taste the season. And be part of a night that could only happen here.

Doors open at 4:45 PM, Drink service starts at 5PM, and the meal service starts at 5:30PM. The evening runs until 7:30 PM.

If you have been waiting for the right time to come experience the farm, this is it.

Single seats are $165 and couples tickets are $325.

Reserve yours here: GET TICKETS (https://checkout.square.site/merchant/J8FDA080BM1FW/checkout/QPQ3EJTDXXINUJRB6YB6YPUJ)

Visit deeprootscpsfarm.com to learn more about our mission and stewardship work.

Sponsor the Fire & Farm to Table Dinner and help the Deep Roots Farm Foundation grow food, expand access, and advance food sovereignty in our community.

Join us on the farm. Fire & Farm Dinner Experience Click here for an update from Deep Roots CPS Farm!

This is our 2026 Summer farm team, the people planting seeds, tending the livestock, and packing every share with care. Left to right: Farm Apprentice Josh, Farmer Alvamir, your farmers Wisdom and Cherie in the center, and Summer Interns Arianna and Nathan on the right.

Every vegetable in this week's harvest passed through their care first. Octavia Butler wrote that all that you touch, you change. These are the people whose hands touch this land every day, and the land is changing them right back. We are grateful for each of them, and proud of what we are growing together, in the soil and in one another.

~ This week's harvest~
Arugula, amaranth leaves, beets, lettuce, carrots, kale, spinach, chard, red cherry radishes, watermelon radish, breakfast turnips, green beans, dragon tongue, green onions, tatsoi, bok choi, white onions, shallots, and garlic scapes. A small selection of blueberries and strawberries. Fresh herbs including chamomile, cilantro, chives, sage, rosemary, oregano, parsley, tarragon, mint, and thyme. Chicken and duck eggs. Chicken: breasts, leg quarters, thighs, and wings. Gourmet mushrooms: chestnut, king, oyster, and shiitake. Plus our signature Ginger Mint and Lavender Lemonades.

Come find us this Saturday, May 30 at the Uptown Farmers Market, 8:00 AM to 12:30 PM. Bring a bag and your appetite. Oh and we will also take your empty cardboard egg cartons.

“All that you touch, you Change. All that you Change Changes you. The only lasting truth is Change.”

- Octavia E. Butler

Happy Friday from the farm. Before we get into market days and what is fresh this week, here is what the land has been teaching us.

This Week’s Lesson: What We Tend Can Become Life-Giving

This week’s lesson is that care has a way of changing things. We see it in the compost pile. When you walk by it, you see the bedding from the chicken coop and goat stall, leaves, and vegetable scraps. They do not look like much at first, but with time, turning, and attention, they become something that feeds the soil. That soil feeds the crops. The crops feed the community.

We see the same regeneration in the people who come here. Through our relationship with Charlotte Rescue Mission, volunteers in their residential recovery program spend time on the farm, helping us steward the land while having access to a space that is private, grounding, and alive. Their labor helps us grow food for the community, and the land gives something back: fresh air, purpose, peace, and the quiet reminder that growth is still possible. They also sneak in a few dog pets and share treats with the horses when they think we are not looking, which tells us they are settling into the rhythm of the farm just fine.

We enjoy seeing their journey. Hearing about their strength and vision for the future. It is inspiring.

The farm is a living system, and it keeps reminding us that the same is true in life. Parts of life, family, business, and community do not always look perfect while they are in process. Some things take time to break down. Some things need patience before they are ready to become something new. Sometimes there is conflict in our connections. Sometimes even the ducks decide they are not here for the relationship we imagined. But if we keep tending with care, something good can still grow.

That is the truth of this work. We are not just growing food. We are practicing a way of living that believes in restoration, patience, and the possibility that what we care for today can nourish someone tomorrow. We hope this work reaches far beyond what we are able to see, leaving lessons, care, and abundance for the people who come after us. This is Purposeful living.

If this is the kind of care you want to be part of, join us at the table on June 28 for our next farm to table dinner, come shop with us at the farmers market, or just keep sharing the good news of what we're building. Thank you.

~ This week's harvest ~
Arugula, amaranth leaves, beets, lettuce, carrots, kale, spinach, chard, red cherry radishes, watermelon radish, breakfast turnips, green beans, dragon tongue, green onions, tatsoi, bok choi, white onions, shallots, garlic scapes, a small selection of blueberries and strawberries. Fresh herbs include chamomile, cilantro, chives, sage, rosemary, oregano, parsley, tarragon, mint, and thyme. Chicken eggs and duck eggs are also available. Chicken: breasts, leg quarters, thighs, and wings. Gourmet Mushrooms: Chestnut, Kings, Oysters, Shiitakes. Our signature drinks: Ginger Mint Lemonade and Lavender Lemonade.

Our produce is grown and packed with intention and love for you in mind. Come find this harvest at the Uptown Farmers Market on Saturday, May 30 from 8:00 AM to 12:30 PM.

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Join our Summer CSA
We have opened up a few additional slots for our Summer CSA, and we would love to welcome you to join. Our CSA is a direct partnership between you and the farm. It gives you a steady connection to fresh food, harvested and packed for you every other week. The Summer CSA starts July 11 and runs biweekly through September 19. Cost: $375. Interested? Visit our website to learn more and sign up (https://www.deeprootscpsfarm.com/csa) .

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Sunday Farm Tours Now Open
For a long time, people have asked when they can simply come walk the farm. Not as part of a school group or a church outing, but as themselves, with a partner, a friend, or their kids. Sunday Farm Tours are our answer.

Tours begin on Sunday, June 7 and will be held on select Sundays each month through October. Times are 12:00 PM, 1:30 PM, and 3:00 PM, and each tour is capped so the experience stays personal.

This is a guided walk through our seven-acre Charlotte farmstead, where you will hear more about our journey as first-generation farmers, what regenerative agriculture looks like up close, and why we believe food sovereignty has to live somewhere real.

Tours end at the farm stand, where guests can shop fresh produce, black garlic, ginger mint lemonade, t-shirts, and other farm goods. Reservations are required.

Reserve Your Sunday Farm Tour Here:
deeprootscpsfarm.com/sunday-farm-tours

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Reserve your seat today!
A Farm to Table Dinner Experience
We would love to see you on Sunday, June 28 at Fire & Farm, our farm to table dinner. We are excited about what is to come and would love to welcome you to the farm for an evening of food, fire, and community. For more details and ticket information, visit our website here: deeprootscpsfarm.com (https://shop.deeprootscpsfarm.com/dinners-workshops-and-events)

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About This Week’s Photo
This week’s photo features our summer farm team. Pictured from left to right are Farm Apprentice Josh, Farmer Alvamir, Farmer Wisdom and Cherie in the center, and Summer Interns Arianna and Nathan on the right. All are part of the care, labor, and love helping carry this season forward.

In community,
Cherie, Wisdom and The Deep Roots CPS Farm Family

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If this newsletter moved you, share it with someone who would love it.

To learn more about our CSA, workshops, Sunday tours, and the rhythm of this farm, visit us at
www.deeprootscpsfarm.com

Care, Community, and Sunday Farm Tours Click here for an update from Deep Roots CPS Farm!

Healthy food should bring joy. Around here, it comes with conversations about family, swapping recipes, and smiling faces at the farm stand.

Candy and Ann, a mother and daughter duo, are some of our Day 1 customers. They have been shopping with us for the past seven years, and seeing their smiles reminds us why this work matters.

This is what community looks like. Fresh food, real relationships, and joy rooted in the harvest.