Other Ag News: Head, Hands and Heart: Hidden Pearls Farm & Healing Center

Brett Grant first heard whisperings of a calling toward growing food, community and healing back in his childhood on a trip with his father to Mount Pleasant, Texas. As they made their way through the tall Texas prairie grass, keeping a nervous eye out for snakes, it moved Brett to know that the land beneath their feet was once in his family. Many years later, during college, Brett started studying Booker T. Washington and learned that the agricultural curriculum at Tuskegee was based on the needs of the surrounding community. Washington’s educational philosophy emphasized the interconnectedness of “head, hand, and heart,” advocating for a holistic approach to learning and development. The approach resonated with Brett, and he continued to explore holistic education through his subsequent dissertation.

Brett’s first livestock on the farm included two inherited goats and then a small flock of chicks from a neighbor he’s now raising in the screened-in porch. Kacey Deamer / Cornell Small Farms Program

When he finished his PhD, he made a promise to himself: “I don’t want to just do this theoretically. I want to put this into practice.” He started dreaming of a farm and wellness center that could be intellectually, practically and emotionally uplifting for the community.

Brett started looking for land with like-minded collaborators in the greater Minneapolis region. He felt the location of the land didn’t matter as much as the people he was partnering with. But ultimately the right opportunity did not materialize, and Brett eventually made his way to New York City to begin a post-doc position at Columbia University. On some of his early car excursions leaving the city to explore rural Upstate New York, he was touched by the beauty of the landscape.

He discovered a website that helped match aspiring farmers with existing farms, and came across a listing in Chenango Forks, a hamlet in Broome County, New York, situated where the Chenango and Tioughnioga rivers meet. Like the meeting of rivers, threads from Brett’s past experiences and future aspirations seemed to easily converge at his first farm visit. The owners had built a spacious indoor pool in a heated building which brought back joyful memories of childhood swimming and invited the possibility of reviving his past work as a hot yoga instructor. The farmhouse, pastures, livestock barns and solar panels offered all the infrastructure he hoped for.

But while it seemed serendipitous in many ways, just as the ownership transition was underway, Brett’s post doc position ended. His vision had made it this far, and he wasn’t willing to give up. Noting the farm’s 1-hour drive away from Cornell University, he sent some feelers about job openings and was delighted when an opportunity arose at the Cornell Nutrition Liberation, Food Sovereignty, and Justice lab. Now in a more secure position, Brett proceeded to navigate the purchase and transition, which involved many months of visits with the owners, learning about the land and infrastructure.

Though Brett is relatively new to farming, he’s learning quickly on the job and through a network of farmers and educators he’s connected with. Kacey Deamer / Cornell Small Farms Program

Now as the new owner, Brett has begun the process of building relationships with other growers and collaborators who will eventually become co-owners on some of the lower 52 acres as the Chenango Forks Collective. Building trust, writing bylaws and understanding how the cooperative will function takes time.

“It’s going to be really difficult because now we’re moving from me to we, and working as a group under Democratic control and governance,” Brett said.

But he feels farming within a community and partnering with others as equal farm owners is the best way.

“I do not have the skills to fix a tractor, to know how to plant, or to put up fencing, but there are other people around who know,” Brett explained. “The universe will connect me with those people and I’ll figure it out. All I have to do is set myself in motion and not give in to the fear.”

As he is relatively new to farming and this land, there are plenty of challenges and uncertainties. When asked how he resists giving in to fear, he shares that spiritual practices are important. Prayer, stillness, and fasting for spiritual clarity are practices he prioritizes.

“I see so much fear in my own family and community — people not trying something because they were too afraid,” he said. “I don’t want to live that way.”

He describes a fire pit near the crest of the hillside where he sometimes sits at night appreciating the silence and stillness, a welcome contrast to the ongoing problem-solving and critical thinking required for farm maintenance and planning.

Brett has begun the process of building relationships with other growers and collaborators who will eventually become co-owners on some of the lower 52 acres as the Chenango Forks Collective. Kacey Deamer / Cornell Small Farms Program

Wellbeing is at the center of Brett’s vision for this land. In addition to the Chenango Forks Collective, he is creating Hidden Pearls Healing Center to provide opportunities for visitors to enjoy beauty, healing, nourishment and community. He is seeking schoolteachers and students to work with as co-facilitators, co-designing learning experiences centered on growing food, cooking, exploring and playing together.

Inspired by a book called “Liberating Teaching and Learning,” he says he wants children visiting the farm to see, feel and taste freedom “I think offering space for emergence is really important,” he said. “What can emerge if I just help to facilitate the environment?”

At the end of my conversation with Brett, I invite him to reflect on the gifts he brought to the manifestation of his dream. He said that the landscape of his family home in northern California helped him see possibility.

“I had oceans and mountains and rivers and lakes. And it just gave me this sense of awe and wonder,” he shared. “That never went away.”

As our conversation winds down, we walk back outside, looking down over the river valley and the pastures, now lush and tall, that will eventually be stewarded by the Farming Collective. My conversation with Brett has left me reflecting on awe and wonder, and how it can lead a child visiting ancestral Texas prairie eventually to a river valley in upstate NY.

Having learned of Brett’s dreams for this land makes the valley all the more beautiful.

Brett Grant is the steward and visionary of Hidden Pearls Farm & Healing Center. To reach Brett, send an email to hiddenpearlshealingcenter@gmail.com.

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