New Hoka, Mississippi (AP)-he was a teacher and she worked in retail-and then Schuyler and Jane Oliver Dickson moved to rural Chickasaw County and restarted the pursuit of a healthy life, healthy soil and healthy food .
To reach Alali Farms, travellers can drive south on Highway 15 and then head to the trail. The road quickly radiated, and there was a sign warning: “The road is prone to flooding.”
A little down along the dusty colored road, you will soon see some houses, barns, rows of greenhouses and raised beds.
Schuyler and Jane Oliver Dickson are now calling home with their twin daughters Dot and Aila.
Schuyler Dickson said: “I know I want to provide something valuable to the community, I know I want to create something beautiful, and this kind of thing has just appeared.” “It just happened. I really can’t believe it. One step. Then another step.”
On a recent day at Alali Farm, a group of three Guinea booed. Dixon walked between the raised bunk on one side and the bullpen that was bent into a grid. On the other side of the grid were swollen beans. Dickson remembered some of the steps that brought him here.
Not long ago, the couple lived in Guangzhou near the state capital. After leaving Chicago, they returned to Mississippi, where Schuyler Dickson received a master’s degree in creative writing. He dreams of writing novels and teaching in the hustle and bustle of the university.
Schuyler Dickson is still writing novels and short stories, which were written in the early morning. However, instead of a university corridor, he works in a tree house on stilts. This is what he calls a “writing house”, at least until the one-year-old girl gets older and takes care of it herself.
Dixon said: “We moved back to Mississippi just to figure things out and finish my book.” “A farm is nowhere near that.”
This has been the case for several years, Schuyler Dickson taught advanced English courses at the first private school and later another private school.
When the children entered the photo, the twin girls were born in the fall of 2018, and the rift in the traditional expectations of the Dixons widened. The couple worked together most of the day, engaged in two different jobs, and almost completely needed one person’s salary to pay for the day care expenses for the two babies.
“This breaks down your life into 100 different parts,” Dickson said of his lifestyle. “I hope all these things are reduced to a unified life.”
Therefore, the Dixon family moved to a farm they found in northeastern Mississippi. They have settled here for more than a year, and their way of working comes from a commitment to sustainable, regenerative agriculture.
What they pursue is a more holistic way of life, incorporating a more holistic way of production and distribution – locals grow food for the locals and grow it in a way that enriches the soil and local ecosystems instead of consuming them.
Alali Farm is certified to be grown naturally and does not use any pesticides or chemicals. They may eventually seek organic certification, but the process is arduous.
The couple did not have a background in agriculture, so they first learned the basics of agriculture through online videos, books, and eventually a rigorous and experienced teacher. Along the way, they endured severe disasters, including the loss of autumn crops due to insects last year. Then, the pandemic changed their original plan for this year.
Schuyler Dickson said: “The plan was to build a farmer’s market first, and then a pandemic, and we were just dissatisfied with the farmer market.” “Then, when we turned to CSA and delivery and online sales, it exploded.”
Jane Oliver Dickson uses the usually severe mood of the year to express her interest in flower arrangement. In the weekly share of the farming program supported by the farm community, she includes bouquets grown and assembled on the farm.
The summer CSA program has ended, and preparations for the fall program from October to November are currently underway. In addition, winter greening and wreaths will be provided.
Just like a plant grows into a complete plant from a young age, Dixon discovered that their current path-traps and everything-became one of the discoveries about themselves and the world around them.
“I just sat down while Jane was talking about having children and asked me what kind of life I would like us to do?” Schuler Dixon said. “After investigation, I found that I had made many decisions that I didn’t want to make. This led me to investigate. What is true and what is not? What is worth pursuing, and what is not worth?”
Post time: Sep-15-2020