Bro. Ray Muhammad
Question & Answer period with Bro. Ray Muhammad
Statement: Greetings bro. Ray tell us a little bit about yourself.
Response: I am a beginner in this field of agriculture, this is my fifth year growing produce.
Q: Bro Ray please provide us with the name of the Houston farm?
A: The name of the Houston farm is Green Lyfe Farms.
Q: How did you come by that name?
A: We wanted a name that expressed, Sustainability, health, and wealth. So myself and my partner Bro Kelvin which is the owner of Pure Milk Farms ( a raw milk dairy), set down and came up with the name by the grace of God.
Q: How long have you been working the farm here in Houston?
A: I have been operating the urban farm at the local mosque here in Houston for the past 3 years.
Q: Are you getting a lot of local support from other neighboring farms?
A: Yes. We do get a lot of support from local farmers, most of which has useful information. A lot of the time with growing certain crops there are little things specific to your region and soil that can make a big different in the yield and health of your crops. So it is important to build good relationships with your local farmers.
Q: What vegetables and/of fruits do you grow? And what grows best here in Texas climate?
A: We grow a wide variety of produce some at less volumes then others. We grow; squash, corn, eggplant, cucumbers, string beans, watermelons, bell peppers, tomatoes, basil, different types of lettuce, spinach, beets, cabbage, broccoli and okra. What we have had the best luck growing in our region is okra, celebrity tomatoes, basil,squash during the right season and string beans.
Q: Do you enlist help from the community or is it a one man show?
A: We definitely utilize volunteers from our community. We wish we had more but we understand that the task is not easy.
Q: Is the farm here in houston considered organic and holistic?
A: Our farm would legally be considered substainable, since we are not certified organic. But we do grow our produce with only organic methods.
Q: How many acres do we have? And how often do you set up and sell your goods?
A: Currently we operate on 1 acre on side of our local mosque and we also use some of the 50 acres that Pure Milk Farm is on to raise our chickens. We sell every Saturday and Sunday. Saturday we are at the local Mosque here in Houston 4443 Old Spanish Trail, we also have three drop off spots around the city. On Sunday's our market set up from 11-2pm.
Q: Do you make and sell products from the produce on the farm?
A: Yes we do. We use the basil we grow to make our famous pesto sauce, and we also make pico from our tomatoes when in season.
Statement: Bro. Ray would you please summrize for us your thoughts about farming and how important it is.
Response: Farming is very important, in a society that is unhealthy, over weight, and food prices on the rise. It is imperative that the community control their own source of food. If every community had it's own urban farm, it would help to protect against obesity, rising food cost, and famine situations, it word would also present employment opportunities. Another major concern are GMO's and these highly toxic chemical they spray on our produce that is the cause all sorts of extreme health issue. This would not be a problem if every community had it's own food source. We must demand better food for ourselves and our babies, and it starts with you as an individual. Our power, is our choice to choose.
Thank you bro Ray for sharing your knowledge and wisdom with us about our houston farm. It has been a pleasure.
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