Scrapyard To Sanctuary: How To Build A Community Space

Stepping into Chicago Patchwork Farm's main campus feels like you’ve left the city behind. You walk by the brightly painted shipping container and fridge, the seedling trays, and chickens squawking around the compost pile. You pass through the gate and enter the tidy garden beds. 

A plethora of birds and bees swoop among the rows of flower-topped herbs, rainbow Swiss chard, and curling squash vines. A few people are weeding. At the back of the campus, an open space with twinkle lights, a bonfire pit, several chairs, and plenty of trees form an oasis from the bustle of the city. 

Today, a group of ten folks give the space new life. Several people crowd around two tables under a tent. Some peel and chop radishes, a few tinker with vinaigrettes, and a handful tend to the smoky fire. In about an hour, everyone is sitting around the fire, munching on some of the freshest salad imaginable.

Excess Into Delight

Chicago Patchwork Farm hosted its first “Chop It Up” event on July 11, 2024 where volunteers and workers turned excess produce into a zesty salad and several fermentation combinations to enjoy.

“To provide something simple for the community, to be able to come together, that's my goal,” said Patchwork Owner and Head Farmer Robert Zamora Phillips. “We’re so lucky we get to play with these ideas and create the future here.”

The urban farm, which has 3 campuses scattered across the city, focuses on organic vegetable production, a bi-weekly seasonal farmstand, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) organization, community plot delegations, and dreams of the future. It’s a lot to balance between the ever-busy hands and minds of two employed farmers, including Phillips. But the growing community of volunteers and participants give the farm its heartbeat.

“It’s been an uphill battle, so it feels good for the community to come in and everyone feels at home,” Phillips said. “The things that we're dreaming about doing, like fermenting and pickling and pizza, are starting to feel more tangible and sustainable for us to conduct in the future.”

Philips knows It’s not easy to run a farm. He’s trying to pay livable wages while offering high-quality produce to the community at accessible sliding scale prices. Oftentimes there’s more produce the farm can sell, but it leads to some creative creations, according to frequent volunteer Audre Smikle.

“I learned about fermentation from [Phillips]. He was like, ‘Let me show you this cool little drink I made,’ and it was like literally drinking ambrosia from the gods. I never knew you could ferment and preserve food like that,” Smikle said. “It's really encouraged me to play at home too, so I'll bring a lot of herbs back, and now I have things like chamomile and holy basil in honey.”

When abundance becomes an issue, Phillips loves showing others how to upcycle those goods into new things. Pickled veggies, preserves, teas, elixirs… there’s endless possibilities. It’s a lot to juggle, but it’s worth it. 

“I know that sustainability and reciprocity towards the environment is where my heart is at, and wherever that window has existed is where I've gone,” Phillips said.

Cultivating More Community

In the cooler fall months, Phillips plans to do another round of the Mushroom Inoculation Workshop, and envisions a frequent “Beans and Greens” night where members can bring their own dinnerware and share a community potluck with the farm’s abundant produce. There’s so many plans for the future: a community kitchen, an adobe pizza oven, plenty of workshops.

“To honor the beings that we're working with is amazing. It's such a pleasure, I get to just give people the tools and let them run.” said Phillips.

Within just over a year of her involvement at Patchwork, volunteer Audre Smikle finds herself running with her own relationship with community and land. She started coming on volunteer days and shopping at the farmstand. Now she has her own community plot on the City Farm campus, and recently organized an art sale fundraiser on the central campus. 

“It made me realize what I value most: my community and working with land. Patchwork has been that place for community members to come and learn about the labor, to learn where their food comes from, and really take care of it,” Smikle said. “At Patchwork, you're doing stuff with your hands. You're all working towards a common goal, and then when you're done with that common goal, you feel really good. You’re actively contributing to something that makes everybody's lives better.”