The tomato plant on Ben Street’s balcony in Charlotte was drooping. “It was pitiful,” he says, shaking his head at the memory. “It was like the Charlie Brown Christmas tree.”
That wilting tomato was a test case for Street, an aspiring farmer. Although farming had little in common with his day job as an international trader, that fact didn’t deter Street so much as inspire him. He’s a healthy guy: eats organic and exercises regularly. But no amount of nutritional or physical penance could forgive the health sins of his desk job. Farming would align his career with the food systems he supported and the active lifestyle he sought.
But first, he’d need a few lessons.
Enter Elma C. Lomax Incubator Farm, an organic farm in Concord that supports aspiring farmers by teaching them the business and offering enough firsthand experience to dispel any romantic notions of the job. It’s like an MBA program, but with soil.