Remove Orchard Remove Sharecropping Remove Yield
article thumbnail

Black Earth: A Family’s Journey from Enslavement to Reclamation

Civil Eats

When the owner of the land where Byron was sharecropping died, he willed Byron at least 10 acres. Grover established a peach orchard in 1935, and cultivated grain and raised livestock until the late 1970s. It really is modern-day sharecropping. Every year, my yields are better, and Im putting less and less into the land.

article thumbnail

California Will Help BIPOC Collective Cultivate Land Access for Underserved Farmers

Civil Eats

Orchards and other perennials, for example, make more sense when you own your own land because they can take a while to mature. And while permanent crops don’t typically yield immediate profits, they can help buffer producers from pests, disease, and market spikes. That’s the only way we survived.”