BLISS Meadows farm manager Saj Dillard is one of several staff working with Backyard Basecamp founder Atiya Wells, who sought to create a space where people of color can reconnect with nature in Baltimore. "I realized that God has put people in my life that see more in me than I see in myself, to not necessarily live up to their standards but live up to the standards that they see in me, and to maybe see that in myself as well,” Dillard said. (Photo by Marielle Scott/Chesapeake Bay Program)
Since beginning Backyard Basecamp, Wells has found connection to nature in Baltimore City and works hard to share that connection with her community. “There’s so many rewarding things of introducing people to concepts that they didn't know about or just didn't know that they could do in an urban environment,” Wells said. (Photo by Marielle Scott/Chesapeake Bay Program)
BLISS Meadows’ ten acres consists of two acres of grow space, a one-acre peace garden and pond, and seven acres of forested land. Atiya Wells found the property while taking a walk around her neighborhood looking for accessible green spaces where she could take her two kids and practice identifying plants and wildlife. (Photo by Marielle Scott/Chesapeake Bay Program)
The produce grown at BLISS is sold every week from June to October along with honey from the farm’s apiary and local vendors. (Photo by Marielle Scott/Chesapeake Bay Program)
Saj Dillard shows Jordan Bethea a baby rabbit she found roaming the grow space. Dillard never spent time outside before working at Backyard Basecamp. “Get outside, hug a tree, touch some grass, in all seasons for all lives, you never know how it will affect you until you do it,” Dillard said. (Photo by Marielle Scott/Chesapeake Bay Program)
Kieron George is Wells’ husband and has been by her side throughout the development of Backyard Basecamp. “I give a lot of sweat and tears for Backyard Basecamp, but my biggest motivation is the fact that I've seen her go from overnight nurse to outdoor enthusiast extraordinaire.” (Photo by Marielle Scott/Chesapeake Bay Program)
Saj Dillard weeds in the grow space while Jordan Bethea tends to newly planted fruit trees. Along with cultivating fresh produce, Dillard and Bethea tend to chickens, sheep, goats, honeybees, and additional grow spaces with medicinal herbs and native plants to support urban wildlife. (Photos by Marielle Scott/Chesapeake Bay Program)
Jordan Bethea, left, takes a rest while working in the grow space with Saj Dillard. At 34, Bethea says he did not expect to be a farmer and feels his lack of access to green spaces growing up is what brought him to Backyard Basecamp. “I know that there are young children across the city that need this experience, just as I did when I was a child.” (Photo by Marielle Scott/Chesapeake Bay Program)
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