Hard Earned Land: The Kimble Family Farm

By LaShounda Anderson, Ph.D.
Alcorn State University

COLFAX--When we say America was built from ancestor’s blood, sweat and tears, this statement cannot be truer than for the Kimble Family of Colfax, Louisiana. Colfax is a small city built by slaves and their descendants. Located in Central Louisiana’s Grant Parish, Colfax became a city in 1869. Before that, it was a 14,000 acre plantation called Calhoun’s landing.

Original land deeds prove that the 74-acre Kimble family farm was a part of the historic 14,000 acre plantation. Grandfather Kimble is believed to have purchased the farm in the 1930s from the Calhoun family.

Granddaughter Diana Kimble (pictured at right) retired from Texas Instruments in Dallas and returned home to Colfax. She had a new life mission: environmentally conserve her grandfather’s land while serving the community of Colfax.

She has established Kimble Organics on a small section of the farm. The organic garden is bordered by a beautiful bayou with large cypress trees that seems to hide it from the rest of the world. The garden is filled with herbs and vegetables including hibiscus, strawberries, blueberries and tomatoes. She is looking forward to preparing a hibiscus tea recipe she received during a visit to the Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Baton Rouge, where she is currently participating in the Small Farmer Agricultural Leadership Institute.

Kimble composts and recycles materials on-site for use in the organic garden. She is currently composting branch and trunk shredding from trees just cleared off the land. Her unique method of recycling plastic pail tops is to place them at the base of plants to ward off plant diseases and harmful ground insects. She says organic gardening will provide a way to grow safe and affordable food for the Colfax community and for central Louisiana.

The desire for future generations to appreciate agriculture, environment and history runs deep in the Kimble family. The family farm is the future site of an African-American history, agriculture and cultural center. The family purchased a building from a local Catholic church for one dollar and plan to convert it into a community center. The center will have workshops on topics such as organic vegetable production and African-American history’s role in establishing worldwide agricultural practices. The center’s classroom will be named for a relative who had a calling to become a nun, but was unable to fulfill her calling because of health issues.

The Kimbles credit the Ag Center’s Cash for Conservation Workshop for sparking their interest in how to make alternative farm income through native grass and wildlife conservation and production. Since attending the workshop, the Kimbles are working to get their farm involved in available USDA-NRCS Conservation Reserve Programs and upcoming SUAREC Native Grass Producers Initiatives. With four generations involved in revitalizing the farm, it will be viewed as a priceless family treasure.

To get more information on USDA Conservation Programs, contact your local USDA-Farm Service Agency Office or USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service Office.

For information on the upcoming Southern University Agricultural Center and Research Center Native Grass Producer Incentives, contact Adell Brown, Ph.D.,  vice chancellor for finance and administration, at 225-771-2242. For information on the Leadership Institute, visit aginstitute.suagcenter.com