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twinkle farms...
After over a decade of planning events and festivals, I found myself very successfully cultivating joyous spaces and experiences for countless people but moving at a million miles an hour while juggling colossal amounts of lists and information. I was in love with my life but I was inevitably burning out. Then in 2021, my daughter enters the scene - soulfully asking me to rethink my entire existence. So I did. Slowly but surely I processed and grieved, I learned to say no and to heed the little voice inside me screaming for a shift. I looked inward. I grew flowers. I tended chickens. I taught myself new tricks in the kitchen. I set my mind on homesteading. I welcomed great change. My yard and then inch by inch the Detroit land I’ve acquired over the years became my sanctuary, the place where the noise of society can be silenced. In nature, growth is inevitable. Natures pace is intentional. It's tried and true, slow and steady. It is ever present. That’s where I am now. That’s how Twinkle Farms was born. Our farm is a love letter vowing to heal this land and our hearts along the way. We are constantly building this space and we welcome you to enjoy the journey with us. -Allison
the land & practice...
It is a great honor to steward this slice of Earth in the Jefferson Chalmers neighborhood of Detroit. We sit on soil that needed remediating and wild city lots that needed taming. To repair this land for planting we always go with nature and never against it. We shaped this farm with permaculture methods and our souls vision for it. Our growing practices use completely organic, all natural methods. Pests are controlled with beneficial insects, plant derived tools, and companion planting techniques. Even so called weeds are taken into consideration for their value to the land. We welcome 95% of the plants we grow from seed and we awe in each as they turn into fruit and flower. All of our vegetables and crops are born from organic, non-GMO seed stock and as often as possible heirloom varieties.
the vision...
It is our opinion that as a collective and in this moment in time, human beings are lacking community. As our existence becomes more automated every day, our very nature as animals on this planet moves further from its biological instincts to be in communion with the land we inhabit. We started our farm not for income but as a healing tool for us in our personal journeys. We felt the need to live communally and learn self-sufficiency. We wanted to farm and build as a practice that moved us toward peace and safety in our hearts. Twinkle Farms became a place to cultivate and encourage life, a place to turn our minds to the awe and wonder of nature, a space for our children to connect with Earth as it was intended, a place to embrace death and the circle of life, a place to be in community with those around us. Inevitably, it became important to connect with our neighbors and to welcome collaboration as a way to grow collectively stonger. When we move toward a vision, the universe conspires. We feel it every day as we work and enjoy this land.
"Are not flowers the stars of Earth, and are not our stars the flowers of heaven?"
-Clara Lucas Balfour
