“I care about taking care of myself, about the earth, but also taking care of each other,”says Candice Taylor, a Winooski resident who is starting up a new community garden called Conscious Homestead in her backyard. The mission of the Conscious Homestead is to promote land based learning that centers and decolonizes our relationship to the land and ultimately to ourselves and others. Candice’s vision is to create a wholeness center and gathering space for all seasons where BIPOC* individuals can get together and heal. The homestead and garden will be one aspect, and Conscious Homestead will also offer yoga, energy healing, meditation, healing circles, recalling our landcestors mentorship, fire ceremonies, liberation and self-sufficiency workshops, art workshops, community meals and more.
Candice already has some programming and projects going on. Currently her urban homestead has twelve raised beds and she maintains her land by using techniques like square foot gardening, companion planting, crop rotation, and cover crops. Along with the farming Taylor has a store called Conscious Homestead Botanica with medicinal and non-toxic products made from what is grown in her backyard. Part of that effort currently is giving out those products in BIPOC wellness care packages. She also offers an urban homesteading mentorship called Recalling Our Landcestors and has a learning kitchen which is a space for ancestral cooking and food sovereignty. Additionally Candice upkeeps a blog on her website with tips on starting a garden or urban homestead.
We unfortunately were not able to connect with Candice directly, but wanted to spread the word about the amazing work she has already done along with the amazing work she will continue to do. We are excited to see Conscious Homestead grow and flourish. To learn more about the project and how to support it visit https://www.candacejennifer.me/ or follow @conscioushomestead on Instagram.
*BIPOC=Black, indigenous, person of color
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