When we say America was built from ancestors' blood, sweat and tears, this statement cannot be truer 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 was incorporated as city in 1869. Before becoming a city, Colfax 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 bought the farm in the 1930s from the Calhoun Family.

Granddaughter Diana Kimble left her life in Dallas, Texas and returned home to Colfax with a new life mission of environmentally conserving 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 seem to hide it from the rest of the world. The garden is filled with a lot of different kinds of healthy herbs and vegetable treats, such as hibiscus, strawberries, blueberries, and tomatoes. She is looking forward to preparing a hibiscus tea recipe that she received during a visit to the Southern University Ag Center.

Diana also 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. Diana has a unique method of recycling plastic pail tops. They are placed at the base of plants as a way to ward off plant diseases and harmful ground insects. She says organic gardening will provide her a way to grow safe and affordable food for the Colfax Community and for Central Louisiana.

With four generations involved in the hard work of revitalizing their farm, it will be viewed a priceless family treasure forever.

The desire for future family and community generations to appreciate agriculture, environment, and history runs deep throughout the Kimble Family. The family farm is the future site of an African-American historical, agricultural, and cultural center. The family bought a building from a local Catholic church which will be converted into the center. This center will serve the Colfax community by offering workshops on such topics as organic vegetable production and African-American history's role in establishing worldwide agricultural practices. The center's classroom will be named after a relative who had a calling to become a nun, but was unable to fulfill her calling because of health issues.

Southern University Ag Center research associate Lashunda Anderson, PhD, is working closely with the Kimbles to ensure a successful family farm for the Colfax community.

The Kimbles credit the Ag Center's "Cash for Conservation" workshop for sparking their interest in generating alternative farm income from native grass and wildlife conservation and production. They were the first participants to sign up for the workshop. Since attending the workshop, the Kimbles have been vigilantly working to get their farm involved in available USDA-NRCS Conservation Reserve Programs and upcoming Ag Center Native Grass Producers' Initiatives.

Anderson oversees the Center's Native Grass and Wildlife Project.

For more information, contact Anderson at lashunda_anderson@suagcenter.com or (225) 771-2242 ext. 235.