In 2026, Land In Black Hands continued to grow through the relationships that make this work possible—with the land, with one another, and with the many people carrying knowledge, seeds, foodways, and traditions forward.
As we reflect on 2026 at Land In Black Hands we realize there are seasons when the work is about building, and there are seasons when the work is about simply being there. This season was a little of both. This season brought new opportunities to gather, learn, create, and care for the land together, from summer stewardship days to our Harvest Gathering, exploring the relationships between seeds, soils, people, and place.
We planted. We built. We learned. We gathered. We welcomed young people, farmers, families, elders, educators, healers, and new friends onto the land. We welcomed goats and chickens, watched baby chicks arrive, shared meals, worked with our hands, sat in circles, slept under the stars, and spent time getting to know this place—and one another—a little more deeply. We’re grateful to everyone who has helped nurture this work and excited to keep tending what’s growing, while making room for new relationships, new ideas, and what’s to come.
This season reflects what we’re growing together: a place where land-based learning, food sovereignty, cultural knowledge, stewardship, and creativity.
Rooted in Being
Last year, we talked about care: how we care for one another and create spaces of nourishment in difficult times.
This year, we began exploring something that comes before stewardship: relationship.
What happens when a farm becomes more than a piece of property and more like a place where community care can take root? A place where people can gather, learn, rest, grow, play, heal, and remember what it feels like to be connected?
This season gave us glimpses of that possibility as LIBH is still becoming. The gardens are still young. The buildings and infrastructure are still taking shape. Our relationships are still deepening. We are not finished, but yet, a living place never is. It is tended. It is visited. It is learned. It is shared. It is loved. And slowly, through our presence, it becomes home.
Dina, Osei and KLT land steward, Avi, laugh and swap memories while working together.
Activating the Land - Growing through Stewardship
Throughout the 2026 season, stewardship remained at the heart of Land In Black Hands. Across six land stewardship parties, community members gathered to plant, tend, restore, and learn from the land together—from spring planting and composting at the LIBH Land Base to ecological restoration and pollinator care across KLT’s conserved lands. These hands-on gatherings are about more than the work itself; they create opportunities to build skills, share knowledge, deepen relationships, and practice collective care. Each day on the land helps nurture the vision of a thriving, community-rooted space shaped by the people who show up to care for it.
Folks conclude the day with a gratitude circle for the many hands that help to make light work.
Thank you to the YMCA Farm Project for your partnership all season!
Avi and just one of the many friends we share this land with
Goats (and chickens) play distinct, complementary roles in silvopasture systems
New life on the land–Evie now has three chicks! (Meet Meshu)
Youth Retreat Recap
On August 4, we gathered with NEFOC members, Uptown & Boogie Healthy Project, and other community folks for an afternoon of land, food, creativity, and connection. Participants explored Red Fox Ravine, spent time planting and creating at the Land In Black Hands land base, and shared a delicious BBQ prepared by Chef Yunique Palmer. We’re grateful to everyone who brought their energy and joy to this summer gathering and helped create a day of meaningful connection with each other and the land.
Chef Yunique Palmer & Community member, Jonathan (aka JD)
Youth Retreat Participants, facilitators and friends gather around this amazing spread prepared collectively, led by Chef Yunique
Osei helping a student set up a tent for the first time
Student Tour Of Red Fox Ravine
Uptown & Boogie Healthy Project in the Akwasasanee corn field at the HV Farm Hub
For some of the young people, being on the land, spending time outdoors, and camping were completely new experiences. Several campers slept outdoors for the first time and had the chance to simply experience what it feels like to have access to places like this.
One young participant shared that, before coming, he didn’t think “this type of thing was for people like me.” But he came anyway—and was so glad he didn’t let that stop him. Over the course of the experience, he found himself loving the land, the activities, and the opportunity to try something new.
That is part of what we mean when we talk about LIBH as a place of possibility. Sometimes belonging begins with simply being invited through the gate. From there, a young person can discover something they didn't know was available to them and perhaps begin to imagine themselves differently because of it.
We are grateful to Uptown & Boogie, NEFOC, our facilitators, and everyone who helped make this experience possible.
Oct 3rd Harvest Gathering Recap
Thank you to everyone who joined us for our annual LIBH Harvest Gathering! We’re still carrying the warmth, wisdom, and connections from this beautiful afternoon.
Together, we gathered around seeds and soil to share knowledge, stories, food, and practices rooted in care for the land and one another. From the talking circle to learning about the soil at LIBH, preparing food with Chef Yunique, and connecting over a shared meal, the day was a reminder of how much we can grow when we learn and gather together.
A special thank you to our facilitators and collaborators—Chenae Bullock, Mimi Lucero, Chef Yunique Palmer—for sharing their knowledge, stories, and gifts with our community.
May the seeds we gathered—both literal and otherwise—continue to grow. Check out more photos here.
Kristen and Osei make connections through soil
From Collards to Seeds: Continuing the Work
Our relationship with collards continues to grow. This season, community members gathered at Hudson Valley Farm Hub to thresh and process collard seeds—a hands-on opportunity to learn about the often-overlooked work of preserving and carrying seed forward.
Now, the Collard Project is entering its next phase: seed collection. We are gathering and preserving seeds from this season’s plants, continuing a practice that connects food, culture, agricultural knowledge, and the generations who will come after us.
What began with collards has become a deeper exploration of what it means to preserve not only a crop, but the knowledge, stories, and relationships held within it. We’re grateful to the farmers, growers, elders, educators, and community members who continue to help this project take root.
Honoring Knowledge, Culture, and Place
We’re also very excited to be partnering with Ikechukwu Sharpe, a photography student at SUNY New Paltz and recipient of a 2026 Barnabas McHenry Hudson River Valley Award from the Open Space Institute, on “Becoming Earth,” a multimedia project documenting the experiences of West African rice farmers at Ever Growing Family Farm in Ulster Park. Through photography, video, and interviews, Ikechukwu will explore the connections between food sovereignty, climate-resilient farming, migration, cultural knowledge, and the land. The project offers an opportunity to celebrate the knowledge and practices shaping local agriculture while creating a record of stories that are deeply connected to food, identity, and place. We’re honored to support this work and look forward to sharing what emerges with the community.
Ikechukwu Sharpe and West African rice farmers at Ever Growing Family Farm
KLT’s Land In Black Hands Receives Grant from Hudson Valley Credit Union Charitable Foundation
Land In Black Hands Food Forest & Community of Care Fellowship has been awarded a $50,000 grant from the HVCU Charitable Foundation! This generous support will help us continue nurturing the Land In Black Hands community, supporting land-based learning and stewardship, and creating space for connection, food sovereignty, and collective care.
We’re deeply grateful to the HVCU Charitable Foundation for recognizing and investing in this work, and we’re excited for what this support will make possible in the coming year. Thank you for helping us grow this vision for community, land, and a more rooted future.
The Work Continues
As we look toward the seasons ahead, Land In Black Hands continues to take root as a living place for connection, learning, nourishment, and care. Each gathering, planting, conversation, and relationship adds another layer to what we are growing together. We’re grateful to everyone who has helped nurture this work and shared in its unfolding. There is much more to grow, and we look forward to continuing this journey together—rooted in land, community, and the knowledge we carry forward.