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- 9 - accessHealthNews.net June 2023 Volume 9 | Issue No. 71 A mber Smith, owner and founder of Farms by Amber, LLC, isn't afraid to get her hands dirty – even with a full set of pink stiletto nails. Following a promise to a friend to keep a few plants alive, Smith has since become a full- fledged "farmher" and cultivated a seemingly endless number of gardens and variety of produce both for herself and her community. The term "farmher" works to shine a light on women in agriculture. For Smith, who consistently supports and mentors fellow Black farmers/farmhers, small business owners, and women entrepreneurs, the term carries great pride. "I'm happy to say that I have all of these accolades behind my name but one thing I always drop is that Amber is a farmher," she said. "Outside of project management and all of those things, I'm not ashamed to say I'm a Black farmher and I love it." In addition to her farming, Smith also serves as project manager for KC Health Collaborative. She is a firm believer in the value of food as medicine and the importance of reconnecting with the earth, especially as a Black farmer. Through farming and gardening, Smith strengthens her bond with her loved ones, practices self-care, and honors ancestral roots in agriculture. Turning a Promise into a Passion Several years ago, Smith made a promise to a friend named Peggy to keep her patio full of plants alive after her death. Peggy had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and Smith cared for her throughout her illness and until her death on December 28, 2016. Though Smith didn't particularly have a green thumb at the time, she kept her promise to Peggy, keeping her plants alive for nearly a year following her death despite their difficult care requirements. "She had these beautiful, braided hibiscus trees that she loved, and hibiscus trees have several nuances to them," she said. "Those were the ones that I had to work the hardest on." Every year since, as a tribute to Peggy, Smith buys two or three hibiscus plants, continuously trying to find the right balance in their care (although suffering some casualties along the way). To continue processing the grief from watching Peggy pass away, she recruited a friend to help transform 6,000 square feet of terrace on the side of her house into a garden, eventually replacing the entire space with a series of beds. At the time she was also teaching and once word spread about her gardening, she was enlisted to lead the school's garden club. With her "natural take over spirit," she quickly grew the club's operation from a handful of beds to several spaces, including a 3,000-square-foot area to grow greens. What began as a promise to Peggy became a way of processing grief through creating life. Each new project she took on rapidly expanded as she continued to invest more in herself, in healing, and in exploring ways to nourish her community. On April 10, 2020, Smith lost her job. On April 19, 2020 – just nine days later and on her birthday – Smith shared on Facebook that she had been growing food and asked if there was any interest in purchasing from her. The response was overwhelmingly supportive, and she hasn't slowed down since. "That birthed Farms by Amber at that particular time and it's just kind of grown from there," she said. "That's my why. It's very healing for me to grow things. I think about life in terms of cycles: you reap what you sow. . . there will be times of fertilizer and times of planting and times of harvesting. It keeps me connected to the earth, it keeps me grounded, it reminds me of who I am and whose I am, more importantly. It works out the depression and the anxiety that I can sometimes battle with." "It's very healing for me to grow things. I think about life in terms of cycles: you reap what you sow. . . there will be times of fertilizer and times of planting and times of harvesting." - Amber Smith, Owner and Founder of Farms by Amber, LLC READ MORE

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