YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Bird songs echo across the field at the Bronson Family Farm, a community project started by Constance Burgess.

Starting with 4 acres of the Lansdowne Airport, Burgess is creating a space where people can enjoy getting their hands dirty, learn how to grow their own food and transform soil and seeds into meals.

From 5:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, she hopes to welcome many others to that peaceful location on Youngstown’s east side at 2350 Lansdowne Blvd. for a Community Grow Day.

“People need to know about growing,” Burgess said. “They need to know about nutrition. They need to know how to take care of themselves and know that the grocery store is not responsible. We are responsible for ourselves.”

To Burgess, teaching others to grow their own food and take care of themselves, as well as creating something that benefits the community as a whole, is all about leaving a legacy.

Buoyed by $8,000 from Valley Economic Development Partners and several community and business partners, Burgess is preparing the property for planting. She has been laying flattened cardboard boxes over untested soil, and then dirt is being added to create the first corner of the farm. The event’s premier sponsor, Elliott’s Garden Center, is providing truckloads of compost to that area.

She said she has thousands of varieties of seeds ready to plant, many from ER Seeds. She hopes volunteers will help transform sticks into building a fence and trellises in the farming area. Pallets will be converted into growing tables.

Burgess plans on using vertical growing techniques to allow better use of the space. A building and two trailers on the property will house additional vertical growing, allowing for continued production in the winter months.

Community Supported Agriculture pricing will allow those who volunteer to earn a share of the food produced – based on their level of commitment, measured by time spent during the season. Restaurants, schools and others can buy produce.

Seasonally, the farm will also provide areas for RC toy racing, an 18-hole miniature golf course, a novelty shop and even glamping, or “glamourous camping.” There will be a bee aviary and the flowers that attract them.

She envisions a restaurant on the property, where the food comes right from the field to the fork, and culinary students can learn to develop recipes and menus.

But first the airport property, a place full of history, needs some work to get seeds growing this spring. The Lansdowne Association gave the Bronson Family Farm access to develop up to 118 acres. Burgess would like to see more people, businesses and organizations interested in helping.

“I’m looking for students in workforce development to come out here and use the farm as a project,” Burgess said. “They can call it their own. That is what’s going to make it a community farm. This is not my farm.”

On Saturday, a soft launch of the farm will give the community a chance to learn about the project. Visitors can get seeds and plants for their own home gardens and participate in gardening and cooking demonstrations. Lunch will come from locally grown produce. The day will include a children’s gardening workshop, an RC Toys Club demonstration and children’s activities and nature art.

At 5:30 a.m. Saturday, the farmland will be blessed, because as Burgess said, the farm is there to bring hope for the future and comes from a higher power than herself.

She hopes, eventually, to expand what is cultivated at the working farm, growing fresh produce, creating farm-to-table meals and educating everyone, from school children to the elderly, about self-sustainability.

“This is for second chance folks. This is for seniors. This is for little babies who are getting their feet in the dirt,” Burgess said.

She wants everyone across Youngstown and the surrounding areas to feel like they have a place to volunteer, grow, teach others and return to nature.

“This will be a place of community,” Burgess said. “You’ll be able to sit, listen to the birds. You’ll be able to smell the flowers, look at the butterflies. This is going to be a place of healing.”

To register for Saturday’s event, click HERE.

Pictured at top: Constance Burgess uses cardboard to prepare an area for planting at the Bronson Family Farm.