• By Todd Luck
• Posted Friday, September 17, 2021

Incubator Farm at Horizons Park to cultivate future farmers

The Memorial Industrial Community Development Corporation (MICDC) held a Community Food and Farm Groundbreaking on Saturday, Sept. 11 for a new incubator farm located at Horizons Park.

The land for the farm was provided by Forsyth County, which owns and manages the park. The county also provided a water connection to allow farmers to irrigate the crops. The MICDC initiative addresses issues of food insecurity and will teach people how to become farmers, in partnership with North Carolina Cooperative Extension’s Forsyth County office.

Since access to quality land is an obstacle for many beginning farmers, the farm has rentable space to grow on. It also has a high tunnel, which is a covered area that extends the season that farmers can grow in. MICDC’s vision of the project is to provide individuals with land to grow crops and a market to sell them.

The incubator farm is located on former farmland used by the Memorial Industrial School, a black orphanage that was located on the land from 1928-1971. The orphanage was on a 425-acre property with its own farm, dormitories and power plant. It was not just a place where local children lived, but also where they learned and became productive members of society. The land is now Horizons Park with a portion serving as Horizons Residential Care Center.

The county is proud to partner with MICDC to help cultivate the next generation of farmers and continue the legacy of Memorial Industrial School. View pictures of the groundbreaking.

The Farm is located at the intersection of Memorial Industrial School Road and Horizons Lane in Horizons Park, Germanton NC. Visit their website for more information.