/ The Pilot

The Market Garden — one acre, on purpose.

A working pilot at The Farm at Okefenokee in Folkston, Georgia. Three women from Trinity Rescue Mission's residential program. Heirloom seed in the rows. Food on the table at the Mission's downtown Jacksonville kitchen.

At a glance

We started small on purpose. The pilot is designed to validate yields, costs, processes, and flows before we scale to 100 acres — and to give three women from TRM's residential program real, paid work in a place where the rhythm of the land mirrors the rhythm of recovery.

Where: Folkston, GA
Acreage: 1 acre planted
Workforce: 3 women, TRM
Destination: TRM kitchen, Jax

Year One Goal

11,000 of 25,000 meals

44% to goal Updated April 2026

Where we are

Year-one progress, step by step.

Three milestones complete, one in motion right now, and two more before the pilot year closes.

✓

Step 01

Soil prepped & tested

Foundation laid in fall — the slow work nobody sees.

✓

Step 02

Irrigation installed

Drip lines run, system pressurized and operational.

✓

Step 03

First planting

Heirloom seed started in The Farm at Okefenokee greenhouse, transplanted to the field.

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Step 04

Tend & harvest, cycle 1

Regular rhythm of watering and cultivating through the growing season.

→

Step 05

Plant, tend, harvest — cycles 2 & 3

Two more rotations through the same acre — summer crops and a fall planting before the year closes.

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Step 06

Pilot review & playbook

Yields, costs, processes documented — what we learned, what we'd repeat, what changes for year two.

Beyond the pilot

Scale to 100 acres.

The pilot exists to earn the right to do this at scale. Master plan in motion. Grant work underway.

∞

Pilot budget

$300,000, five line items.

Every dollar is tied to a person, a roof, a road, or a plan. Bar widths reflect approximate proportions of the working budget — final allocations will be reported as the year closes.

Line 01

Wages

Compensation for the women working the garden — real paychecks, not stipends.

Line 02

Housing

Nearby accommodations.

Line 03

Transport

Travel between Jacksonville and Folkston for the women and the harvest.

Line 04

Master plan

Design and planning for the 100-acre scale-up that follows year one.