Obiora Embry’s Blog (2015) - Page 1 of 2

Obiora Embry’s Blog (2015) - Page 1 of 2

image from 13 November 2015

Friday, 13 November 2015 by Obiora Embry

Greenville, KY

I prepared 3 brown paper bags with seeds to broadcast. Added to the top of the bags and mixed in were Kelp Meal and Epsom Salt. For the eroded areas...

No image available

Sunday, 23 August 2015 by Obiora Embry

Greenville, KY

I added crushed egg shells to trees in the eastern forest that did not get them the last time. I also went around to each tree and added Epsom Salt. ...

image from 08 August 2015

Saturday, 8 August 2015 by Obiora Embry

Greenville, KY

I removed tops of the transplanted Blackberry and Raspberry bramble. To these plots I added Epsom Salt, Blackstrap Molasses, and Azomite. I also add...

No image available

Friday, 3 July 2015 by Obiora Embry

Greenville, KY

After a lull in the storm, I sowed seeds collected from a yard near the home of the late and great James R. Mapp in the barren areas to the south and ...

image from 24 May 2015

Sunday, 24 May 2015 by Obiora Embry

Greenville, KY

I re-watered the hügelkultur, bramble, all 4 of the potatoes, and compost pile. In the western forest I broadcasted Showy Goldenrod. In the Ea...

No image available

Saturday, 23 May 2015 by Obiora Embry

Greenville, KY

On the side of the road, I picked diverse plants and broadcasted the flowers seeds in various areas of the forest farming area. Then I added the rema...

image from 10 April 2015

Friday, 10 April 2015 by Obiora Embry

Greenville, KY

I sowed Red Bottle Torpedo Onion with the blackberry and raspberry bramble.

No image available

Thursday, 9 April 2015 by Obiora Embry

Greenville, KY

The #209 Mix was sown in barren/eroded areas. To the hole that was dug on the 8th, banana peels, apple cores, and more cardboard was added along with...

No image available

Wednesday, 8 April 2015 by Obiora Embry

Greenville, KY

I transplanted white daffodils throughout the forest garden (on both sides). I noticed deer ticks on me across the ditch, also saw deer feces. I not...

Blog Posts by Year

2013 (4)

2014 (9)

2015 (11)

2016 (6)

2017 (9)

2018 (13)

2019 (18)

2020 (44)

2021 (49)

2022 (26)

2023 (24)

2024 (18)

2025 (9)

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Getting Back to Nature™ @ Martin Acres

In March 2013, when twin brothers, Obiora and Irucka Ajani Embry, visited, for the first time, the two acres (now called Getting Back to Nature™ @ Martin Acres) they had requested for growing food on their eighth‐generation, black‐owned family farm, Martin Acres, they knew it would be an up‐hill battle because the soil was not fertile. Through Obiora’s reading of The Holistic Orchard: Tree Fruits and Berries the Biological Way by Michael Phillips, he knew that trees thrive in an alkaline (fungal dominant) soil; however, there were tell‐tale signs that the soil was acidic (bacterial dominant). This led Obiora and Irucka to utilize their previous experiences with growing food & information they gleaned from elders, books, conferences, and other resources to start improving the soil. Due to their family’s rich legacy and because of their non‐standard way of regenerating soil and growing food, they were interviewed in May 2020 for an article in the Middle Tennessee Local Table Magazine’s 2020 Annual Guide.

Their initial idea of planting heirloom trees and perennials paid off, even though the soil was too depleted for their survival, as the series of unfortunate events made their commitment to Getting Back to Nature™ stronger. The brothers had to re‐evaluate their approach and began to dig deeper into forgotten "southern foods." This is food that was (and is hopefully still) eaten by the original inhabitants who lived in the area. However, partly due to a planned disconnect of humans from Nature and the growing and/or foraging of food, our collective food intelligence has dwindled. Thus Irucka and Obiora have been re‐learning about these and other forgotten foods. Obiora and Irucka grew diverse native plants in the early years, and with the help of a now deceased cousin, Kevin C. Martin, they started to realize that some of the purchased plants were already growing at Martin Acres!

Along with the native perennials growing on their two acres, the twins sow heirloom annuals and forage wild plants to use in their diverse value‐added products. Through their similar but different agricultural practices they have been transforming the once fallow grazing land into a food ecosystem. Obiora and Irucka do NOT irrigate, but try to put plants where they would be found in Nature. By growing in this manner and by continuing to create healthy soil, even when there is a drought, the plants are often resilient.

In 2018, Obiora stopped talkin’ about it and started making artisanal products to sell. He tired of going to grocery stores and reading the long ingredient list of "simple" products, and wanted to become the change that he sought.

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