Urban farm offers healthy produce for the community
By Loán C. Lake
When Cherie and Wisdom Jzar first explored the option of growing their own food in the early 2000s, they envisioned a small homestead with vegetables, herbs and perhaps chickens and other livestock to provide their growing family with affordable, nutrient-rich food. Twenty-one years later, the husband and wife team have gone from novices at farming to owning Deep Roots Community Planning Solutions Farm, a seven-acre agricultural hub in northwest Charlotte.
Their primary motivation was to always have a healthy source of produce for themselves and their five children. With this in mind, the couple normalized going outside to pick dinner ingredients and have passed on their passion for holistic living to their daughters and son.
As they built their skills and shared their extensive harvests with friends and neighbors, they were frequently questioned about when they would sell their products.
Intrigued by the possibility, the couple began to frequent area farmers markets to better understand who supplied food to Charlotte and Mecklenburg County residents. They quickly realized the dearth of women and Black farmers at local open-air markets in Charlotte and decided to do something about it.
“I didn’t see farmers who looked like me and this was very concerning,” Cherie said. “I mean, I saw Black patrons, but in fact, many of the farmers were from out of the area because of the declining numbers of farms in Mecklenburg County.”
The disparities were more evident as she evaluated the number of Black farmers in the region. It was that stark reality that led Cherie and Wisdom to establish a network of urban farmers with whom they could share knowledge and resources.
While she still shops in traditional grocery stores for some essentials, Cherie said her family is mostly self-sufficient for their meals. “We don’t do any milling, so we still go to the store to get flour and other essentials,” she said. “However, there is not a day that I feel that I want to give this all up. My love of gardening started all of this, because it was therapeutic to be in nature with my hands in the soil.”
A nationally certified urban planner by training, Cherie has fully embraced her role as a farmer and provider of nutritious food for her community. She handles the business and marketing functions of their business and shares the educational component with her husband, a former retailer who also leads the farming, handles upkeep and repairs, and manages the day-to-day operations of Deep Roots.
“Wisdom ensures that we have healthy produce and is also our resident carpenter, mechanic, and engineer. Our children — ages 25, 21, 19, 13 and 7 — also participate in the work to be done along with four other members of our team,” she said.
After experiencing success with their home-based farm, the Jzars expanded their focus in 2019 and formalized their urban agriculture business, turning their homestead into a thriving business focused on regenerative food-growing practices. The organization’s mission is to connect people with agriculture in meaningful ways.
“Our family values are to leave your community better than what you inherited. If we don’t have local farms and foods then it comes from somewhere else. Covid-19 showed us the importance of having a local source of food due to the lack of transportation sources delivering food locally,” Cherie said.
“People were calling us from South Carolina for us to provide eggs. If we have a city full of housing, but no place to go on the land and get food, we are dependent on someone else to provide that. That’s not a world I want my children and grandchildren to live in,” she said.
In September 2024, Deep Roots CPS Farm acquired a forty-four-acre farm in Monroe, North Carolina – a significant accomplishment for the urban farmers and a way to strengthen their presence in the state.
“Our home base is in northwest Charlotte, but to preserve a farm and expand our operations into Monroe is almost like a dream come true,” said Cherie. “ We will run it and broaden our current agritourism offerings, dedicating 15 acres of land for activities. We will also have a section of land for beginning farmers — hopefully farmers of color — who don’t have access to land,” she said.
Beyond traditional farming, Jzar and her family offer farm management services for owners who require added support, and host farm to table events and tours for those curious about farm life in an urban setting. They also offer classes for children and adults, including their ‘junior farmers’ summer camp for 8 to 18-year-olds.
The Jzars continue to increase their impact on the community around them as they build strong, healthy families through their work. The farm offers memberships for residents looking for consistent fresh food options for their own meals. They also manage a one-acre farm for Gaston County schools, which enables the school system to serve fresh salads to students weekly with produce from their own farm.
“This really is a family effort, and we want people to see a full representation of women, males, Black farmers, and youth when they visit,” said Cherie.
Charlotte area residents can support the farm by purchasing food items online (deeprootscpsfarm.com) or by visiting the Deep Roots stand at local farmers markets in Uptown Charlotte and Camp Northend. The farm offers interactive tours, horse rides, culinary experiences and other curated events.
Learn more about Deep Roots CPS Farm at deeprootscpsfarm.com.