The skies opened up as members of the Sudanese Farm Group gathered at their plot in New Hope on a recent Sunday — a welcome respite to the group’s parched field.
As the storm passed through, the members, who gather each Sunday to tend the farm and share a meal, began to set up for dinner. Salwa Suliman and Faeiza Hazag set out mouthwatering dishes and kisra, a flatbread used to scoop the food from plate to mouth.
Across the field Adil Ali, Abdelrahman Yousuf, Isam Elsheikh, and Maha Hasseb tended to a fresh crop of eggplant. The bright purple pods, shimmering with fresh rain, hung heavily on their vines, until Adil clipped them and tossed them into a quickly filling bucket. Adil explained their favored way of cooking them, stuffed with rice, meat and veggies.
A few rows over Yousuf checked on the heirloom tomatoes. He explained that the dry ending of summer had caused the fruit’s skin to crack and split. The cherry tomatoes in the hoop house had fared much better, Aadil Khalil said. “We should have spread the rows out more.”
After the bulk of the harvest had been pulled in, the friends retreated to the picnic table and began to dish up an afternoon feast. Soup made from zucchini, carrots, potatoes, and tomatoes was ladled into bowls. Beef kofta emerged from a small pot. Karkade, hibiscus tea, was a sweet highlight.
As everyone settled into their meal, the real magic of the Sudanese Farm Group became more apparent. The farm provides a focal point for the community to remain connected within their busy lives. To slow down and enjoy a meal among friends and family. Getting to walk away with the literal fruits of their labor after tending to the crops over a long summer is the icing on the cake, or perhaps the pudding on top of the kunafa.
