Tucked between train tracks, warehouses, and the Trinity River wetlands, Joppa might seem like an unlikely place for a flourishing farm. But here, in one of Dallas’s last Freedman towns, Joppy Momma’s Farm is growing more than food. It’s cultivating connection, resilience, and hope.
Founded by Kimberly High, the farm carries forward the legacy of her great-grandmother, Annie Collins Horn — known locally as Joppy Momma — whose garden once fed neighbors and travelers alike. Today, the same land is a hub for gardening, education, and community renewal.
A Name with Deep Roots
The farm’s name honors Annie Collins Horn, a neighborhood matriarch remembered for her generosity. Her large garden not only fed her family but also men traveling the rails in search of work. Peas, greens, whatever she had — no one left hungry.
Though she passed away in 1971, neighbors still recall her kindness. High now tends the same land, keeping that spirit alive.
A Personal Turning Point
For more than 30 years, High worked in an insurance office, raising four children while her health quietly declined. When she was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes — the same illness that had already shaped her family’s history — she made a life-changing decision.
She left her job “on a prayer” and turned to farming. At first unlikely (“I was a girly girl with perfect nails,” she laughs), working outdoors transformed her health and her vision. After gaining experience at Bonton Farms and Paul Quinn College’s We Over Me Farm, she discovered the deed to her great-grandmother’s land was still in the family. Joppy Momma’s Farm was born.
The History of Joppa
Joppa was founded in 1872 by Henry Critz Hines, an emancipated man determined to build a new community after slavery. Nestled between the Trinity River wetlands, the Great Trinity Forest, and the railroad, Joppa has long been defined by resilience in the face of barriers.
📖 Learn more about Freedman towns and their role in Texas history from the Texas Historical Commission.
Despite its rich heritage, the neighborhood has endured systemic neglect. It was federally designated a food desert, and residents face some of the highest rates of diabetes and chronic illness in Dallas County. Life expectancy here can be nearly two decades shorter than in neighborhoods just a few miles north.
Against this backdrop, Joppy Momma’s Farm is both a practical source of nourishment and a living testament to endurance.
A Farm for Today
Since launching in 2021, Joppy Momma’s Farm has transformed a once-abandoned lot into a vibrant community hub. Seasonal crops fill its rows — collards, peppers, melons, kale, beets, lettuces. Sunflowers shade cucumbers; zinnias and marigolds add color and pollinators.
The farm now offers:
- 🌱 Fresh food through a CSA program and neighborhood harvests
- ♻️ Community composting to create shared soil resources
- 🐓 Chickens and honeybees that deepen its sustainability
- 🧑🤝🧑 Volunteer days and field trips where groups learn by doing
Repurposed shipping containers serve as the office and market stand, with a pavilion designed by University of Texas at Arlington students inspired by historic shotgun houses. High envisions more: a teaching kitchen, expanded plots, and eventually, a garden in every Joppa household.
A Living Legacy
For High, Joppy Momma’s Farm is about more than vegetables. It is about reclaiming health, dignity, and connection in a neighborhood too often overlooked. “I won’t stop until everyone in Joppa plants a garden,” she says.
Like her great-grandmother, she sees food as a way to care for people. Each CSA box, volunteer day, and school field trip is part of a broader mission: “restoring, rebuilding, and regenerating the community one seed at a time.”
How to Experience Joppy Momma’s Farm
Want to step into this story with your students or group? Field trips at Joppy Momma’s Farm blend hands-on gardening with Dallas history, offering a powerful way to connect past and present.
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Also Read
✨ Interested in other mission-driven farms? Learn how Opal’s Farm in Fort Worth connects food, community, and the legacy of Opal Lee, the “Grandmother of Juneteenth.”
