In our first installment of #IAMSMALLAXE, our new series in which we are showcasing the people behind the peppers, we get to meet Susan from Blackacre Community Garden in Louisville, Kentucky.

A non-profit, Blackacre operates on a nature reserve that was originally established in 1795. Each year up to 60 Kentuckians, from high schoolers to retired adults, volunteer over 500 collective hours to helping the garden operate. With over 300 plots of varying sizes, they welcome all gardeners interested in growing healthy food, including organic or conventional. In addition, they offer all sorts of classes for children and adults alike to gardening.

Although Susan has only been with the farm since 2014, its origins date all the way back to the 1980s. As the only paid employee in the entire project, she and her gift of managing people are indispensable to the project, but as she notes, she wouldn’t be able to do it alone. Although she originally dismissed our initial email requesting to partner, thinking it was spam, it fortunately went to others at the farm until it truly got her attention. After looking more deeply into it and realizing that Small Axe was serious about sending seeds for free, she decided to give it a shot. In the first year, she admitted that she didn’t promote any pepper sales as she still hadn’t received a check. Well, that has changed after we delivered on our commitment and now she’s currently promoting the pepper sales heavily, as an excellent new stream of revenue.

In this interview, we learn all about how the community comes together to help her, more about the relationship they have with Small Axe Peppers, their connection with music and how they thrived during the COVID-19 Pandemic and much more.

Watch the full interview below: