How do I heal my soul when it’s damaged? Cultivate a healing place farm and apiary to aid in trauma processing and soul-to-soul healing with Tamarya Sims.
In the Cherokee creation story, a buzzard creates the mountains and valleys with each flap of his wings. It’s these very same mountains and buzzards that envelop Tamarya Sims (they/them) with a sense of peace and protection as they farm this tribal land in Western North Carolina. Tamarya is a Black environmentalist, farmer, herbalist, educator, and beekeeper. I had the pleasure of interviewing them recently about their experiences residing and working in rural Appalachia.
Britney: Can you tell me where the name Soulfull Simone Farm came from?
Tamarya: Simone is my middle name and is sentimental to me, and Soulfull is intentionally spelled incorrectly. I added two Ls to the end because I wanted people to ask me why. The reason is I want people to come to my farm and leave with their souls feeling fed. So, in the same way your stomach is full when you’re done eating, I want your soul to be full when you leave my farm.
Soulfull Simone Farm and Apiary
How did you become interested in farming and beekeeping? Who or what are your influences?
In my last year of college at the University of North Carolina, Asheville, I realized I wanted to learn more about edible plants and wanted to intern on a farm to see if it was something that I actually wanted to do long-term. Unfortunately, I didn’t get an internship, but the executive director saw how dedicated and determined I was. They ultimately found enough money to hire me to work once a week, and that was my first time getting into farming.
On top of that, I took entomology in college when I studied abroad in New Zealand. As someone who’s really in love with ecology and how systems play into themselves, I became interested in how insects come up in farming — whether that’s pests, parasites, or even insects that manage other insects. Then, I got into pollinators. Since I’m someone who’s into plants and how plants work, I have to think about pollinators. That’s initially what led me to honeybees. I then attended a beekeeping workshop in Caldwell County.
I also interned on an educational farm in Durham called DPS Hub Farm, and they kept honeybees. In this position, I got closer to the bees, and I really loved the education around pollinators. Since honeybees are the only pollinators we can keep in a box, beekeeping is a great way to educate people by displaying how pollinators work. At this particular farm, the setup was amazing; the bees were right by the garden. There was a platform you could stand on and watch the bees fly over your head. I thought that was not only a cool way to get kids excited about pollinators, but also a way to encourage more comfort around them. DPS Hub Farm was such a great place to start, and it’s what I want to model my farm after.
You’re currently farming on the ancestral land of the Eastern Band of Cherokees. Can you tell me what that means to you and how it influences your work?
I feel spiritual reverence when I’m working this land, and I feel protected. A lot of the time, I think about the Cherokee culture and the people who’ve built the soil I’m working on. The soil on this farmland is super fertile, and I always attribute that to the Indigenous and enslaved people in the area. I always try to feel connected to them and to respect and preserve the land they worked so hard to nourish. I feel like they protect me and keep me safe in this rural area that doesn’t always feel safe to me.
In the creation story of the Cherokee, it says a buzzard created the mountains. It flapped its wings, and every time it flapped, it created a mountain. When I’m out on the farm, there are a lot of buzzards, so when I see them, I smile, and I know that I’m being protected. That’s something I truly believe in, and sometimes I feel like I have to if I’m going to feel comfortable.
I’m glad you asked that question, because there are a lot of land acknowledgments happening in the world and no real action is being taken to actually give the land back to the Cherokee or to give them reparations. It’s a lot of talk, and I don’t want to be another person who does that.
I believe the Cherokee people have all of the education, knowledge, and wisdom they need. Ultimately, I feel like I’m learning from them.
Healing Place Farm
I read on your website that you want your farm to be a “healing space for all traumas.” Can you tell me a little bit more about what this means to you and what led you to this mission?
When I started my journey with herbalism, I started learning more about trauma and grief, which are things I didn’t typically delve into. There are a lot of ways grief and trauma show up in our lives that don’t have to do with death, and I started seeing that in myself and in others. I really want my farm to be a healing space for folks with land trauma, or generational trauma associated with the land, and people whose ancestors were enslaved or displaced. So, although I want to target Black and Brown folks, and they come first for me, there are a lot of ways other folks out there need healing, and I want my farm to be a safe place where they can all come and heal.
I see similar grief and trauma in people who aren’t Black or who don’t have a history of enslaved ancestors. This can look like childhood trauma, addiction, abuse, anything. I don’t personally have any certifications or licenses to be a therapist, but I do strive to bring people to the farm who can conduct those types of things — whether that’s counseling, yoga, self-defense classes, or whatever people need to help them work through their grief and trauma.
I personally like to use farming as a way to heal, because when I’m doing so, I find out a lot about myself and I feel very connected to my ancestors. I have some mental health things I go through daily, and when I started farming, that became my sanctuary and my place where I felt calm, even though I didn’t always feel safe. When I’m experimenting with plants, bees, or animals, I definitely feel a sense of calmness and connectedness. Farming is how I work through things for myself, so that’s ultimately what I want to share with other people, but I do want to say that there are a lot of other ways to deal with trauma, and I want to bring those to the farm as well.
I haven’t gotten far enough to connect this to beekeeping just yet because we need more equipment to have more people involved — like more jackets and veils. For now, I teach people about the bees from afar. In those times, I always have a lesson plan, but when I’m with people, they bring up things that have happened to them or they relate the experience to something else, and those are the moments I live for. It isn’t just farming for me, it’s relationships and using this vessel to help people get to where they want to be.
Soul to Soul Healing
What are some of your other missions or goals?
Almost everyone has some fear when it comes to insects, particularly bees. A huge part of the work I want to do in having Black and Brown folks feel comfortable on the land is introducing them to honeybees, even if it’s from afar for now. I think that when they see me with the bees, people become more interested and more at ease.
It all goes back to education for me. I never wanted to make money off of farming. I’ve always wanted it to be an educational experience for other folks and for myself. Honey is a byproduct. I definitely don’t beekeep for honey. I beekeep for educational purposes. Along with this, I want to cultivate education around flowers and how pollinators are to thank for them. That’s another way I’m hoping to introduce environmentalism to people.
When I sell my flowers, I’d like to include a little card that notes what flowers are in the bouquet, what insects pollinate them, and any information about how they’re medicinal or edible. I also want to actively strive for my farm to be a place that all children can come to learn — not just affluent or privileged children. They need hands-on experiences, because the classroom environment isn’t doing it for them.
What has beekeeping taught you?
Any beekeeper knows it teaches you patience! That’s for sure! When you start something new, you want to micromanage it and get instant gratification, but it doesn’t always work that way. Beekeeping has also taught me attention to detail and how to assess personality when it comes to bees. I feel like people don’t always understand that. You can have two different hives with two completely different personalities.
I’m a people watcher. I observe people and systems, and I feel like that’s one of my best skills. It’s also something you need to beekeep. You have to be able to observe things, because sometimes you’ll go into a hive, and you’ll be like, “Yep, I’m going to get stung today.” You know that’s going to happen because you can feel it. You can see it. You can hear it. There are so many senses you have to rely on. Beekeeping is largely anticipating what’s going to happen before it happens.
It’s knowing how to read the situation and how to slow down when necessary. There were a few weeks when I first began that I simply didn’t have enough time to go through the hive slowly. So, I would try to go fast, and that just doesn’t work. You can miss big things.
Beekeeping also helps me be in the moment in this life of living so fast. When you get in that hive, everything slows down, and you’re in your place, you’re just there. I’m also learning how to educate and help other folks be comfortable around bees. Beekeeping creates great conversations, and I’ve felt a lot of personal development from it. That’s what I value most.
Black Beekeeper Struggles
Can you tell me more about your experiences or struggles as a Black beekeeper in this community? What does your support system look like?
I think this overlaps with being a Black environmentalist, a Black farmer, or any Black person in science and STEM. I find that people are either amazed that I know what I know, or they’ll try to trip me up or forcibly “teach” me things I already know. People are either amazed or they try to tear me down. Neither response is great. There are many moments when people will say, “Well, you didn’t know this, and you don’t know that,” and so on.
But this isn’t my full-time job. I don’t get to do this all the time; I’m learning as I go. I never say I’m an expert at anything, I just dabble in a lot of things. So, it can definitely be hard; there’s already this intimidation factor when you go into beekeeping spaces. It’s very white, it’s very old, and it’s very masculine. It feels like I get looked down on if I don’t know something, or people are so amazed when I do know something. They wouldn’t have those responses if I were an older white male. It’s not only with beekeeping, however. It’s with all aspects of my career, so it’s definitely hard to show up in those spaces.
I tend to avoid them, to be completely honest. I like to focus on learning things by myself or finding YouTube videos. Even the Facebook pages can be very condescending at times. There’s no support out here for me, really. When I was in Durham, however, I found out about Sankofa Farms, which is managed by Kamal Bell and his wife, Amber. We became good friends and even took bee school together. Whenever I have a bee issue, I FaceTime Kamal. He’s so busy building his legacy, so I really appreciate him giving me the time of day. He’s always willing to look in at my hive, tell me what I need to know, and give me tips. He’s a great person. He always knows about some new honeybee research that’s happening, or he’s implementing new things into his apiary.
I’ve brought these things up in some groups around western North Carolina, and the general response was, “Oh, we don’t do that here.” So I had to be like, “Uh, okay, guess I’ll try it on my own then.” It’s been super hard. It’s even harder being a person who always tries to cultivate what they want in every aspect of what they do. I don’t see any people like me in beekeeping, so I want to become an example for other people, but it’s hard getting there.
Do you have any thoughts or ideas on how to encourage people of color to become involved in beekeeping? More importantly, ways this community can be more inclusive and encouraging?
If the beekeeping club were to have grants for Black and Brown beekeepers to get started, that would be nice. Having more education and being more tied to the school system would also be great. That’s important to me. I’ve always struggled with the school system and how it’s set up. I learned a lot better hands-on and outside. I think beekeeping is an easy way to help folks who don’t thrive in the typical classroom, who often tend to be Black and Brown kids. I see a lot of the issue being connected to the school system not seeing value in outdoor or environmental education. Really, it all comes down to being more welcoming to people who just want to learn, people who obviously don’t have the answers, or they wouldn’t be there.
I will also add that a lot of the issues I come across with all aspects of my career in farming end up getting directed to the city government. I’m pretty sure you’re not allowed to have bees within city limits here. That’s a big issue. Maybe if there were some kind of relationship with the beekeeper club and the city to allow members to have bees in their backyard, that would be helpful. It’d be so much easier to teach people about bees if the bees were in city limits. It’s hard to go out into the middle of nowhere. It’s hard to feel safe and to want to go all the way out there to learn about bees. Ultimately, a lot of the issues I go through go straight back to the city government. I think the largest hurdles usually have something to do with money and power.
Is there anything else you feel is important to share with readers?
Do your research before you get bees. It’s important. Beekeeping isn’t easy — we all know that — but there are a lot of ways you affect the environment when you beekeep. Consider asking yourself if you’re actually interested in becoming a beekeeper or simply interested in the fact that it happens. Can you potentially use that money to support another beekeeper that is already doing it?
You don’t always have to actually do things to promote them or engage with them. You can support someone who’s already doing it.
I also want to add that there needs to be more education around native pollinators! If you’re going to have a hive, I think you have to invest in promoting native pollinators in your area as well. That’s something I find truly important.
