Quincy Walker is still working his farm at 85 years old

Quincy Walker
Photo Credit: Antoinette Harrell

I began my morning by visiting Mr. Quincy Walker's farm. The dense fog that blanketed the Northshore did not prevent us from heading to the farm. After the fog cleared, I toured his 35-acre farm in Tangipahoa. As soon as I arrived in the area, he was waiting for me on the main highway in a Ranger Kinetic. Because of the mud, he informed me that my car would not be able to pass. 

I was eager to begin taking photographs and recording videos with my camera gear. Due to medical reasons, he was unable to get to the farm this summer. The moment his health permitted him to return to farming, something he "enjoys" doing. The area he took me to was a sugarcane field. He planted two types of sugarcane, blue ribbon and banana. John Womack gave me some seeds from his place for the cane you see right here.  The sugarcane stalks need to be cleaned of dead leaves, which he wants me to watch him do. He wore a long sleeve shirt to protect his skin from the sharp blades of the long and thin leaves that can cut you. "You don't want this to cut you," Walker said. When you take a bath, you talk about something that stings you, and it hurts," he said. 

Quincy Walker
Photo Credit: Antoinette Harrell

He drove me around the farm to look at the many rolls of sugarcane. The next step is to cut and stack it in bundles for the mill. To document their process of cutting it down and stacking it, I asked him if I could
join them. I was assured it would be fine if I documented the process. As I watched Walker work with a tool that he designed to make the job easier, I was equally impressed with his ingenuity. He made a handle that appeared to be 6 feet long to reach the tall stalks. He said, "I made the handle myself." In order to reach the top of the tall stalks, I needed a handle that was long said Walker. 

Some of his agricultural knowledge came from his ancestors and older people in the community who were farmers as well as his Indian heritage. We knew how to survive he said. This is why I enjoy talking with him and most importantly learning from him. For the most part he gets help here and there. When no one is available, Walker does most of the farm work by himself. A part of the farm is also used for raising cattle. I anticipate watching him work his crop on his farming the upcoming days.