Assistant Grower Sammy Elwell did an Americorps VISTA service year at EarthDance as the farm storyteller (2023-2024). While spending time at the farm, he couldn’t get enough of what we call “Soil Time,” and now he’s back at EarthDance for the 2025 season as a member of the farm team. Sammy will also be the Friday staff lead at the Pay What You Can Farm Stand!
Sammy is originally from Portland, Oregon, but he has been living in the St. Louis area since the early 2000s – and has been a Ferguson resident for a handful of years. Sammy is always seeking to deepen his connection with and respect for our Mother Earth. Since moving to Ferguson, he has been busy outside replacing grass and weeds with food, medicine, and native MO plants. He enjoys sharing his homegrown okra and wild strawberries with his neighbors, and loves to show the neighborhood children which “weeds” are actually edible plants. He aims to sow this attitude of giving and sharing freely (whether it’s fresh veggies, plants/seeds, or plant knowledge), far and wide. “Plants are so generous. They work so hard to turn soil, air, water, and sunlight into food (and much more) and then they give it away. I hope that I can be like a plant in this way. You know? To be hardworking, and generous, and to grow.”