With our series At the Market, we’ll highlight some of our favorite farmers market vendors from the Nashville area.
There is joy at Maypop Farmstead. And fruits and vegetables, goumi berries, elderberries, herbs, flowers, rescue animals and so much more. The mononymous McCall runs the farm and, with their team, distributes its produce throughout Nashville. They do this by selling wholesale and CSA boxes, vending at the Amqui Station Farmers Market, donating to the Nashville Community Fridge, and inviting people to their Joelton farm for tours, horse-riding packages and workshops.
Farming is an arduous job. It’s made even harder for McCall, who is trans, due to transphobic-driven hardships — McCall describes hateful social media messages, property damage and threats to their physical safety. At markets, McCall says, some people steer clear of their booth, or make inappropriate comments. This has complicated their already complex relationship with farmers markets.
“I don’t love that [at] farmers markets, the farmer has to pay to be on public land selling a thing,” says McCall. “It’s complicated, because the market manager does deserve to make a living.”
Even so, they show up when they can because they also have to make a living, and “it’s really important to me to be present in those spaces because it is such important representation,” says McCall.
Despite their challenges, McCall is quick to point out their privileges. The love and attention they pour into their work is apparent when they discuss their animals and farming practices.
“We do try to do good for the soil,” says McCall. “We try to plant native plants, we don’t till or dig with a tractor, and we try to cite our sources and say that it is an Indigenous practice and that it’s not regenerative.”
They’re particularly passionate about herbs, and making teas, tinctures, salts and syrups with them — you might find those products in a CSA box alongside veggies, eggs and more. People can engage with Maypop by buying their products, participating in workshops, boosting social media posts and, perhaps most importantly, just being kind to them and other queer folks. A supportive community makes a world of difference.
“[It’s] so fucking beautiful to be in community with other queer people that are being humans and not adhering to societal gender norms and making their own gender norms and just being beautifully diverse,” says McCall. “I think that that’s a very good reflection of Earth and nature and how plants grow — it’s very, beautifully diverse.”
