The vision behind Rooted Ginger Farm focuses on how it serves the community
SILOAM SPRINGS, ARK. – The nonprofit organization Rooted Ginger Farm was founded by Linda Birr in Siloam Springs, Ark. The 100 percent volunteer farm grows flowers, produce, worms, and chickens. The focus is on providing volunteers a place to learn and find therapeutic value while they grow food and flowers for people who are struggling in one way or another.
“Rooted Ginger Farm is a place where we grow organic food and flowers. Here, we feed the hungry; encourage the weary; inspire others to sustainably grow, while providing a meaningful place for people to come and volunteer,” the vision statement reads.
Founder Linda Birr can barely contain the excitement in her voice as she talks about the farm, which she started in 2020. Rooted Ginger Farm became a 501 (c) (3) in March 2025, making all donations to the farm tax-deductible. The farm’s name comes from several sources, she said.
“I’m a redhead, and that’s partly where the ginger comes from,” she said. “I also love to grow and eat ginger.”
The word rooted is partially a play on words, given the fact that Linda grows a variety of flowers and plants. It’s also rooted in the idea of serving others. The farm has multiple components focused on service, including giving the volunteers the opportunity to learn, grow, and heal from personal trauma. In the last year or so, the farm has had more than 1,100 volunteer hours served.
“We are 100 percent volunteer,” Linda said. “It gives people purpose and meaning.”
Initially, she targeted various groups that volunteer as part of their respective programs, including students from John Brown University, scholarship recipients, etc. They also get a lot of volunteer hours from people who are in various addiction rehabilitation programs.
Student volunteers is part of the program that Linda would like to grow in the future, as the state of Arkansas now requires around 75 hours of volunteer community service each school year.
The work the students do on the farm is healthy in a variety of ways, she said. “They’re doing something meaningful,” Linda said. “They are also growing food for people who are literally physically hungry but they can’t afford to buy healthy food in the store.”
Sometimes, the different types of groups intersect. For example, the group from Teen Challenge was active in the recent past, providing volunteer hours.
“They grew enough food for salad for 150 people,” Linda said. “They get to see that what they are doing is actually helping other people.”
Other groups that have visited the farm include 4-H, American Heritage Girl, and FFA. Another volunteer base group that Linda would like to grow in 2026 is people with flexible schedules, including stay-at-home moms, retired persons, those who are lonely, etc. who will help cook the food that will be used to make food for the homeless.
Creating meals from what the farm grows is a big part of future plans, Linda said.
The new year will also focus on developing more sustainable practices. For example, growing her own chicken feed, which will reduce her chicken-raising costs to nearly zero, Linda said.
The new year will also include growing a side of the farm that is literally beautiful – the Just Because Flower Project. The flower project has been able to provide flowers bouquets for a growing number of people going through a rough time including a cancer patient, a struggling teacher, and someone who was spending her first birthday in a nursing home.
“We don’t put our farm name on (the bouquets),” Linda said. “So they have no idea who the flowers are from. They are literally ‘just because.’”
“I don’t want to just sell the flowers,” she said. “I want it to really minister to people.”
Getting the local community more involved is another goal for the coming year.
“I’m really trying to get the community involved,” Linda said. “(The flower project) helps the sick, the grieving, and the discouraged.”
Linda added that growing and then arranging the various flowers has become a form of her own mental therapy. “It’s really fun,” she said.
People are drawn not only to the business model but also to the mission.
“People like the flowers project and the idea behind the farm,” Linda said. “It’s a novelty.”
Although she has goals for growth, Linda is also trying to remain open-minded when it comes to who will volunteer and participate.
In addition to growing the farm’s volunteer base, Linda would also like to see the farm’s products increase. For example, she currently only has 19 chickens and about 3,000 worms on the farm. She would like a bigger worm farm, more chickens (about 30, she said), and a dairy cow. Eventually, Linda would like goats as well but that will likely require the farm to move to a new location. Its current location is on property owned by what once was DaySpring, Inc., a Christian greeting card company based in Siloam Springs.
Until that happens, Linda is satisfied with her current location.
“It’s a perfect location. Volunteers don’t have to drive a long time to get here,” she said.
The farm currently has 12 rows that are about 60 feet long and the plan is to make them 80 feet long.
“I love having a variety,” she said. “We try to grow a little bit of everything that will grow in our zone. We’re very seasonal.”
The farm also recently earned a $21,000 USDA grant to build a 30×96 high tunnel so produce can be grown all year.
The plan is to focus on menus and grow according to what can be cooked from the produce based on the growing seasons. She also wants to expand the kinds of flowers the farm grows, Linda said.
The worm farm and chickens are another way that she’s found how to make the farm more sustainable, including using the manure for fertilizer and the worm castings make for better flower-growing soil.
“We get better flowers with the worm castings,” she said.
The farm does not have a website yet, but that’s hopefully another development that will happen soon, which will help get grants, Linda said.
People wanting to donate, volunteer, or get involved in another way should reach out via Facebook or Instagram.
