Image via @amico.grows Instagram

By Raymond Ragland, Staff Writer

“Amico Grows” started working with Truly Living Well with the inspiration of blending music culture with farming. He wanted to use their farming space to teach The West End community about growing food and eating healthy; however, he was recently forced to move locations.  

On September 2nd, Amico was forced to relocate from his West End location after a portion of his crops were cut down. 

He recorded a sorrowful Instagram video showing the garden’s aftermath. During the video, there are loud chainsaw noises in the background as they continue to cut more plants.

“I was kind of shocked about how extreme it was because they like fully, completely cleared it,” he said. 

“For them to really not understand and be connected [with] the community, I think that’s, that’s the craziest thing to me,” he continued. “I had girls at Spelman [College] that wanted to come through and volunteer. I was doing food giveaways and that was kind of what was popping on my social media at the time.”

Truly Living Well has not commented on the relocation. As Amico transitions to his new location at Habesha Gardens, based at the Dunbar Recreation Center, he is prioritizing the regrowth of fresh produce for the upcoming Winter/Spring 2025 season. 

Amico also plans to expand his brand in the future.  He wants to create a subscription based Black farming group and expand the “Amico Grows” brand into athletics.

“I’ve decided that ‘Amico Grows’ is a league, a social club,” he said. “It’s kind of like a personal Patreon to where I’m giving you information. 

“I want to have meetups, conferences and stuff like that. My four pillars are farming, fashion, art, and culture. I think that it’s always going to be based on those topics and teaching our children.” 

Students should be on the lookout for the “Amico Grows” Holiday Giveaway featuring collard greens at the start of 2025.

Copy Edited by Editor-in-Chief, Colin Royal