Wild Kid Acres began as a neglected piece of land in Maryland, largely overlooked and used as a dumping ground. Today, it is a thriving community hub that draws tens of thousands of visitors each year. Founder Gerardo Martinez says that the transformation represents a broader vision of what farming can be.
“I want to showcase the impact of what a farm can do beyond just growing food,” says Martinez, who not only sells food through Wild Kid Acres but hosts agricultural education, including youth and family programming, and is a refuge for animal therapy.
The seeds for Wild Kid Acres were planted many years prior. After serving in the Marine Corps, Martinez traveled to Cameroon through leadership development work, where he visited a farm that inspired him to see farming as a form of community care.
“It was not just where they grew food. It’s also where they went for community. It’s where the church was. It’s also where the school was,” says Martinez. “It’s where you went if you felt bad. It’s where you went if you felt good. It was everything to them.”
Martinez was inspired to build something similar when he returned to the United States in 2019. He and his wife purchased an abandoned property that others had used to dump trash. They moved onto the land in an RV and began slowly restoring it.
As Martinez rebuilt the soil using regenerative practices, his neighbors began to take notice. Neighbors would pull their cars into his driveway to ask questions about what he was doing. Initially, he kept the farm closed off.
“Empathy isn’t my strongest suit that I can bring to the table,” Martinez admits. But one day in late 2020, a woman pulled into his driveway, said hello, and broke down crying. The encounter convinced him to offer his property as an investment in the community.
Wild Kid Acres began opening to the public for just two hours on Saturdays. The community’s response was immediate: There were 6,000 visitors in 2021. Martinez says the farm quickly evolved into the type of gathering place he saw in Cameroon.
The team began giving away food and investing more deeply in the surrounding community. Volunteers helped build infrastructure, including a barn constructed with the help of local children.
“It started becoming this community center,” Martinez says.
By last year, Wild Kid Acres had welcomed 50,000 visitors. But more important for Martinez has been its work empowering the next generation.
“How do we grow food ethically and still care for the planet? Why isn’t anyone helping the farmers? Why aren’t there farmers that look like me? How can I become a farmer?” Martinez recalls children asking. They were able to see the range of systemic challenges facing farmers much more quickly than adults typically would, he says.
Their questions led Martinez to rethink the farm’s direction. Wild Kid Acres is now focused on building pathways into agriculture for young people. Recently, Martinez launched a new initiative to support youth-led farming ventures, which offers support to young farmers across the country with marketing, access to markets, and capital.
For Martinez, this work is urgent. He believes the future of agriculture depends on investing in those who will carry it forward.
“These kids are going to grow food and feed your kids. They should be the priority within everything you write, everything you invest,” he says. “My farm doesn’t matter unless my grandkids can take it over.
Watch Martinez’s story below and find others from our farmer storytelling events on Food Tank’s YouTube channel.
This article is part of Food Tank’s ongoing Farmer Friday series, produced in partnership with Niman Ranch, a champion for independent U.S. family farmers. The series highlights the stories of farmers working toward a more sustainable, equitable food system. Niman Ranch partners with over 500 small-scale U.S. family farmers and is committed to preserving rural agricultural communities and their way of life.
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Photo courtesy of Wild Kid Acres
