Kinfolk Market and Shop

After years of urban farming, the Dawson family puts down roots in the Wheeler District

Devin, who geeks out on the science of farming, had been studying ecosystems and soil biology since he was in middle school. “I read books, I went to conventions, and the culmination of all that was that I should do this—I should focus on farming.”

Devin and Sade Dawson have always been ahead of their time. Like most forward-thinkers, this can be both a blessing and a curse. But the couple have found themselves in good company in OKC’s Wheeler District, where they’ve made a home for their family and their business, a community grocery store called Kinfolk Market and Shop.

Tucked away in Wheeler’s commercial row, Kinfolk offers organic produce, locally made goods, package-free staples, and pork and eggs from animals that the couple and their four children raise themselves. It’s the latest iteration of a sustainable food mission the Dawsons have been pursuing for more than a decade.

Sade and Devin met while attending the University of Central Oklahoma in 2005. Back then, the pair planned to move to California, where Sade was born and where Devin intended to pursue acting. Sade already cared about healthy food. But when she paired up with Devin, a fourth-generation farmer, it became a shared passion that changed the course of their lives. The couple decided to stay in OKC. Devin wanted to help his grandfather with his hogs and the community farm that he tended behind their church.

Devin, who geeks out on the science of farming, had been studying ecosystems and soil biology since he was in middle school. “I went to summer programs to learn about the soil and water quality of Oklahoma,” he says. “I read books, I went to conventions, and the culmination of all that was that I should do this—I should focus on farming.”

During his studies, he learned about Hügelkultur (pronounced hyoo-gul-kulture), the long-standing European technique of stacking wood, leaves and dirt to create loamy soil that gets more and more nutrition-rich as it breaks down. He knew he had to try it.

When Devin arrived to help his grandfather with the community garden, he was full of enthusiasm and big ideas … ideas that not everyone seemed to understand, like Hügelkultur. When he started spreading wood chips over the garden, it didn’t go as planned.

“This is the tragic part of the story—they didn’t understand what we were trying to do because it was non-conventional,” Sade says. “We got all of these woodchips for the garden and put them down, and they just took them out. Because they didn’t understand it. And we had to start again from scratch. Now wood chips are in high demand for gardens, but people hadn’t seen it back then.”

Eventually, Devin’s grandfather simply drew a line across the farm—there was Devin’s side and his side. So Devin went to work applying his techniques.

“So I did my thing on my side of the field,” Devin says. “I put in logs, I was making swells, and lining with wood chips, and I actually watched the soil build. I watched it get more buoyant. I watched it get better.”

Setbacks aside, Sade and Devin retained their passion for bringing better soil and better food to Oklahoma City. In 2015 and 2016, they established a weekly Kinfolk Farmer’s Market on the Northeast side of town. The Saturday market brought together about 10 small-scale, organic vendors every Saturday. They sold microgreens, purple peas, tomatoes, watermelon, pies, and other goods. But when problems arose with the location, the couple decided to focus their efforts on their own land, a 5-acre plot where they now grow veggies and tend 17 hogs and 21 chickens.

When the couple learned about the Wheeler District and its concept of a walkable community, they knew it could be the site for their next endeavor. “I told Devin, if we’re going to open a store there, I want to live there,” Sade says. “And we love having a front porch and a family-friendly community where people watch out for one another.” For Devin, it was the possibility of creating a farm at Wheeler that sealed the deal. “I’m like, ‘I just need to plant seeds and I just need to be by dirt.’ And here we are.”

As Wheeler grows, they said, they anticipate more and more customers to support Kinfolk’s store, its CSA, and a farm across from the Wheeler Ferris Wheel. The couple is currently in the planning phase of creating a “walking garden” within that small farm at Wheeler—a place where people can actually “shop” in rows of vegetables instead of grocery store aisles, grabbing their produce from the stems of living plants instead of store shelves. It’s a radical idea. And they’re good with that.

> Kinfolk Market and Shop, 1710 Spoke St., Oklahoma City; 405-496-9442; kinfolk.farm