As we travel on the highways it amazes me how much positive attention we get when people see our
trailer loaded with juicy, sweet watermelons. When we stop to get gas we have to rush so that people
won’t rush us and buy all of our melons before we get them to our customers.

We at Muhammad Farms over the years have developed a good reputation for producing sweet
watermelons. I have wondered why we get so many compliments about the taste of our melons. Of course
we must thank Almighty God (Allah) for the seed, the land and the water that produces the melon. We
are just caretakers. However, we have investigated how we grow our melons in comparison to the large
commercial farmers.

We know that we do not get the volume of melons per acre that large commercial farms do because
we refuse to use the amount of artificial fertilizers, excessive irrigation water and the laundry
list of chemicals that they use to protect their weak melons from diseases. A watermelon is a very
unique crop in how it sucks up water. A watermelon has a lot more water content than most other
crops. It is designed to suck water from the atmosphere even if it does not rain. It has a large
root system and a tap root that burrows deep into the earth in search of water. It also has little
suckers on its vines that will attach themselves to any other plant in its nine foot reach and suck
the water out of them.

Therefore whatever you put on it or in its reach will be drawn into itself and stored within its
thick skin or rind. Many chemicals have a distinct taste. So when people eat a watermelon that has
been doctored up, they taste a little of those chemicals which leaves and after taste in their
mouths. So when they eat a Muhammad Farms watermelon they taste the pure naturally made sugar of the
plant without enhancers. Thank you for your support and continue to enjoy Muhammad Farms sweet
watermelons. Eat to live and let your taste buds be fulfilled with the natural flavors of healthy
food.

A few weeks ago I delivered a load of watermelons to one of our buying clubs in Virginia. One of
our brothers referred to me as the "farm god". It was a good compliment but it made me
feel a little uneasy, because I do not feel that I have grown to the point of being a
"god" yet. "God" means possessor of power and force. By that definition, we as
humans all have a little "god" in us, but that is counteracted by the god in others.
Therefore, although you may will a thing and desire to put it in action, you might be going against
the will of others, and their power and force may reduce the effectiveness of your efforts.

When we who are parents take our young children on a long journey, they show their lack of
patience by asking every hour or so, "Are we there yet?" We are God’s children and on
our journey to become one with Him, we may become a little impatient as well. And in our quest to be
an independent nation of gods we sometimes show our misunderstanding of what a nation is and what it
means to be a "god" by overstating the level of each other’s development.

At Muhammad Farms I am just getting to the point that I might consider myself a good or decent
farmer. I do not make plants grow. I simply obey the laws of nature and try to plant my seeds on
time and then fight the weeds to protect them. I pray for the proper amount of rain and wait for the
right time to harvest the crop. I gather the labor and equipment to pick the crop before it spoils
or drops to the ground. I spend a lot of time just fixing equipment when it breaks. As a farmer I
must be obedient to the laws of nature and demands of my crop, hardworking and prayerful. However, I
am only doing what hundreds of thousands of other farmers are doing all across America and what
millions are doing across the globe.

The setting up of buying clubs is a precursor to establishing cooperatively owned grocery stores
in black communities across the country. It is a monumental task taken on by the Ministry of
Agriculture, but not that unusual. Every nation of people or ethnic community, outside of the black
community in America, has grocery stores, warehouses and trucks. The fact that it is newsworthy to
report on the opening of a black owned grocery store in America should seem strange. Why is it
newsworthy to report on something that should be as normal as going to the store to buy groceries?
The fact that we have been destroyed as a people and do not do what is normal to other human beings
makes small accomplishments newsworthy, just as the first steps of your infant was big news to the
family. So if you have set up a black owned grocery store please send us an article and pictures, so
that we can show the family that the "baby" is taking its first steps.

A "god" possesses power and force. Now on these lines I would include companies like
ADM (Archer Daniels Midland), Monsanto, Dow Chemicals, John Deere, Krogers, Safeway, Kelloggs,
ConAgra, Dupont, Cargil, General Mills and many others as "gods" in the food industry.
They determine what types of crops farmers will grow, the type of seed that they will use and the
methods by which farmers protect their crops. They determine the price the farmer will receive and
how he will get his product to market. They have the power to influence Congress in the
determination of laws that effect farmers and the whole food industry.

So what are our qualifications for a "farm god"? At a minimum the Ministry of
Agriculture should have: 1. at least 100,000 acres of farm land under cultivation, 2.food processing
plants and textile mills, 3. at least 80 grocery stores, along with a chain of warehouses and
trucks, 4. hundreds, if not thousands of happy, productive and well compensated workers, and 5.
hundreds of thousands of satisfied customers who stand in line to come to our stores. Then, whoever
is at the head of such a large and smooth running organization could justifiably be called a
"farm god". But right now I am just your brother striving to be a good farmer, motivator
and facilitator for others to get busy, unite and do something for ourselves.