Visiting Bonds Estate and Gardens off Hopewell Church Road in Covington feels like stepping back in time. The property’s focal point is a lovely white and black Victorian farmhouse. Built in 1895 and well maintained since, it features a wraparound porch that beckons guests to pour a cup of tea and sit awhile. Massive, ancient trees weave a welcome canopy of shade overhead, while a tranquil calm fills the surrounding gardens. It feels like coming home.
That was exactly how Robert and L.A. Bonds felt when they purchased the property in 2020. Together with their sons, Terrell, Canaan, Gabriel, Ezra and Zion, the family needed a larger space to continue their ongoing journey toward health. That pursuit began in 2007, when Robert was diagnosed with vitiligo—a chronic autoimmune disorder that causes patches of skin to lose pigmentation. The Bonds are strong believers in Christianity, and L.A. was not satisfied with the doctors’ opinion that her husband’s condition was incurable.
“I’m the daughter of a Healer,” she said. “The Lord pressed on my heart to start growing some vegetables for Robert, and that sparked the rest of our journey. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy to change his eating habits because he didn’t grow up almost vegetarian, like me.” Robert was raised on traditional Southern cuisine, eating a lot of meat and fried and processed foods. “Vegetables were natural to me but foreign to him,” she said. “I had to be creative to mask the vegetables.”
L.A. started by grating fresh carrots into spaghetti sauce, making smoothies with hidden veggies and baking “Morning Glory” muffins rich with carrots, zucchini and yams. Robert was not always aware of what he was consuming, but his body appreciated the new influx of complex nutrients. “He wasn’t that warm to any of it in the beginning, but he had a dense nutrient issue. As he began to see results happening in real time, it was eye-opening to him,” L.A. said. “We saw Genesis 1:29 come to life, to let the food be our medicine.” Within three months, the vitiligo reversed itself without Robert having to take medication.
"We saw Genesis 1:29 come to life, to let the food be our medicine." — L.A. Bonds
At the time, the Bonds lived in Gwinnett County and grew vegetables in a community garden. They knew they needed more space to do all they felt they could do, and when the five acres in Newton County became available, they decided to step fully into the homesteading lifestyle. “We were surprised to learn that the property used to be a slave plantation,” L.A. said. “There is a lot of history on the land, both good and bad. Hopewell Presbyterian Church and its cemetery sit about 100 feet up our private road.” L.A. later learned through research that the church had built a pavilion on top of some slave graves. She hopes someday to find out who they were and if they have living relatives. The Bonds took stewardship of their new property seriously. They walked the land and prayed over the plants and trees they found.
“The people who sold it to us told us that the apple and pear trees had never borne fruit,” L.A. said. “Later that year, I thought I kept seeing red birds in the apple tree, but they never seemed to leave.” When she inspected it more closely, she realized the red splashes of color were apples. The trees she thought were dying had borne fruit. The apple trees had apples; the pear trees had pears; and the pecan trees produced nuts. “All we did was prune them and pray over them,” L.A. said. “The Lord gave us fruit we didn’t plant.”
The couple found other plants in need of revitalization. “There was goldenrod, purslane, nettles, mullein and more,” L.A. said. “I was awed to see all these healing herbs and realize the Lord supplies all we need. He just asks us to look over it.” It was a new chapter of life that opened the Bonds’ eyes to the tangible healing hidden within the foods on their plates. “I found myself going down the path of a nutritionist,” she said. The more L.A. learned, the more she believed in the healing power of the plants God created.
“The Bible says that we perish for a lack of knowledge. It’s not just that. We also want things to be complicated, too. Sometimes all you need to feel better is to just drink some water,” she said with a laugh, “but no, we’d rather have a doctor tell us to take this pill and that one when you could just drink the water.” During the coronavirus pandemic, the Bonds family saw more evidence of the power of herbal remedies. “My husband and all our children came down with COVID at the same time. I was taking care of everyone but never contracted it,” L.A. said. “I was drinking a tea blend with all our respiratory-healing herbs and chasing it with a shot of homemade elderberry syrup every hour. It worked.”
L.A. does not oppose modern medicine. She just believes other options are sometimes available.
“There’s a place for ‘big pharma’ and doctors,” she said. “If I break my arm, I want all the medical care. But God made our bodies so smart, and He is faithful to his word. We forget that God gave scientists their talent, skills and intelligence and meant for all of it to be used for His glory.”
Over time, the Bonds began to fulfill their dreams of the estate becoming a place of restoration. They sell many of the fruits, vegetables, nuts and herbs they grow to both visitors and participants in their Community Supported Agriculture program. A CSA connects people directly with farmers who provide them with locally raised food. Participants often form lasting relationships with farmers through the process. The Bonds have created a line of medicinal teas from the herbs they grow, and they host tea-tasting events where people can discover which handcrafted tea they prefer. Then they can leave with teas bearing soothing names such as Peaceful Heart and Renewed Mind. L.A. wants everyone who leaves her home to walk away having learned something new, and she tailors classes and programs for people of varying ages.
Guests may participate in the “Taste and See” tour, where they sample different foods at the places where they are grown. L.A. has been surprised by how many kids do not realize that carrots grow underground or that biscuits are made from flour ground from whole grains. She teaches children how to mill flour and, during her heritage tour, talks to them about the origins of slavery and its relation to God’s desire for restoration. Other classes include how to make herbal pain and allergy remedies, how to eat healthfully and the basics of homesteading. The Bonds homeschool their children and often host other homeschoolers for youth agricultural education and self-sufficiency workshops. Together with her friend, Jenelle Davis, L.A. created The Keepers Club for girls.
“We saw a need to create a space for girls that would raise them up in the Titus 2 mandate that says older women should teach the younger ones how to be a wife, mother and keeper of the home,” she said. “That call doesn’t change for me just because I didn’t have daughters.”
Bonds takes pride in having become Georgia Grown Certified this year and enjoys watching her sons utilize what they have learned from their parents. Their oldest son, Terrell, recently bought his first home at the tender age of 17, and their second son, Canaan, is described as a culinary guru. “Food Network saw his online content (Canaan Cooks) and reached out to him when he was 9,” L.A. said. “When we have guests doing our Harvest Homestead private dining events, he is their chef.” L.A. admits she once felt like the woman named Wisdom in Proverbs 1:20–33, calling out from the middle of the street with advice, unsure if anyone was listening.
“I felt that way in the past but not now,” she said. “People are waking up. Our community has become richer in this area of health, using their knowledge and spreading it. I don’t feel like I’m pulling teeth anymore, because people are coming to me to learn and to change.”
Visit bondsestateandgardens.org for more information about classes, the CSA and how to schedule a visit. Follow Bonds Estate and Gardens on Facebook and Instagram and check out L.A.’s homemaking tips on her YouTube channel @iamlabonds.
