Austin’s agrarian past rises again – four urban farms

At Sunday’s East Austin Urban Farm Tour, you can experience a taste of Austin’s past, the present, and an invaluable element in our future. April 11, 1-5pm

By Virginia B. Wood
Apr 9, 2010
The Austin Chronicle

Excerpt:

The current East Austin farm renaissance began in the early 1990s. Determined to farm, Larry Butler and Carol Ann Sayle bought the last 5 acres of a Republic of Texas-era homestead; meanwhile, Glenn and Paula Foore were purchasing a city block around the corner on Springdale Road for their landscaping company with no idea that they, too, would one day become farmers.

In 2000, Stephanie Scherzer and her partner, Kim Beal, found a cozy cottage surrounded by 4½ acres along Boggy Creek that appeared to be the perfect home for their landscape design business, the success of which enabled Scherzer to pursue her real passion for farming.

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An urban community garden in central Vancouver, Canada. This project shows that food can be grown in densely populated areas. Photo by Michael Levenston

By Thair Shaikh
CNN
April 8, 2010

Excerpts:

London, England (CNN) — As the world’s urban population continues to grow at a rapid rate, communities around the world are increasingly turning to “city agriculture” to produce cheap, locally grown fruit and vegetables.

Among skyscrapers and housing estates, previously vacant lots are being used to produce millions of tons of organically grown food that experts say are “greener” and cheaper than commercially grown produce.

But while many countries are in the early stages of their urban agriculture development, China, Japan and Cuba have had successful city farms for decades.

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Farm And Urban Life Collide: Goat Rental Business Chews Up Construction Sites All Around The Seattle Area.

John Hopperstad
KCPQ-TV
April 7, 2010

SEATTLE – They have been in TV commercials, but the goats owned by Tammy Dunakin make their meal money by eating their way through brush all over the Seattle area.

Dunakin started Rent-A-Ruminant a few years ago as a “Green,” way to clear blackberry bushes and other brush from construction sites.

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Farm-in-a-bag offers Kenya lifeline

By David McKenzie, CNN
April 8, 2010

Excerpt:

Nairobi, Kenya (CNN) — For centuries Africa has been a rural continent, but there is a steady stream of people heading into the crowded cities — where many find their new home is in a slum.

In Nairobi’s densely populated slums people have hard lives and some are going back to their agricultural roots to get ahead.

The “farm-in-a-sack” project provides poor families with more than 40 seedlings, which can be grown into food in just a few weeks.

Nairobi’s Mathare slum is not a paradise for green-fingered ambitions — the streets are narrow and garbage is strewn everywhere. But mini-farms are cropping up on spare land.

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City slickers learn to farm their veggies.

CNN video by Frederik Pleitgen
April 8, 2010

The program is run by Meine Ernte. The website is in German but Google Translate will translate for you.

Excerpt:

Depending on how many people you want to feed, we recommend different sizes:
 
Garden Suitable for garden size.

The little kitchen garden for singles and pairs, or 1 – 2 persons 50 sqm 149, – €
The standard vegetable garden for families and friends, so 3 – 4 persons approx 100 sqm 289 – €
The Great Vegetable for garden clubs or groups, for a total of 5 – 6 people 150 sqm 433, – €

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