The Good Earth – Durham, North Carolina

Union Baptist Church garden

By Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan
The Herald Sun
Apr 14, 2010

DURHAM — A new urban farm has been planted in a vacant lot in Durham as the community garden trend spreads throughout the city. Triscuit crackers, the nonprofit Urban Farming and Union Baptist Church joined together Tuesday morning to break ground on a vegetable and herb garden next to the church and its school on Corporation Street.

Funded by Triscuit, Urban Farming is helping to plant 50 urban farms across the country. Urban Farming founder Taja Sevelle said she uses the word “farming” rather than “garden” to foster the feeling of being down home and getting back to the days of people growing their own food. Gardening is more of a hobby, she said.

Home farming is about connecting people back to the basics of growing your own food,” Sevelle said. “I think a lot of us are thinking about these types of things because of the economy. You can plant food — you don’t have to go to the store.”

The ceremonial golden shovel was presented to Durham Mayor Pro Tem Cora Cole-McFadden and City Councilman Mike Woodard, who helped plant the new urban farm of collards, cabbage, tomatoes, peppers, basil, bush beans, beets and carrots.

Woodard was excited about planting a tomato plant. Growing up in Eastern North Carolina, he said, he spent summers on his grandmother’s farm and loved to eat a tomato right from the garden between two pieces of white bread with mayonnaise. He said the key to urban farms like the one at Union Baptist is to get everyone to take ownership of it and get involved.

Mike Spears, a member of Union Baptist, said that kids walking by will see the garden and be encouraged. They could take seeds home and plant their own gardens, he said. Union owns several houses surrounding its property, and the garden is on a lot of a torn down house. His wife is a friend of Sevelle’s, and when she called asking for a good location for a urban farm, Spears knew just the spot. Church volunteers will work in the garden, and the food will be distributed locally in the neighborhood.

Another urban farm in the Triangle will be planted at Word of God Fellowship on Rock Quarry Road in Raleigh. They also celebrated the urban farm movement in Durham Tuesday. Melvin Vinson, an elder at Word of God, helped plant vegetables in the new garden. His own church will also use volunteer gardeners and take the harvested food to local shelters and the food bank.

Sevelle started Urban Farming in Detroit in 2005, with $5,000 and the goal of getting rid of hunger in this generation. She is encouraged by the 20 million Victory Gardens planted during World War II. Sevelle said that planting your own food is healthy and helps with monthly bills.

Triscuit has included four million basil and dill herb cards for planting in their boxes of crackers.

“We’re all about urging people to grow their own food at home,” said Triscuit brand manager Whitney Vogler. “This is a way for Triscuit to help people experience the simple joys of farming.”

See the article here.