Urban farm growing strong on two-acre plot of vacant land on Buffalo’s East Side

Customer Leslie Porto, of Snyder, watches as Janice and Mark Stevens, and their daughter Jerusha, 9, pull beets and onions at their urban farm. Photo by John Hickey / Buffalo News.

The Stevenses built a two-acre garden on city land last spring, and now they’re known across the East Side for their produce

By Maki Becker
Buffalo News
July 04, 2010

Excerpt:

Former farmers who had moved to the East Side from rural Wyoming County, the Stevenses and their seven children wanted their own farm to grow their own food without the use of pesticides and other chemicals while also providing fresh produce to their community.

City Hall initially was resistant, saying the land had been set aside to build new houses. City officials didn’t want to sell the land but were willing to lease it. However, the city wanted to maintain the right to sell the land with just 30 days notice.

Eventually, the two sides came to an agreement. The contract, ironed out with the assistance of the nonprofit group Grassroots Gardens, allowed the Stevenses to lease the land for a $1 a year, and while the city maintains the right to sell the property, it was made clear that the city had no intention of doing so anytime soon.

During the first summer on their new urban farm, the Stevenses didn’t plant directly into the ground because of concerns about contaminants in the soil. Instead, they built raised beds for their first crops.

In the meantime, they got the soil tested through the help of agriculture experts at Cornell University and learned it was safe for planting.

In November, they put up a hoop house, essentially a low-tech greenhouse, with the help of the Community Action Organization. They added layers of compost and peat moss to the soil under the hoop house and in late April began planting rows and rows of vegetable plants right into the ground.

“This year has been a great growing year so far,” Mark Stevens said. “A lot of rain and a lot of sun. And having an early spring has been really exciting to see things doing well.”

The Stevenses now have an excellent relationship with City Hall, they said. Mark Stevens was appointed to serve on a community gardens task force that was started, and the couple is working on zoning laws that would allow residents to start urban farms and gardens.

See the complete story here.