Posts from — April 2011

Photo by Stephanie Parker.

GRO1000 Grassroots Grants in the amount of up to $1,500

The next round of applications will be accepted starting in the fall 2011

Overview

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has established GRO1000, a commitment to install 1,000 gardens and green spaces in the United States and select international sites by 2018. The last installation will be completed in 2018, which coincides with the 150th anniversary of the founding of ScottsMiracle-Gro.

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This map shows the location of urban agriculture projects, volunteers and available space.

Bringing city dwellers together to explore inspirational ways of producing, storing, cooking, preserving, distributing and sharing food.

Excerpts:

In Amsterdam, Farming the City has brought together, for the first time, representatives from the ever-expanding range of players involved in local urban and suburban food production, including community activists, local politicians, computer geeks, planners, policy-makers, farmers, gardeners, shopkeepers, social workers, developers, landlords, engineers, designers, health professionals and academics.

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Photo: Little City Gardens, by Caitlyn Galloway.

“This legislation is proof that “the system,” as ossified and change-resistant as it may seem, can occasionally work.”

By Antonio Roman-Alcalá
Civil Eats
April 14th, 2011

Excerpt:

This week, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed the most progressive legislation for urban agriculture in the nation. The new legislation has amended the zoning code to allow agricultural activities in all parts of the city, as well as defining the parameters by which urban agriculturists can sell their products. It doesn’t address the touchier subjects of animal husbandry or marijuana cultivation, but has created opportunities for and the legitimacy of urban fruit and vegetable cultivation.

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A few of the steps urban farmers can take to protect the health and quality of our urban watershed

By Daniel Dermitzel
Mother Earth News
4/13/2011

Excerpt:

The growing popularity of urban agriculture presents an opportunity to reduce the amount of water and pollutants entering our combined sewer systems. Urban farmers and our community as a whole have much to gain from implementing a few simple techniques to reduce runoff and pollution of our urban watershed. Our productive urban landscapes (i.e., farms and gardens) have the potential to be more environmentally friendly than the many chemically treated lawns and unproductive green spaces we currently see throughout our city.

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Camilla Hammer, left, and Alexanna Ashley-Roth till the earth at their first planned farm in Lower Manhattan. Photo by Librado Romero/The New York Times.

A Farm Grows in the Battery – only one acre in size

By James Barron
New York Times
April 10, 2011

Exceprt:

The idea for an urban farm there originated with the environmental club at Millennium High School on Broad Street, a short walk from the park. The Battery Conservancy says that 650 students from 8 schools have now signed up to farm, and it is expanding the program to include community groups, Lower Manhattan residents, even people who just work there and want to do some digging, planting and nurturing.

The planting officially begins on Monday, when the the students will plant enough vegetables to fill the produce section at a corner deli.

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Illustration by Anastasia Christoe 2010.

Food Sensitive Planning and Urban Design (FSPUD) Report Released

This new resource – Food Sensitive Planning and Urban Design: A conceptual framework for achieving a sustainable and just food system – is intended to raise the awareness of planners, architects, urban designers, engineers, policy makers, community members and elected representatives of the need to integrate food considerations into urban land use and development.

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The Marathon Farm in North Philadelphia’s Brewerytown neighborhood will both ship food to the six Marathon restaurants throughout the city and sell produce to local residents. Photo by Dan Nessenson.

Urban farms surge around Philadelphia

By Hayley Brooks
The Daily Pennsylvanian
April 13, 2011

Excerpt:

Marathon Restaurants — a Philadelphia chain with six locations, including 200 South 40th St. — recently acquired 15,750 square feet of land at the corner of Master and 27th streets. The formerly vacant urban spot in North Philadelphia’s Brewerytown neighborhood has been transformed into “Marathon Farm.”

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Triscuit Declares Home Farming Day

Excerpt from press release April 12, 2011:

Triscuit and non-profit Urban Farming will unveil plans for 65 community-based home farms in 20 U.S. cities in 2011, including five home farms to be grown at low-income housing subsidiaries. These farms, located in urban areas, will provide local residents with greater access to more nutritious and healthier foods, consistent with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) mission of creating more sustainable and diverse communities.

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New York Farm City from Petrina TV on Vimeo.

Video by Gina and Scott Keatley
Nourishing NYC, East Harlem

Featuring:

Ben Flanner and Anastasia Plakias
Brooklyn Grange Farm, Queens

Patrick Connolly
Bobo, Greenwich Village

Daniel Bowman Simon
People’s Garden NYC
City Hall, Manhattan

Coming soon, to a city near you: open-source agriculture

By Danielle Gould
Grist
12 Apr 2011

Excerpt:

Most people attempting to build a viable urban agriculture business are acutely aware of the enormously challenging and time-consuming process of navigating zoning regulations. Having worked in this sector, I can personally testify that the process is tedious and time-sucking. Over the past couple of years, a number of cities such as New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, and Chicago have begun enacting, or at the very least exploring, new regulations. One of the major challenges facing policymakers, however, is identifying effective policies and best practices.

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Gertjan Meeuws, left, and John van Gemert, right, of PlantLab, a private research company, during an interview with The Associated Press in a lab where he is growing herbs and vegetables under LED lights in Den Bosch, central Netherlands. AP Photo.

Advocates say new approach to farming could be an answer to the world’s food problems

By Arthur Max
Associated Press
4/11/2011

Excerpt:

Meeuws and three other Dutch bioengineers have taken the concept of a greenhouse a step further, growing vegetables, herbs and house plants in enclosed and regulated environments where even natural light is excluded.

In their research station, strawberries, yellow peppers, basil and banana plants take on an eerie pink glow under red and blue bulbs of Light-Emitting Diodes, or LEDs. Water trickles into the pans when needed and all excess is recycled, and the temperature is kept constant. Lights go on and off, simulating day and night, but according to the rhythm of the plant — which may be better at shorter cycles than 24 hours — rather than the rotation of the Earth.

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Chinese vegetable gardens, c. 1880s, below Pacific Heights at approx. today’s Union and Gough Streets in “Cow Hollow”.
Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library

“Cow Hollow’s history shows that cities used to produce much of their own food.”

By Ben Tarnoff
Where the Buffalo Roam
Apr 11, 2011

Excerpt:

In 1849, when the Gold Rush brought hordes of gold speculators to San Francisco and rapidly transformed the small Mexican village into a major city, Cow Hollow was a valley irrigated by several creeks, with a large freshwater pond. It was an ideal place to graze cattle. The first dairy sprung up in 1861, and more soon followed.

On land now occupied by cupcake shops, clothing boutiques, and sports bars, there existed hundreds and hundreds of cows, supplying milk to the growing population of San Francisco. The city needed it, because no large agricultural region yet existed: San Francisco developed so rapidly, most food was imported rather than grown in California.

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The Multidimensional Benefit of Urban Agriculture – Urban Vegetable Production: a three decades Struggle against Poverty in the Heart of an International Diplomatic City of Addis Ababa

By Tamirat Assefa,
Bezabih Emana
Apr 10, 2011
Publisher:VDM Verlag Dr. Müller

In a poor country where agriculture is not only the livelihood of most population, sticking to the traditional methods of production, harvesting and marketing will not only hold the producers under the yoke of destitute living conditions but also results in inefficient utilization of scarce resources. Urban vegetable production has been practiced in Addis Ababa for almost three decades by vegetable producers’ cooperatives along river banks.

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The site for the project is located adjacent to the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

Award of $2500

By SuckerPunch
Registration begins 4.11.11
Submissions due 8.22.11

Center for Urban Farming
As the interest and demand rises in New York City for locally grown food and the appreciation for a wealth of vegetables and plants deepens, there exists an opportunity to develop an urban agriculture for the city. Urban farming has the potential to raise city dwellers’ awareness of their food sources and increase their appreciation for agriculture and sustainable practices. In addition to providing fresh nutrient rich food, the farms will provide a wealth of new employment opportunities in the city as well as potential revenue from urban farm markets. Waste incurred by shipping food into the city will also be reduced and will allow for even fresher farm to table opportunities at the markets and restaurants.

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See the new trailer.

“It took men like Henry Ford, William Durant, and Lee Iacocca to build this city, but it’s taken a bunch of strong willed self-taught urban farmers to save it.”

Urban Roots is a documentary film, which follows the urban farming phenomenon in Detroit. Urban Roots is a timely, moving and inspiring film that speaks to a nation grappling with collapsed industrial towns and the need to forge a sustainable and prosperous future.

Producer’s Statement
Leila Conners

After making The 11th Hour, it was clear to me that the oft-quoted saying “think globally, act locally” was the key to solving our environmental crisis. When the story of the urban farmers in Detroit was brought to us, we knew that what they were doing – acting decisively and caring for themselves and their community – basically healing themselves and their neighborhoods through growing food, was that kind of local action that can make the world a better place so we committed to bringing their story to the world.

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John Edel stands next to a raft system for plants in the growing room of his aquaponic farm in an old meat-packing plant in the Back of the Yards neighborhood of Chicago. Phot by Alex Garcia/ Chicago Tribune.

“One of the things I always wanted to do was grow plants inside industrial buildings since I was kid.”

Melissa Harris
Chicago Confidential
April 10, 2011

Excerpt:

John Edel is turning a former meatpacking plant on the edge of Chicago’s old Union Stockyards into an indoor farm.

In the basement, microorganisms are eating tilapia waste, converting it into fertilizer for the lettuce, kale and wheatgrass growing in a shallow pool of water nearby.

This process is called aquaponic farming. It minimizes water use while allowing year-round harvests, and it’s just the beginning of Edel’s vision for a futuristic, urban farm he has called “The Plant.”

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A farm can be made at any urban location ranging from a studio apartment to a suburban home

By Joop de Boer
The Pop-Up City
April 9, 2011

Excerpt:

Urban farming is hotter than hot. Therefore it is not a surprise that the first DIY urban farming/gardening store in New York City is a huge succes. City Hydroponic is a full service shop that offers a complete range of gardening products for indoor as well as outdoor gardeners and farmers. The shop has all what it takes to grow fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs in the Big Apple.

Whether you want innovative aeroponics or hydroponics growing kits, hi-tech gardening equipment for intricate green roofing systems and indoor grow room to a plain old fashion dirt and guano for a modest apartment window box, the store carries a wide variety of the leading brands in grow lights, reflectors and plant nutrients.

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CBC TV video link here.

Beetle takes out lawns – perhaps a vegetable garden is the answer

By Theresa Lalonde
CBC News
April 8, 2011

CBC TV came to our Compost Garden to learn about some alternative ground covers to replace the lawn, which is so attractive to this destructive pest. City Farmer’s Bug Lady, Maria Keating, suggests some attractive plants including edibles.

See the video here.

The Ladner Community Garden Society plans to start a community garden at Kensington Park North this spring. Pictured are (left to right) Ian Dick, Don Bruchet, Kristin Couch and Mark MacDonald. Photograph by Chung Chow, Delta Optimist.

Project, with over 40 plots available to rent on seasonal basis, will be set up at Ladner’s Kensington Park North

By Sandor Gyarmati
The Delta Optimist
April 6, 2011

Excerpt:

“As we go forward and start seeing a lot more high density, a lot of people won’t have a back yard, so there’s going to be more need for community gardens for people who want to grow their own food,” Crouch said.

Crouch believes once the word spreads that a community garden is available, the 40-square-foot plots will be taken quickly.

She pointed to the lengthy wait lists in the City of Richmond that has eight city-owned community garden sites.

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Rohrbacher’s game has sold more than 350,000 copies worldwide

By Brett Oppegaard
The Columbian
January 24, 1997

Excerpt:

Goldendale, Washington- For the 35th morning in a row, farmer George Rohrbacher rose at 3 a.m., began bailing his hay fields by tractor headlights and wondered what he was going to do about his foundering farm. Row after row , he rode through the dark fields agonizing about the ultimatum his pregnant wife, Ann, recently had given him: she was going to quit her job at a local radio station and raise a family- farm or no farm.

They desperately wanted to keep their 1,500 acre farm near Goldendale, but two bad harvests out of three years had crippled the family savings accounts and left them with two choices: either sell the land or find a way to make some money, a lot of money.

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