Area’s first urban farm takes root in Valencia

A ray of light falls on a seedling as neighborhood children help plant crops at the Urban Garden at the Valencia Park Community Center sponsored by the LSU AgCenter and SPAR. Photo by Douglas Collier/The Times.

The produce from the farm will be sold to a local restaurant and at a green market

By Devin White
Shreveport Times
May 11, 2011

Excerpt:

There’s more than just okra, peas and squash growing at the Valencia Park Community Center in Shreveport. Young minds are growing the skills needed to nurture a dream that began with a small plot of land and will hopefully end up a source for fresh food.

LSU AgCenter in collaboration with Shreveport Public Assembly and Recreation planted the Valencia Park Farm last week, the first urban farm in Shreveport. The farm will be the site for an eight-week pilot program that teaches skills to 14- to 17-year-olds.

“We’re going to teach them entrepreneurial skills like business, communication and marketing within the garden,” said Denyse Cummins, LSU AgCenter Extension Agent. “They’re actually going to raise this commercial vegetable plot.”

Read the complete article here.