Breaking Through Concrete – Building an Urban Farm Revival

Children eat mango at the Garden at Westerly Creek Park in Denver, CO. Refugees from countries including Bhoutan, Somolia, and Sudan gather at this community farm where they now grow a city block’s worth of produce. Photo © Michael Hanson. See more here.

Book published January 2012

By David Hanson (Author), Edwin Marty (Author), Mark Winne (Foreword), Michael Hanson (Photographer)
University of California Press
Jan. 2012

Brothers David and Michael Hanson and urban farmer Edwin Marty document twelve successful urban farm programs, from an alternative school for girls in Detroit, to a backyard food swap in New Orleans, to a restaurant supply garden on a rooftop in Brooklyn. Each beautifully illustrated essay offers practical advice for budding farmers, such as composting and keeping livestock in the city, decontaminating toxic soil, even changing zoning laws.

1. P-Patch Community Garden Program, Seattle, Washington • The Neighborhood Garden
HOW TO: Change Your City’s Urban Agriculture Zoning Codes

2. Homeless Garden Project, Santa Cruz, California • The Farm as Therapy
HOW TO: Grow Good, Safe Food

3. Fairview Gardens and the Center for Urban Agriculture, Santa Barbara, California • The Historic Farm
HOW TO: Plant Perennial Fruit Trees in the City

4. Denver Urban Gardens, Denver, Colorado • The Garden as Community
HOW TO: Turn Your Waste into Black Gold Compost

5. Kansas City Center for Urban Agriculture, Kansas City, Kansas and Missouri • The Farm for Profit
HOW TO: Access Start-Up Capital for Urban Food Projects

6. Versailles Community, New Orleans, Louisiana • Backyards of Bounty
HOW TO: Develop a Congregational Urban Farm

7. Jones Valley Urban Farm, Birmingham, Alabama • The Education and Production Farm
HOW TO: Engage the Community with Education Programs

8. Greensgrow, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • The Nonprofit, For-Profit Farm
HOW TO: Rehabilitate Contaminated Soils

9. Eagle Street Rooftop Farm, Brooklyn, New York • The Rooftop Farm
HOW TO: Convert Rooftops to Residential Gardens and Urban Farms

10. Catherine Ferguson Academy, Detroit, Michigan • The Alternative Curriculum Farm
HOW TO: Raise Urban Livestock

11. Growing Home’s Wood Street Urban Farm, Chicago, Illinois • The Job Training Farm
HOW TO: Extend the Growing Season with Hoop Houses and Greenhouses

12. Sandhill Organics and Prairie Crossing, Grayslake, Illinois • The Peri-urban Farm
HOW TO: Start an Urban Farm

Conclusion by Edwin Marty

See book here.