Category: Urban Farming

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Rural or Urban, Farm or City – We All Need Each Other

FB.ORG – Nearly 40 years ago as I started my career in agriculture communications, the week leading up to Thanksgiving celebrated those who live on the land and care for critters (livestock), while recognizing the important partnership farmers have with consumers. Farm-City Week celebrated the harvest and the abundance of affordable and nutritious food available to American families and for export around the world. With that in mind, now is a good time to remember our blessings and celebrate what we have in common.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we live, shop and find entertainment. We miss meeting friends at the local foodie hot spot and enjoying a meal but have found ways to handle the disruption by adjusting our lives, applying new technology and simply being grateful. One positive outcome during this time of social distancing is that the food chain, from the field to the fork and the gate to the plate, has received some appreciation as Americans have been reminded that agriculture and all of those along the food chain are essential to everyday life.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE: https://www.fb.org/viewpoints/rural-or-urban-farm-or-city-we-all-need-each-other

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Green Front Gardens Reduce Physiological and Psychological Stress


METRO.NEWS – THERE is growing evidence that being in natural spaces — whether while gardening or listening to bird song — has a positive effect on mental health. Being in nature is also linked to improved cognitive function, greater relaxation, coping with trauma and alleviating certain attention deficit disorder symptoms in children.

However, most of these studies have specifically looked at the effect of public green spaces, rather than private gardens. During a time when many people are at home due to Covid-19 restrictions, private garden spaces have been the most accessible green spaces for those who have them. But do these small green spaces have the same benefits for our mental health?

READ THE FULL ARTICLE: https://www.metro.news/green-front-gardens-reduce-physiological-and-psychological-stress/2236961/

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‘Leave the Leaves!’

WMICENTRAL.COM – This has become a rallying cry by gardeners, natural landscape enthusiasts and ecologists. To let fallen leaves stay where they land in yards across America is becoming a popular trend. Not because homeowners and gardeners are lazy (so we claim), but because the leaves provide a protective habitat and ecosystem for the insects, critters and microbes that survive under a blanket of nutrients and protection that leaves furnish over the winter.

The latest natural science recommendation is to simply let the leaves fall where they may which allows insects, amphibians, worms, beetles, millipedes, mites, and larvae of pollinators such as butterflies, moths as well as bees to survive the winter months and complete their life cycle.

Nowadays, leaving the leaves is being a good steward of wildlife. That means we are no longer “leaf slackers.” We’re great contributors to providing eco habitats for pollinators such as the Monarch butterflies which are approaching massive depopulation due to urban sprawl and the heavy use of herbicides and insecticides. Bee populations are also decreasing due to Colony Collapse Disorder, whereby bees mysteriously disappear from their hives, never to return. The decline of these two important pollinators threatens food production which is becoming a worldwide problem. Therefore, leaving the leaves in yards and gardens is a good thing which leaf raking neatniks need to understand and appreciate.

Leave the leaves?! Yes or no…

READ THE FULL ARTICLE: https://www.wmicentral.com/outdoors_and_gardening/leave-the-leaves/article_c56e988a-f8da-583f-925e-5e115703ca67.html

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Shanghai’s First Unmanned Farm

VCG 

NEWS.CGTN.COM – China’s rural development still faces many contradictions and problems, such as the decline of farmers’ enthusiasm for growing grain, the increasing difficulty of farmers’ continuous income increase, and the aging of rural areas increasingly serious, the recently released “2020 China Agricultural and Rural Development Report” shows.

Many experts believe the construction of “unmanned farms” can solve this kind of problem by helping reduce labor intensity and improving agricultural production efficiency, while with the rapid development of agricultural science technology and its in-depth application, unmanned farms have become an important hot spot for the country’s development of modern agriculture consequently.

Would you like to see more farms here in the US take this approach combined with organic gardening methods? 

READ THE FULL STORY: https://news.cgtn.com/news/2020-11-27/Shanghai-s-first-unmanned-farm-VL7XCxJfj2/index.html

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An Urban Farm Feeding The Poorest Part of Philly Fights To Stay Alive And Growing

JESSICA GRIFFIN / INQUIRER STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

INQUIRER.COM – The Life Do Grow Farm on North 11th and Dauphin Streets in North Philadelphia was carved out of the poorest part of the poorest big city in America.

Once an illegal dump, set beside a SEPTA Regional Rail line, the two-acre plot is studded by trees — some in planters made of painted tires — and lined with beds normally thick with flowers and vegetables in the growing season. Run by a grassroots nonprofit called Urban Creators, it yields needed food in a supermarket desert where hunger proliferated long before the pandemic.

The farm also serves as a community commons — a nexus of artistic and entrepreneurial incubation in what neighbors call a “magical” space dotted by sheds and a pavilion used for public events.

CONTINUE READING THE FULL STORY: https://www.inquirer.com/news/urban-farm-north-philadelphia-food-insecurity-supermarket-desert-20201124.html

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Organic Community Garden Established In San Bernardino Nourishes Body, Mind

Nearly 30 families received plots of land this summer to grow their own organic fruits and vegetables. [photos by Chet Williams]
NEWS.LLU.EDU – Families in San Bernardino will enjoy a Thanksgiving bounty of fresh fruits and vegetables they grew themselves thanks to Loma Linda University Health’s donation of a one-acre parcel to establish an organic community garden and outdoor activity center — aiming to improve nutrition and mental well-being among the underserved.

The city of San Bernardino is one of Southern California’s food deserts — areas where people have limited access to affordable, nutritious food due to poverty, food insecurity, access to grocery stores and lack of transportation.

“Jardín de la Salud,” Spanish for “Garden of Health,” is an initiative of the Loma Linda University Community-Academic Partners in Service (CAPS), part of the Institute for Community Partnerships (ICP), to provide wholesome produce and safe outdoor green spaces to the local underserved population.

READ THE FULL STORY: https://news.llu.edu/community/organic-community-garden-established-san-bernardino-nourishes-body-mind

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This 2-Acre Vertical Farm Produces More Than ‘Flat Farms’ That Use 720 Acres

GOODNEWSNETWORK.ORG – From an ag-tech startup named Plenty, a two-acre indoor vertical farm produces yields that would normally require a 720-acre ‘flat farm’—and it can be done with 95% less water.

Saving water is critical in an agricultural state like arid California, where Plenty is set to supply fresh produce for 430 Albertsons grocery stores.

The vision is truly one out of Star Trek, with Plenty’s use of robotics and artificial intelligence to ensure perfect plants year-round.

The reasons to support indoor vertical farming are varied, ranging from climate-related benefits to removing cumbersome logistical challenges like long-distance transportation.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE: https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/2-acre-vertical-farm-plenty-grows-350x-more/

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This Man Is On A Mission To Get His Neighborhood Healthy

GOODMORNINGAMERICA.COM – Tony Hillery is on a mission to teach children in his Harlem community how to adopt healthier food habits.

“It’s a simple formula here that if a child plants it, they will eat it,” he said. “Eighty percent of the time that they eat it, they’ll like it.”

Hillery is the founder of Harlem Grown, an organization that inspires “local youth to lead more healthy, ambitious lives through hands-on education, mentorship and urban farming.” It all started nine years ago during the last financial crisis when Hillery’s business hit a rough patch and he started reading about schools in underserved communities.

WATCH THE VIDEO: https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/living/story/man-mission-neighborhood-healthy-food-options-urban-farming-74364299

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Technology Helps Move Agriculture Indoors

ISRAEL21.C.ORG – Greenhouses and urban farm factories are expensive to set up but pay off in higher yield, quality and market value, growing all through the seasons.

Grain crops will always need large fields. But tomatoes, leafy greens, peppers, and strawberries are some of the many fruits and veggies that thrive indoors under precisely controlled conditions.

Though it costs more to raise produce in greenhouses or urban “farm factories,” the payoff is higher yield, quality and market value. The plants can grow year-round with less fertilizer and pesticide.

READ THE FULL STORY: https://www.israel21c.org/the-technologies-helping-move-agriculture-indoors/

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City Breaks Ground for New Urban Farm and Entrepreneurial Program

TALLAHASSEEREPORTS.COM – On Monday, Oct. 19, Mayor John Dailey and the City Commissioners broke ground on the first City Farm TLH located in the Greater Bond area.

In support of the City Commission’s five-year Strategic Plan and the Greater Bond Neighborhood First Plan, the pilot urban farm will help provide affordable fresh fruit and vegetables to the surrounding neighborhood.

“City Farm TLH is a creative way to turn an underutilized property into a community asset. We are excited to see this pilot urban farm take shape and create a sustainable urban farming business certificate program to encourage local entrepreneurship,” said Mayor John Dailey.

READ THE FULL STORY: https://tallahasseereports.com/2020/11/11/city-breaks-ground-for-new-urban-farm-and-entrepreneurial-program/

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Are ‘Edible Landscapes’ the Future of Public Parks?

 

In Seattle, volunteers transformed seven acres of grass next to a busy road into the Beacon Food Forest. (Flickr user Jeff Wright)

THESMITHSONIANMAG.COM – Imagine strolling through an urban public park, admiring the trees and flowers. Your stomach starts to rumble. You reach up and pluck a few greengage plums from the tree overhead, and munch them as you continue walking. Later, perhaps, you stop to help a group of volunteers dig up potatoes from the park’s root vegetable garden, to be placed in crates and cycled to the nearby food pantry.

A growing movement of gardeners, food activists, landscape designers, urban planners and others is encouraging us to think “edible” when it comes to public green space. Flowers are pretty, they say, but if those blossoms become apples or zucchini, isn’t that even better?

“Public food landscapes can transform public spaces from being passive scenes to view or experience at a relatively superficial level,” says Joshua Zeunert, a landscape designer and professor at the University of New South Wales in Sydney who studies edible public spaces.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/are-edible-landscapes-future-public-parks-180976291/

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Seattle’s Urban Farmers Are Reclaiming Public Space

Natalie Garcia tends to the community garden at the MLK FAME Community Center on Oct. 22, 2020. The existing garden was expanded by Black Star Farmers about four months ago and the group holds ‘stewardship parties’ every week to keep the garden going. “We are really lucky to have this space to come clear our heads and be together and tend to the land,” Garcia says. (Dorothy Edwards/Crosscut)

THECROSSCUT.COM – I can’t really tell if I’m doing much,” says Julie, a new volunteer for the urban farming coalition Black Star Farmers. She’s holding a dull machete and a file, learning to sharpen tools before using them to break down more plant parts into compost for a garden flourishing in a sea of concrete outside the MLK FAME Community Center.

In a year of immense upheaval, three major crises — the COVID-19 pandemic, a racial reckoning and catastrophic wildfires — rise above the rest as transformative events that rocked our region.  In this series, Crosscut reporters explore how our streets, neighborhoods, buildings and backyards are adapting — and how the very psyche and culture of the city might, too.

“It doesn’t feel like you’re doing much in the beginning,” says Marcus Henderson, the group’s founder. “I would just start in one spot. Once you feel some resistance, you’ll feel like, ‘OK, it’s starting to take off.’ ”

READ THE FULL ARTICLE: https://crosscut.com/focus/2020/11/seattles-urban-farmers-are-reclaiming-public-space

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Why Urban Gardening Can Be A lot More Than Just a Hobby

Richard Bord/Getty Images Via The Conversation

THENEWLEAM.COM – Gardening is a popular hobby in Indian cities. Although in the case of the majority of households there is hardly any space for gardening, the green urge and creativity of many people find an outlet somehow, even though this may be confined to a few earthen pots. The sheer joy of plucking a few home-grown coriander leaves, or a few mint leaves,  a  green chilly or two, even occasional brinjal can cheer up a household any morning. 

Basil ( tulsi) plant is of course the most common ( and the most useful) plant for urban households in India. Creepers offer a way of growing useful vegetables and beautiful flowers even in the absence of open space. Terrace gardens open up many creative possibilities. There are other more fortunate households who are able to have a proper garden in front of or adjoining their house.

READ THE FULL STORY: https://www.thenewleam.com/2020/11/why-urban-gardening-can-be-a-lot-more-than-just-a-hobby/

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St. Paul Hydroponics Operation Baffles City Inspectors

Scott Takushi | Pioneer Press

WISFARMER.COM – ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – As an astronomer and physicist, John Cannon’s work is literally out of this world. His expertise as the department chair at Macalester College in St. Paul is studying nearby low-mass galaxies.

Cannon’s latest adventure off St. Paul’s Snelling Avenue is, quite literally, more down to earth: backyard hydroponics.

With the intent of saving his home planet, or at least improving his corner of it, Cannon recently launched the urban agriculture venture Minnesota Acre Farms LLC with a full-time gardener and two administrators from the University of St. Thomas.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE: https://www.wisfarmer.com/story/news/2020/11/09/st-paul-hydroponics-operation-baffles-city-inspectors/6218466002/

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Tech Startup iFarm Raises $4 Million to Expand Do-It-Yourself Urban Farms

FOODTANK.COM – The Finnish technology startup iFarm recently raised US$4 million to build vertical farms for more customers across Europe and the Middle East. Using these funds, iFarm aims to help entrepreneurs and businesses set up their own urban farms—at any time, in any place.

iFarm, founded in 2017, develops autonomous farming systems to grow greens, berries, and edible flowers indoors. It sells smaller, individual growing modules, as well as vertical farms for larger-scale production.

Most urban farming companies do one of two things: grow and sell their own food or manufacture technology to assist experienced farmers, such as LED lights and robots that can monitor and harvest produce.

READ THE FULL STORY: https://foodtank.com/news/2020/10/tech-startup-ifarm-raises-us4-million-to-expand-do-it-yourself-urban-farms/

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Farming in the City: West Sacramento Urban Farms

SACMAG.COM – Imagine: A vacant lot transformed into a fruit garden. An apartment balcony repurposed as a tomato nursery. A backyard that functions as a grocery store. They’re all urban farms, producing food in the city—and literally changing the landscape in the process. Country and concrete can not only co–exist; they can also address food insecurity, nutrition education and healthy eating as well as carbon footprint reduction, all while creating and empowering community. Here are four little urban farms that are accomplishing big things in and around the farm-to-fork capital.

READ THE FULL STORY: https://www.sacmag.com/916/farming-in-the-city-west-sacramento-urban-farm/

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National Preservation Award Winners Range From An Urban Farm To Health Center

IAN MACLELLAN

FORBES.COM – The National Trust for Historic Preservation recently announced winners of the 2020 Richard H. Driehaus Foundation National Preservation Awards, which recognize excellence in historic preservation, adaptive reuse and the re-imagining of historic buildings for the future.

The awards are given to distinguished individuals, nonprofit organizations, public agencies and corporations that have redefined communities by preserving their architectural and cultural heritage.

This year’s recipients range from a New Deal-era health center updated into a state-of-the-art medical facility, to a rare Federal-style farmstead brought back to life to create greater food access and green space, to the Egyptian Revival-style headquarters of one of the largest Black-owned insurance firms continuing its legacy of economic development.

READ THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brendarichardson/2020/11/08/national-preservation-award-winners-range-from-an-urban-farm-to-health-center/?sh=317166478be7

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Urban Farming In Pittsburgh

Lily LaRegina/Post-Gazette

POSTGAZETTE.COM – Pittsburgh City Council’s continued financial support of urban farming projects in the city is the right move at a time when food insecurity is on the rise nationwide fueled by the coronavirus pandemic and high unemployment.

Council recently approved two transfers — $41,296 and $167,048 — to fund the CityFarms project, a concept to bring agriculture to urban communities to serve as both a teaching opportunity for area youth and a source of fresh produce for local food banks.

Council member Anthony Coghill sees the CityFarms project as a way to turn a portion of Brookline Memorial Park in his district into a community farm, where residents would engage in “collective farming” with produce being donated to food banks. Fellow council member Deb Gross has similar hopes for a Polish Hill site in her district.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE: https://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/editorials/2020/11/07/Urban-farming-1/stories/202011050050

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St. Petersburg Urban Farm Saves Resources By Turning Shipping Containers Into Vertical Farmland

FOX 13 NEWS – Brick Street Farms is an urban hydroponic farm located in the heart of St. Petersburg. It upcycles shipping containers into 40-foot grow houses. It started in Shannon O’Malley and Bradley Doyle’s garage.

“We converted our garage to a grow room. We saw an incredible opportunity. We didn’t have the money to convert a warehouse, so we bought a shipping container,” O’Malley explained.

Each container is the same as two to three acres of traditional farmland. It’s six levels of vertical farmland.

READ THE FULL STORY: https://www.fox13news.com/news/st-petersburg-urban-farm-saves-resources-by-turning-shipping-containers-into-vertical-farmland

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Here’s How To Feed Your Garden Now For Success Next Year

THESTAR.COM – Your soil is the cradle that will nurture your garden next year.

And now that your plants, flowers, and veggies are fading away for the season, it is important to give back to the soil so it can return a bounty for the next gardening season.

Here’s our list of important autumn jobs that will feed and protect your garden through the winter:

Compost — finished organic matter. If you have a backyard composter, now is the perfect time to spread the black gold that’s inside of it across the surface of your soil, about eight to 10 centimeters (three to four inches) thick. If your backyard composter has not produced finished compost, purchase it in by the bag at a garden retailer. Buy quality.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE: https://www.thestar.com/life/homes/2020/10/27/heres-how-to-feed-your-garden-now-for-success-next-year.html