Category: Urban Farming

Ok, maybe a few more than four. Closer to 2,000.

But the golf clubs used by Wayne Riedel and Eric Joosten in Darien’s urban garden on Old King’s Highway aren’t for any golf game.

The pair has recycled thousands of golf clubs to use for stakes in their expansive garden now more than five years strong. They cut the ends off with a pair of cutters.”

Read the FULL ARTICLE at: “DarienTimes.com”

“OAKLAND, Calif. — Even by the standards of the Bay Area, where sourcing local, organic chicken feed is seen as something of a political act, the spectacle of 30,000 fruit and nut trees being tended by formerly incarcerated orchardists is novel.

The green thumbs are there because of Planting Justice, a nine-year-old nonprofit that combines urban farming with environmental education and jobs for ex-offenders. From its headquarters in a pair of salvaged shipping containers on a dead-end street in East Oakland, Calif., Planting Justice has forged a trail in which revenue-generating businesses help subsidize the group’s core mission: hiring former inmates, many from nearby San Quentin State Prison, and giving them a “family sustaining” wage, along with health benefits and a month of paid leave annually. About half the total staff of 30 have served time in prison.”

Read the FULL ARTICLE at The New York Times

“It feels good, putting the seed down. Watching it grow. Watching it produce fruit. It’s a beautiful thing,” said Darian Belton, owner of T&T Plant-ery.

Belton has a full-time job at a car rental place, but what really drives him, is creating a sustainable food source; especially for those who can’t do it themselves.

“We want to inspire more people to grow their own food. Put seeds in the dirt and grow your fresh organic produce,” said Belton.

Read the FULL Article at: “KWQC.com“

Money from this campaign will be used to cover all damage costs, moving, storage, as well as be a safety-net for all bills and expenses that need to be paid because there is no income coming in.

HELP SUPPORT Laura & Noahh Dawn HERE: GoFundMe

“Vacant lots dot lower-income neighborhoods across the country. In many cities, urban growers have planted in those lots, repurposing abandoned city land into gardens with farmers markets and healthy food.

But cities often still register such plots as “vacant,” which allows them to be snatched up by housing developers. In communities where both housing and fresh food are needed, the fight over valuable vacant land is prompting policy reform — and tense collaboration — between developers and gardeners.

“People who live near [vacant lots] should have a say in how they’re developed, and most of the time people want to grow gardens, parks and farms,” says Mara Kravitz, director of 596 Acres, an organization that maps vacant lots in New York City and advocates for community stewardship of that land.”

Read the FULL STORY at: “NPR.org“

DENVER — Gone are the days of moving to rural communities to become farmers. Instead, more and more people living in metro areas are becoming, ‘Urban Farmers’; especially when it comes to raising chickens.

“I joined a lot of chicken groups on the internet I never thought I’d join,” a slightly embarrassed Aaron Serna admitted.

At first, Serna didn’t know a thing about chickens. But the more he researched them, the more he found himself intrigued. Same goes for Ryan Zeman.

“Chicken facts 101,” Zeman joked.

Both men started raising chickens as a way to appreciate their food more and because of the health benefits associated with it.

“We just kind of wanted to experience and be more connected to our food,” Serna said. “I think it’s something people don’t really understand the amount of energy and work that goes into making food. So it was a way for us to understand that and be more appreciative”.

Read the FULL STORY at: “KDVR.com“

“OAKLAND — A small arsenal of deadly Bay Area weapons is on its way to Atlanta, soon to be transformed from tools of violence to tools of peace, healing and hope.

The “Lead To Life” project — 50 guns melted and cast into 50 shovels, to plant 50 trees — will commemorate the 50 years since a bullet struck down civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. as he stood on the balcony of Room 306 at Lorraine Motel in Memphis, changing America forever.

Organized by two young Oakland activists and hosted by The King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, the April 6 ceremony will not just mourn the loss of King but also other lives claimed by mass shootings, suicides, gang warfare and domestic violence.”

Read the FULL STORY at: “MercuryNews.com“

In January, Knute Berger and Matt M. McKnight took the time to visit some of our farms in Whatcom County and then explained in Crosscut why bridging the urban-rural divide is so important for our state and communities. After all, as they mentioned, our failures to understand one another can blossom into hot political issues. What happens in urban areas affects farming and rural communities — and vice versa. For instance, a crisis in farming can quickly disrupt the food chain supplying city dwellers.

In February, the issue of pesticide use by farmers arose and provided a compelling example of what happens when the bridge between rural and urban mindsets fails.

A bill was introduced into the Legislature by well-intended and mostly urban legislators. It proposed to solve a “problem” with pesticide application by requiring four days’ notice before a farmer could apply necessary crop-protection materials. Farmers opposed the measure which was reported in Crosscut. That February article, in the view of farmers, added to the bill sponsors’ misperceptions about farmers and their interest in protecting workers, consumers, and neighbors.

Read the FULL ARTICLE, here: “Crosscut.com“