Green Options » urban farm

Six Urban Farms, From U.S. Coast to Coast

Adam Williams — Wed, 20 May 2009 23:56:55 +0000

With spring bringing out the gardener in many of us — veteran, rookie and in between — my household has been expanding our growing. Last year, we had a couple of small vegetable plots that maybe totalled 15-20 square feet. Plus, we created a wildflower and native grass section that stretches to a slim 40 square feet.

This year, we have turned nearly half of our backyard — tiny as it is — into a vegetable garden, adding 125 square feet, or so. I built a wooden-pallet compost bin. And our front yard — yes, tiny front yard — is quickly becoming garden space, too (more flowers, native grasses and such). We’ll soon have a rain barrel. I’ve torn up a 50-foot stretch of sidewalk, and will replace it with a more drainage-friendly, more attractive solution. My wife also has started dozens of vegetable seedlings, which she is giving away for others’ gardens.

Scientist Grows Fish in Hell’s Kitchen, Vegetables in Prison

Tina Casey — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 17:04:48 +0000

For a glimpse into the future of urban farming, take a look inside a Hell’s Kitchen high school campus, a former public school in the Bronx, or even a nearby prison on Rikers Island. Either way, you’ll see the hand of Cornell University horticulture specialist Philson Warner at work. Warner has spent the past 20 years experimenting with hydroponic and aquaculture systems to develop more efficient methods for raising fish and vegetables in an urban environment, and sharing his knowledge with young people.

Growing Fish in the Bronx

Warner’s laboratory is based in the former Public School 39 on Longwood Avenue in the Bronx. In an article by writer Timothy Greenleaf, Warner explains how his system combines hydroponics with aquaculture. The fish droppings fertilize the plants, which in turn purify the water for return to the fish tanks. Aside from yielding up to twenty vegetable crops per year and hundreds of pounds of fish, the lab functions as a teaching center for visiting schoolchildren.

Fish in Hell’s Kitchen

This past summer, Warner introduced his hydroponic/aquaculture system into a high school campus in the heart of the Hell’s Kitchen district of Manhattan. Spread over two floors, it is an ambitious undertaking that will eventually include a retail store and greenhouse.

Growing Vegetables in Prison

Life being what it is, Warner’s work is not accessible to high school students behind bars just a short distance away, at the Rikers Island prison complex. So, Warner has brought his lab to the prison, at the urging of social worker Christine Schmidt. Starting two years ago with just three classes, the program has grown to include eight labs dispersed among the complex’s two high schools, with 15 teachers trained to use them.

Warner’s program at Rikers Island is part of a rapidly growing wave of green rehab projects and work programs for America’s enormous incarcerated population, including reclaiming waste for use in organic compost, and building solar modules. If we can credit the Department of Defense with inventing the internet, perhaps it’s not too far-fetched to look behind our prison walls for sustainability solutions.

Image: suneko at flickr.

Urban Farmer Cited in L.A. for Illegal Composting

John Chappell — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 20:22:49 +0000

A small organic flower grower was cited in late December 2008 by the Los Angeles Local Enforcement Agency for composting violations. Yes, you read that right, composting violations.

Tara Kolla of Silver Lake Farms in Los Angeles, California, was cited because of a law on the books that states that “composting material must be generated on-site unless it is placed in a vessel that controls airborne emissions”. What this means is that legally you can only compost what you produce on your property unless your compost bin is a “commercially approved” device.

Kolla had established a relationship with a local restaurant to fill a garbage can she provided each week with their vegetable scraps, which she would then haul to her half acre urban farm and add to her own compost bin. This is a perfect example of local food networks working as they should, operating in a closed loop, reducing carbon emissions by keeping everything local, and reducing the amount of waste sent to local landfills. But the current letter of the law in Los Angeles states that if you take grass clippings, orange peels, or fallen fruit from a neighbor, you are in violation of the law and could be cited and fined.

Urban Farmer Wins MacArthur Genius Grant

Sarah Pressman Lovinger — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 20:17:35 +0000

Will Allen, former pro basketball player, founded Growing Power to help low-income people in Milwaukee and Chicago grow their own food locally.

He will now have an extra $500,000 to help his efforts.