Green Options

City Dirt is a brilliant urban gardening blog. The founder will be publishing the book A Little Piece of Earth this coming winter. Don’t wait to start planting some seeds now and have fun experimenting with growing food in small spaces. It is truly possible!

Good ideas have a life of their own. That’s what Paul Baricos, Executive Director of the Hollygrove Growers Market and Farm (HGMF) in New Orleans is learning two years after the Carrolton-Hollygrove Community Development Center (CHCDC) set out to figure out how to bring fresh produce to a neighborhood with no real access to affordable food.

Residents of Madison, Wisconsin, and neighboring Fitchburg are fighting to save a 1 1/2-acre organic community garden from the bulldozer. A vote by local planning officials this week gave them a reprieve, but the solution isn’t permanent yet.

The Capital Times reports that the Drumlin Community Garden sits on property owned by the Alexander Company, which is building a commercial development on its land. The Community Action Coalition of South Central Wisconsin has a one-year lease with Alexander for the garden portion, but the lease runs out this year.

A few months ago, I watched some members of my community prepare a garden in the alley behind their house. As of mid-July, they have created a veritable produce stand as raspberries, Swiss chard, peppers, and cucumbers are flourishing. Dinner, anyone?