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Green (1/8th) Acres sprout in the city
Douglas Brown, Denver Post
A couple of years ago, Everett Sizemore treated his yard in the customary fashion: as a place to cross, a place to hang out in the summer and a place to mow.
The yard was not a place that invited much contemplation or, heaven forbid, philosophizing.
But now the one-eighth-acre Englewood lot has taken over Sizemore’s life.
Sizemore and his wife, Melissa Blakeslee, 29, are urban homesteaders, treating their little piece of land like a miniature farm…
(26 May 2009)
Bay Area’s new crop of gardeners digging in
Patricia Yollin, San Francisco Chronicle
Sometimes at night, Cameron Crotty goes outside with his flashlight and hunts for earwigs. Maybe they are the saboteurs in his vegetable garden. Or maybe not…
…Still, he insists the struggle is worth it, and he’s far from alone in his quest. Crotty is part of a trend sweeping the country: More and more people are growing their own food…
…In the Bay Area, the fervor has been fed by the sustainable-food movement, the books of Michael Pollan and last year’s Victory Garden near San Francisco City Hall, said Hilary Gordon, who teaches classes at Garden for the Environment.
(24 May 2009)
How a greener city gets growing
Meredith Cohn, Baltimore Sun
As a regional “forager” for Whole Foods, Mark Smallwood spends much of his time making sure the green grocer stocks local food, usually from commercial farms. But if he has his way, some products will come from even closer: Baltimore’s community gardens.
To make that happen, he has hatched a plan to vastly expand the number of city residents who know how to grow fruits and vegetables – as well as how to cook, preserve and sell them. He’s negotiating with the city for a site, likely in northern Baltimore, large enough for gardening classes and some individual plots. And he’s applying for grants to cover some of the costs. “There’s no reason why you can’t grow your own food in the city,” said Smallwood, an organic farmer who points to his own planted Woodberry yard as evidence. “This is a years-long project that aims to get a lot of people involved.”…
(26 May 2009)
From Motor City to Garden City
Michael Summerton, Planetizen
Adam, a young Detroiter with a warm and easy way, works at Le Petit Zinc, a cafe on the way to Corktown. I’m slurping through a giant bowl of hot chocolate while Adam rests on his haunches opposite, his chin at tabletop level. He’s talking about the responsibility that goes with inheriting a piece of farmland in the middle of an American city. “Our garden has grown to four city plots. Two older ladies had been farming there for decades. Until they passed away they were feeding their families for years. We’re excited because the soil is really good, but it’s a big garden now. I think we’re going to plant an orchard.”…
(27 Apr 2009)
In their new book ‘A Nation of Farmers’ Sharon Astyk & Aaron Newton present a vision for people to become a part of the solution to the food production crisis. Maybe here are some green shoots of recovery which will prove sustainable! – SO
