Hiring a landscaper to design your yard isn’t a rare concept, but how about a farmscaper for your vegetable garden?
While it’s not a mainstream concept right now, through the efforts of Farmscape Gardens, it might soon be a household phenomenon.
Farmscape Gardens is California’s largest urban farming company, bringing edible gardens to 300 clients across the state. Since 2009, the company has been working with residential and commercial customers to develop a plan based on the needs of the client and the logistics of the space. First, Farmscape surveys the property and then will install the garden.
The company continues to work with the client through the growing process as well. Customers can hire weekly farmers to come and maintain their gardens by pulling weeds, controlling pests and harvesting the produce.
All of the gardens utilize a raised bed design, allowing for control of soil quality. Other components include drip irrigation, organic practices and manual weeding.
Right now, Farmscape Gardens has two offices in California – one in Los Angeles with 12 employees and one in Oakland with two employees. Although, the Oakland office just opened this past spring, it has already installed 15 gardens.
The company’s biggest new project was the downtown LA Jonathon Club. Not only is it’s Farmscape’s first rooftop garden, but it allows the social club to sell its customers fresh food straight from above them.
For CEO Dan Allen, this is a step in the right direction for the group as the homegrown produce movement gains momentum. “I would say it has made progress towards being a more mainstream concept and we’ve had a chance for more models to develop and more gain to be collected in each of the models,” he tells Sustainable Cities Collective.
DON’T MISS: While Her Peers Stand Idle, This Teen Activist Fights for the Earth
Tag: Food & Agriculture
Can One Farm Change How an Entire Community Eats?
Urban farm movements seem to be everywhere nowadays. But two farmers have a bigger vision in mind: they want to create a whole local food district.
Meet the Mullens, the husband-and-wife team of Derek and Kamise, who are the masterminds behind Everitt Farms in Lakewood, Colo. (a suburb of Denver). Just over a year ago, they began farming on the 7.5 acres that they own and an additional 18 acres that they lease. The fruits of their labor? A wide variety of produce, Christmas trees, horses, chickens and hay.
The Mullens use traditional intensive growing practices, which involve burying root vegetables within a single trench at different levels, surrounded by leafy greens and vine crops. The process is based on an old 1800s method, which is space saving.
Each weekend, Everitt Farms welcomes more than 100 families that purchase locally-grown vegetables and other products.
“We both have really wanted to do something like this for honestly, a good portion of our lives,” Kamise tells Sustainable Cities Collective. “It really wasn’t until we got married about four years ago that we actually started really growing food and trying to farm at all.”
To expand their urban farm even further, the Mullens held a Kickstarter campaign this past January, raising enough funds to add a greenhouse, irrigation system and the starting preparations for an open-air market with a farm stand constructed from the materials of an old barn.
Ultimately, the couple has a larger goal than just feeding their neighbors; they hope that their few acres of farmland will spark a lifestyle change and that others will see the benefits of a community food district complete with a bakery, restaurant, butcher and local products store.
“The people around us still all have at least a quarter acre lot and up to two or three acres,” Kamise tells Sustainable Cities Collective. “There’s a lot of people that grow their own food, there’s a lot of people that process, have jams and jellies, have products they make themselves. We’d really like to incorporate the fact that this was agricultural land and draw the community back into this area and back into farming through trading goods with them.”
She continues, “We’re still in the planning stages for the businesses we’d like to build, but the community is starting to realize when they have extra zucchinis they can come bring it to us and trade it out for tomatoes, jalapenos and things that they couldn’t grow.”
And with the success that the Mullens have had with their own farm, there’s no telling what this power couple can accomplish.
MORE: The Rooftop Decoration That Could Cut Your Energy Costs
The Latest Place to Grow Greens
While urban farms are gaining popularity in cities across the country, some metropolitans are taking them to new heights. Literally.
Instead of planting gardens on the ground, some groups are utilizing rooftops to grow food to feed customers, students and the homeless.
One such urban rooftop farm is located at Roberta’s Pizza in New York City. Located in Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood, the restaurant has two small rooftop greenhouse facilities that produce 20 percent of the ingredients the restaurant uses throughout its multiple locations. And on the west coast, you’ll find Project Open Hand in San Francisco. This nonprofit uses its rooftop greenhouse to produce healthy meals for the sick and elderly. All of the herbs and greens are grown in the city headquarters, prepared by the chefs and then distributed across the city.
Schools are also a popular destination for rooftop farms. At George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., a greenhouse sits atop the school’s Exploratory Hall. As part of the Department of Environmental Science and Policy, the university’s greenhouse has three rooms — each paralleling a different climate. It has also partnered with the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and the university’s Potomac Heights’ vegetable garden, which feeds the homeless.
Chicago features a few different schools taking a unique approach to rooftop farming. The University of Chicago’s greenhouse sits atop the Donnelley Biological Science Learning Center. Boasting 7,500 square feet of growing space, a portion of it is also used for drug research.
There’s also a local high school getting involved in the sky-high action. The Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos High School in Chicago has a hydroponic greenhouse on its roof. Since the school bases its curriculum on social transformation, it views social ecology and urban agriculture as vital components. So, the school uses its greenhouse to grow food for the students, as well as it serving as an educational tool.
And so far it’s working. For one student Jaleen Starling, the opportunity to work in the garden was life changing or at least lifestyle changing.
“When we get taught something, it’s never just for us to learn,” she tells New Communities. “It’s something for us to connect to. … Until I came to this school, I didn’t pay attention to food.”
So while these farms may be high up, they’re starting a movement on the ground.
To find more urban rooftop farms growing across the country, click here.
MORE: How This Coal Capital is Going Solar
How This Group is Cultivating Small Farms in America
Due to high costs of management and competition with corporations, the small farm could soon become an American relic.
But not if FarmLink has anything to say about it. Through funding and resources, this group is connecting generations of farmers to ensure that these modest-sized plots of land don’t go by the wayside.
Currently, the age of the average farmer is 58 years old, and 19 percent of farms are operated by people around 65 years of age. Additionally, there are very few young farmers taking the place of retiring ones. In fact, only six percent of farmers are under the age of 35, and since 2007, the number of new farmers dropped by 20 percent.
Most of these numbers can be attributed to the lack of land access and money, which makes entering the business difficult.
So FarmLink decided to step in. The group has multiple chapters across the country that connect experienced farmers with young novices. These older farmers pass on knowledge and expertise and in some cases, the actual farms themselves.
The group’s website offers a range of practical tips and a guidebook to help owners create succession plans. Most importantly, FarmLink is helping to sprout the next generation of farmers. Carol Ptak and her husband own Blacksmith Ranch in Rochester, Wash., which they’re looking to sell because of Ptak’s husband’s medical condition.
They hadn’t had much luck until they contacted the Washington FarmLink chapter who helped put their ranch on the map. “They have provided the opportunity to get the word out about our farm to a different audience,” Ptak tells Yes! Magazine.
And the Ptaks are just one example. With so much history imbedded into these farms, it’s about time someone started preserving their future.
MORE: Eco-Friendly Products Often Aren’t as Popular, But This Successful Startup Found a Winning, Green Formula
What the Latest Technology Means for the Farm-to-Table Movement
There really is nothing quite like a vegetable picked fresh off the vine – the taste, texture and smell are all one-of-a-kind. While those with gardens are very familiar with it, the vast majority of us probably aren’t — and we certainly wouldn’t expect to encounter it in a supermarket or restaurant.
Until now. The business Fresh with Edge is closing the gap between farm and table by redefining the traditional farmer/consumer experience.
Through the use of hydroponics and aquaponics, Fresh with Edge grows their herbs and greens on five feet vertical towers inside a greenhouse system, according to Sustainable Cities Collective. When the greens are ready, the towers are simply transferred to the designated location where they’ll be consumed (think: a grocery store or eatery).
This Rochester, Minn. business is owned by Chris and Lisa Lukenbill, who started it back in 2011 because of an overwhelming urge to know where their food came from. Although both work in computer science and neither of them grew up on a farm, the couple used agricultural knowledge they had from aunts and uncles to get the business rolling.
It wasn’t an easy start. In between working full time and raising their two children, Chris and Lisa were learning how to run Fresh with Edge through a series of trial and error.
That all changed, however, after Chris attended an aquaponics conference in 2012. There, he met Nate Storey who operates Bright Agrotech, manufacturer of the ZipGrow vertical farming tower. Storey offered his assistance, and after a local food co-op let them sell onsite, the Lukenbill’s business began to grow.
Currently, Fresh with Edge has 300 towers in its facility and is connecting with consumers across the Rochester area. Its greens and herbs are sold at two local restaurants – Tonic in the Midtown district and Rainbow Café in Pine Island. It can also be found at the People’s Fund Co-op where its produce is sold by the ounce.
While Fresh with Edge used to actively participate in farmer’s markets, it’s taking a break to explore other avenues.
One of those is home sales, which will allow customers to purchase their own towers complete with fully grown greens and herbs, such as lettuce, bok choy, kale and chard. Additionally, the Lukenbills look to add more fresh, local and nutritious foods to their business, and they’re also looking into a way to use waste heat from electricity production to heat the greenhouse, which is currently only in operation from April to early November.
For Chris, though, the towers are a way of bringing people closer to the roots of the food they are eating.
“The towers help restaurant customers make connections with their food,” Chris tells Sustainable Cities Collective. “There is lots of opportunity for more growth.”
MORE: How Texas is Turning Toilet Water into Drinking Water
Correction: An earlier version of this article misreported the name of Nate Storey’s business, Bright Agrotech. We apologize for the error.
Can Tiny Seeds Be the Answer to This Big Farming Dilemma?
Diversity isn’t just a hot topic when it comes to race relations. It’s also important when talking about seeds.
Currently, our country suffers from a lack of seed diversity. Four companies control 50 percent of the entire commercial seed supply and many crops are highly genetically homogenous, according to Fast Company. For instance, American corn only stems from three or four parent lines.
And while this isn’t a problem in normal situations, it’s very dangerous if there’s an outbreak of disease, pests or extreme weather. In the event that one of these situations were to occur, American crops would be extremely susceptible to widespread loss due to the lack of diversity.
“An insurance policy against climate change is breeding for diversity,” Dillon tells Fast Company. “As we get a more chaotic climate, it’s very important to have greater diversity in our food crops, so they are resilient enough to withstand unpredictable diseases that are already starting to appear.”
That’s why Dillon started the advocacy group Seed Matters: to spread the news about seed diversity and its benefits. And thanks to the $1 million donation from the Clif Bar Family Foundation, Seed Matters was able to hit the ground running. Since its formation, 15 other companies have joined forces with them, including the supermarket chain Whole Foods and clothing company Eileen Fisher.
So, what does the group do? Well, according to their website, they are telling the “greatest story never told.” Seed Matters sponsors organic farming research, helps start seed banks and libraries in communities across the country and spreads the word out about the importance of seeds.
While it’s impossible to deny the success of modern agriculture (because of efficient practices, food is being produced at cheap rates relative to income), the ends may not justify the means. Why? Because to achieve these results, farmers often use too many chemicals and forget the traditional farming practices that are successful and environmentally sustainable.
One such modern trend is genetically modified (GM) food. Billions of dollars are spent on GM research, while only 1/70th of that is invested looking for alternative practices.
According to Dillon, we might just want to take a step back before we venture into the land of Frankenfood and instead use practices such as plant breeding, crop rotations and a better husbandry of seed varieties to build a natural resistance without harming the environment. Basically, do things that would be a win-win for every group involved.
Dillon isn’t alone in the advocacy of seeds and alternative farming methods. Many universities, specifically Cornell University, have begun to study organic practices. And there’s a flourishing group of organic seed supporters, too. A PBS show airing this fall documents this movement with Dillon as one of its featured advocates.
For Dillon, this represents a chance to better educate consumers and improve the food we eat at the same time. “There has been a farm-to-table movement, where knowing your farmer is a good thing,” Dillon says.“But there’s this prologue to that story that consumers don’t quite know. That’s the impact that seed has on their food and the world.”
MORE: How Salvaging the Food in Your Own Backyard Can Help Your Community and the Environment
Can You Grow All Your Food in an Old Swimming Pool?
With the rise of green living, it seems like gardens are popping up everywhere: in backyards and abandoned lots and on rooftops. However, when the McClung family moved into their Mesa, Ariz. home in 2009, they took one look at the empty swimming pool in their backyard and saw an opportunity for something completely unique.
They turned their swimming hole into something they’ve dubbed the Garden Pool, and over the past five years, it’s changed the McClung’s life, as well as foster a whole new sustainability movement.
So what exactly is a Garden Pool?
It’s a former swimming pool turned closed-loop ecosystem boasting everything from broccoli and potatoes to sorghum and wheat to chickens, tilapia, algae and duckweed. The food produced in the McClung’s Garden Pool is enough to feed their family of five — cutting up to three-quarters of their monthly grocery bill.
Instead of soil, the Garden Pool grows its plants in clay pellets or coconut coir. Any excess moisture drops from it into the pond below, which, combined with a rain catchment system, means that the garden requires only a small fraction of watering compared to what is usually needed in a conventional garden. A transparent plastic roof covers the in-ground pool.
In addition to less watering, the Garden Pool doesn’t need commercial fertilizer, either. That’s because the chicken excrement falls through a wire mesh covering a portion of the pond, feeding the algae and duckweed that grows in it. In turn, the tilapia living in the pond then consume those plants and release their nitrogen-rich feces. Using a solar-powered electric pump, this enriched fish-water is funneled into the hydroponics system which grows the family’s produce.
[ph]
Sounds complicated, right? The McClungs assure that it actually isn’t as difficult as it seems. In fact, over the past five years, they’ve brought garden pools to a dozen other homes in and around Phoenix. And that’s just the beginning, since Garden Pool is now a certified 501(c)3 nonprofit, it’s helping people across the country and globe start their own.
This past spring, Garden Pool joined forces with Naturopaths Without Borders and traveled to Haiti to construct a garden pool. The group also helped start about three dozen more across the country — from Palm Springs to Toledo to Florida.
But you don’t need Dennis and Daniella McClung around to create your own Garden Pond, since the couple offers a number of free online tutorials such as “Getting Started in Barrelponics” and “Growing Duckweed,” plus a 117-page how-to book containing detailed instructions, pictures, diagrams and links to video tutorials.
The McClungs are nowhere near finished — recently, they added pygmy goats as well as various fruit and nut trees to their Garden Pool.
For Dennis, doing this work is a dream come true.
“I love it,” he told Grist. “I dream about it. What inspires me is watching families’ lives being changed, watching communities change, observing the change.”
Not bad for a guy who started with an empty swimming pool, right?
MORE: The Surprising Second Life of Urine
Meet The Councils Putting Local Food on Tables Nationwide
It goes without saying that America is a melting pot of different cultures, customs and people. Traveling from one state to another or one region to another can be like entering a new country. But for all of our differences, we’re united by one thing: Our love of food.
And although the type of food varies by state, we all want access to the best — which, for many, means local food. But for others, that isn’t a viable option due to the lack of access or inability to afford it.
That’s where food policy councils come in. A phenomenon found in every state in the country, these conglomerates of stakeholders work to create policies and laws to help develop the economic, environmental and social infrastructure needed in a local food system.
Of all of the councils in the county, Sustainable Cities Collective recently highlighted their top six champion councils. Here’s a look at a few of these pioneers.
1. Knoxville-Knox County Food Policy Council, Knoxville, Tenn.
This group got things started back in 1982, as the first food policy council in the world. It was created by a government law, and when first recruiting members, it had three main criteria: “ties to government, working knowledge of food industry and experience in neighborhood and consumer advocacy.”
Since then, it’s definitely proved its worth. In order to make grocery stores more available to its citizens, it expanded the city and county bus routes and mapped out the local grocery stores. It also worked in the schools, expanding breakfast and lunch programs for students. Local food projects such as farmer’s markets and community gardens have been supported by the council as well.
The Council hasn’t stopped there, though. In addition, it has worked to pass ordinances to ease the local food movement, such as allowing residents to grow hens on their property.
2. Cuyahoga County Food Policy Coalition, Cleveland, Ohio
In 2007, the Cuyahoga County Food Policy Coalition popped up. Their focus has been on legislation, as well as creating and operating food programs.
So far, the coalition boasts Urban Garden District Zoning and Farm Animals and Bees legislation and an Urban Agriculture Overlay District Zoning policy on its list of accomplishments. And that’s just at the legal level.
As far as programming, the coalition is working to make farmer’s markets more accessible for low-income residents. Farmer’s markets now accept EBT (electronic benefit transfer) and SNAP as payment. Further, under Produce Perks, customers who use EBT at the market can get up to a $10 match on what they purchase.
Additional resources for residents include community food assessments and guidebooks such as Local Food Guide and Cleveland’s Healthy Food Guidelines.
3. Milwaukee Food Council, Milwaukee, Wis.
The Milwaukee Food Council is another group focused on policy and programming. It’s responsible for the 2010 honey ordinance allowing residents to keep bees and the 2011 eggs ordinance giving people the ability to grow chickens for eggs.
In addition to partnering with many local groups, it works with the University of Wisconsin Extension and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), with which it created the Milwaukee Urban Agriculture Audit that finds the possible legal barriers to urban agriculture.
And through its Healthy Food Access Work Group, it works to make local food accessible to low-income residents through incentives and programs.
To check out the other top councils, click here.
MORE: How Salvaging the Food in Your Own Backyard Can Help Your Community and the Environment
Despite Adverse Weather Conditions and a Transient Population, a Garden Sprouts in a Desert
They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. While some find rolling hills and crystal clear lakes attractive, it’s an abandoned Las Vegas parking lot for others.
That’s the situation with Rosalind Brooks. Looking at the vacant lot across the interstate from Las Vegas’s moribund downtown, she saw the potential for something foreign in that area: a community garden.
Brooks has a degree in business, a master’s in education, has worked at various jobs and has two children, but from the moment she laid eyes on that lot, she knew this garden was her calling.
That vision came to fruition when the Vegas Roots Community Garden opened in March 2010 — becoming the first community garden in Las Vegas. Run entirely by volunteer labor, the garden covers an acre of land and produces organic herbs and vegetables as well as chickens. Most of the produce is either sold or donated to youth groups and senior centers.
The garden also boasts a demonstration permaculture garden run by the Greater Basin Permaculture. In this garden, artichokes, thyme, Echinacea, lettuce, sunflowers and pomegranates flourish. The garden isn’t just for the group though. Greater Basin Permaculture also hosts classes and weekly work parties to teach participants important gardening skills to keep the crops alive.
And while it hasn’t been difficult to keep the crops alive in the 115 degree Fahrenheit heat of Las Vegas, growing a supportive base in the area has been. Las Vegas isn’t a place where most people settle; rather it’s a place boasting a large turnover rate.
Because of that, many of the garden’s volunteers are from other places in the metro area. But this isn’t a discouraging factor for Brooks. The recent economic crisis has meant that more people are staying in the area.
Beyond that, though, the garden has served as an inspiration for others. Across the city, gardens are popping up in schools and churches, giving kids the access to healthy food, exercise, nature and job skills. In addition, there’s a growing farmer’s market scene.
For Brooks, all of the hard work has been completely worth it and her expectations for the future keep getting higher.
“I see the hand of God in every single thing we’ve done,” she told Grist.
MORE: A Garden Grows In Camden
Purchasing Local Food Is Now Easier Than Making a Trip to the Supermarket
It goes without saying that you can buy just about anything on the internet — electronics, antiques, even the opportunity to find the love of your life. And now, as one Seattle company brings the organic farmer online, you can even purchase local produce.
It’s called Farmstr and it’s run by Janelle Maiocco — farmer, chef and the blogger behind “Talk of Tomatoes.” The website connects customers not just with local farmers, but ranchers and fishers, too.
For Maiocco, the idea sprouted from her concern about the food industry. Over the years, she noticed how many chemicals are ingested through our food, and she wanted to make organic food a viable option. So she started Farmstr, a simple solution with a simple process.
In order to be a seller on the site, the farmer must use all organic processes, which are vetted and checked. Once approved, the vendor can set up a seller profile and post the items for sale. For each transaction, Farmstr keeps 6.5 percent.
When an order is placed, vendors place the goods in one of the designated drop boxes around Washington State to be picked up by the customer. Currently, there are three drop boxes in Seattle and one each in Bellingham, Everett, Issaquah, Redmond and Tacoma.
So why do vendors and customers use the site? For customers, it’s a way to access fresh, high-quality, local food — often for better prices than what are available elsewhere. And for producers, it’s a way to expand the reach of their small farm operations.
Although Farmstr has yet to make a profit, the future is looking bright. As of May 2014, the website has raised $1.3 million in capital funding, and employs four full-time employees, two interns and is looking for two more for full-time workers.
More employees aren’t the only thing this startup is looking to add, though, as Maiocco hopes to expand the company into other areas outside the Pacific Northwest.
“I’m passionate about connecting local produce and consumers,” she told Sustainable Cities Collective. “I’m passionate about making good food accessible…The little guys, urban farmers, hobby farmers ― they need customers.”
And thanks to Farmstr, they have them. From the depths of cyberspace, Maiocco is making organic food a reality for producers and customers, one chemically-free vegetable at a time.
MORE: How Salvaging the Food in Your Own Backyard Can Help Your Community and the Environment