Urban Farmers Life

Shirley Sherrod recalls events from her youth that inspired her to a life of service.

Michael S. Easterling — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 19:20:10 +0000

Civil rights activist Shirley Sherrod speaking to a group of urban farmers and local food advocates in New York City on Wednesday, March 16, 2011.

Growing With Hydroponics

Michael S. Easterling — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 16:56:56 +0000

Hydroponics describes a way of growing where the plants are supported by an inert medium like clay pellets or coconut husks and the roots are fed by direct exposure to nutrient-rich water.

Most hydroponic systems are not organic by default and rely on industrial / synthetic compounds for their nutrient mixes. High quality organic products are available. They just cost more and there’s a little more maintenance involved because of their makeup and texture. Under optimal conditions, the output with hydroponic was consistently and, sometimes, significantly more.

A hydroponic system may be the only solution in areas where there is no access to fertile ground (or it’s bagged proxy). Hydroponics may also offer solutions to security, access, research or other specific needs. It is perhaps more common, however, to see hydroponics used to optimize production – basically making plants grow as big as they can, as fast as they can, in as little space as possible.

If you need or want to produce plants that grow as big as they can, as fast as they can, in as little space as possible, and you’re willing to put the time and money into setting it up right and maintaining it properly, and if you are really turned on (or at least not scared off) by the routine application of a little scientific method, and/or you don’t have access to any good organic soil, then a hydroponic system may well be the way for you to go.

For new gardeners, my suggestion is to get your favorite seeds or seedlings together, buy a bag or two of premium organic soil mix. Invest up to $20 per 2cf bag for the good stuff. Each 2cf bag of soil will fill three 5-gal containers nicely. Get four to six 5-gallon nursery containers with liners. Find your place in the sun (or whatever light source you’re using) and get to growing. Record everything you do in calendar-based journal.

If you want to look at hydroponic growing as a teacher, you can learn a lot but it is not a necessarily easy or inexpensive way to grow. To get the to get maximum results, it requires that everything is delivered in the exactly the right amount, at the right time, in the right sequence, at concentrations that change with the growth cycle – and on and on. It’s a little demanding, but if you do what is required, it’ll put the bounty out. If you’re clear about why you want to grow that way – Necessity, Love, Money or Knowledge – it may actually feel worth it.

Working With Worms

Michael S. Easterling — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 20:23:52 +0000

The practice of cultivating worms for the purpose of composting organic matter is called vermiculture. Worms accelerate the composting process and worm castings are an excellent source of nutrients form most any garden. Here is a step-by-step guide for building your own vermiculture bin.

How to build a vermiculture bin.

The tea makes a superb insecticide. You will need:

18 gallon rubber bin with lid,
Shredded newspaper (one Sunday should do),
Drill w/ 1/4″ bit,
Water bottle,
Soil,
Kitchen scraps (egg shells,coffee grounds,tea bags,paper towels, veg/fruit peels. No meat oily or products),
Red worms – Eizenia fetid.

Drill holes (or punch with screw driver,perhaps) on bottom of container. Line bottom with piece of cardboard. Fill with shredded paper. Moisten fully. Do not saturate. Add worms. One pound worms will ingest 5 pounds of scrap per week! Add green material and scraps. Put lid on. Set on top of another lid so that the liquid “tea” will be able to drain. Harvest liquid “tea”. Feed to house plants and later spray on leaves of veggies and herbs.

There will not be an odor. If it develops odor perhaps it is too wet inside medium. Also, it will help to breakup/cut larger materials to aid with ingestion.

A Kitchen-for-Rent Is a Lifeline for the Laid-Off

Michael S. Easterling — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 23:33:00 +0000

From NY Times - 12/15/10

Check out this article to see how community-based food processing is making a difference in people’s lives.

Sweet Potatoes Come Up

Michael S. Easterling — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 16:16:40 +0000

Sweet Potatoes Step Out From Under Marshmallows
New York Times – 11/24/10
American farmers expect to harvest a record two billion pounds this year. Over the past two years, the number of restaurants offering sweet potatoes as a side dish has increased by 40 percent. Doctors and nutritional experts recommend sweet potatoes for people with diabetes.
Explore the following links for more information:
World’s Healthiest Foods
Growing Sweet Potatoes from Tropical Permaculture

Food Safety Bill Update

Michael S. Easterling — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 16:11:29 +0000

On November 19th, S. 510: FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, cleared the full Senate by a 73 to 25 vote. The bill now goes to the House where it must be debated and voted on before being sent to the President to be signed into law. The bill, as passed in the Senate, contains an exemption from regulations for small facilities and small farms. It also includes exemptions for producers and facilities that make direct sales to consumers within a 275 mile range including farmers markets and C.S.A.

Related Articles & Resources:
UPDATE: Food Safety Bill Clears Full Senate Food Safety News – 11/30/10
Legislative history of the bill Govtrack.us
Food Safety Modernization Act FAQ Senator Al Franken, D-MN

Urban Ag’s Deep Roots

Michael S. Easterling — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 19:12:34 +0000

On March 24, 1907, the Cleveland Plain Dealer ran a feature about the work of the Home Gardening Association (HGA), calling it both, “one of the most important – of many admirable civic movements,”…

…and, “the one that has been most widely copied.” The program was started seven years earlier (circa 1900) as a private effort to literally clean up the streets and “otherwise unsightly areas.” The HGA had become a local institution “regarded by many as such.”

What it has accomplished cannot be computed in dollars and cents. By beautifying vacant lots and yards in nearly every section of the city, it has greatly increased realty values beside adding to the beauty of the city. But what is more important, it has made the health of the city better. It has got the people of doors to cultivate flower and vegetable gardens who before never ventured into a garden. They feel and live better. The value of the work of the association in this way can hardly be overestimated.
The benefits of cultivating gardens in the heart of the city are just as relevant today as they were more than 100 years ago. Urban centers across the country are increasingly faced with increasing unemployment, decreasing population and property values and struggling systems of public education. The article described in great detail how the Home Gardening Association formed a partnership with Cleveland Public Schools to create a network of school gardens and a district-wide seed distribution program that encouraged community gardening throughout the city. The program was so successful that it “has been copied in cities from New York to San Francisco.”

Urban agriculture is an idea whose time has come and has come again. The industrialization and globalization of the the food system is beginning to come full circle. We are, quite literally, going back to the future with a focus on locally grown produce, grown by people who care about the land and about the people who eat food that comes from it. We would be well served to learn the lessons of the past as we move forward into the future.