Urban Gardening

There’s been a lot of discussion lately in the news about urban gardening (Trash is a big proponent of it as well as a beginning practitioner) and I see more and more discussion about it in blogs and other types of media. (In fact, click here and you’ll go to some Google results for Urban Farming)

It’s hard to find a shorter trip to your consumer than to growing food in the neighborhood it will be consumed in. Along that line the NY Times has a slide show of different community gardens in NY and Detroit that have taken formerly vacant space and turned it into productive land. They are putting teenagers to work, selling fresh produce to people who might not have had it available before, generating some cash and making land that was formerly an eyesore into land that is useful and attractive to the neighborhood.

Along those lines, Time had an article recently discussing urban farming. They discussed both standard gardens and also skyscraper gardens, which could be the farms of the future. (My tongue is securely in my cheek at this point) Within the article they discussed a farmer in Milwaukee who raises chickens, tilapia and produce on a 2 acre plot in the city. (You can read more about him here) It’s amazing what people are doing with some ingenuity and creativity.

Maybe I’m off base, but I think just about every city in our country probably has at least a few empty lots that would be good options to turn into community gardens. Can you think of a few around you that might work? If so maybe you can become an urban gardener.

With the fall coming in short time and our wonderful weather here at the 'stead viable alternatives have got to be created and implemented in order to survive the coming "depression"..