Turn the Eat Around (urban agriculture)

[jpak]

http://grist.org/news/maindish/2006/02/22/philpott/index1.html

Wander into Brooklyn's Red Hook neighborhood on a Saturday morning in summer, and you'll see a sight not uncommon in New York City these days: a thriving and diverse farmers' market. Neighborhood denizens cluster around stands offering free-range meat, fresh cheese, cream-on-top milk, and a whole array of fresh fruit and vegetables, many of them grown right down the block.

Yet unlike most of New York's bustling green markets, which tend to thrive in upscale residential and shopping areas, this one lies in one of the city's poorest neighborhoods. Red Hook's median family income is below the federal poverty line of $19,000 for a family of four, and 40 percent of the neighborhood's families live on less than $10,000 per year, according to the 2000 census. More than 80 percent of its population lives in public housing.

In fact, not many outsiders actually wander into Red Hook. When New York City's legendary city planner Robert Moses patched together plans for the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway in the 1940s, he let the road slice right into the working-class area, leaving it shoehorned between the traffic-choked highway and New York Harbor. According to Ian Marvy -- cofounder of Added Value, the nonprofit that runs the farmers' market -- that isolation is only one of the historical legacies haunting the neighborhood.

<more>

[Eric J in MN]

1. I wonder how much land they can use to grow vegetables

in Red Hook, Brooklyn, NY.

[politicat]

2. You'd be surprised what will grow in a container on the roof.

Water and compost are the limiting factors - the compost for the added nutrients that container plants and box plants require. Coffee cans, plastic tubs, even shopping carts lined with sheet plastic and filled with dirt will work for a lot of plants. Pretty much corn is the only thing that requires land.

Goats can live in lots the size of a brownstone as long as they are taken for walks and they will leash train if they're raised from kids to the leash. Again, water is the limiting factor.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. Room also is a limiting factor

if you're trying to make your own compost. But my doctor has been successful composting kitchen waste in a small area for some years now. To be able to go to her greenhouse and graze on the lettuce and broccoli there is a treat-you can tell the difference between really fresh foods and the stuff that you get in the supermarket.

[politicat]

6. Our composter takes up 1 square yard.

It's a black plastic thing we got from Eco-cycle, the local recycling and environmental action group. It doesn't take up much space, and if I remember to water it or to take my dishwater out to it, I go from a 30-70 mix of green and brown to compost in about 3 weeks. (If I don't water it, it takes longer because I live in an alpine desert...)

The same thing can be done with a 55 gallon drum or a trash can, but we have a community use issue we had to abide by.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

11. good point

I don't know what the laws are in NYC about composting, but this sounds like an idea to be used.

[ClayZ]

7. Here are some tips on container gardens...

I love gardening sites!

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/container/container.html

[ClayZ]

4. Find a Farmers Market here:

http://www.localharvest.org/

[mom cat]

5. Thanks! ... those tomatoes look delicious! Great post K&R

[ClayZ]

8. Here is an organic heirloom seed saver website...Join!

http://www.seedsavers.org/

[jpak]

9. I buy ~95% of my food from my local organic coop

and don't spend much more than I would at the local Albertsons.

They have a large variety of products to choose from and lots of things I couldn't get anywhere else (like organic blood oranges - yum).

[mom cat]

10. I have been getting seeds from them for several years now. I am trying

my hand at urban gardening and hope to uxpand my growing area this year. I have a very small lot, but I think that it will be enough for most of my needs with raised beds and sucession planting.

[ClayZ]

13. Yay. I have big plans for small places too!

[ClayZ]

12. You can even make your own seed packages.

I made gardens in a box for all my grown children. Fun to save seed and package them.

Harvest your seeds....

www.seedsofchange.com


Here is another great website for gardeners.

http://www.yougrowgirl.com


The page on how to harvest seeds....

http://www.yougrowgirl.com/grow/seedharvest_envelopes.php


and a template listed for making seed packages . It is a php file.
http://www.yougrowgirl.com/grow/seedharvest_envelopes.php