About the Book
People have always grown food in urban spaces—on windowsills and sidewalks, and in backyards and neighborhood parks—but today, urban farmers are leading an environmental and social movement that transforms our national food system. To explore this agricultural renaissance, brothers David and Michael Hanson and urban farmer Edwin Marty document twelve successful urban farm programs, from an alternative school for girls in Detroit, to a backyard food swap in New Orleans, to a restaurant supply garden on a rooftop in Brooklyn. Each beautifully illustrated essay offers practical advice for budding farmers, such as composting and keeping livestock in the city, decontaminating toxic soil, even changing zoning laws.
Table of Contents
Foreword by Mark Winne
Preface by David Hanson
Introduction by Edwin Marty
1. P-Patch Community Garden Program, Seattle, Washington • The Neighborhood Garden
HOW TO: Change Your City’s Urban Agriculture Zoning Codes
2. Homeless Garden Project, Santa Cruz, California • The Farm as Therapy
HOW TO: Grow Good, Safe Food
3. Fairview Gardens and the Center for Urban Agriculture, Santa Barbara, California • The Historic Farm
HOW TO: Plant Perennial Fruit Trees in the City
4. Denver Urban Gardens, Denver, Colorado • The Garden as Community
HOW TO: Turn Your Waste into Black Gold Compost
5. Kansas City Center for Urban Agriculture, Kansas City, Kansas and Missouri • The Farm for Profit
HOW TO: Access Start-Up Capital for Urban Food Projects
6. Versailles Community, New Orleans, Louisiana • Backyards of Bounty
HOW TO: Develop a Congregational Urban Farm
7. Jones Valley Urban Farm, Birmingham, Alabama • The Education and Production Farm
HOW TO: Engage the Community with Education Programs
8. Greensgrow, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • The Nonprofit, For-Profit Farm
HOW TO: Rehabilitate Contaminated Soils
9. Eagle Street Rooftop Farm, Brooklyn, New York • The Rooftop Farm
HOW TO: Convert Rooftops to Residential Gardens and Urban Farms
10. Catherine Ferguson Academy, Detroit, Michigan • The Alternative Curriculum Farm
HOW TO: Raise Urban Livestock
11. Growing Home’s Wood Street Urban Farm, Chicago, Illinois • The Job Training Farm
HOW TO: Extend the Growing Season with Hoop Houses and Greenhouses
12. Sandhill Organics and Prairie Crossing, Grayslake, Illinois • The Peri-urban Farm
HOW TO: Start an Urban Farm
Conclusion by Edwin Marty
Acknowledgments
Bibliography
