In Sacramento California, Zone 9b, Kyle Hagerty is inspiring Urban Gardeners around the world. They started growing just enough food for themselves, but now they have opened up a farm stand in their front yard where they share their homegrown goodness with their entire community.
Tell us more about your amazing little farm stand and how it makes you feel being able to share your harvests with your local community. Just over two years ago when I bought the house, the yard was completely empty but full of sunshine. I designed, planted, and built the urban farm with a focus on sustainability and it has grown into a wonderful place for sharing produce and inspiration with our community. The farm stand is wheeled out into the driveway full of anything that’s growing in the back yard and we give it all away to everyone who stops by. I also invite visitors to take a walk in the back yard to see where the magic is happening, and to hopefully inspire them to start their own garden or share some gardening tips with other gardeners. Being able to connect with my community through sustainable food and re-establishing the relationship between people and the food that they eat brings me immense joy. I am extremely grateful for all of the support I receive from my community here in the Farm-to-Fork Capital of America, and the social media community on Instagram who continue to encourage and inspire me every day.
What’s your favorite part of your amazing backyard garden? My favorite feature in my garden is my tunnel trellis entryway into the raised bed area of the garden. I used two 16’x4’ galvanized livestock panels bent into and arch and held in place by T-posts. The trellis spans the pathway between two raised beds and supports a wide variety of fruits and vegetables year round. I originally designed it with tomatoes in mind but through crop rotation it has hosted and supported gourds, pumpkins, zucchini, pole beans, peas, tomatillos, blackberries, cucumbers, butternut squash and more. I have recently noticed a few people re-create this trellis in their gardens and I hope to inspire everyone who has the space, to do the same. It is an easy, inexpensive, attractive, and highly effective trellising system!
Any plans or projects you’re working on currently for your garden? The projects are never ending. I am currently working on a design to build a vertical growing system for my zucchini and summer squash. With my limited space I am constantly experimenting with and developing ways to take advantage of vertical space by encouraging plants to grow up rather than out.
I am also in the planning stages of incorporating chickens into the urban farm. Stay tuned for that this summer!
Follow @Urbanfarmstead on Instagram!
