Dr. Sheri Smith is a professor of Urban Planning and Environmental Policy at Texas Southern University and a board member of Blodgett Urban Gardens. Her students first came to her with the idea of starting a community garden. Sheri Smith is on a mission. It’s Saturday, which means it’s farm stand day at Blodgett Urban Gardens, the Texas Southern University community...
WeForum.org – Since lockdown, public interest in growing fruit and vegetables at home has soared. Seed packets are flying off shelves and allotment waiting lists are swelling, with one council receiving a 300% increase in applications. Fear of food shortages will have motivated some, but others with more time on their hands at home will have been tempted by...
WSJ MAGAZINE – Linda Goode Bryant will be the first to tell you she didn’t know much about farming when she decided to open a community garden in Brooklyn, New York back in 2009. “I have actually never been very good at putting seed in soil and watering it,” said Goode Bryant, an accomplished artist and filmmaker-turned-agrarian who founded Project EATS,...
SAVANNAHNOW.COM – Students at Savannah-Chatham schools will have more fresh veggies to eat this year thanks to a $100,000 grant the district recently received from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. They will also learn how vegetables are planted, grown and prepared for meals. The grant is part of the national Farm-to-School program that encourages schools...
These veterans in Indiana are helping the homeless by gardening to help heal invisible wounds. WTHR.com: INDIANAPOLIS — For 22 years, an Indianapolis U.S. Army veteran risked everything for this country. “No one forced me to join the military,” said Craig Browder. “I did it because I wanted to protect people. At a young age, Browder knew he...
Image Credit: Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times This article was produced by Earth | Food | Life, a project of the Independent Media Institute. When I call Chef Q. Ibraheem to discuss urban farming in her own cooking career, she’s in the middle of placing an order for microgreens from a small farm in Lake Forest, a ritzy suburb just north of downtown Chicago. Now’s...
LeAndra Estis checked on the growth progress of vegetables in her backyard garden in St. Paul. Her daughters Quaia, left, and Lonna help in the garden and post their successes on social media. (Jeff Wheeler/Minneapolis Star Tribune/TNS) MINNEAPOLIS — When a suspicious-looking sprout appeared in the St. Paul garden of LeAndra Estis, she plucked it. The willful plant...
“Florida may be known as the Sunshine State, but it deserves another nickname — the Gardening State (not to be confused with New Jersey, the Garden State). Three cities in Florida are at the top of our list of America’s Best Cities for Urban Gardening, and another three Sunshine State cities finished in the top 12. Another sunny state — California —...
In urban areas like New York City, green space might be limited, especially at apartments and brownstones. This can mean you might have to get creative if you’re surrounded by concrete and want to grow a garden. Plus, soil contamination is a big problem all over New York. So, it’s important to consider health and safety in your growing endeavor. Fear not, lots...
“Food insecurity is an all too real problem for many in our state, and it only got worse due to the recent pandemic. It stems from many issues: lack of money to afford food, food deserts where grocery stores simply don’t exist, and even where things like convenience stores are an option, fresh foods aren’t available or are too expensive to purchase. Add...
Summer is coming to an end, and your gardens are bursting with produce! It’s time to break out your dehydrator to start preserving your fruits, vegetables, and herbs so that you can enjoy them later on in the season or throughout the fall and winter months. Here are some of our favorite Instagram posts that deliver awesome dehydrated food inspiration! 1. Watermelon...
“Way back in March, definitely after 15 Days to Stop the Spread; maybe during 30 Days to Stop the Spread, when we were all heading toward the realization that we had no real plan to stop the spread, I ordered a window-garden flower starter kit. This wasn’t my inaugural attempt at urban gardening. Last year, in my first stab at growing things, I’d gone to...
Roofs with vegetation are widely believed to extend roof life, conserve energy, and reduce stormwater runoff and air pollution; new studies show they can also boost the performance of solar panels. Plants reduce a roof’s contribution to the urban heat-island effect by lowering the surrounding air temperature through evaporation; this cooling can also make photovoltaic...
Jaime Campos SALEM — A robust “food farm” has popped up at Mack Park and is doling out thousands of pounds of food to local families. But the farm is growing a lot more than carrots and kale. Described as “a municipal farm and future food forest,” the Mack Park food farm replaced an unused baseball practice area at the base of the park’s...
A survey by the Royal Horticultural Society found that 80% of millennials own a houseplant of some sort. But did you know that caring for indoor plants also comes with its share of benefits? Besides improving our well-being by boosting moods and concentration, indoor plants are beneficial to our home. Growing plants indoors, especially edibles, eliminates the need...
When Edmunds heard that a local nursery, Soil Sisters, was offering a gardening camp this summer, she enrolled her daughter Lenyxx, 7, in it. “It is just a great idea,” she said. “I am really grateful.” The Soil Sisters are Raynise and Taray Kelly. Thanks to a grant, they started the camp to give children in the Beltzhoover neighborhood of Pittsburgh outdoor...
BOISE, ID (CBS2) — “Now more than ever it is especially important to know where your food comes from, the importance of environmental education is huge,” explains Executive Director of Boise Urban Garden, Lisa Duplessie. “Getting outside of that traditional classroom where they get to put their hands in the dirt.” Boise’s Urban Garden...
HAVANA, July 5 (Xinhua) — Angel Hernandez, a resident of Havana’s central Playa district, never imagined he would be cultivating crops again after retiring, but the COVID-19 pandemic presented a good excuse. Like many Cubans, he has been supportive of the country’s efforts to increase food production amid economic restrictions, the tightening of...
This sudden, shared urge to grow food in the middle of America’s cities intrigued us — enough to make an episode on urban agriculture, featured above. As the creators of a food podcast, we’re well aware of the harms caused by the intensive, industrial system of agriculture that feeds America, from the food miles racked up by the average spinach leaf to the...
BBG is the Brooklyn partner for the NYC Department of Sanitation’s Bureau of Recycling and Sustainability’s NYC Compost Project hosted by Brooklyn Botanic Garden, which helps to reduce waste in NYC and rebuild city soils by giving New Yorkers the knowledge, skills, and opportunities they need to produce and use compost. Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Community Greening...
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