It's official, the Groundhog has poked its head out, said some rather unfriendly words, and abruptly re-entered the burrow.  (One bystander swears she heard something about not coming back until June!)  While we here in Minnesota are still buried hip-deep in snow, and spring feels to be so far away, Growing Lots Urban Farm is surging ahead and preparing for the 2011 growing season.  Plans are being drawn up, the seeds have been ordered and the annual work calendar is already beginning to overflow.  Below are some of the highlights, or check us out online www.growinglots.blogspot.com

Here are some current highlights from Growing Lots:

http://growinglots.blogspot.com/p/about-farm.html
http://growinglots.blogspot.com/p/pictures.html

2011 CSA Shares

Growing Lots has officially opened up registration for 2011 CSA members.  We are  aiming for a full 20 week CSA season in 2011. Of course, it depends upon Mother Nature's temperament to a degree.  Cost for a 20 week CSA share will be $450 (approximately $22.50/week) and shares are sized smaller than traditional full-shares, in order to avoid 'CSA Produce Shock'.   ;-)  In 2011, we will be growing a bonanza of veggies and a few fruits, from the traditional to the exotic.  Even with another lot coming into play, CSA shares are unfortunately limited, so drop us a line today!

For More Information on the 2011 CSA season, or to sign-up, please visit the Growing Lots website:  growinglots.blogspot.com/p/csa-memberships-local-markets.html

Community Days

Due to the extraordinary number of requests for volunteer opportunities, Growing Lots will be hosting monthly volunteer work days throughout the 2011 season.  Who would have thought so many people want to dig in the soil??  These will be open to the members and non-members alike, and the tasks available will change through the season, from moving soil, to transplanting, seeding, site construction, etc.  The Volunteer Work Days will start late April, or May, and the theme of each month will be posted on the website here:

growinglots.blogspot.com/p/volunteer-days.html 

Other Thoughts...

• Keep checking back in on the website (or simply sign-up as a follower!), as Growing Lots is looking at setting up a small Aquaponics demonstration system, possibly getting chickens and/or bees, putting up a high tunnel (think big unheated greenhouse), and perhaps growing a mushroom or two.  Do you really want to miss out on all the excitement?
  
• 
  
• Do you know someone with an empty lot who might be interested in having it transformed into a verdant and lush urban farm?  Growing Lots is always seeking extra land to make this a more robust and dedicated growing operation.  Drop us a line with any thoughts or leads!
• 
  
• Do you want to be an urban farmer?  Or are you wondering how the economics of urban agriculture work?  Well, Growing Lots and Seward Redesign, Inc., will be teaming up to put on a presentation on the Economics of Growing Lots Urban Farm.  Stay Tuned for more information!

Spring is on the horizon.. hang in there.

Growing Lots Urban Farm

A few weeks back, The Mix, a bi-monthly publication produced by the Twin Cities co-ops, wrote an excellent article entitled "Sustainable Farms, Connected Communities".   Growing Lots Urban Farm was one of three farm models detailed in the article.. give it a read!

http://www.themix.coop/?q=node/729

Also, back in the spring, The Sprout, (The Seward Co-op newsletter) did a story on Growing Lots Urban Farm for the April/May 2010 issue (though at the time the farm had as of yet to be named!)... well the other day Chris Bohnhoff, a local photographer who took pictures for the article at the time, stopped by the farm to do take follow-up pictures of the farms progress.  Here is a link to his blog featuring a few of his pictures:

http://www.chrisbohnhoff.com/blog/

Hope everyone is enjoying this amazing Monday! 

Best wishes from Growing Lots Urban Farm

The recipe for turning an old parking into a place of beautiful food production requires a whole heap of hard work, a dash of youthful exuberance (not to be confused with mere youthfulness) and easily a dozen pinches of creativity!  These pinches of creativity seem to come at random times, when after much pondering and head scratching, an idea will pop out of thin air.. and land squarely in your lap waiting for you to do something with it... 

So one day in May, while working on turning a parking lot into a farm, it became obvious that a 75 degree day quickly heated up on a black asphalt parking lot.  Because, as many of you know, black absorbs the light energy that strikes it, and then radiates it back out into the air in the form of heatwaves.  This is the basic concept behind the architectural use of dark stone in homes to absorb the sun's warmth during the day, and radiate it at night, thus reducing heating costs.

Well, as the heat factor rose, and it became quite apparent the black asphalt parking lot would do the same thing, the wheels started turning.  How could this attribute of the parking lot be put to use in creating a more productive farm system at the site?  What plants would most benefit from this?  And what design would be both low-cost and functional?  Well, as the question turned over and over (and over..and over.. ), my dry mouth and dehydrated body began dreaming of a ripe, juicy, sweet watermelon.  And Waa-LAA, that was it!  Watermelons and melons would thrive on top of a surface that radiated off heat all night long.  Watermelons, canteloupes, honeydews, etc., love warm and humid summer nights... and if Minnesota happened to have another cool summer like last year, this extra warmth could prove to be a boon.  So the melon fields were born...

The next design question was how to create a melon field using a minimal amount of soil as soil is a premium resource on this type of agricultural project, so wise use of said resource becomes paramount!  Not wanting  to cover the entire melon 'field' in soil, some type of container became the obvious next choice.. but in what form??  The mind's eye envisioned about 20-30 individual containers with 4-5 melon plants per container.  Wine barrels cut in half would have been both aethestically wonderful, and amazingly expensive.  Large black plastic pots?  While cheaper, still not quite cheap enough and the black pot on the black asphalt would literally cook on those 90+ degree days...but then the Muses sang and creativity sprung forth from the wells of inspiration!

Already having made potato towers from fencing, straw and soil (see previous post for more exciting details) .. why not apply the same concept here, only cutting the bins in half for a makeshift melon container?  After calculating out the material costs, I realized each container would only cost me about $1.75 + soil cost... and the straw layer around the outside would both reduce evaporation, and also reflect the sun, hence keeping the soil cooler than using a black plastic pot.

The image to the left is culmination of this idea into about 25 melon containers, with the pictures below showing the little melon transplants right after they were first planted (left) and the most recent picture of their growth (right), where they are just starting to range outside their proverbial 'nest'... who's your mama bird??

So how are they doing?  Their growth so far is pretty good.  And in terms of water, they are currently getting a good drenching every third day (even during the hot dry stretches), so evaporative losses seem minimal. 

The melon field contains some dear old friends in a new form (watermelons... var: Blacktail Mountain, Little Baby Flower;) and some new friends I am looking forward to inviting over for dinner! (melons... var: Boule d'Or, Charantais, Haogen, Sun Jewel, and Savor.) 

Now let this be a word to the wise farmer.. never, ever, think you will remember what flats you seeded what melons (or any other plant for that matter!) into. In the craziness of getting a farm up and going the first year... well, labels didn't quite flow through the process... and while these were the types planted in the spring, which ones came up and made it into the melon field is a slightly different story... with the final chapter entitled, "Hmmm, now WHO are YOU?"  (and the epilogue, "oooh, YUMM!) 

Next design challenge, how to keep those pesky rabbits from nibbling on the melons once they come in for a landing.... rabbit stew anyone?

Watch for future updates on the melon field experiment here at Growing Lots Blog or at Urban Farmer of Seward.

I bet you thought you missed the boat on getting signed up for a CSA share this year.  Well, Growing Lots is excited to be able to still offer up shares for the 2010 growing season.

As a first year start-up farm, those who choose to invest at this time will see their money going to strengthen the urban food system directly.  The money will feed back into the farm, and be used to purchase and install a high tunnel this season, add other vitals like tools and sheds, and get .

• The first year a  special share price of $350 is being offered.  (Frist year members who return in 2011 will get a 15% discount)
  
• This is a weekly share to be picked up on-site every Thursday between 4-7 pm, starting on Thursday, July 8th and going to Mid-October.
• If you are interested in supporting the farm through purchasing a 2010 share, print out this form  , fill it in and mail it to Growing Lots c/o Stefan Meyer, 3809 E 45 ST., Minneapolis, MN 55406.
• This first year there will be no work-trade options for the shares, but a more dynamic pricing system will definitely be in place by the 2nd year.

cheers,
Farmer Stefan
www.growinglots.blogspot.com
growinglots@gmail.com

First 'Open to the Public' Day at Growing Lots Urban Farm!

For the first time, Growing Lots Urban Farm is opening its doors for the community to come by, check out the farm, chat with the farmer and for those interested, sign up for 2010 CSA-Shares.

What I am calling an 'Open to the Public' day will be in a weeks time on Saturday, June 26th, from 9am to 12 noon.  There will be farming goings-ons that morning, with people coming and going, so come on down and add to the hustle and bustle :-)

Visit the About The Farm page on the Growing Lots website for a map detailing the location of the farm site at 22nd St. and Snelling Ave, in the Seward Neighborhood of south Minneapolis.

If you are interested in 2010 CSA-shares through Growing Lots, check out the Become an Urban CSA Member! page...

Cheers,
Farmer Stefan

When I was living in southern Mexico a few years back, there were many things that fascinated me about their methods of agriculture... it often displayed a simple, straight-foward and low energy/resource input methodology.  One example of this that fascinated me to no end was the use of a specific type of tree (don't ask the species, I couldn't remember even if faced with a firing squad!), which they planted in the ground and used as fence posts.  I remember one too many days as a child installing barb wire fences on our family farm, which required the use of excessive brute force and a pile driver, or a bobcat/tractor.  In contrast, the low tech approach to creating a living fence post entailed sawing off a branch from a living tree, and sticking it in the ground.  The branch would root itself out, and then the fence was attached to the very solid small tree.  Eloquent indeed.

Read the rest of this post »

Greetings to the Greater Seward Neighborhood from Growing Lots Urban Farm!

As many of you know, Growing Lots Urban Farm began as a collaboration between Seward Redesign, Inc., and Stefan Meyer of My-Erth Agricultural Enterprises.  Our goal is to create an 'uber-local' category of 'local foods'!  That is the goal of urban agriculture, to edify our cities.  From my perspective, urban agriculture in no way replaces rural agriculture, and never will.  They are two distinct creatures, each with their own advantages and disadvantages.  For urban agriculture, one advantage is clear.. we are growing where our market is.. right in the heart of the city.  However, there are distinct obstacles we urban farmers are currently working through, such as: 

1. Land, land and land.  Did I mention land?  The simple fact is that land within the urban environment is in short supply compared to the rural areas, and finding a 10, 1, or even 1/4 acre plot of land is difficult.  As well, property taxes are high in the urban area, so agricultural models within the city need to either explore alternative agreements negotiated with the land owner, or find underused or neglected urban space (abandoned land, rooftops, parking lots, etc.).
2. Code and permit issues.  Due to the intense concentration of people, city governments have created strict zoning and permit regulations.  While I at times find this a frustrating issue to deal with, I see the importance of an overarching set of rules that governs how we choose to interact with land in the urban environment.  I know I don't want a neighbor to be able to build a smelting plant in his backyard.... though admittedly he may view chickens and bees in the same light.
3. Resources.. such as vast quantities of compost or composted manure (and where to store it!), water, sunlight, grow space for plants (4 season greenhouses are in short supply), etc.  All of these resources are vital to a farming enterprise, and can be difficult to access in the urban environment.

The Growing Lots model seeks to address each of these issues in turn by turning an old parking lot into a thriving urban farm.  This is the epitome of land re-use.  The full-scale initial vision can be viewed at Seward Profile:  sewardprofile.posterous.com/urban-farming-in-seward-this-spring

As with all start-up projects, especially those swimming through new waters, there have been constant changes and adaptations as reality has shifted under our feet.  The initial vision outlined in the above link, was based off a working site-use model of 3-5 years.  However, the site is slated to be part of a city relocation of 22nd St., and as the time-line shifted for that project, so has our initial vision.  At this point the city of Minneapolis, is looking at the street re-location project to be underway within the next couple of years, forcing the relocation of this site.  For this reason, the vision was shifted to a less intensive production on this start-up site, while still creating a viable urban farm model that serves as an experiment in the economics of urban farming.  The second phase of this project will look at a second project site which will include the high tunnel and greenhouse both included in the initial vision.

Next up:  Making potato towers as living fence posts!

Hello Seward!

Read the rest of this post »