Didn't see a thread for this. Combine with another if there already is one....

___________________

 

http://www.cleveland.com/sun/westsidesunnews/index.ssf?/base/news-0/117095741465260.xml&coll=3

 

Garden idea grows Plan would protect land

Thursday, February 08, 2007

By Ken Prendergast

West Side Sun News

 

When a real estate development was proposed to be built on a community garden on West 45th Street near Franklin Boulevard, the only recourse the community had was to band together and fight it.

 

But it, and hundreds of other urban gardens scattered throughout Cleveland, can be protected from development if a new zoning classification is approved by City Council. An ordinance to make the Urban Gardening District law was introduced to council this week. If passed, it may be the first such zoning classification in the country.

 

"If the city is a church, its sacraments are zoning," said Ward 13 Councilman Joe Cimperman, who chairs council's Planning Committee. "If we want to declare something as sacred, you zone it to preserve it. They (urban gardens) really have a community cohesion that's extraordinary. Communities that have them get along better, are safer and have less racial tension."

 

........

I think this is a good move. Although I would conceptually agree with Cimperman, I wonder if anyone has actually done a study across the country to back up his statistics.

 

The egardens and their managers are seeing much success and are finding creative ways of implementing their work in conduction with various outreach programs. Last year their must have been at least 20 grant request (Colectivo and Neighborhood Connections) to create specific programming with the gardens.

I don't know, it depends on how this is applied.  I'd hate to see redevelopment projects get stopped because of these gardens, which by and large don't seem well maintained (though there are exceptions).  The point is that they need to be more strategic about which ones get protection, and how they fit into the communitys overall vision.

Is there a map showing where the community gardens are located?

There's too many of them to map. Like I said in the article, there's at least several hundred of them. Based on the statistic that was given to me, of the roughly 1,000 land-bank lots in the city, about one-third have urban gardens on them.

I wonder how many seperate gardens that is though.  There may be some larger gardens on multiple lots.  I know for certain that there are sections of Glenville and Hough with many LB lots but 0 gardens.  It seems like a very high estimate.

Back in my younger pre-Ohio days, I used to be involved in a community garden when i lived in Sacramento...the Ron Mandella Community Garden (named after a slain Sac PD officer who was a gardner there).  It was a great location, in the Old City, next to Fremont Park, just a few blocks from my apartment. 

 

I had a plot there and tried to grow tomataos.  The soil was really good (I sent a vial of it to college chum who was a soil scientist for the USDA), but I was a lousy gardner! 

 

In any case it was a great feel in that garden, some of it had orchard trees, and there was this decrepit solar heating thing, a leftover from the Jerry Brown era "Office of Appropriate Technology".

 

The problem with this garden was that the city and the CADA (Capital Area Development Agency) wanted to redevelope it for condos/apts/townhouses, and of course the gardners and the neighbors (often one and the same) wanted to keep it as a community feature.  That is the problem on putting these gardens on "land bank" property, is that the gardners and the neighborhood become emotionally attached to the place.

 

The denounment (well after I left Sac) was that the garden was taken for redevelopment, but after a fight and some civil disobedience:

 

"SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Nearly 400 demonstrators heard Julia “Butterfly” Hill declare, “The Ron Mandella Community Garden is the giant redwood of Sacramento,” at a rally here late last month to save the garden from developers and to build support for affordable housing in the city.

 

Julia Hill, famous as the “butterfly” who lived more than two years in the top of a 1,000-year-old redwood tree in a successful campaign to save it from Pacific Lumber Company chainsaws, told the audience, “Take off your shoes and feel the earth beneath your feet.” Many did, walking amid the lush garden greenery with toes wiggling and faces smiling.

 

As Glayol Sahba, M.D., a member of the Mandella Garden Board of Directors, pointed out, the struggle to save the garden has become part of the fight to save low-income housing in downtown Sacramento. While rents have increased 11 percent in the last year, Sacramento central city has 272 fewer affordable apartments than 15 years ago.

 

Mandella garden supporters are asking the City Council to accept the Sacramento Mutual Housing Association’s offer to build low-income housing on the parking lot next to the garden, leaving the garden in its present state.

 

Meanwhile, the state agency responsible for the property plans to sell it to a developer from Portland, Ore., who intends to build 118 units for people with incomes of at least $68,000 a year. And so it goes in Sacramento, and elsewhere – profits before people.

 

Some say Sacramentans should plant many more community gardens. If we are known as the city of a million trees, why not the city of a hundred gardens? Many cities now consider these gardens a necessity. New Orleans boasts 150 community gardens funded through a non-profit community garden foundation. Philadelphia has more than 500 gardens. New York City has 700 community gardens maintained by 22,000 regular gardeners. Just outside Cleveland is a one-half acre garden tended by people with minor driving and alcohol related violations. Instead of a weekend in jail, the offenders see their efforts provide food for the local Salvation Army food kitchen.

 

Many advocates say that, along with affordable housing, community gardens are vital to assure the quality of life for millions in our country’s cities. "

 

source

 

And, a report from Starhawk:

 

"Last night I watched in tears as fifty riot cops surrounded the Ron Mandella Community Garden, where my friends and permaculture buddies were locked down.  We stood under the harsh lights and waited, knowing they were locked to each other and being cut apart, hoping and praying they would not be hurt. Erik, Eileen, Abby, Matt, and others from Sonoma county and our Earth Activist trainings were among them. Now they are on hunger strike in jail. As part of the protest against the biotech and corporate agriculture miniministerial convened here in Sacramento by the USDA and USAID, they decided to defend the alternative—a community garden confiscated to be developed for condos.

Earlier in the week, in a raid on the Welcome Center of the Sacramento Mobilization for Food Sovereignty, Democracy and Justice, police had confiscated seed balls produced in a permaculture workshop, claiming they could be used as projectile weapons, and were shown on the night time news demo."

 

Gardners Arrested in Sacramento

 

...in this case, the gardners where chained together around an apricot tree in that orchard area i mentioned.

 

So, something to be aware of with these gardens.  Though I do think its neat that the OSU Extension Service is helping out, as one usually things of these ag extension servicess as more a rural/farmer thing.

 

 

 

 

 

Healing garden fence ruled illegal

City orders woman to remove it

 

Monday, April 16, 2007

Susan Vinella

Plain Dealer Reporter

 

Linda Shay wanted to create a community healing garden on vacant land in her Cleveland neighborhood and dedicate it to the people who have been murdered on her street.

 

But city officials declared that a fence she erected to protect the garden is illegal.

 

And on Friday, a fence company crew tore part of the barrier down.

 

Shay, a former city schoolteacher who lives on East 71st Street, contends that the 6-foot-high, chain-link fence is illegal only where it stretches across a private lot with a boarded-up house. She said she didn't get permission from the absent homeowner to put it up.

 

more at: http://www.cleveland.com

She frequently comes to council meetings and seemed OK at first. But as time went on, I became increasingly worried about some "odd" things she said to me before meetings. Finally, at the last meeting, she got out of control several times, yelling "Power to the people!" and had to be escorted from council chambers by police. Oops.

Cool.

I recently met her for the first time. We were interviewing her for a grant proposal she had to finish said fence - actually finish paying for it. She received money from Neighborhood connections last year to install it ("local neighborhood organization"). It was a long interview as she continually went completely off on tangents.

We didn't any police to escort her from our room.

I recently met her for the first time. We were interviewing her for a grant proposal she had to finish said fence - actually finish paying for it. She received money from Neighborhood connections last year to install it ("local neighborhood organization"). It was a long interview as she continually went completely off on tangents.

We didn't any police to escort her from our room.

 

HUH?

^Sorry for the disconnected post. The was one of my first, non-alcoholic post since I've been back from Philly.

i was referring to Linda Shay

^Sorry for the disconnected post. The was one of my first, non-alcoholic post since I've been back from Philly.

 

That's freakin' funny!!

There's been some talk of growing food in the "...sprawl of it all" thread. I did a search on urban gardening and didn't find a topic so I decided to start one.

 

Here's my contribution for those of you who have limited space and may have hit or miss success with container gardening -- google earthbox. These things are a bit pricey but boy do they work. You can also find instructions on the internet for a homemade version of these if you are so inclined.

 

The earthboxes below are sitting in a nice sunny spot on my driveway -- tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers in mid-June in northeast Ohio. I'll post some photos from later in the season if I can find them.

 

Gotcha. How-to stuff is a good idea.

Great thread.  I need ideas as I have a brown arm (no pun intended).  I want to try gardening in a few pots this year.  the trees on my steps died.

Wow, redbrick, that is really cool!  Sure puts my mini windowsill herb garden to shame.  Someday I'll get some outdoor space...

Wow, redbrick, that is really cool!  Sure puts my mini windowsill herb garden to shame.  Someday I'll get some outdoor space...

 

Don't you people downtown in the EV, have "gardens"?

^The restaurant on the ground floor does...but not me.  This time of year really makes me want outdoor space.

 

Who else out there as garden shots they want to share?  What about all those young families in Ohio City and Detroit Shoreway?

Food garden or flower garden?

^I say either -- it's amazing what nice plantings can do to enhance small yards, porches, etc. One of my favorite things about C-bus (lived there for 11 years) was the creative gardens in German and Victorian Villages and checking them out during the spring and summer months.

Either!  I guess this time of year it's going to be mostly flowers.

How about an UrbanOhio urban farm in Cleveland?? I was looking at the city's land bank web site and there are some properties around the city that may be large enough (either by itself or if combined with contiguous land bank properties). Leave all fields blank to do a citywide search...

 

http://cd.city.cleveland.oh.us/scripts/tbl_select.php?db=landbank&table=cityport

 

So we pool some money, buy property/properties, get it/them rezoned as an urban garden, and start organizing a tending schedule!

As for Ohio city and Detroit Shoreway, there a both many community gardens, and perhaps more importantly, home gardens.  I can name at least 30 families (some older established residents as well as younger and more recent transplants) who have rather extensive gardens, both flower and vegetable with many orchards among them.  Many of the residents of Detroit Shoreway were of Italian and Romanian decent and tended towards the old world philosophy of eat what you grow.  My neighbor as a child on Franklin Blvd across from Joseph Gallagher Jr. High School grew plums (for schlivovitz) pears, and cherries while maintaining a healthy vegetable garden in the rear of his yard.  As the immigrant families passed or moved away, the new residents seem to have taken over where they left off.  It doesn't hurt that many of the homes are century Victorians and are prime locations for limousine liberal transplants, but generally speaking I have not seen much of a difference in continuation based on annual household income.  The truth is that urban agriculture is relatively easy with a little bit of up front energy investment and can often feed a small family if properly maintained/organized.  I am currently growing beets, radishes, potatoes; several types of greens, tomatoes, and peppers; eggplants, etc on a total area of about 70 sq. ft of plots near the top of Edgewater park in the back yard of a triple.  As long as you follow some basic principles you will be giving away food because of your bounty.  Jon Jeavons wrote an excellent book on utilizing space and organic gardening made simple called HOW TO GROW MORE VEGETABLES which includes charts for starting seeds, planting schedules, and myriad other quick-reference subjects.  Not only are gardens good for your belly, but they also attract a variety of wildlife and can allow you to have a real Walden in the city instead of living in a cookie cutter development called Walden.  There are organization that have formed such as Gang Green that hold informational sessions and workshops on everyday things one can do to cut down on their eco-footprint.  Vermiculture (known as worm composting to most), briars, envelope sealing (houses not letters), rain-barrels, etc. have all been discussed within the last year and these neighborhoods are experiencing revitalizations based mostly around friendly neighbors. 

How about an UrbanOhio orchard? I would love to see a publicly accessible plot where people can walk by and pick fruit at their leisure.

^^Great post, Believelander (especially the "allow you to have a real Walden in the city instead of living in a cookie cutter development called Walden").  I'm really looking forward to getting some outside space someday soon so I can start planting stuff.  The inside windowsill herb garden just ain't doing it.

 

I applaud the Cleveland Clinic efforts discussed above, but man do I wish we had someone like this lady in Philly doing something this ambitious:

 

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/20/us/20philadelphia.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

 

Where Industry Once Hummed, Urban Garden Finds Success

Charles Fox/Philadelphia Inquirer

Published: May 20, 2008

 

PHILADELPHIA — Amid the tightly packed row houses of North Philadelphia, a pioneering urban farm is providing fresh local food for a community that often lacks it, and making money in the process...

How about an UrbanOhio orchard? I would love to see a publicly accessible plot where people can walk by and pick fruit at their leisure.

 

I like that idea. How much does a land bank property cost to buy?

Burten, Bell, Carr CDC is testing the feasibility of an urban tree farm at the northwest corner of Kinsman Road & East 79th Street (right across from the infamous Hemisphere site).  About 85% of the land is vacant, and there's anywhere from 10 to 50 acres available to plant trees that will better acclimate to urban areas.  They can potentially plant 400 trees per acre and sell them to anyone from the City of Cleveland to the Cleveland Clinic, CMHA to Cleveland State, etc., and can create some 5 full-time and 30 part-time jobs as a result.

 

The Cleveland Clinic just paid $300-something to ship those new trees on Chester in from Georgia.  Imagine if we could grow them here.  That $300 would be profit and would stay within the community.  Most trees for developments and streetscapes are trucked in from Lake County.

A friend and I were actually talking about rooftop gardens and community co-ops a few days ago, and we both said we'd be extremely interested in getting involved. I really do think such things would, as stated by all previous posts, help local communities in soooo many ways, especially poorer ones who are finding it a bit difficult to buy produce at the store due to rising costs.

 

I really hope the city approves that bill, especially if it is the first one like it in the US. Cleveland seems to be starting on an upswing, and I think the eco route is definitely the way to get us from being "The Mistake on the Lake" to the REAL forest city.

This is a bit dated at this point, but it might be interesting for everyone ... a map of community gardens in Cleveland as of last summer (http://blog.case.edu/msass/downloads/cleveland%20community%20gardens.pdf). As KJP pointed out upthread, there are TONS of informal community gardens across the city that didn't get picked up on this map, but I think it says something that 171 were of a high enough profile that THEY were picked up. And what's up with nothing showing up in Buckeye-Shaker, the only such SPA where that is the case? A fuller report is available on who's gardening and why, how interested Clevelanders are in the concept and more specific information about each of the 171 gardens: http://www.case.edu/affil/healthpromotion/Publications/Community_Garden_Report_2006.pdf.

Interesting stuff. Thanks for posting that.

Farmers markets increase, creating competition for local produce

 

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Debbi Snook

Plain Dealer Reporter

 

Set your alarm. It's that irresistible farmers market time.

 

You'll need to get there early. You're not the only one craving eggplant with patent-leather perfect skin, apples that haven't marched across the continent, asparagus that poked through the rich soil right around us.

 

Craving for local foods is rising to new highs. Market managers across Northeast Ohio have seen the growing interest among us, and many are adding markets or expanding their rosters. But some are seeing a shortage of folks who grow the food and can bring it to market.

 

"There are so many markets now, we're competing for farmers," said Susan Hirsch, manager of the Medina Farmers Market on the city's Victorian-styled village green.

 

Hirsch has lost two farmers to competing markets. So has Dottie Oliver, who runs the Twinsburg Farmers Market, now in its fourth year. Oliver's defectors moved to a new location closer to home.

 

more at: http://www.cleveland.com

Community gardens were the topic of yesterday's "Sound of Ideas" on WCPN yesterday.  Here's a link to the show, if you'd like to check it out: http://www.wcpn.org/index.php/WCPN/soi/12182/

^I just listened to that program- good stuff.

BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS

June 16, 2008, 9:30  AM

 

Ward 14

 

Calendar No. 08-98:

          3919 Lorain Avenue       

Joseph Santiago

 

21 Notices

 

Rachland Corporation and Mark Pestak, owner, and Meagen Kresge, tenant, appeal to erect an 8’ x 8’ chicken enclosure on an irregular shaped parcel located in a Local Retail business and Semi-Industry split zoning district on the south side of Lorain Avenue at 3919 Lorain Avenue; contrary to Section 347.02©, the proposed enclosure is within approximately 55 feet of a residence and it may not be less than 100 feet from an existing residence building on other premises in any use district nor from any obvious residence building site on other premises lot in a Residence District; and subject to the limitations of Section 343.01 an urban garden is proposed and not located in an Urban Garden District as provided in the provisions of Chapter 336 of the Codified Ordinances.  (Filed 5-12-08)

Here are some photos I took of the Benjamin Franklin Community Garden.  In addition to a garden, it's a very cool community space for people to interact and become acquainted.

An interesting read:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

 

http://www.wkyc.com/news/local/news_article.aspx?storyid=92156&catid=3

 

Urban farmers growing profit in Cleveland

 

CLEVELAND -- There's produce and profit growing in a Cleveland vacant lot that used to be filled with garbage. It's an upside to the economic downturn in the city. Dozens of inner city residents are becoming urban farmers and turning a barren landscape into profitable growing spaces. 

 

Margaret Armstead is a child care worker, but she spends part of her time digging in the dirt, weeding and feeding mustard greens, radishes and herbs.

 

Barbara Strauss is a librarian. She's also part of Eco Village, a neighborhood collaboration that's bringing the community together for a common goal.

 

"We're trying to feed the neighbors through sales, improve the economic well-being of our partners and provide an economic development model for Detroit Shoreway and I think we've been successful," Strauss said. The foreclosure crisis that crippled many inner city neighborhoods also forced several grocery stores to close. Leaving residents with little transportation and a difficult time in finding fresh fruits and vegetables.

 

Now more than 180 vacant lots have been transformed into fertile community gardens and farms. It took the members of Eco Village three years to turn their quarter acre into a blossoming garden. The soil couldn't be used because it was full of garbage and demolition debris.

 

The farmers collected coffee grounds, fruit and vegetable peelings from local restaurants and started composting their own soil. They then used it to build garden boxes on top of the land.

 

They've planted various herbs, beans, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, squash -- almost everything you can find in the produce section of the grocery store.

 

Now, Eco Village hopes to reap $5,000 this season from what they've sown. They sell their goods at local farm markets and to local restaurants.

 

Urban agriculture is catching on. Morgan Taggart is with the Ohio State University Extension. She helps teach growers not only the tricks of successful planting, but also how to cash in on the fruits of their labor. Seventy-five people have already taken the class and there's a waiting list for the next one.

 

"If they're going for high-end restaurants and are growing very specific niche crops, they can make a lot of money," Taggart says.

 

She says research shows, with the right crops, urban farmers can earn $68,000 on a half acre.

 

"We have thousands of vacant lots in the city and are looking for new strategies on how we can turn these into productive spaces," Taggart says, "It provides income for the neighborhood and it also provides healthy food." The Cleveland Health Department is also involved in the project for that reason. The project fits in with the Steps to a Healthier Cleveland initiative, which promotes healthier lifestyles, diet and gardening is great exercise.

 

Taggart adds that urban gardens save the city money because they don't have to maintain vacant lots. Residents believe they cut down on crime because neighbors have an interest in making sure they're successful.

 

The City of Cleveland now offers grant money to urban farmers who want to start a business. It's called Gardening for Greenbacks. Contact the city's office of Economic Development for details, (216) 664-3622.

 

To learn more about urban farming click on the link. To find locally grown fruits and vegetables, check out the Farmer's Markets below.

 

Downtown Farmers' Market1278 West 9th Street (at Constantino's)Mondays from 4:30-7:30 pm June 5 through October 30

 

Kamm's Corners Farmers' MarketWest 168th and Lorain Ave.Sundays 10:00 am- 2:00 pm

 

Tremont MarketCorner of Starkweather and ProfessorSundays 10:00 am - 2:00 pmJune 22 through October 26

 

Ward 17 Farmers' MarketCorner of West 65th and West ClintonSaturdays 9:00 am - 1:00 pmJuly 5 through September 27

Yeah, this whole urban gardening thing is a really cool trend. Whoever came up with that is brilliant.

 

I would love to see photos from different urban gardens from around the city.

You can see one of the city's largest just by walking down the sidewalk. Check out the Kentucky Gardens on Franklin Boulevard in the West 30s in Ohio City....  http://www.kentuckygardens.com/ It's called Kentucky Garden because one of the numbered streets used to be called Kentucky Street.

 

Also, I'll have an article in tomorrow's Sun papers that serve Cleveland about some new zoning ideas being brought forth to encourage more urban gardening and farming.

Not exactly in Cleveland but next door in Lakewood. I thought I would give LEAF a plug on UO. My friend is one of the prime organizers. This organization is on it's 3rd sucessful year of a CSA ( community supported agriculture) delivering seasonal produce from local area farmers. This the second year for community gardens.Both programs have been very successful.

 

http://www.leafcommunity.org/

http://www.cleveland.com/westsidesun/news/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1214485622297660.xml&coll=4

 

Urban farming concept catching on

Thursday, June 26, 2008

By Ken Prendergast

[email protected]

West Side Sun News

 

As one of the first big cities in the nation to adopt urban garden zoning, Cleveland officials are already looking at refining it and expanding it.

 

The motivation has come from increased interest by residents in growing their own produce and raising their own livestock to save money on food and energy costs.

 

Leading the charge is the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Food Policy Coalition, comprised of 60 different organizations. Among the participants are city and county departments, the Ohio State University Extension, Cleveland Foodbank, Neighborhood Progress Inc., Cleveland Urban Design Center and many others.

............

This is great, kudos to Cleveland.

I think it would be awesome if the "forgotten triangle" was used as a huge farm with livestock and produce.  It is within 40 blocks of the Northern Ohio Food Terminal which services grocery stores to all of Northern Ohio including Columbus, western Pa. 

I think it would be awesome if the "forgotten triangle" was used as a huge farm with livestock and produce. It is within 40 blocks of the Northern Ohio Food Terminal which services grocery stores to all of Northern Ohio including Columbus, western Pa.

Kinda like this idea: http://www.gcbl.org/planning/opportunity-corridor

The forgotten triangle also has good access to our highest level of public transit service and a central location.  I love the idea of urban gardening, but I'm not so sure that doing it on a commercial scale is really a good idea.  I'd rather see something more akin to victory gardens (aka backyard intensive gardening) than using developable land for agribusiness.  If it's a temporary use, fine, but these things have a way of becoming hard to change.  The community gets attached to them, and it makes the land hard to develop.  I'd rather see our city redeveloped more densely than see a marginal amount of it's food supply come from this close.

The forgotten triangle also has good access to our highest level of public transit service and a central location. I love the idea of urban gardening, but I'm not so sure that doing it on a commercial scale is really a good idea. I'd rather see something more akin to victory gardens (aka backyard intensive gardening) than using developable land for agribusiness. If it's a temporary use, fine, but these things have a way of becoming hard to change. The community gets attached to them, and it makes the land hard to develop. I'd rather see our city redeveloped more densely than see a marginal amount of it's food supply come from this close.

 

For me X, it is kind of a way of starting over for lack of a better term.  Years ago, that was probably all farms.  As the development moved toward it, the farmers were bought out, and homes and commercial were built there.  We still see that today in areas like Seville, or Auburn or Grafton.  I don't think in it's current state, granted clean up is done, the forgotten triangle is developable.  I think it it's current state, it will continue to lead the surrounding neighborhood to depreciate in value.  I believe that urban farming on the forgotten triangle would lead to more urban farming surrounding it which would lead to more valuable land.  That is just my view.

Vegetable gardening has been my hobby for the last three years.  Been having good results on our well-fenced 500 sq. feet of raised beds.  I would like to recommend my favorite instruction book:

 

https://www.motherearthnews.com/shopping/detail.aspx?itemnumber=2647

GARDENING WHEN IT COUNTS

Growing Food in Hard Times

by Steve Solomon

 

The decline of cheap oil is inspiring increasing numbers of North Americans to achieve some measure of backyard food self-sufficiency. In hard times, the family can be greatly helped by growing a highly productive food garden, requiring little cash outlay or watering.

 

Currently popular intensive vegetable gardening methods are largely inappropriate to this new circumstance. Crowded raised beds require high inputs of water, fertility and organic matter, and demand large amounts of human time and effort. But, except for labor, these inputs depend on the price of oil. Prior to the 1970s, North American home food growing used more land with less labor, with wider plant spacing, with less or no irrigation, and all done with sharp hand tools. But these sustainable systems have been largely forgotten. Gardening When It Counts, a MOTHER EARTH NEWS Book for Wiser Living, helps you rediscover traditional low-input gardening methods to produce healthy food.

 

Designed for readers with no experience and applicable to most areas in the English-speaking world except the tropics and hot deserts, this book shows that any family with access to 3-5,000 sq. ft. of garden land can halve their food costs using a growing system requiring just the odd bucketful of household waste water, perhaps two hundred dollars worth of hand tools, and about the same amount spent on supplies - working an average of two hours a day during the growing season.

 

You can read the introductory chapter on the publisher's website http://www.newsociety.com/bookid/3920 .  I found the chapter to be pretty compelling, so I bought the book.

 

Consider that the fertilizer input to my garden this spring was five bags of coffee grounds from Starbucks, $30 in composted manure, and about $20 in rock phosphate and gypsum.

 

 

http://sloweb.slowfood.com/sloweb/eng/dettaglio.lasso?cod=3E6E345B13a7c25231Gnk32BE1B2

 

For many Cubans, the global food crisis arrived two-decades ago. Facing an economic emergency, programs were initiated to increase production of fresh food throughout cities, and today their great success is being seen as possible model for populations facing hardship around the world. During the 1990s, the Cuban government began transforming the agricultural system by giving empty city lots to workers willing to farm them and by encouraging organic methods – then a response to the shortage of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. City farming took off and today 300,000 people - of which 40,000 are retirees - are employed in urban and peri-urban agriculture. Cuba's National Urban Agriculture Program has the backing of six government ministries and around 20 other institutions, social organizations and scientific research centers, which coordinate the work of thousands of intensive gardens, suburban farms, micro household gardens and other innovative forms of production.

 

According to an Oxfam report: ‘Today half of the fresh produce consumed by two million Havana residents is grown by ‘nontraditional urban producers’ in abandoned lots and green spaces wedged into the crowded typography of the city.’

 

‘It’s a really interesting model looking at what’s possible in a nation that’s 80 percent urban,’ said Catherine Murphy, a California sociologist who spent a decade studying farms in Havana. ‘It shows that cities can produce huge amounts of their own food, and you get all kinds of social and ecological benefits.’ Among these benefits, 5,000 garbage dumps have been turned into productive vegetable gardens across Havana, and day-care centers, senior citizen homes and semi-boarding schools for primary school students, and other social centers are linked to these production areas and receive 25 percent price discounts.

 

With fuel prices and food shortages causing unrest and hunger across the world, many say the Cuban model should proliferate. ‘There are certain issues where we think Cuba has a lot to teach the world. Urban agriculture is one of them,’ said Beat Schmid, coordinator of Cuba programs for the charity Oxfam International. While many countries have experimented with urban farming - Cuba’s initial steps were modeled after a green belt surrounding Shanghai - nowhere has it been used so widely to transform the way a country feeds itself.

 

http://www.columbiatribune.com/2008/Jul/20080710Busi011.asp

Yes Boreal Cuba does have a good model.  I did quite a bit of looking into this when I worked for the U.S. Govt (state dept . Cuba program) and wrote some about these programs for some government reports.  Of course they were edited out because our administration is only concerned about writting propaganda when it comes to Cuba.