Small Urban Farms preach the Gospel of the Garden

Gardening became of huge interest and importance to me in the past 3 years or so.  Being a chef, I've always seen the value in sourcing the very best ingredient, after all the best dishes require the best ingredients.  And while I work in DC primarily, I live in the suburbs and sourcing the best ingredients can be a challenge.  Overrun with chain grocery stores and large corporate restaurants who often care nothing about having the finest ingredients on hand, suburbia is not the best place for those seeking farm fresh ingredients.  

So I began growing things at home, on a whim I might add, that were important to me. Starting small with some herbs, tomatoes , and chiles, it has grown into an ever-expanding interest to numerous vegetables, canning our own products, etc.  

And I began to realize that our grandparents(depression era kids), really had it figured out. Though they often had vegetable gardens and practiced canning their own products out of necessity, they knew that this was the best and only way to control quality in their kitchens. Not to mention the numerous economic and health benefits that accompanied having a plethora of fresh vegetables growing steps from their back door(see my other post "10 Reasons Why I Have a Vegetable Garden").  

Needless to say I'm sold. Not just sold, but sold out! Sold out on the fact that this is how we should live. I found myself preaching the "Gospel of the Garden" to EVERYONE! So how can I help in convincing those around me and the community at large that this is the way we should go? 

Having a conversation with a good friend and Pastor, I shared a vision of creating a "Food Mecca" in the middle of an under served community. Food vendors and local farmers offering their products, smack dab in the middle of a food desert in Metro DC. The neighborhood isn't known for its variety of food choices. Chinese carry outs and fast food joints are practically all around and those in the community are more often than not hog tied to these choices.

So why not take this newfound passion and translate it to a community development project? Give the people what they don't know that they really want and need.

So on a lot, a church parking lot actually, we're starting with a small 20'x25'(roughly 500 sq. ft.) patch of gravel filled dirt and starting to garden with the intent of distributing food to our neighbors, preaching the Gospel of the Garden to them.  Offering organically grown veggies and fruits at conventional prices, not to make a buck, but to transform the food climate in a small DC community.

KD

Here's our little patch, with more to be added in the years to come. 

 We have a large tract of unused space directly behind the church building that we are going to be taking over. It used to flood whenever it rained(referenced in my upcoming "Install a rain barrel" post), but now we are going to line the area with 12'x4' raised beds next year. Should be able to get at least 10 beds in there. That's almost doubling our planting area!