Urban Farming

Mary Salisbury, Anuj Varughese, Meagan Heath, and Steve Callaghan

Life Do Grow

● Located on 11th and Dakota Street, North Philly● Created by Urban Creators

○ “The Philadelphia Urban Creators (PUC) are a group of young people who are building relationships with Philadelphia communities in order to develop our neighborhoods sustainably, and equitably, from the ground up.” -Life Do Grow

● Community is first, farming is second.● They’ve run events such as “Hood Stock 2014”, which focuses on bringing the community together in

efforts to promote good.○ Collected over 300 bags of trash○ Started new gardens○ Gave out over 600 seed bombs for people to start growing!

Our project/location

● Located on the corner of Cecil B. Moore and N 21st Street. ● Next to Macedonia Free Will Baptist Church (they donated us their lot)● Will be an urban farm based off of donations, much like Life Do Grow but in a different area● We will collect rain water to supply water to the crops● We will be composting on our site

Deu Horta na Telha, Sao Paulo, Brazil

● Turned roof tiles upside down and filled them with soil to turn roofs into gardens ● V-shaped trough can be filled with soil and plants, makes it easy to walk through the garden

without disrupting anything ● Tiles are water-tight, so they hold in moisture without releasing any of it● Movement started over 30 years ago ● Elevated, so they’re easy to access and reduce intensive labor

The Distributed Urban Farming Initiative, Texas

● Inspired by their business model● Goal is to inspire local residents to eat healthy food and drive entrepreneurship and tourism

(improve the local area) ● Get their food on the plates in local restaurants and to promote a healthier community ● Use the garden as spaces for field trips to educate the youth about food choices and nutrition

and gardening ● Inspired by their goals because we want to help the local community with nutrition and bring

them together ● http://dufi.adventgx.com

What urban ecological principles and issues are addressed in this project?

● We will rejuvenate what was a vacant lot● We will maintain any trash in the lot (lot was in pretty good condition)● We will have a composting system on site to cut costs and improve efficiency● We will plant crops that are used to the soil structure available, and we make sure to rotate the

crops yearly to allow the nutrients to rejuvenate

Is this project part of a larger project? Or is it one that stands on its own?

● Part of a larger projecto An expansion of the Urban Creators

● Part of bringing gardening to Philly/community o Our first goal is to bring together the communityo Without the support of the community our long term goals will never be achieved

● Taking their project model to a different area (Life Do Grow)

How do you think this project makes an impact on the community in the short term?

● Provide jobs for those building the farm, and community service hourso We will create a program allowing people on probation and ex-inmates to earn their

respective community service hours.● It will further strengthen the church going community, while allowing others in the community to

come together and create inexpensive food source in the area

Long term?

● Raise property value, making the area more inviting to people interested in living in a sustainable community

● Spark the movement of sustainabilityo Our goal is to first create the food source, but eventually move into other sustainable

plans such as; green roofing, creating subsurface gravel wetlands (and other stormwater management systems), and creating a small tree planting group.

o These plans are to achieve in 10-15 years● Keep expanding the Urban Creators another healthy, affordable food source● Reduce waste by recycling/composting

How will it positively impact the urban ecology of Philly?

● Influence other programs to be started● Make the city go “greener”● Spread awareness about urban farming

o We hope to influence the community to start their own small gardens at their homes● Gain support for urban farming

Projected Timeframe

● Take about a month to get goingo “these hybridized groups each spent 9 days in the L9W participating in community

organizing efforts and the transformation of vacant land into urban gardens.” -Life Do Grow

● Be running smoothly in a year ● After five years we expect it to pretty self sufficient, because we will have learned how to fix a

lot of the smaller issues

Projected Budget

● Manpower: mainly volunteers (students, inmates, church members etc.) ● Materials: donation based from the church, universities and community members. Fundraise to

buy other equipment.o We will get in touch with the city regarding farming materials.o The city helped out “Life Do Grow” by providing rakes, shovels, and hoes for gardening.

● Advertising: Flyers around local area, radio stations, talk about it in the Church● Fundraising: we will use can shaking and bake sales at the church help start our funding

o Our initial expenses shouldn’t be too expensive.

Works Cited

● Life Do Grow Website: http://phillyurbancreators.org/our-projects/life-do-grow-fairhill-north-philadelphia/

● Distributed Urban Farming Initiative: http://dufi.adventgx.com

● Deu horta na Tahal Website: http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2014/jul/02/next-gen-urban-farms-10-innovative-projects-from-around-the-world

● Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden Website: http://www.lewisginter.org/blog/2014/01/13/gardening-growing-trends-for-2014/