There is a lot of talk about the Farm Bill these days in part  because it was due to be revisited over the course of 2012, and then because cuts from it were entangled in the the Super Committee mess (which now officially failed).

Yet we also hear about the Farm Bill because, we are told, it affects what Americans eat more than any other piece of legislation.  But how exactly? What is in it and why should Americans care?

Thus far, there is little in the way of visually interesting and informative media about the Farm Bill. Which is why we are co-hosting the Farm Bill Hackathon on December 3, 2011 with Gojee.

To read the whole post about the hackathon, including the time, location, and mission, click here.  Grown in the City will be there participating in the event, and I hope to have some interviews with some of the participants.

© John Reinhardt for Grown in the City, 2011. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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For the hardcore urban gardener

The Worm Factory 360: I can honestly say that one of my favorite birthday gifts is the Worm Factory 360, which I got from my in-laws for my birthday a few years ago.  This is not a gift for the novice urban gardener.  It requires a few key conditions:  enough space in the recipient’s living quarters to keep the worm bin (a garage, large closet, or shady outdoor space is ideal); a recipient who isn’t squeamish about worms and organic matter (as they’ll likely be digging in – literally!); and someone who is willing to put in the time and effort to maintain the bin every few days (this is not the best gift for someone who travels a lot for work.)

I’ve posted a few articles here, here, and here about my experiences with the worm bin.  There’s also a review of different kinds of composters here.  As I noted, it’s not for someone who is a casual gardener, and requires active maintenance every few days.  However, it’s a fantastic surprise for that person in your life who really wants to take the next leap in urban gardening and sustainable living.

Available for $109.94 from Amazon.com

For the first-timer

Seed packets:  Every urban gardener loves their seeds.  Even better, seeds are in inexpensive and fun way to show someone you care – chard can be slipped inside a card before mailing, or snow peas stuffed inside a stocking for Christmas.

Some of my favorite seed companies that ship organic and heirloom seeds are Territorial Seed Company and Southern Exposure Seed Exhange.

Available for as little as $.99 from the companies mentioned above.

For the bookworm

There is no shortage of books devoted to urban gardening, farming, sustainability, and green living, with more being added every day.  Here are some inexpensive titles I really enjoyed:

Making it: Radical Home Ec for a Post Consumer World:  This book is perfect for the person in your life who enjoys getting their hands dirty and loves weekend projects.

Koyne and Knutzen open the book with five principles of “making it”, which I think is a pretty good indication of the laid back and conversational – yet authoritative tone that the book takes: Start by trying one project in this book and build from there, slowly; laugh at your mistates; follow your intuition; trust nature; and keep learning.

Read my full review here.   Available from Amazon.com for $13.59.

 The Dirty Life: On Farming, Food, and Love:  This one is for that person in your life who’s hinted about the desire to ditch the city for a life on the farm.

As a working professional, while sitting on an airplane (or in an office, or on the bus) I’ve often daydreamed about giving it all up and working on a farm for a season.  So far, my balcony garden has kept the desire at bay, but it’s always there.  Before I went back to graduate school, I even spent a good number of lunch hours Googling “farming internships.”  While I may sit around dreaming, Kristin Kimball is the real deal – she took her curiousity a step further by seeking out – then committing to – a life of farming.  Her book, The Dirty Life, chronicles the experience.

Read my full review here. Available from Amazon.com for $10.20.

Urban Agriculture: Growing Healthy, Sustainable Places:  This is the perfect gift for the urban planning nerd in your life.  Urban Agriculture: Growing Healthy, Sustainable Places, is one of the first comprehensive reports that collects the best practices for integrated urban agriculture – in all of its forms – into planning practice.  If you are interested in food systems planning, this is a good place to start.  For full disclosure, I served as one of the reviewers, and even have quite a few infographics and photos in the book!

Read my full review here.  Click here to order a copy from Amazon.com.

For the Techie

For the techie in your life, I suggest gifting one of the Fab Four Free iPhone Apps for Urban Ag Enthusiasts and Local Eaters.  These four apps will help you make better decisions about what kinds of foods you are eating from a sustainability perspective.  They’ll let you find local farmers’ markets, tell you what fruits and veggies are in season in your local region and give you the details on where to find them.

They’re all available from the iTunes store, and you can purchase them as a gift for that special someone for as little as $.99.

For the Difficult to Shop For

For those who are difficult to shop for, there’s always the gift certificate option.  Online gift certificates are available from both Southern Exposure Seed Exchange and Territorial Seed Company.

Happy shopping!

© John Reinhardt for Grown in the City, 2011. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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So which states take the lead?  California, unsurprisingly, comes out on top with 605, followed by New York with 468 (see visualization 1).  It becomes even more interesting when you mash up the farmer’s market data with population data to find density of farmer’s markets.  Vermont comes out in the lead with 13.4 per 100K residents, which is quite a density (see visualization 2)!  As you can see in the third chart, Vermont is far and away the leader in farmer’s market density.

How does your state stack up?  Click below to find your state.

© John Reinhardt for Grown in the City, 2011. | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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For example, when getting off the train at the main station, residents can buy berries from a portable market set up at the end of the platform.  It’s a combination of both approaches – both locating the food near the people, and doing so in a flexible, portable way.  Always good to see easy access to produce!

© John Reinhardt for Grown in the City, 2011. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: helsinki, market, urbanag

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Sun-dried, oven-dried or dehydrated tomatoes; the concept and the result is basically the same: flavor-packed tomatoes that can be preserved and used in salads, as a snack, reconstituted into sauces for pasta, or baked in breads for added flavor.

You can dry tomatoes outside using the heat of the sun, however this process can take several days and is sometimes interrupted by undesirable weather conditions.  

This season, I have already dried several batches of tomatoes using an oven, and I believe that it is the easiest and simplest technique to dry tomatoes.  The only drawback is having to keep the oven on all day (however, I was able to dry large batches at once while baking cookies as well… so on all fronts, you’re getting great, tasty results, without much work).

Steps to Oven-Dry Tomatoes

1. Select a tomato variety that is either cherry, grape, or plum-sized.  I chose to use a “Ropreco Paste” tomato, which is shaped like a plum and traditionally used in sauces.  These types of sauce tomatoes can pack a punch of sweetness when dried.
2. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees.
3. Slice your tomatoes in half, lengthwise; place them on tin foil (optional), on a large baking pan (pans are better to use than cookie sheets because they prevent any possible spills).
4. Drizzle the tomatoes with a touch of olive oil, then sprinkle them with salt.
5. Bake (dry) the tomatoes in the oven for 6-8 hours.  Begin to check on the tomatoes after about 5 hours.  Your tomatoes may dry at different rates if they vary in size, water content, etc.  So, at this time, you may need to begin pulling some tomatoes out, as they reach a desirable level of dehydration.

ABOVE: Step 3 – Slice your tomatoes in half, lengthwise.

ABOVE: Step 5 – Dry your tomatoes in the oven for 6-8 hours.  Pull individual tomato halves out once they are dried.

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Shelf Life of  Dried Tomatoes

Oven-dried tomatoes should be stored in an air-tight container (jar or plastic bag) and placed in the refrigerator or freezer.  They will be good for 6-8 months.

Other Helpful Hints for Drying Tomatoes

• It is best to let the tomatoes fully ripen on the plant before harvesting them for the drying process.  This ensures a sweeter end product because the tomato has the maximum amount of time to get natural sugars and nutrients while still on the plant.
• You can dry your tomatoes for as long as you want.  If you dry them for a longer period of time, less moisture remains in the fruit, so they will most likely last longer in your refrigerator.  Chewier dried tomatoes are really great to snack on, however they shouldn’t be kept for longer than 2-3 months.

ABOVE: End Product!  Store your dried tomatoes in a jar or a plastic bag, in the fridge or freezer.

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 Helpful References

http://www.pickyourown.org/tomatoes_sun_dried.htm

© emilioak for Grown in the City, 2011. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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Earlier this summer, after seventeen years, I left the Community Food Security Coalition. Here’s my story.Consider life in 1994. There was no “Good Food” movement, or much discussion about food as a social or political topic. Instead, with the exception of a few pioneering groups, those sectors- anti-hunger, food banking, community gardening, sustainable agriculture, and nutrition/health – that today comprise the backbone of the food movement operated very much in their own silos, disconnected from each other. The effort to link these groups under the conceptual umbrella of “community food security,” initially focused through a campaign that led to passage of the Community Food Projects program in the 1996 Farm Bill, was what launched the Community Food Security Coalition. As with any coalition, CFSC, in its early days, benefited from the leadership of many persons, including Mark Winne, Bob Gottlieb, Hugh Joseph, Kate Fitzgerald and Kathy Ozer, among others.

Fresh out of urban planning school and co-author of a seminal community food assessment completed in the wake of the 1992 Los Angeles civil disturbances, I helped organize in 1994, with Mark and Bob, the first gathering that led to the development of CFSC. Initially, I was a consultant to the Hartford Food System in moving forward the creation of the CFSC, and then served as CFSC’s founding executive director starting in 1997. I played the lead role in organizing for the passage of the Community Food Security Act, one of the few bright spots in the otherwise dismal Freedom to Farm Act, aka the 1996 Farm Bill. Along with others in the emerging community food movement, I played a major role in developing and popularizing the concept of community food security. I also spent many years strategizing, advocating and organizing around the creation and strengthening of the food movement. Over the years, my job at CFSC evolved. Research, organizing, movement building, leadership, technical assistance provision, writing, event planning, fundraising, staff management, organizational development, negotiation, and financial management were all skills I learned and developed on the job.

Fast forward to 2011, the era of the White House garden, the Let’s Move campaign, and when food books seem to be more prolific than the dandelions in my front yard.  The food movement is hotter than ever. Even Time Magazine predicts that we will save and eclipse the environmental movement.This has been an exciting and exhilarating journey but also one fraught with enormous challenges. I’ve been fortunate in being able, with my colleagues at CFSC, to play a vital role in birthing and stewarding this movement to date. In addition to catalyzing and cultivating the food movement, CFSC under my leadership has had an impressive bevy of accomplishments, including:

• The establishment of the Community Food Projects program, with over $60 million distributed to the most innovative food systems projects nationally;
• The nation’s first and most prominent training and technical assistance program on food systems, helping thousands of individuals and communities develop more effective projects, including healthy corner stores and food policy councils;
• The explosive growth of the farm to school and farm to cafeteria sector through establishing and co-leading the National Farm to School Network, seminal research and publications, five national conferences, key policy victories and more;
• The hosting of 15 annual conferences, which has become the premiere educational and networking venue for the food movement.
• Over 30 seminal publications with hundreds of thousands of copies distributed, many of which re-shaped the fields which they profiled;
• In California, significant contributions to the success of the food movement through technical assistance on community food assessments, stewardship of the California Food and Justice Coalition, and organizing.

CFSC’s work has consistently been on the cutting-edge, of the highest quality and completed in a highly collaborative fashion. I am leaving CFSC as perhaps the most respected national food systems organization, with an annual budget at its-all time high of almost $2 million. Its staff is truly fantastic–highly professional, widely respected and leaders in their fields.

I am not saying adios, but hasta la vista. I will be writing some analytical articles-and maybe even a book- that I wouldn’t have been able to publish while in my role as Executive Director of CFSC. I will be thinking strategically about our movement, and how I can best contribute to its continued success and increase its power and prominence. I may start up a new organization, or join an existing one. I’m going to take some time to figure that out.

© John Reinhardt for Grown in the City, 2011. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: 1994, food, urbanag, urbanism

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Once you’ve familiarized yourself with Food + Tech Connect, check out their one-year anniversary party, taking place in Brooklyn on September 21.  It looks like it’s going to be a great time!

From Food + Tech Connect:

In honor of our one-year anniversary, Food+Tech Connect is bringing together 75 of the most talented food and tech innovators- stuffing them with great food- and asking:

How could you use information and technology to hack the food system?

The interactive cocktail party will be held at Brooklyn Grange on September 21, 2011 and will feature some of our favorite underground chefs and food tech thought leaders, including:

Amanda Hesser & Merill Stubbs, Food52
Michael Cirino, a razor, a shiny knife
Natalie Jeremijenko & Mihir Desai, Cross(x) Species Adventure Club
Mike Lee, Studiofeast
Ben Walmer, Highlands Dinner Club

Spirits:
San Honesto Mezcal
Croft Pink Port
St. Francis Winery & Vineyards

We are thrilled to be working with Zaarly, the new startup that allows you to buy and sell anything with people nearby, to source ingredients and entertainment.

Tickets go on sale Wednesday, September 7. You can sign up here for updates.

For more information about sponsorship opportunities please contact me: danielle [at] foodtechconnect.com.

© John Reinhardt for Grown in the City, 2011. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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“We had one Red Currant in our garden last year and it was – by far – the runaway crop of the year. We couldn’t consume those little guys fast enough. I wasn’t the biggest fan, but my husband liked them well enough. They don’t really taste like anything and they’re a pain to pick. But you will have a lot of them!”

Well, I must say Amber was correct on two points:  there were a ton of them and they were a hassle to pick.  However, I found the flavor very pleasant – sweet and tangy.  I made a tomato salad with balsamic and basil; roasted them in the oven with fish; and popped them straight from the vine!  Everyone who came to visit commented that it was the most unique tomato they’ve seen.

Since they were heirloom seeds, there was a lot of variety.  I chose two of the most vigorous plants to grow in my DIY 18-gallon self watering planters, and I noticed one grew much quicker than the other.  When it came time to pick the fruit, it took me a few days to realize that one plant produced primarily red fruit, while they other produced yellow and orange fruit (I left the yellow fruit on the vine for an extra week, waiting for it to turn color).

There were so many shades that it made for a beautiful addition to salads, salsas, and dinner meals:

Would I grow it again next year?  I’m not sure.  Since I was traveling so much for work, many of the small fruits over-ripened on the vine.    If you have someone to pick them nearly every day, and enjoy novelty produce, or have small children, who I imagine would love these, then I’d definitely recommend this variety.

© John Reinhardt for Grown in the City, 2011. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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Sundari is also the founder and organizer of Sustainable Food Denver, an advocacy group. Sustainable Food Denver was instrumental in passing a new Food Producing Animals (chickens, ducks, and dwarf goats) ordinance for Denver. Sundari is the co-chair of the Denver Sustainable Food Policy Council and teaches classes in backyard chicken and goat care, small-space gardening, and canning. She lives in Denver with her husband Brian and their chickens, ducks, dwarf goats, bees, two cats and a chihuahua.

1) Tell me how you got interested in agriculture.

When I was growing up we didn’t have a garden, but I developed a fascination with growing food when I finished college. Wherever I lived, I planted a garden (even if it was just a few tomatoes in a strip of dirt near my apartment). Once I had a house, I saw how much food I was able to grow just by using a part of my yard. I realized that I could grow food for a lot of families if I was able to use several of the yards in my neighborhood. That was the beginning of our multi-plot urban farm, Heirloom Gardens.

2) Can you tell me more about that organization, and what your main areas of focus are?

Heirloom Gardens is a multi-plot urban farm and NSA. NSA (or Neighborhood Supported Agriculture) is an ultra-local version of Community Supported Agriculture. We work in basically the same way — people buy a “share” of the farm in the spring, and this entitles them to a portion of the farm’s harvest throughout the growing season. The difference is that our farm is made up of 11 different plots. It’s all unused urban space, typically front or backyards. We have 26,500 square feet (just over half an acre), with plots ranging from 750 to 6500 square feet. Because we grow using biointensive methods, we’re able to grow a lot of food in a relatively small amount of space.

Heirloom Gardens distributes shares to 50 families each week. Some of our shareholders are community members who purchase a share, and we also give free shares to the Heirloom Gardens apprentices and to the homeowners who contribute their land to be used as a garden. We also sell food at a weekly farmers’ market in our neighborhood.

The work we do with Heirloom Gardens is focused on bringing organic, ultra-local food to the members of our community. We do a lot of outreach and education around what it means to eat in season, and we share recipes weekly with our members to help them utilize the food that they receive. We also have a thriving apprenticeship and volunteer program, with the goal of “growing” more urban farmers. I’d like to empower all of our apprentices to go off and start NSA programs of their own. We have a tremendous amount of unused yard space in Denver — there’s lots of room to grow!

3) What are the challenges of running a NSA or CSA that the average consumer (or even the subscribers) are not aware of?

Running an NSA or CSA is a big responsibility. I feel a strong sense of obligation to those that invest in our program (either with their money or their time) and I want to honor their commitment by providing the best food that we can. I find the NSA side of our business much more challenging that the farmers’ market. At the market, we have what we have — if we run short of some items, I don’t feel bad at all. But we work really hard to provide our NSA members with everything we can, each week. Folks that join an NSA are very supportive of local farming and in-tune with the ups and downs of the growing season, so we’re very lucky to be partnering with such great people.

4) Tell me about your new book, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Urban Homesteading. What’s covered in the book, and what was the process of getting it published like?

Getting the book written was one of the most challenging and rewarding processes I’ve ever experienced. I was contacted by the publishers of “The Complete Idiot’s Guide” series, who wanted a book on urban homesteading and were looking for an author. After lots of brainstorming about what the book would contain, and submitting a table of contents and sample chapter, I was hired to write the book. One of the challenging aspects of writing the book was that the publishers were determined to hire an author who was really practicing urban homesteading, but yet their timeline required that the book be written during the late summer/early fall harvest season. So, that was difficult.

Urban homesteading is a wonderfully diverse topic, and the book tries to capture that. It covers many different aspects of growing food — growing on your land, without land (container gardening), and growing on other people’s land (yard-share agreements, community gardens). It covers harvesting and storing the food, plus canning and other methods of preserving. The book talks about 5 kinds of Food Producing Animals — chickens, dwarf goats, rabbits, bees, and fish. Plus, I cover how to actually raise those animals in an urban setting, including setting up a combined barnyard. There’s information about energy conservation and solar power, water catching and reusing, recycling and repurposing, composting, and foraging. Everything in the book is talked about in a way that is relevant both to those that live in an apartment and those that have a yard. I also spend time focusing on zoning and covenant issues, because it’s not that helpful to learn about nifty urban homesteading stuff if the laws where you live don’t allow the activities you’re interested in pursuing.

5) Where do you see the urban agriculture scene in Denver going over the next 10 years?

The urban ag scene in Denver is starting to explode, but really we’re just in the beginning stages. There are fantastic projects underway and in the works — NSAs, aquaponics operations, handmade/homemade markets, gardens in city parks, and much more. Denver recently created a Sustainable Food Policy Council, and our current Mayor is intent on growing urban ag within the city. There are still a few policy changes I’d like to see in order to enable urban farmers to really grow and become financially sustainable, but I have faith those changes will happen over time. Denver’s recent enactment of a wonderful Food Producing Animals ordinance, plus the momentum that exists behind plant ag, means that in 10 years Denver may be one of the leading urban ag cities in the nation.

Bonus: What advice do you have for urban gardeners out there?

My advice is to start where you are, and grow from there. Maybe your garden is a great 400 square foot plot in your backyard, or maybe you’re growing 3 tomato plants in pots. All of it is good. The important thing is to grow, try new things, and then try again next year.

Thanks, Sundari! Good luck with Heirloom Gardens. Readers, be sure to check out The Complete Idiots Guide to Urban Homesteading!

© John Reinhardt for Grown in the City, 2011. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: book review, homesteading, urbanag

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Lungs of the Earth has an interesting and well-researched article on what happens to the coconut shells after we toss them out, and what some eco-entrepreneurs are doing to turn trash into treasure, lowering municipal costs and helping the environment.

It’s a lot healthier than the beer, soda and fake tea beverages that are sold alongside it. What’s not to like? Ask Philippe Mayer, who drinks two liters of the stuff a day, and he’ll tell you – the trash. One serving of 250 milliliters, or around 9 ounces, produces more than 2.2 pounds of garbage in the form of a heavy green coconut shell.

“Brazil is the world’s biggest producer of green coconut, and Rio has the highest per capita consumption of it anywhere in the world,” says Mayer, an entrepreneur and advocate for sustainable waste management who is working to recycle the shells. “And there’s no product in the world that makes this much trash,”

The shells are usually tossed by the side of the road or dumped into nearby trash bins, boosting the cost of trash collection, increasing the city’s use of fossil fuels that power garbage trucks and swelling landfills. Mayer, an animated and opinionated exercise buff who alternates between a stern scowl and a bright smile depending on what he’s talking about, thinks there’s a better way to handle this. The Coco Verde Reciclado (site in Portuguese) factory on the north end of Rio is a showcase for products that could be made from all those discarded coconut shells –planter boxes, garden ornaments, and lampshades made out of the coconut fibers…

To read the entire article, visit Lungs of the Earth.

© John Reinhardt for Grown in the City, 2011. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: rio, sustainability

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