Birmingham Farm Part of Growing Trend in Urban Farms

Tomatoes ripen in the shadow of an interstate highway. Blueberries line a split rail fence across from an inner city apartment complex. Just what is going on?

Farming — that’s what is going on at Jones Valley Urban Farm in Birmingham. Created in 2001, JVUF is a nonprofit project that promotes sustainable agriculture and alternative land-use. It has transformed a 3.5-acre vacant lot into a production urban organic teaching farm. Called The Gardens of Park Place, it is the hub of JVUF's sustainable agriculture operations.

Edwin Marty, JVUF’s executive director, says interest in locally grown produce is growing rapidly in Birmingham.

“Every year, we have seen increased interest and demand for the fruit, vegetables and flowers that we produce,” he says.

Luci Davis, an urban regional horticulture agent with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, says the surging interest in local produce is not surprising.

“Rising food costs and growing concern about food safety are stimulating interest in locally grown food,” says Davis, who is a JVUF board member.

Davis says for some people that interest is transformed into producing vegetables in a home garden.

“Others are exploring ways to develop their own urban micro-farms and sell the produce.”

She adds that this is not just happening in Alabama. Internet searches for phrases “urban farm” or “city farms” return thousands of sites.

JVUF, working with Auburn University’s College of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Soil Tillage Lab in Auburn, has been investigating techniques and practices to transform the hard-packed dirt found on the lot into rich, productive topsoil.

Holding true to its goal to be a teaching farm, signs around the farm discuss various organic and sustainable practices.

While JVUF sells its organic produce at the farm and at a number of area farmer’s markets, Marty says the farm’s goal is to bring the urban community back in touch with food and where it comes from.

“One of our educational programs for elementary students is Seed 2 Plate. We have an eight lesson curriculum. Each lesson includes information on raising the food, its nutritional value and how to prepare it. Most of our Seed 2 Plate participants come for a series of five or more field trips, so by the end of their time with us, the children have learned quite a bit about growing, cooking, and eating healthy food.”

This year a grant through the CAWACO Resource Conservation and Development Council and Extension provided transportation funding for the Seed 2 Plate program — expanding the program’s reach.

Davis says for many of the children Seed 2 Plate is an eye-opening experience.

“Many of these children are multiple generations away from a farm or rural experience,” she says. “This program brings home that food does not start out in packages and that producing food requires hard work.”

JVUF is bringing the community in touch with food production by offering part of its acreage as small garden plots for citizens.

“It’s amazing to watch the UAB surgeon tending her spot next to a older man who has lived in public housing most of his life,” says Marty. “Most of the time, they live in a world apart, but here they both share a passion for their gardens.”

Walking around the Gardens at Park Place, you can feel how this passion for gardens is helping revitalize a community.

Marty says that is part of the project’s goals.

“We want to create vibrant green space for neighbors to interact, grow food, and learn about healthy eating habits and sustainable agriculture.”

That dream is not just Marty’s. The project is a collaboration between the Rushton Foundation, Sloss Realty, the Auburn University College of Agriculture, the YMCA, and Jones Valley Urban Farm.

Long-term goals include adding an early childhood learning center to the community garden and the demonstration farm. The Rushton Foundation, which owns the property that the Gardens at Park Place calls home, would develop the center.

Posted by lawremc at July 8, 2008 09:09 AM | TrackBack