Schontasha Dyce

November 16, 2013

Urban farming

Urban farming is becoming more and more popular across the world in cities such as in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, England, and of course New York City. It offers numerous benefits such as food security, easy access to fresh ingredients which reduces costs, and many environmental benefits. After conducting research of my own, it was discovered that urban farming adds to the greenery of the city, acting as drainage basins and reducing harmful run-offs, increasing shade, on top of that acting as a buffer against climate change as they reduce the impact of the heat island effect which is An metropolitan area that is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural areas due to human activities. Exciting new improvements are taking place where there is a shortage of land. So people are developing “rooftop farms and gardens”.  The land plots to grow these crops have varied over time, consisting of windowsills, basements, rooftops, walls, roadside, and recreation grounds operating as community gardens. These new developments also give you a place to relax and help reduce the energy consumption of a building, home or farm, the farm is. The idea has been extremely successful that some planners and architects are experimenting with vertical farms!

The urban farm experience gave me a profound knowledge of what actual preparations need to be done to maintain an organic garden. I have discovered gardening is hard work and there are many components such as the composting process: which turned leftovers from meals into valuable food for the garden and using kitchen waste such as leftover vegetables can make compost, helping to reduce the amount of trash that goes into landfills. The fun fact I’ve learned is that if people choose composting with the waste and leftovers from their own meals in less than a year, they too would have free fertilizer for their gardens to help plants, fruits and vegetables grow healthy. However, I do believe throughout this event I became more interested in urban farming, as well as a more aware of all the time you invest for its up keep. Although this was part of my honors work as well as invited by my professor Jason Leggett, I was very happy with all I have learned and experienced, I came out with more knowledge than before.  During my volunteering, I was able to give a hand in the composting process. The basic steps I took part in was the transformation of solid waste which in this case consisted of onions, carrots, lettuce, woodchips (are a filer that helps these piles retain moister and circulation of air) brown dried leaves, eggshells, green fruits, veggie peeling and tea bags into the wheel barrow and wheel it the compounding area of the urban farm where the actual composting transpires. To be precise it is at this moment, my understanding had awoken to the purpose and importance of the phrase “organic” gardening. After this process is finished the food compost is applied to the “beds”.  This is something that is done every spring and every fall to fertilize the plants.  Organic agriculture is environmentally friendly since no chemicals are used. This process helps to keep the soil healthy as well as the ecosystem and people.

Although, I only participated in a few minor things I learned that starting this process is something any individual can do. To make compost all you need is a composting bin (large space) or a mason jar (small spaces) and layer the compost-organic ingredients evenly inside so that way it will decompose and breakdown the minerals correctly. The bin lid or jar must be closed tightly to avoid molding of materials. Furthermore, you must check on the compost weekly if possible and stir around ingredient adding leaves, barks, water or scraps as needed. Patient’s is a key factor during this process because depending on your compost, it can take up to a year to be ready. Once it is soft and crumbly it is ready to use if it is lumpy, place it back into the jar to compost a little longer. Discovering this procedure was remarkable and then it occurred to me that my grandparents have done this for years in the organic garden in my backyard. From this urban farm experience I gained a new appreciation for my grandparents who work so hard to maintain the flowers, tomatoes, squish, cucumbers, peppers and corn they harvest. Another thing I realized from this experience is that kale is more nutritious than ordinary lettuce, which mainly contains water. I was also able to try kale straight from the garden, might I add it was great. When my honors rep Helen-Margaret Nasser picked it for me to try I was a bit hesitant due to my previous knowledge like the use of pesticides stray on plants, I was always taught to wash anything before eating but here everything was natural. I did end on up indulging in kale and I’m glad I did because now I eat kale instead of lettuce.

The urban farm experience at KBCC gave me a sense of appreciation for organic agriculture and the composting process. The Organic farming is based on methods which do not use chemical fertilizers or pesticides that kill beneficial insects. Instead it relies on natural pesticides and crop rotation as a pest control method. Organic farmers prefer to use compost as fertilizer which is made from organic solid waste such as vegetable peelings, leaves, carrots, lettuce, woodchips and the rest of the minerals needed to conduct the remainder the composting and organic process. If more people started urban farming we can cut down on a lot of the waste in the world as well as am more nutrition to our bodies. I would surely love to have this experience again.