Last harvest

As I picked the very last of the peppers , I began to think once again I like doing this!
I always wonder at the last of the harvest year if I will indeed try again. Pulling these last peppers allowed me to reaffirm my faith in the hipness of urban farming.

It is not always an easy road to tread. Though I have never chosen the easy road or followed the path that most people take, maybe it is this willingness to take the less traveled road that allows me to see the value in farming in the central city and finding value in this ground.

There seems to be so much that we just throw away. We don't even compost it. Old houses in the central city are full of history and they have stood for at least one hundred years. There is a history to be preserved in these houses as manifestations of the the original city planning  and economy that gave way to the creation of suburbs. I would argue that central city neighborhoods are a manifestation of the history of labor and industry in our society.

Maybe urban homesteading is a way to preserve the history of the people who helped to create our society. Could there be lessons to learn? I don't know, but it seems we will never know as long as we just throw it away. Seeing a way to compost it all, repurpose it, upcycle it, create new growth. . . That would be interesting. However, there are more than just buildings, but people in central cities. I like to think that my little hip urban farm is like being at my grandmother's house. She lived in the city and I lived in the suburbs, but I always loved going to visit grandma. The point here is that there really is some interconnection of the city to places and people. And there are memes in our ways of living that keep us connected to each other.

There is value in the last harvest.  That value is way to hip for words, though I try to explain it. It's only the hip thing to do!

Hip Urban Farmer by Blog Librarian by Day : Burning Desire for Urban Farming?

Ever wonder where your burning desire to be an urban farmer comes from? Well the Roots of My Obsession is an interesting book for people who ponder just this question. Each chapter is written by a different author who reflects on where their desire to grow plants has come from.  These authors have no limit to what they grow. You can expect to read about the desire to grow flowers, vegetables, and just about anything else. The casual gardener may be intimidated by the fact that each author has as their profession some part of horticulture or agriculture. If you want to learn the specific names of plants, however, you will find this a fun read. Each author in reflecting on the roots of their obsession  provide seeds for growing ever more abundant in desire to learn and grow. But more importantly, this book will spur the hippest of urban farmers to reflect on the reasons, they start in January to make a plan laying out the crops in their backyard.

What happens when the bees get together with the pumpkins and zuchhinni?

So funny thing happened this year on the urban farm. . .I wasn't paying much attention what with the heat and all, plus I was more tired than usual due to my sleep apnea issues. .

So I just watered in the morning and enjoyed the morning squash blooms and the bees hanging out. It didn't occur to me that the hanky panky on the farm was going to produce. . .

a puchinni? Pumpchinni?  Zumpchinni? Zumpkin?

I did a little research and talked to my local urban farmers. . .guess what? Cross-pollination.

Well, I'll be darned! If that ain't hip. . . .

Librarian by Day Hip Urban Farmer by Blog: Grow a Revolution

by HUF aka Melissa Jeter

It isn't easy being an urban farmer. It's not easy being a farmer period.

Well first of all there's the drought. You know there's a drought, right? The corn is nowhere near the height it should be. Well, if you don't notice now, you will the next time you go to the grocery store. And this issue makes me think about the book I’m currently reading.

I am reading the Good Food Revolution by Will Allen. He is no hip urban farmer. He is Urban Farmer Extraordinaire. Living in Wisconsin, this man has steadily changed the food scape in his community. If you are interested in true urban farming that brings people together and changes the lives of people in city neighborhoods, this is a book that must sit as a reference on your table.
What Allen has that is better than hip is Growing Power, a non profit organization that not only grows food, but also serves as an educational institution where people can learn how to grow their own food. And when I say food, I mean vegetables, fruit, and fish!

I found so many little seeds of information in this book that are ready to be planted. For example, did you know that Heifer International could serve urban farms by considering worms to be livestock? What that means for the urban areas is the potential to reclaim the soil. Worms are critical to a healthy soil that can grow food!

I'm going to combine my understanding of these seeds for thought with some other information. . . . Watch out now! I am a professional. . . . Library and information specialist in my day job. . .

If you are interested in being more than hip with your urban farm, but also interested in creating a food revolution as Will Allen has in Wisconsin, you could apply for grants.

If you have ever read the blog Free Money Ate My Brain, by Linda Koss then you know there is some good information there.

Yes! As a professional librarian and information specialist, I can offer more than just books with information but digital information. . . . blogs.

And she’s also a professional, folks, don’t try this at home. .  . unless you are on your computer and using information backed by an authority! Of course, you could go to your local library. . . just sayin’. . .

If you haven't read it, well get over there right now and look for information about the Awesome Foundation. Awesome Foundation gives small grants for community gardens and even more.

Thinking about green jobs? Why not start up your own mobile composting business? Think worms, compost, soil, and food. And maybe you can find some real start up funds for that business.

I'd do it myself, but really aren't I hip enough?

Look, there's only one Hip Urban Farmer, but you could be an extraordinary urban farmer growing a food revolution!

Look into city and county land banking programs. In some cities, there are programs for urban gardening where you can lease or buy a vacant lots where you could grow your own power.

You can do this. Go on. Do it.

Grow a revolution!

Blooming later is better than never.

Just when I think nothing is going to happen and all this urban farming business is nonsense. . .something grows. . .

It's hip to watch it grow

Months ago the farm looked like this

Opening up to morning

The flowers on the pumpkin vines open up every morning seeking bees for pollination. If I am quiet and walk gingerly around my vertical pumpkin patch, I can hear and see the little bees and even some polka dotted pollinators I have yet to identify. This is morning.

I am at my best in the morning. I am up st 5:30 am.

You know it's hip to keep urban farmer hours.

I slowly ease into the day lifting five pound weights, while I sit on my exercise ball. My cat lingers around me, laying on the exercise mat. He refuses to move, no matter how close the ball or weights get to him. Anaerobic first then aerobic. . .jumping rope and Tae No style ab work. Then I go out and water my little patch of land. Much like the flowers in the pumpkin patch. I open up to the day.