Showing posts with label urban gardening. Show all posts
Showing posts with label urban gardening. Show all posts
Friday, August 7, 2009
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Our Community Garden
Our Community Garden 1/2 plot:
Before.
It's great to be preparing for summer here in Boston! We've been lucky in getting a half plot to try our hand at gardening outdoors for the first time in Boston. I've started a bunch of seeds that should be ready to go outdoors soon.
Before.
It's great to be preparing for summer here in Boston! We've been lucky in getting a half plot to try our hand at gardening outdoors for the first time in Boston. I've started a bunch of seeds that should be ready to go outdoors soon.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
The Food Project
As we're close to the beginning of spring, I wanted to introduce you to a great group in Massachusetts called "The Food Project". They have a farm in Lexington, as well as several urban farms, and apart from having a CSA system, they also teach young people about growing food, create square foot gardens in urban neighborhoods, and donate food to soup kitchens in the area. I've been really impressed with their commitment to excellence in what they do. Here I quote from their website.
The Food Project
“There is another way to live and think: it’s called agrarianism. It is not so much a philosophy as a practice, an attitude, a loyalty and a passion—all based in close connection with the land. It results in a sound local economy in which producers and consumers are neighbors and in which nature herself becomes the standard for work and production.” --Wendell Berry
"Our mission is to grow a thoughtful and productive community of youth and adults from diverse backgrounds who work together to build a sustainable food system. We produce healthy food for residents of the city and suburbs and provide youth leadership opportunities. Most importantly, we strive to inspire and support others to create change in their own communities.
Since 1991, The Food Project has built a national model of engaging young people in personal and social change through sustainable agriculture. Each year, we work with over a hundred teens and thousands of volunteers to farm on 31 acres in rural Lincoln, MA and on several lots in urban Boston. We consider our hallmark to be our focus on identifying and transforming a new generation of leaders by placing teens in unusually responsible roles, with deeply meaningful work.
Each season, we grow nearly a quarter-million pounds of food without chemical pesticides, donating half to local shelters. We sell the remainder of our produce through Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) crop “shares” and farmers’ markets. We market our own Farm-Fresh Salsa, holiday pies, and other value added products. Locally, we also partner with urban gardeners to help them remediate their lead-contaminated soil and grow healthier food.
Nearly half of The Food Project’s work is as a resource center for organizations and individuals worldwide. We provide unique capacity building for organizations and educators who learn from The Food Project’s expertise through materials, youth training and professional development opportunities. Even projects completely unrelated to farming can draw on our methods for building inspired, diverse and productive youth communities."
Urban Gardening
(1) The Rooftop Garden
(2) Freezing Herbs
(3) Amazing Purple Peppers
(4) Our First Tomatoes
The Food Project
“There is another way to live and think: it’s called agrarianism. It is not so much a philosophy as a practice, an attitude, a loyalty and a passion—all based in close connection with the land. It results in a sound local economy in which producers and consumers are neighbors and in which nature herself becomes the standard for work and production.” --Wendell Berry
"Our mission is to grow a thoughtful and productive community of youth and adults from diverse backgrounds who work together to build a sustainable food system. We produce healthy food for residents of the city and suburbs and provide youth leadership opportunities. Most importantly, we strive to inspire and support others to create change in their own communities.
Since 1991, The Food Project has built a national model of engaging young people in personal and social change through sustainable agriculture. Each year, we work with over a hundred teens and thousands of volunteers to farm on 31 acres in rural Lincoln, MA and on several lots in urban Boston. We consider our hallmark to be our focus on identifying and transforming a new generation of leaders by placing teens in unusually responsible roles, with deeply meaningful work.
Each season, we grow nearly a quarter-million pounds of food without chemical pesticides, donating half to local shelters. We sell the remainder of our produce through Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) crop “shares” and farmers’ markets. We market our own Farm-Fresh Salsa, holiday pies, and other value added products. Locally, we also partner with urban gardeners to help them remediate their lead-contaminated soil and grow healthier food.
Nearly half of The Food Project’s work is as a resource center for organizations and individuals worldwide. We provide unique capacity building for organizations and educators who learn from The Food Project’s expertise through materials, youth training and professional development opportunities. Even projects completely unrelated to farming can draw on our methods for building inspired, diverse and productive youth communities."
Urban Gardening
(1) The Rooftop Garden
(2) Freezing Herbs
(3) Amazing Purple Peppers
(4) Our First Tomatoes
Saturday, June 9, 2007
What makes food healthy?
This next week I'm going to be pondering this question. I think it's a good starting point when I'm deciding how to live and why-- beginning with the premise that God has given us physical bodies that we have to figure out how to take care of-- not always an easy task.
It's easy to get caught up in the fad without knowing exactly what's good and what's not, right? This week I'm going to work on understanding my objectives clearly. I mean, can you always taste the difference between organic and non-organic food? I can't. Should that matter? Should we immediately discount the role of processed food in our lives?
There's a lot of different emphases you might have, so these are the smaller questions I want to answer before Wednesday:
1) Is the food healthy for the planet?
2) What is healthy food?
3) Why is processed food less healthy than unprocessed food, if indeed it is?
4) How would growing food help attain the goals you set for yourself?
If you would like to give me your insights or other questions, they are more than welcome.
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