There are as many different types of consumers of local food as there are different types of urban farmers and different types of food grown. Consumers with different needs can all benefit from urban farming. Three farms on the Kansas City Center for Urban Agriculture farm tour explain this perfectly. Kurlbaum’s Heirloom Tomatoes, J-14 Agricultural Enterprises and the Troostwood Youth [...]
|
||||||
|
Blue Door Farm Though located in the bustling heart of Kansas City, Kansas, you can hear the birds singing and the wind rustling through the leaves that shelter Blue Door Farm. A long gravel road winds off of 55th Street to a quintessential country home, framed by shed and barn. The homemade greenhouse that is Blue [...] Driving down 17th Street in Kansas City, it’s easy to pass by Lew Edmister’s urban garden. Surrounded by an Lew Edmister unassuming, white picket fence, the garden melts into the urban landscape of brick buildings and residential homes. Yet it is on this modest piece of land that Edmister grows a bountiful array of vegetables, [...] Angela Greene saw a void in her neighborhood and decided to fill it. Most residents of Northeast Kansas City, Kansas have limited access to fresh produce as the closest retailers tend to be convenience stores. Greene recruited local kids to help create the Salt of the Earth Youth Garden. She teaches them skills and exposes them to an agrarian lifestyle. They have fun while they work hard. Greene and her protégés grow a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, flowers and herbs to sell at the Third Street Church of God after Sunday services. Not only does Greene feed her community, she offers them respect and unity. J-14 Agricultural Enterprises: Joe Jennings Joe Jennings has always farmed; first on the family farm in Texas, then a small plot whenever he moved, and, now, he has 8.5 acres in Kansas City, Kansas. Joe’s J-14 Agricultural Enterprises produces a wide range of vegetables and fruits and operates as a you-pick CSA; subscribers pay, receive a key to the gate, and can come pick at any time. At the peak of production, the farm can feed over 150 families. During the summer, the 81 year old can be found working with Youth Volunteer Corps members, teaching them the skills that have led to his own joy. |
||||||
|
Copyright © 2010 KC Urban Farms and Gardens Tour - All Rights Reserved Kansas City Center for Urban Agriculture |
||||||