Urban Farming Bigger in Detroit

The schoolyard of Catherine Ferguson Academy, left, looks more

like a barnyard, thanks to the efforts of science teacher Paul Weertz. The academy is a DPS school, not a charter, that educates students who are pregnant parenting teens

Some 400 people -- seven busloads -- went on the Detroit Agriculture Network's 2007 annual tour of urban gardens and farms in the city of Detroit last night. I did not take the tour because I didn't sign up in time, but was on hand for the sendoff and was impressed with the effort. The tour left from the Catherine Ferguson Academy on Selden Street on the city's near southwest side, half the group heading for west side sites, half for east side sites.

The east side group visited the Capuchin Soup Kitchen and Gleaners Community Food Bank where eight city lots have been converted into a small farm. Last year more than 7,000 pounds of organically fresh produce was harvested and distributed to local markets and low-income Detroit residents. They also stopped at a pocket park in Indian Village, and several community gardens.

The west side tour stopped at the Brightmoor Community Garden, Detroit Black Community Security Network Garden, Romanowski Park, American Indian Health and Family Services garden and the Birdtown Garden in the Cass Corridor. Here are more photos from yesterday at Catherine Ferguson Academy:

This effort is growing (no pun intended) in Detroit and must continue to do so as one element in an overall land use strategy. One third of Detroit is now open space, and we have to find useful and attractive ways to reclaim it. For more go to the Earth Works Garden website.