My final farm stop is at Zenger Farm, located in the Powellhurst-Gilbert neighbourhood of Portland. It's another farm located in an area undergoing great change. Portland as a whole faces great increases in house prices and I'm told this is driven by folks moving in from California in search of cheaper living (folks pushed out …
An afternoon on the UC Gill Tract
Whilst in the bay area I met up with Antonio Roman-Alcalá (academic, activist, gardener who has written a blog called Antidogmatist which is home to his writings on food systems and how to change them). Antonio points me in the direction of the UC Gill Tract as an interesting and exciting example of urban ag …
The pacific, California and Planting Justice
I arrived in the Bay area off the back of my 3,924km journey from Chicago. I'm greeted by the vastness of the pacific and a wonder at what's in store on the west coast. A huge amount of the U.S.'s agricultural production can be found in California (in 2017 California produced 13% of U.S. food …
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Wandering wonderings
Trains are the perfect time to reflect. Headphones on, scenery rushing by. This week I have crossed vast amounts of this huge country. Starting in Detroit, I've Amtrak-ed myself west (Amtrak is the U.S. passenger rail system), with a little detour in to Wyoming to see an old friend. The train system is fairly scarce …
Oakland Avenue Urban Farm – Lessons from The North End, Detroit
My fourth week and fourth project in the U.S. sees me journeying to Detroit, Michigan, a city which has become well known as a hot bed for urban agriculture. Over the last 40 years, Detroit has moved from being one of the most prosperous US cities to one of the most downcast. It's a city …
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A week with Rock Steady Farm and Flowers, NY
Rock Steady Farm and Flowers is an 12 acre farm operating in Millerton, a 2hr drive north of Manhattan, in upstate New York, nestled in by the borders with Connecticut and Massachusetts. Set up in 2016 and just coming to the end of their 3rd growing season, this is another young and establishing organisation. They're …
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Lessons from East New York
I feel like I will take so many lessons and inspirations from my time at East New York Farms! Such warmth and integrity seemed to stretch through staff, gardeners, interns. A key lesson feels like it is about the importance of relationships, probably something we all know, but so often forget or get distracted from. …
