DeLaney Community FarmCSA, or community supported agriculture, is a buzzword we’re hearing a lot these days. It’s frequently offered up as a solution to many of the problems with our nation’s food system: produce that travels hundreds or thousands of miles before it reaches the consumer, food that’s grown with pesticides, herbicides, or hormones, food that’s genetically modified, environmentally destructive growing practices, etc. Community supported agriculture is an agricultural model in which the farmer and consumer share in the risks and bounty of the farm. In practical terms, this means that you pay a set amount up front, and that helps the farmer cover the cost of production. In return, you receive freshly harvested shares of the farm’s produce (usually once a week) throughout the growing season. Some CSAs have farm pickups, some deliver directly to your door, and some have in-town pickup points. Most CSAs are smaller farms that cultivate a variety crops, and use organic growing practices.
CSAs are a wonderful way to satisfy your desire for fresh, organic, locally grown produce, and a great way to support your local farmers. It’s also a great way to eat seasonally, and try out new foods and recipes. There are some challenges, however, that go along with being a part of a farm community. Weather, pests, and other factors outside the farmer’s control can mean lower yields or damaged crops, and that means a lighter share for the consumer. Not being able to predict quantities or varieties means that you might end up with a lot of something that you’re not sure how to use, or don’t like.
This video, which features Gary Brever of Ploughshare Farm, Kate Stout of North Creek Community Farm, and Margaret Marshall of Featherstone Farm, does a great job of summarizing what you can expect as a member of a CSA:
You can also check out this post, which features an interview with Faatma Mehrmanesh, the Operation Coordinator at DUG’s DeLaney Community Farm. DeLaney Community Farm is Denver Urban Gardens’ community supported agriculture project in Aurora. DeLaney is different than other CSAs in that its operations are centered around a mission which includes providing healthy, locally produced food for people of all economic levels, including helping challenged populations improve their nutrition and their access to healthy food.
DeLaney’s Community Partner Share program provides fresh, organic produce to partner nonprofits like Project Angel Heart and The Gathering Place, and DeLaney’s WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) program allows WIC clients to work with staff for an hour in exchange for a freshly harvested share of produce. To keep costs low, DeLaney operates with a small staff, and relies on volunteers to assist in the day-to-day operations. To learn more about DeLaney Community Farm, please click here. To make a secure, online donation to the DeLaney Community Farm Partner Share Fund, please click here.
Pemaculture is a buzz word these days. But what does it mean exactly? You’ll get a different answer depending on whom you ask. Bill Mollison, one of the creators of Permaculture orginially defined it as “permanent agriculture.” Today, it means a lot to those who practice it. As Urban Harvest Defines it,by Milkwooders via Flickr
Permaculture is an ecological, holistic and sustainable design system and philosophy for human living spaces. It is a viable method for finding sustainable solutions to modern problems. It has been successfully used around the world to maximize food production, regenerate springs, cool homes without air conditioning, revive deserts, transform lives, reorganize towns and neighborhoods, reduce pollution, and much else.
The possibiltiy of transforming the urban landscape may just become more accessible using Permaculture as a guiding theory. Pemaculture can even be applied to your small backyard plot so that you make the best use of your time and energy. Check out your local library for more information on the subject. If you have a lot of interest you can enroll in a certification course. These courses tend be rather expensive, but they often offer need-based financial assistance or work/study postions. This spring, several courses will be offered in the Front Range Area. Check out one of the organizations listed below for more information on available classes.
A recent flurry of Internet articles has brought to light a very interesting case of trademark infringement. The Dervaes Institute, an incorporated church that has operated in California since 1985, has a trademark claim on “urban homesteading” and derivates of the phrase. Just recently, a group of organizations such as “Denver Urban Homesteading” had their Facebook pages shut down. Apparently, blogs that use their trademark phrase have also been shut down. Furthermore, the Westwordis reporting that the Dervaes Institute sent out a cease-and-desist letter to a publishing company that has printed books such as “The Urban Homestead: Your Guide to Self-Sufficient Living in the Heart of the City.” It looks like the phrase might no longer be used to describe the city farming movement any longer.
But what implications does this trademark case have for the urban farming movement? None at all, but it is both entertaining and ironic. As the Dervaes Institute states themselves, an “urban homesteader” is “someone participating in the movement of 21st century eco-pioneers striving to create a better world for themselves and others” and “a person who practices self-sufficiency through home food production and simple living in a city or suburban environment.” Who would have thought the self-sufficient “urban homesteader” would be so dependent on their lawyer?
Check out the article from the Westwordfor more details.
By Lauren Christensen, Outreach and Volunteer Coordinator
Sadie Robertson, our featured volunteer, has been a tremendous help in assisting Denver Urban Gardens in promoting Youth Farmers’ Markets, where those using SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits can utilize the double value program, which allows participants to buy twice the amount of produce that they would otherwise be able to. Sadie came to DUG via the Denver Public Schools AmeriCorps Urban Education Program. Through this program, she had a chance to create and implement an independent project that would serve the needs of a particular community. Linking Robertson’s passion for food and nutrition to her work, she spent part of the summer facilitating cooking, gardening and nutrition classes for parents and students at Smith Elementary, which Robertson describes as a profound learning experience. However, as the summer continued, Robertson wanted to change her focus to increasing awareness of Denver Farmers’ Markets that accept SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits. Sadie found that DUG’s Youth Farmers’ Markets lined up with what she was imagining for her summer. She called Shawnee Adelson, DUG’s Education Facilitator and offered her services. Of the experience, Sadie says, “Needless to say, I finished up my AmeriCorps hours addicted to gardening, and also feeling honored to have worked with an organization so caring and passionate as DUG.”
When asked what Robertson enjoyed about being involved with DUG, she answered, “What I think is amazing about organizations like DUG and Slow Food, is that they are invested in providing the community with the raw materials and knowledge it needs to start a garden from scratch. Once this happens though, it is up to the community to give the garden character; to love and tend to it, to make it sustainable, to teach it’s children the material and spiritual value of living off the land. The gardens become what the community makes of them, and DUG is there for support. It seems to me the ideal way to implement projects; where the backer doesn’t demand recognition, the community is responsible for the project’s success, and the result is truly sustainable.” She added, “The collaboration between DUG and Slow Foods also makes my heart scream with glee. I know that sounds corny, but it’s true. If the world could run like these organizations do– by collaborating instead of competing with each other- how productive we would be! Or at least we would all be bursting at the seams with fresh, local, delicious cherry tomatoes, and that’s not so bad either.”
Fall is a season of dramatic contrasts; transitioning from the exuberance of giant zucchinis that seem to escape our notice despite careful searching, tomatoes that always ripen all at once and overwhelm our processing abilities, and days that can show 30 degrees or more of temperature swings between morning and evening. With decreasing hours of daylight, plants take longer to mature, typical diseases such as ‘powdery mildew’ overtake squash, pumpkins and cucumbers and we begin to embrace the garden rhythms that promote a time of rest. Fall is a time for gardeners to contemplate, plan, preserve the harvest, prepare soil and celebrate small steps along the life path of learning.
To put your garden to bed for the year, follow the steps below, beginning when your crops are still in the ground.
Make a map
Note where everything was planted, including quantities of plants used, noting varieties that did well, which insects and/or diseases were challenging.
·Also take note of succession plantings: which early season crops were replaced with heat – loving crops, dates of harvest, mulches used.
Plan for crop rotation
In this basic tenet of organic gardening, vegetables in the same ‘family’ are grown in a different location in the garden each year to prevent the build-up of soil diseases and insect problems. It is especially important to practice a two to three year crop rotation for members of the Solanaceae family (tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and eggplants).
Clean up all garden beds
Dig up all annual crops and dispose of disease and/or insect infested varieties (do not utilize them in the compost pile). Crops that are left standing in the garden become overwintering sites for pest insects.
Make sure the perimeters and aisles surrounding garden areas are weed–free.
Dig the soil in all garden beds
Turn the soil, dig in chopped up leaves (try mowing them so they won’t mat down), and add a half inch of compost as you turn the soil.
Plant cover crops
By the end of September, or first week in October, plant winter rye and hairy vetch, raking the seeds lightly into the soil, tamping down with a hoe, covering with a layer of weed–free straw or chopped leaves and watering well.
Start or update your compost pile
All end–of–season garden material that is free of insects and/or disease can be chopped into one to two inch pieces and incorporated into the compost pile
More information about composting can be found here.
Clean and store all garden tools
Scrub all tools to remove soil and dry well
Use a wire brush or sandpaper to remove rust
Use a light layer of vegetable oil to prevent new rust
Remove all garden structures and amendment materials
All tomato fences, cages and secondary support structures must be removed from community garden plots
Leaves may be mown or chopped, dug into the soil or spread on top as a light mulch. Bags of leaves are not permitted to be stored within community garden plots.
Order garden catalogs
Begin the process of dreaming and planning for spring by ordering garden catalogs
If you participate in DUG’s Free Seeds and Transplants program, be sure to apply by February 1st
Celebrate each new thing you’ve learned
Share your wisdom with friends, giving back more than you reap. The best gardeners are like a rich compost, embracing communities, growing slowly with the season.
For over ten years, Denver Urban Gardens has received funding from the Integrated Nutrition Education Program (INEP) to run a garden-based nutrition education program in a few select elementary classrooms. Each week a DUG educator leads a one-hour lesson with the assistance of volunteer mentors from our Connecting Generations program. Since the goals of our program have been to increase nutrition knowledge, preferences for fruits and vegetables and consumption of fruits and vegetables, we were very excited to see a recent study published in HortTechnology which found that participation in a nutrition education program leads to an increase in nutrition knowledge. However, positive attitudinal (e.g., increased preference for fruit and vegetables) and behavioral changes (e.g., increased fruit or vegetable consumption) were primarily documented in gardening programs. In short, hands-on gardening and nutrition education works.
This information is not new to DUG, but rather reinforces our approach to youth education. Our in-classroom program includes a pre- and post-survey to assess the impacts of the program. Through our surveys, each year, we see our students changing their preferences from junk foods to fruits and vegetables.
One way that we do this is by teaching the basics of healthy snack preparation, using culturally appropriate produce and recipes that are easy to replicate at home. Additionally, consistent messages about healthy eating and active living, modeled by DUG educators, teachers and Connecting Generation mentors throughout the year reinforce concepts that allow them to institute small steps to change. Students are also given the opportunity to grow vegetables in the classroom under lights and eventually out in the school garden.
The increasing numbers of requests we receive to provide this program to additional schools also reflects the success of the program. To meet this demand and to better support educators who want to integrate gardening and nutrition into their classrooms, our lessons are free to download and we offer the Helping Kids Get Healthy workshop series. These workshops allow DUG staff to model seasonally appropriate nutrition and gardening lessons, reinforced by hands-on techniques that integrate the classroom and garden settings. The last workshop of the season, Worm Composting in the Classroom & My Plate Exploration, is October 25th, 5:00 – 7:00pm at Mitchell Elementary School.
In addition to our downloadable lessons and educator workshops, this year we are piloting a new strategy for our in-classroom program, which will align with our organization’s train-the-trainer approach and allow us to reach more schools. We are shifting from a model where a DUG educator acts as a guest teacher to co-facilitating the lessons with the classroom teacher over the course of the year. This will allow the teacher to be thoroughly comfortable teaching the lessons in future years and allow the DUG educator to move on to new schools that desire training.
Schools are chosen based on their commitment to utilizing the garden as an educational tool to teach healthy living (and other subjects such as science and literacy) and the number of students who qualify for free and reduced lunch. We also assess the commitment and capacity of teachers to continue teaching garden-based nutrition lessons in future years without the direct assistance of a DUG educator. We will however continue to provide Connecting Generations mentors to support students and teachers. The schools we are working with for 2012-13 school year are Fairview Elementary, Maxwell Elementary and Swansea Elementary. All of these schools have over 90% of students who qualify for free and reduced lunch.
Although Colorado is the least obese state in the nation, most recent statistics show that Colorado children are ranked 22nd most obese in the nation. This is exacerbated by the fact that we have the second fastest rate of growth in numbers of obese children. Amidst these discouraging research findings, DUG is encouraged by the enthusiasm of our youth, the successes of our programs and the statistical evidence that we are heading down the path to have a positive impact on eating habits. Each week our students remind us of this impact with their eagerness for a healthy snack and nutrition lesson.
By Emily Frost, Events and Garden Leader Coordinator
Reuben Gregory has a big heart and a green thumb. For the past year and a half, he has served as the garden leader at the Golfer’s Way Community Garden. Golfer’s Way is an apartment complex managed by Northeast Denver Housing, providing permanent housing for about 40 individuals with special needs who have previously been homeless. This community employs a model that aims to support residents as they work toward self-sufficiency. Reuben works as a case manager for the residents, which includes managing the food pantry on site, as well as working the land in the beds out back.
When Reuben first learned there was a garden on site a year and a half ago, he wasted no time getting started. DUG was able to connect Reuben to free transplants midway through the growing season. As Reuben spent time out in the garden, residents would stop by to watch and express concern that he was “wasting his time.” Their doubt was well founded. Many of the residents at Golfer’s Way had seen well-intentioned people come and go from the garden, but nobody- and thus, no garden- ever lasted more than a season. In a community of people accustomed to transience as a means of survival, with only occasional funding in a tough economy to support consistent case managers, having a garden be the responsibility of only one individual could have meant failure from the start. But Reuben had a different vision, and so he kept showing up.
Understandably skeptical residents would come, watch, and doubt- yet as they were doing so, they were getting to know Reuben better and sharing more about themselves. One man commented that though he had grown up on a farm, it had been thirty-some years since he had gardened. He was invited to pick up a trowel. There were moments of neighbors reminiscing about favorite meals. As the weeds were slowly but surely replaced with tomatoes, peppers, and marigolds, a garden began to take shape. The little plot of land behind the building where the veggies grew became a focal point and a gathering place for residents to engage and foster relationships with their neighbors. By the end of the season, a handful of residents had even begun to take part in caring for the space.
This season, Reuben has had consistent help from about five residents who have taken such ownership over the garden, they will have the opportunity to maintain personal plots next year. The gardeners who currently care for the space appreciate that the produce is communal and have noted that there’s plenty to go around and be shared, so they welcome their neighbors helping themselves. Next season, there will still be significant communal space that will grow produce for any resident who wants it. These communal areas will also continue to provide fresh produce to supplement the food bank for residents. The veggies that go the quickest? Collards, potatoes, and carrots, all of which will be planted in abundance next spring.
Reuben’s next project involves working to bring new life to another Northeast Denver Housing community garden, located at 30th and Lafayette. His commitment to consistently showing up and inviting folks to partake in whatever ways they feel comfortable reflects DUG’s belief that community gardens are most successful when individuals come together to take ownership of a space, and in so doing the fruits that inevitably grow there.
Click here to learn more about our Free Seeds & Transplants Program that helped Golfers’ Way Community Garden, and how you may receive free seeds and plants.
By Lauren Christensen, Outreach and Volunteer Coordinator
Corey Ferguson, this season’s volunteer spotlight focus, has been invaluable to Denver Urban Gardens in his service and dedication to educating students at Fairview Elementary School about nutrition, healthy eating and cooking. Ferguson facilitates healthy cooking demonstrations, from developing a recipe that demonstrates the goals of the day’s lesson and shows students new and interesting ingredients to presenting the actual cooking demonstration to students. He states, “My favorite part of being involved with Denver Urban Gardens is witnessing the growth of the children I help to educate. Kids who never eat vegetables getting excited about eating veggies and getting excited about where their food comes from. Educating the youth means so much to the future of this planet and has been so rewarding. I love being able to share my knowledge of food and nutrition with the community.”
Believing that the industrial food system is in need of immediate change, Ferguson uses this opportunity to advocate for a more sustainable food system for the environment, health and the community through education and action. When asked what else he enjoys about being a part of Denver Urban Gardens, Corey said working with amazing passionate people, helping create a more sustainable food system, taking care of the earth and personal growth. DUG is thankful for wonderful volunteers, such as Corey, and for all the work that they do!
By Heather DeLong, Programs and Outreach Coordinator at DUG’s DeLaney Community Farm
Cabbage harvestNearly seven years ago, I came to Denver Urban Gardens as the Farm Manager of DeLaney Community Farm, after living and working in Mauritania, West Africa for 3 1/2 years as a U.S. Peace Corps Agroforestry Extension Agent. As the DUG Farm Manager, I remember the excitement of having the opportunity to manage a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm, in addition to directing community programs for underserved communities. Programs such as WIC at DeLaney (Women Infants Children), Community Partner Shares, and the Somali Bantu Refugee Farming Program (2006-2009) have allowed me to deepen my commitment to the work of healthy food access and food security for people of all socioeconomic levels.
DUG has been instrumental in supporting my ideas and endeavors to continue the work in strengthening local food security, while acknowledging the importance of regional and global food systems. Utilizing industry leading work, for which DUG has fostered and allowed me to expand upon, I believe there is a social responsibility that this knowledge should be freely shared within the global community. This, in turn, led me to research organizations such as CNFA (formerly known as the Citizens Network for Foreign Affairs) to further spread knowledge on a global scale. CNFA’s mission is to stimulate economic growth and improve rural livelihoods in the developing world by empowering the private sector.
An opportunity presented itself in August of this year to work with CNFA as a Cooperative Management Specialist in their Farmer-to-Farmer (FTF) program in Mozambique, Southern Africa. With the flexibility and support DUG provided I was able to further DUG’s organizational values, as well as my own, with those of the FTF program in lieu of the busiest period of DeLaney’s farm season.
CNFA is founded on the principle that empowering people economically gives them the tools and confidence they need to change their lives. To achieve this, CNFA employs a market driven approach that is focused on strengthening value chains to allow farmers and other agricultural enterprises to access and compete in high-value markets, see more profits and reinvest in their businesses.
FTF is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as part of the US foreign aid program. These funds are appropriated through the Food for Peace program as authorized by the US Farm Bill. The program relies on the expertise of volunteers from US farms, land grant universities, cooperatives and private agribusiness to provide short-term technical assistance. This work is supported in the long term by highly knowledgeable and qualified CNFA staff in the countries they work in.
While in the Sofala Province of Mozambique, working with the Farmers Association in the small community of Nhabirira, I engaged with thirty-three farmers (twenty-two men and eleven women). This group of farmers is composed of kind, humble and welcoming people, who have communicated that they not only want to improve their individual lives, but improve their communities as well. To realize these goals, the theory of organized farming was made real in 2006 by forming a formal farmers association. Rosita Farnela, a 50-year old member of this association, summarized it well with the following statement:
The reason for the association is to unite and work together. I am happy we now can work, we own fields and have individual plots, but the main reason is to unite… things have changed since joining the Association. I can now afford to pay school fees for my grandchildren and can pay hospital fees.
This is further corroborated by CNFA:
Farmers associations, worldwide, have the potential to greatly benefit their members. Unfortunately, over time they can stagnate or become plagued by mismanagement, loss of interest, or mission drift. Fortunately, the newly organized Associação Nhabirira in Gorongosa is well organized, optimistic and energetic. Its members have seen real benefits since its founding in 2006 and the board of directors recognizes that this is the ideal time to improve its associations best practices and learn more about sustainable and healthy cooperative growth.
Continuing to expand on the farmers’ success to date, I spent the first week facilitating guided conversations to further my knowledge about the farmers and their farming practices. With this knowledge I could then begin to formulate and instantiate future work streams. This included topics around crops grown, soil quality, pest/disease management, water access/availability, economics, market constraints, and equipment procurement/maintenance. While unique challenges exist, there is a clear opportunity in sharing ideas. Ideas can be interpreted to fit a unique community’s needs, then integrated into the culture and community, working towards a singular success.
Heather with farmersThe following week was focused on providing interactive presentations on the following Cooperative and Community Development topics: Community and Association Assessment, Prioritization of Problems, Solutions by Priority, Cooperative Values/Common Characteristics/Principles, and Steps for Development of Cooperative.
The farmers welcomed and engaged in the conversation, communicating that their unique execution of cooperative development ideas could further their success. They were excited to implement many management ideas into their Association and the greater community, where the community realizes what models and ideas truly work best for them.
CNFA has proven to be a world class organization that continues to be a demand driven program, in which farmers request volunteers to focus on capacity building, to enhance knowledge, in order to reach their own goals. Integrating my approach with those of DUG and CNFA proved to be an ideal combination for the program. Due to the success of the program, there is the potential to further the work with the Nhabirira Farmers Association. It was an honor to participate in this program and a privilege to further the work I believe in most!
By Faatma Mehrmanesh, Operations Coordinator at DUG’s DeLaney Community Farm
Joy and Trepidation: WE’RE EXCITED! Excited for another year of local food production for our community of shareholders, community partners and farm stand. Excited to try new techniques in organic pest control and maximizing our use of space while building up a healthy soil in a semi-arid high plains environment. Excited to have a new seasonal staff of Farmer Interns and work with new community partners! Excited to get dirty and watch seeds grow into a system of abundant food and abundant relationships.
We are NERVOUS about the forecast of another season of heat and drought! While organic farming does make every effort, with considerable success, to protect the earth we cultivate from the extreme heat and create an optimal growing environment of healthy bacteria and balance in nutrients and pH levels, we can’t predict the outcome or the extremes we’ll experience. Plus it’s not unusual for the weather to be unpredictable here.
Drought: With the worst water levels that we’ve seen in more than a decade and anticipating temperatures higher than we’ve experienced since the Dust Bowl, we have to do our part and make sure that we are intentional about our water use. There aren’t restrictions on agricultural use but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t things we can do to use less and still feed our plants. Fortunately for us, organic growing practices have some built in measures for water conservation, like mulching and companion planting, that we already do. DeLaney also converted to drip irrigation about four years ago, to reduce the amount of water wasted (evaporating in the hot air via sprinklers) and have worked closely with the City of Aurora Parks and Open Spaces and Water Conservation offices to ensure that we are taking every measure to use only what we need. We might even do some xeric demonstration gardens around the farm!
Down the Rabbit Hole: Oh Bunnies! Why are you so cute and terrible? As many of you know from experience in your own community or backyard garden, the bunnies won’t go away. They will eat all your crops and they are less fearful than they used to be! Last year the rabbit population exploded around DeLaney Community Farm and brought all sorts of havoc and devastation with them. Drastic times call for drastic measures… within reason.
This year at DeLaney we are excited to partner with Nature’s Educator and their rescued raptors! These falcons, hawks, kestrels, and maybe even some owls will visit us on the farm to exercise and have lunch… on rabbits! These kinds of closed loop systems of problem solving make us so happy and we feel a lot less guilty. I’ll be sure to keep everyone posted on our successes and failures as the season progresses.
Expansion:DeLaney Community Farm is adding SIX new fields for cultivation this year, which is just under a half acre! …and you know what that means…. more food! More food for shareholders, the awesome WIC participating families, for the folks who make it out to our farm stand every Saturday and our amazing community partners, Project Angel Heart, the Gathering Place and joining us this year, Nooch Vegan Market! We are grateful for our long-standing partnership with the City of Aurora for helping us make this happen!
Our 2013 Staff: Every year we invite a new set of dedicated young farmers to work with us at DeLaney. It’s a shared learning experience where we all explore the processes, successes and failure of working a mission driven (peri) urban farm, using only organic growing practices! Our staff this year is Zoe Anjo (Farmer Apprentice), Kim Schmidt (Farm Intern), Oliver Wray (Farm Intern), Emily May, (Programs & Outreach Intern), and Laurie Rochart (Programs & Outreach Intern). It’s going to be an excellent year! Happy Growing!
Interested in becoming a DeLaney Community Farm shareholder? Contact DeLaney Programs and Outreach Coordinator Heather DeLong to be added to the waitlist. Click here to learn more about DeLaney Community Farm.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011 at 12:14PM
DeLaney Community FarmCSA, or community supported agriculture, is a buzzword we’re hearing a lot these days. It’s frequently offered up as a solution to many of the problems with our nation’s food system: produce that travels hundreds or thousands of miles before it reaches the consumer, food that’s grown with pesticides, herbicides, or hormones, food that’s genetically modified, environmentally destructive growing practices, etc. Community supported agriculture is an agricultural model in which the farmer and consumer share in the risks and bounty of the farm. In practical terms, this means that you pay a set amount up front, and that helps the farmer cover the cost of production. In return, you receive freshly harvested shares of the farm’s produce (usually once a week) throughout the growing season. Some CSAs have farm pickups, some deliver directly to your door, and some have in-town pickup points. Most CSAs are smaller farms that cultivate a variety crops, and use organic growing practices.
