Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[mdnagel@verizon.net]

Natural laws are starting to take hold!


-Mark Nagel
Everett, WA


GM's Bust Turns Detroit Into Urban Prairie of Vacant-Lot Farms
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aMV8_J49diKs&refer=home

[Excerpt:]

A land bank the city created in July would coordinate the project if approved by Washington. These clearinghouses for vacant lots make it easier and cheaper for developers to invest in urban areas. Parcels in a similar program in Cleveland sold for as little as $1 as long as buyers agreed to maintain the property and pay taxes.

``We're looking at pretty innovative ideas,'' said George Jackson, Detroit Economic Growth's chief executive.

One is urban farming. In many parts of Detroit, land that once held houses now grows cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers and collard greens.

The city has more than 500 gardens and ``we plan to triple that every year,'' said Michael Travis, deputy director of Urban Farming, a Detroit-based nonprofit corporation that helps clear land and provides topsoil and fertilizer.

Corporate Sponsorships

Urban Farming was started by pop singer Taja Sevelle in 2005 and has attracted corporate sponsorships from Sevelle's label, Atlantic Records, and companies such as Whole Foods Market Inc. and Home Depot Inc. The group has ``mini-farms'' in seven other cities including New York, Los Angeles and Minneapolis.

Harvests are sold in markets or donated to soup kitchens. This year's produce was picked ``quickly because people need food so badly,'' said Sevelle.

The farms may also raise home values. In many neighborhoods, nearby gardens could add as much as $5,000 to selling prices, said real estate broker Russ Ravary, who works in the city and surrounding suburbs. The average price of a home dropped 55 percent to $18,578 in the first nine months of the year, according to the Detroit Board of Realtors.

Even Ravary concedes that mini-farms are a stopgap measure at best.

``I hate to say it,'' he said, ``but I wouldn't put my money in Detroit.''