Food Farmer Earth: Urban Farm Benefits Community

In this interview for Food Farmer Earth, I talk with Tim Donovan, a passionate advocate for urban agriculture and a team leader in a community organization that engages disabled adults in meaningful work.

Tim Donovan, who calls himself “a farmer and maker,” leads the agriculture team at Project Grow, a program of Port City Development Center, an arts and farming organization that works with adults with disabilities. The project brings together people active in the arts, farming and community organizing and has grown from one small plot of about an eighth of an acre to four plots covering more than an acre and a half.

With a background in science and organic farming, Donovan believes that what we call urban agriculture is actually urban horticulture, that is, it’s closer to gardening than actual farming. True farming requires having enough land under cultivation, he said, “to have enough time to let the soil replenish itself—putting things in rotation, letting stuff go fallow for several years and being able to provide the fertilizer resources within the city.” Until that point is reached, though, he points out that there are many benefits to developing agricultural resources within cities.

Read the rest of my post. Hear Tim's opinion on what urban agriculture can…and can't…do.

In this week's cooking segment, watch chef Aaron Woo of Natural Selection making Gnocchi with Fresh Pea Pesto. To find out more about this series of interviews with local food producers, and to get some terrific recipes featuring the ingredients discussed, consider a free subscription.