Turning Lawn Space Into Garden Space: Local Urban For-Profit Farms

Recently there has been quite an increase of people using their land to grow food for their families. People usually choose to do this either out of economic necessity or for sustainability reasons; eating your home-grown vegetables saves the transportation and energy costs associated with buying your food at the grocery store.

An article in the Seattle Times yesterday(6/6/10) gives us a glimpse into a recently revisited form of urban farming - the for-profit farm.

According to the article:

"Commercial urban farming "makes the most of underused urban natural resources, and provides fresh food to people right where they can see it growing from seed to harvest," Nicole Jain Capizzi, former director of a for-profit urban farm in Milwaukee, wrote on the Seattle-based website UrbanFarmHub.org."

Homeowners who choose to have their land developed into garden space receive vegetables weekly, as well as the opportunity to have a productive space in place of a lawn.

Also, did you know that you can grow or sell food here in Seattle without a business license as long as your plot is 4,000 square feet or less?

Hmm...would any of our vacant land listings be a good candidate for a project such as this?

Read the article: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012049158_urbanfarms07m.html

Burien residents: Would you like to learn more about sustainability in your community? Sustainable Burien meets twice a month at the new Burien Library, and their website is packed with great information. http://www.sustainableburien.org/

About the picture: My son picking rocks out of our raised bed. Note: We've found out since that treated wood should not be used in a raised bed. Oops! There's so much to learn when planting your own garden!