Locavores, Patio Gardens and Recapturing Urban Garden Space

Locavore is a term that has been gaining currency in recent social and environmental discussions. In simple terms, a locavore is a person who prefers to eat only foods grown or raised locally (within a 100 mile radius) Locavores shun foods that have been imported, or transported great distances before arriving at the local grocery store.
In 2005, a San Francisco Bay-area group established a set of criteria for locavores. You can learn more about the group here.

Political and moral imputations aside, eating food that is grown locally not only makes sense, but is often a more healthy way of eating. In terms of the venerable "Think Globally, Act locally" paradigm, becoming a locavore is a simple and practical way to implement positive change while supporting your local economy.

Patio Gardens
If closer to home is the ideal for the locavore, then "at home" patio gardens, rooftop gardens, or in my personal circumstance: The Fire Escape Garden is definitely the way to GROW.

In roughly 30 square feet-leaving some minimal egress- my fire escape garden is a cornucopia of vegetable yumminess. I have grown this garden for the past 6 years, and have settled on the ultimate combination of Italian vegetables. I have 6 varieties of tomato, 3 of which are heirloom varieties, five varieties of pepper (red, yellow, orange, poblano and chilli) Ichiban eggplant, green eggplant, button squash, Burpless cucumber, as well as basil, mint, sage and tarragon.

I like to host small dinner parties, and guests are always amazed by the fact that I freshly pick many of my dinner ingredients within sight of my kitchen, as I cook. I now grow many of my vegetable plants from seeds that I germinate in my apartment in peat during the Spring. In early May I plant my little garden and it looks like this. Each year my "little garden" generates about $400 worth of the freshest vegetables for me to enjoy. Careful watering, pruning and "kitchen composting" ensures growth through October.
I recently picked these veggies from my Fire Escape Garden

Recapturing Urban Garden Space


A few months back I decided to transform a former urban industrial site into an organic garden. The idea to convert the 1500 square foot side lot of an industrial building into a viable organic garden came to me through my involvement in The Hut Collective. For the past four years, my design and woodworking shop has been located in a 1950's Quonset Hut occupied by a small group of artists and craftsmen. [photo] In June I decided to direct my greener ambitions towards recouping and transforming some of the unused lot into a productive organic garden. The owner of the property was very encouraging and offered not only to help me, but gave me the salvaged wood I used to build the fence.


It took me two months to transform the once barren and rock-filled soil into something workable. After 10 yards of dark topsoil, and several yards of mulch, I began planting. What you see in the photo above was the garden in early July. The Chinese Okra has now outgrown its trellis, the peppers, eggplant, squash, cucumbers, and half-runner beans all have been producing impressive yields. My only disappointments were the heirloom tomato plants which have yielded little due to their late planting.

With the help of some friends, and countless gallons of sweat, shovelling and tilling, the project is almost complete. A 70-foot fence, made of salvaged shipping container wood, now encloses the garden. Next week I will be building a small greenhouse to ensure salad and other greens through the late fall.