Fleet Farming is on the leading bound of a gyration in food and farming :
“ I just think that the whole melodic theme of lawn , particularly in a shoes like Florida , is ridiculous , ” says Henderson , stand amid rows of tomato plant , sweet lettuce , carrots and arugula growing smack in the middle of his front yard . ”
I could n’t have said it better myself . That ’s a quote fromthis recent NPR article :
Fleet Farming volunteers Michele Bimbier, A.J. Azqeta and Blake Addington prepare freshly picked vegetables. Catherine Welch/WMFE
In Florida , homeowner have a propensity for landscaping . They take groovy pride in the greenish carpeting of pot in front of their homes . But one Florida human race is working on a project that ’s turning his neighbors ’ lawns into working farms .
Chris Castro has an fixation — turning the perfectly manicured lawns in his Orlando vicinity into miniskirt - farms .
“ The amount of interest in Orlando is incredibly surprising , ” Castro says .
The Helvenstons and their formerly illegal front-yard garden
Surprising because he ’s asking Floridians to hand over a skilful chunk of their precious yards to Tennessean who plant garden full of green goods . His programme is calledFleet Farming , and it ’s starting off small , with 10 of these yard farm . Most of them sit smack in the heart of the front curtilage .
lawn are a thing here . Urban farms ? Not so much . But so far , no neighbor have quetch .
Fleet Farming unpaid worker Michele Bimbier , A.J. Azqeta and Blake Addington prepare freshly picked vegetable . Catherine Welch / WMFE
“ We ’ve been lucky , ” Castro say . ”
harmonise to theFleet Farmingwebsite :
“ Fleet Farming transforms unproductive , uneconomical lawns into residential district - labor urban farm plots . Rather than traveling 1,500 miles from farm to plate , our green groceries is hyper - local . Everything we grow is sold at local farmers market and restaurantswithin a 5 mileradius !
Our bike - powered fleet eliminates nigh all fossil fuel wasting disease during production and deportation , not to bring up it reduces the emission that would have been create from mowing lawn . finally , we are reducing pollutants in our community by cutting the use of harmful pesticide and fertilizers on lawns and using constitutive methods to grow food instead . ”
They have been lucky for sure , though the land has been softened up a minute by old fights in Orlando . In the past I coveredOrlando ’s ridiculous fight against the Helvenstons ’ garden … theninterviewed Sean Law about his illegal front - 1000 garden .
The Helvenstons pull ahead their fight … but Sean lost his competitiveness … and his theatre !
The Helvenstons and their formerly illegal front - railyard garden
Grow Or die out : The Good Guide to Survival Gardeningkeeps deal copies because we all know this whole lousy organization is run to transfer and change soon . Local food and survival gardening go deal in handwriting .
Now it seems Orlando may be come around . The pressure keeps uprise as more and more individuals realise the current paradigm is a mess . They ’re ready to do something about it . Fleet Farming is a neat idea , as is replace your lawn with nutrient .
I ’d jazz to see this mind move beyond non - profit activity and enlarge into a profitable business for small farmers across urban areas . There are lots of lawns sitting idle … and there is pile of demand for effective local produce .
Keep up the good body of work and great estimation , folks .
- henry / T to Steve G. and Cary The Bad for sending me articles on Fleet Farming .
