{"id":2084,"date":"2015-09-11T01:55:28","date_gmt":"2015-09-11T05:55:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bebetterstudios.com\/blog\/?p=2084"},"modified":"2025-10-06T17:55:21","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T21:55:21","slug":"farming-in-boston-with-the-urban-farming-institute-and-city-growers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bebetterstudios.com\/blog\/farming-in-boston-with-the-urban-farming-institute-and-city-growers\/","title":{"rendered":"Farming in Boston with the Urban Farming Institute and City Growers"},"content":{"rendered":"

I recently spent a couple days recording audio\u00a0on a video project with Jerry Monkman of Ecophotography<\/a> for Trust for Public Land. Trust for Public Land<\/a>\u00a0partnered with the Urban Farming Institute<\/a> (UFI) of Boston and assisted them in acquiring land for the use of farming. I was fortunate to meet the people behind the UFI and was inspired by their passion for farming and for providing the skills to people interested in growing fresh produce. The city of Boston passed Article 89<\/a>\u00a0in December 2013 to allow urban agriculture and since then there have been several small farms have popped up around the city. The farming lots I visited are the UFI training lot on Harrison Street in Roxbury and a City Growers<\/a> operation behind the Sportsman’s Tennis Club in Dorchester.<\/p>\n\"Garrison-Trotter\n

These farms are typically around 1\/4 acre of land in size and produce a stunningly diverse amount of herbs, fruits, and vegetables. Before this video project, I had no conception of how much food a 1\/4 acre of land could produce, but it’s enough to provide a steady stream of fresh veggies to number of weekly farmers markets, several restaurant clients, and a community supported agriculture (CSA) program. As the number of farms in the UFI and City Growers programs increase, there will be a need for trained urban farmers and that’s what UFI is all about. City Growers are a for-profit entity that produces fresh food for sale, where the Urban Farming Institute is a program that grew out of the City Growers. The UFI\u00a0trains people to do the farming. It seems like a natural fit where both programs could feed each other’s growth, but there’s still some kinks to work out between the different needs in terms of funding. So for instance, you’ll also see independent UFI farm\u00a0stalls\u00a0that are selling produce to help fund their own program. Both programs are linked historically and culturally. There’s lots of cooperation and collaboration so that in end its really the culture of farming in the city that benefits the most from the success of either program.<\/p>\n\"Garrison-Trotter\n

I spent the most time with the UFI at the Garrison-Trotter Farm on Harrison Street in Roxbury. For being in a city, I found the place surprisingly quiet and zen-like. There I had a chance to meet and\u00a0talk with farmers Bobby Walker and Nataka Crayton-Walker, and one of their farmers in training, Apollo. The\u00a0passion for farming in all of them was immediately obvious. Bobby’s inner encyclopedia\u00a0of knowledge, Nataka’s mother-like patience for any task at hand (including weeding!), and Apollo’s excitement for experimental farming all add to a fervor that’s completely contagious. It makes you want to jump right in and lend a hand. And I’m not alone, in the course of my time at the farm, there were several instances of people just walking by, stopping, and volunteering to help out. I mean, who doesn’t like fresh food? When you think of all the empty lots you come across in the city and how they could be turned into small urban farms to feed people with no or little access to fresh food, the benefits of urban farming are obvious and necessary.<\/p>\n\"Handful\n

In a consumer age where we’ve all become accustomed\u00a0to eating food that’s spent the majority of it’s edible life in the back of a semi truck, it’s refreshing when you see that it doesn’t have to be that way. Food grows where people\u00a0make it grow and that doesn’t have to be some rural outpost, it could be your backyard or a neighborhood farm lot. Urban farming is easy to get excited about and ever since this project, there’s not a day that goes by when I look at\u00a0my own backyard here in Portsmouth, NH and think about what could be growing out there.<\/p>\n\"Monster\n

Links<\/h3>\n

Resources on Urban Farming in Boston:<\/strong><\/p>\n