The Brain Trust and I moved to New York because I got a job here, and I had friends from college here, and I wanted to give the big city another shot now that I'm older, wiser and have a steady income. He would happily have stayed in Austin, TX (let's be honest, who wouldn't happily stay in Austin?) So I'm thrilled that he has grown to love so many things about NYC in general and Brooklyn in particular. One of the best things about this city is how dramatically we reduce our individual carbon footprint just by living here. We don't own a car, for one, and the urban density makes it possible for city services and utilities to be some of the most efficient per capita in the world. There's also a high density of high energy artist-geeks who inspire and challenge us both to explore new interests.
We are short-timers in this giant city, but the Brain Trust is dedicated to finding ways to carry those two aspects of life in the big city (energy efficiency and lots of awesome people) with us to our next as-yet-undetermined destination. For all intents and purposes what that means is we are now looking for a dream location (1) close enough to a city center to allow us to walk or easily bike to shops, restaurants, and entertainment; (2) with vibrant creative culture and lots of smart people to enjoy and build community with; and (3) that that will allow me to have a big enough growing space to produce a good portion of our own food with potential develop and grow into an operation that produces food to sell either at the farmers market or as a CSA, and that would allow for some small farm animals- particularly chickens and goats.
At the moment we're really not sure how to fit all of that together, but there are a few good examples of people who are making farming work for them in small urban spaces.
Exhibit A: Rooftop Farms in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Started just last year by a fellow Sarah Lawrence College Alum (no, we don't know each other), this farm is on the rooftop of a former warehouse turned soundstage in Brooklyn. The owner of the building decided to put in a green roof (link) and farm founder Annie Novak talked her into going one step further, allowing her to start a farm on top of the green roof installation. Last year they grew peppers, greens, corn and radishes, to list just a few of their crops. They sold to the community from an on-site Sunday farmer's market all from a rooftop overlooking the Manhattan skyline. The farm also keeps bees.
Exhibit B: The Dervaes family urban homestead in Pasadena, CA. Since 2001 this family has been annually producing 6,000 lbs of food on 1/10 an acre of land. They have pygmy goats and a flock of chickens as well as ducks, rabbits and bees. They sell some of their produce to local restaurants, eat and preserve the bulk of it, and sell some to neighbors. Because they're located in California, a region with some serious water concerns, they have some exciting bioregion-specific methods of watering, including the use of terracotta pots buried in their gardens that leach water slowly and deeply into the soil.
Exhibit C: Living in the city, farming in the country. Because of the high cost of land many aspiring farmers can't afford to live on- or own- the land they farm. This presents the possiblity of splitting up the operation across two parcels of land. The idea of buying two pieces of land- a home in the city and a plot without a house outside of town has a certain appeal from the perspective of this blog--it is certainly embracing the Dacha model! It might also work out better in terms of city regulations about keeping livestock, or neighborhood covenants on land use. But it has some major drawbacks. I'm not sure how practical this option is if I want to keep animals- my understanding is that they often need after hours attention that just wouldn't be possible if I were commuting from a house in town. Plus I just feel that a commute would really limit (or at least materially affect) the kind and quality of attention that I give the land that I will have- not to mention undermining the carbon footprint reduction of living in a dense urban area. All things considered, I'd prefer to live where I grow.
In the end it may be that the Brain Trust will have to sacrifice some density for the sake of farm and that I will have to sacrifice some farmland for the sake of accessibility. Whatever dudes--we'll make it work. And it's dang exciting to be making a real plan for it!
i'm impressed by all this fabulous analysis! aaron is getting a new hybrid as his company car which hopefully we can then buy off them... that's the best reduction of carbon we can do for ya at this moment since i am terrified of bicycles.
It's good to be close to what you're growing. In the heat of the summer I'll go out and water the garden before work mid-week. And when the freak cold snap comes in (or, er, when you haven't been watching the daily weather reports like a hawk), it's good to be able to head out and get things covered quickly. Critters can also start attacking at any time. For example, you may only have a few days between noticing squash borers and when the plant is gone (I'll get you this year, dammit!). I'm also amazed at how much land you need if you're trying to grow your own food. Potatoes, tomatoes, basil, etc can give you tons of food in a small bed or two. But thing like spinach, collards, asparagus, and artichokes all need a decent amount of space. Ok, so our backyard has been dog-focused. But after a couple of 2x6 veggie beds turned into seven and change, I still want more. After this summer's crops are done our fences may get moved around out back to give the garden more space and the dogs less.
As for livestock, the hard part seems to be the land use. Inner city lots usually don't have HOAs. So I imagine it would be easier to have chickens and bees in town than in the suburbs. But for goats I think you'd have to be out a fair ways.
Or we just need to get a bunch of farm-friendly folks together to take over an HOA. Might even call the subdivision "Green Acres".
What I love about you Americans is your ability to dream and imagine and be so damn optimistic! See old me, as openminded as i conceive myself and my chosen environment, would just never even think of farming on a roof top! I share your wish for having both worlds - the benefits of the urban centre with the option for growing one's own food. I hope you get one of your radical ideas to work!
Bitten and I are more modest and strive for the third option - looking for a garden lot on the outskirts of copenhagen that we can bike to/from our appartment. We had one some years ago but the land was taken for housing development, and the waiting lists on other neighbouring projects is years long, but we'll make it sooner or later :)
May I put in a shameless plug for New Mexico? The fertile river lands along the Rio Grande, in north Albuquerque and it's neighbor community,
"Corrales" are old farming areas as well as home to many horse farms. A walk into Corrales's main business area provides access to yummy restaurants, a feed store, yoga studio, post office and craft studios (and much more!). And it's only a short drive to popular/Historic places in Albuquerque! There are so many farmers markets that pop up here during the summer/fall months as well. Unlike the very restrictive Santa Fe farmer's market, the ones in Albuquerque have a very home grown feel and approach.
Okay, I feel like an advertisement, but just wanted to give a shout out for my town here-it has much to offer in terms of locally grown foodstuffs, farming, and culture.
cheers,
gwen
p.s. the downside is I have no idea how much land goes for in these farming areas of North Albuquerque. I suspect land in Corrales is not cheap, but again, I have no idea.