Food Not Lawns - Kansas City

Hello FNLies - Steve invited me to share some stories from the North, greetings from Minnesota. (thanks Steve.) I was involved with the beginnings of Food Not Lawns KC and impressed to see how it’s growing.  I hope the happenings of a different city will inform and inspire the KC efforts.

Thought I’d share a big picture city government program Homegrown Minneapolis that is similar to the KC Healthy Food Policy Initiative. Even though the policy avenue is not everyone’s cup of tea it generates a nice outline on key areas, including suggestions related to the growing urban farming and gardening efforts. (Yea for KCCUA & KCCG!)  KC has a unique opportunity to convert vacant land to community gardens/urban farms and willing gardeners like FNLies could lead the way.  Anyway thanks for the opportunity to share… hope others will contribute stories and pictures highlighting the bounty of their transformed lawns and how you’re working from the ground up in the community to bring change.

Homegrown Minneapolis is an initiative to develop recommendations for the City of Minneapolis to improve sales, distribution and consumption of fresh, locally grown foods to positively impact the health, food security, economy and environment of our City and the surrounding region. http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/dhfs/homegrown-home.asp

Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously to pass a resolution supporting the production, sales, and consumption of healthy, locally grown foods in the city!  The resolution also called for the formation of a Task Force to help oversee the implementation of key recommendations over the next 18 months.  The Mayor Rybak officially signed the resolution at the Emerge youth garden in North Minneapolis.  The Emerge youth garden is a city-funded summer program that uses a community garden to teach youth about local food production and sustainability.  The program is a collaboration between the City’s youth employment programs and Homegrown Minneapolis.

 Sarah

Think of the fresh

When I was at a Lawn and Garden show at the American Royal I wore my Food Not Lawns Button because I love the questions I get. It’s a hook. “What’s Food Not Lawns?”. And then I smile and share my vision of our Bright Future. It’s the answer to the question of what you should grow if you’re concerned about your ecological footprint.

 At the lawn show the landscape contractors looked at the button, looked up at me smiling and kind of shuttered. I told them,” No fear you will install Perma Scape and vegetable gardens like your great, great grandpa did”.

It is the wise citizen who has vegetables, especially root crops and berries growing outside the doors to their home.  We have the vision to fill all the vacant lots in Kansas City with gardens,. To cover the lawn infested landscape with edible gardens. We do this for our food security and because it’s fun and rewarding. Growing your own food is the key to a sustainable future. It is our duty to grow our own food. We must learn the wisdom of our elders before it is lost.

We have so many opportunities to build our Bright Future,. We must hold our vision in our hearts and intend it into being.

Steve

Ben O Kjelshus the Spirit of Food Not Lawns in KC

 Ben sent Toby and I this email exchange from one of the students in the current class…

“I am enrolled in your “Food Not Lawns” class on Wednesday evenings and absolutely loved the first session. I am wondering if my husband might be able to pay the $16.00 and join us for the remaining 3 sessions?  He would not be able to attend the workshop on Saturday, as he is taking a class in laying flagstone, but would be free for our remaining 3 Wednesday evenings. 

Thank you so much, this class is amazing,

…  I came to the class to learn more about gardening and after the first session came away with a sense of urgency to not waste money and time cultivating a lawn that is basically useless. I came away with a sense of urgency to conserve and better use the land around my home and to strive to grow better food to feed my family. I can’t tell you what a wakeup call it was for me. I thought it would be learning how to better enjoy my hobby of gardening but I feel it’s much more important that a hobby now, it’s a responsibility, a pleasure and an honor to be a better steward of what’s been given to me. 

Leanna “

The weather has cooperated so the workshop is on. See you there.

 Steve

Are we stuck with unsustainable, suburban neighborhoods?  What will be the future of all those Mc Mansions? How can we feel like we are a part of something meaningful when we look out on the sterile, bird less environmental disaster of most Kansas Cities Suburbs? We wonder about the rising cost of that commute to the ‘veal fattening pen’ that is the corporate workers cubical. Free your spirit let it soar. Un fetter your wings and rise to that bright future you know in your heart we must bring to be.  Transform your suburban neighborhood.  Its time to unplug the TV, get out of your chair and talk to your neighbors.

Here are 31 steps from the authors of Superbia, Dave Wann and Dan Chiras. Some are easy and some are challenging. Start with one step when completed go to the next step. Share ideas with family, friends and neighbors.

Easy Steps

1.     Sponsor community dinners.

2.     Establish a community newsletter, bulletin board, and community roster.

3.     Establish a neighborhood watch program.

4.     Start neighborhood investment clubs, community sports activities and restoration projects.

5.     Form weekly discussion groups.

6.     Establish neighborhood baby-sitting coop.

7.     Form an organic food co-op.

8.     Create car or van pools for commuting to and from work.

9.     Create a neighborhood work-share program.

10.                        Create a mission statement.

11.                        Create an asset inventory.

Bolder Steps

12.                        Tear down fences: opening back yards to create communal play space and a space for neighbors to mingle and a community garden.

13.                        Plant a community garden and orchard.

14.                        Establish a neighborhood composting and recycling facility.

15.                        Plant shade trees and windbreaks to create a more favorable microclimate.

16.                        Replace asphalt and concrete with porous pavers and greenery.

17.                        Establish a more edible landscape—incrementally remove grass in front lawns and replace with vegetables and fruit trees.

18.                        Start a community-supported agriculture program in which neighbors “subscribe” to local organic farm’s produce.

19.                        Create a car-share program–purchasing a van or truck for rent to community members.

20.                        Begin community-wide retrofitting of homes and yards for energy    and water efficiency.

21.                        Solarize your homes.

Boldest Steps

22.                        Create a community energy system.

23.                        Establish alternative water and wastewater systems.

24.                        Establish a more environmentally friendly transportation strategy.

25.                        Create a common house.

26.                        Create a community-shared office.

27.                        Establish weekly entertainment for the community.

28.                        Narrow or eliminate streets, converting more space to    park and         edible landscape, walkways and picnic areas.

29.                        Retrofit garages and rooms in your homes into apartments or add granny flats to house students or others in need of housing.

30.                        Establish a mixed-use neighborhood by opening a coffee shop, convenience store, and garden market.

31.                        Promote a more diverse neighborhood.

And of course number 32 is

Grow Food Not Lawns!

http://www.terrain.org/articles/13/superbia.htm

 Steve

site of sweet potato patch

 Food Not Lawn’s Hands-On Workshop June 20^th 10:00AM – 2:00PM

Location: 2401 NW 53^rd Terr KCMO

North of the River near Riverside

Food Not Lawns Communiversity class participants have asked for some hands-on projects.  Here is just such an opportunity.

 Join us as we build a minimal tillage sweet potato patch in the lawn at Erick Easton’s forest garden. Located at 2401 NW 53^rd Terr on Line Creek near Riverside.   

Paste this link for a Google map: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=2401+NW+53rd+Terrace,+Kansas+City,+Platte,+Missouri+64151&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=31.784549,53.789062&ie=UTF8&cd=1&geocode=FfYDVgId6GRc-g&split=0&ll=39.191412,-94.609628&spn=0.001896,0.003283&t=h&z=18  

Interstate 29 North, Waukomis exit one block north to NW 53^rd Terr. West to end of street on the left behind MODOT.

 Let’s see about carpooling from KCMO, Brookside, Midtown, Overland Park, KCK, Independence, Lees Summit, St Joe, Lawrence, Columbia and throughout the Universe if we can.

 Send me an email if you are coming and willing to bring someone or if you want to find a ride.

steve@squashblossomkc.org

 We will be just down the road from Lynn & Neil Burdick’s Creek House Norganic Community Garden which is on the Urban Farm and Garden Tour this year. We will stop by and visit our Food Not Lawns Experiment Station and see living mulches and cover cropping in action when were done.

Bring work gloves, insect repellant if you use it, food and drink to share.

Steve

Yard Farming in Lawrence Kansas

What’s Going on with the Food Not Lawns Movement!  A family in Lawrence, Kansas is leading the way.
As awareness grows of the need to become more self reliant in a time of declining energy resources, Jeremy and Amber Lehrman’s solution is to grow food in place of their lawn.  During last week’s Lawrence community gardens tour this photo was taken of the Lehrman’s yard in a south west Lawrence subdivision.

Jeremy and Amber Lehrman's yard

With concern for rising food and fuel prices, and being tired of struggling with a weedy lawn, they dug up the grass and tilled the lawn.  In its place from curb to adjacent curb they put in raised beds, mounds, and a vine trellis.  Potatoes and strawberries are planted in the easement strip between the street and the sidewalk. In the main area of the yard they have planted raspberries, black berries, vegetables, culinary and medicinal herbs, and various fruit trees.  The Lehrmans plan to use most of the produce, sell some and can the rest. 
So far the neighbors all support their efforts.  There is no local law restricting food gardens to back yards, and the “weed” ordinance has a height exception for “proper gardens”.  If this isn’t a proper garden, then nothing would qualify!

Steve Moring

Subterranean Clover at the Food Not Lawns KC Experiment Station

 I gave Lynn some subterranean clover seed to plant at Creek House last year.  She planted it in the area we weren’t going to plant that year. It reseeded itself and grew to a thick matt of lush green growth. I am planting tomatoes, peppers, and the Three Sisters with a substitution. I will use sweet potatoes instead of squash in this living mulch. Sweet potatoes form a dense matt of vines and leaves and are  allelopathic, a living mulch.  I use my heavy hoe to cut a 18” circle in the clover. I can usually pull out a plug of clover that can be used as mulch from the holes..  The Sub clover has already bloomed and drilled it’s flowers into the soil forming a little nodules of seeds. This is going to be very interesting… more later.

Steve

groven to good food, good company and good music

Most gardeners and growers don’t know that they aren’t allowed to use the word Organic to describe their growing practice.  The market farmer who sells at the local farmers market can only call their tomatoes ‘Organic’ if they have been certified by a independent inspection service to be in compliance with the National Organic Program (NOP) standards. The  US Government under the USDA has written rules and regulations to protect consumers and created ‘Standard Organic Labeling for Consumers’.

According to the USDA “The National Organic Program and the Organic Foods Production Act are intended to assure consumers that the organic foods they purchase are produced, processed, and certified to be consistent with national organic standards. ”  

See: http://attra.ncat.org/guide/n_z/nop.html

Those who seek out organic food need to be assured they aren’t being cheated by unscrupulous  hucksters. But that leaves the rest of us who honor the community of life in our gardens without a word to describe succinctly how we grow our food.  At the May 16^th Food Not Lawns Potluck the discussion lead to the fact that Linn can’t call our garden ‘Creek House Organic Community Garden’   because of the regulation.   The beauty of these ‘tribal’ gatherings shown through when Toby suggested the word Norganic, naturally organic as a new descriptor.  Consensus, connection  group mind meld , the community energy becomes greater than the sum of the  members energies, yea it works.

So now it’s Creek House Norganic Communitry Garden. Come on by during the Urban Farm Tour June 28th and feel the beauty.

Line Creek

JOIN US!! FOOD NOT LAWNS KC

POTLUCK and GATHERING

Saturday, May 16, 5PM at

Linn Burdick’s scenic and historic place

Creek House Organic Community Garden

6310 NW Waukomis, KCMO 64151

Please bring a dish to share, and reusable plate, cup and utensils for yourself and chairs.

Program: Stan Slaughter, noted Eco-Troubadour, will share his wonderful music with us as we sit around a bonfire by scenic Line Creek.

 Discussion on Carbon sequestration and 

Directions:

Cut and paste in your browser

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=6310+NW+Waukomis+Dr,+Kansas+City,+MO+64151&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=31.784549,53.349609&ie=UTF8&ll=39.206586,-94.609795&spn=0.007582,0.013025&t=h&z=16&iwloc=A

Contacts:

Ben 816-767-8873

Steve 816-352-9213

The Importance of touch to a caring community

We come together and the level of communication and connection allows us to create a shared vision of the world we want. We create a new cultural story that honors the Community of Life we are a part of and transforms out world. We’re not going to be part of the problem anymore. Not part of the 23 million acres of lawns in America. Lawns that gobble scarce resources using over 250 billion gal of water a year. Lawns that consume more resources that the agricultural system that feed’s us. The amount of carbon released by mowing for one hour is like driving an older car 350 miles. We know how important cutting back CO2 emissions is. It’s a matter of life or death. 

 Our shared vision ultimately comes down to this; we make the choice for life.

Steve