By DOUG GRAVES
Ohio Correspondent CINCINNATI, Ohio — Motorists in Cincinnati have seen them – plenty of them. These parcels of land (87, to be exact) are areas of unwanted, underdeveloped land located between busy streets, near a wastewater treatment plant, on a dead-end street or a distant vacant lot.
These unsightly pieces of land are about to be utilized by many Cincinnati urban gardeners turning them into fertile areas to grow vegetables, beautify communities and help the environment. This “Cincinnati Farms” effort is the concept of Vice Mayor David Crowley.
“The e-mails, calls, letters, testimony at committees and the online petition that was sent to us showing more than 250 signatures in five days let the mayor and city council know the broad interest in seeing Cincinnati support urban agriculture initiatives such as the Cincinnati Farms motion,” Crowley said.
The city whittled down a list of the more than 18,000 pieces of vacant property it owns to the 87 that might work as mini-farms. Details of the plan will be worked out next month, including how the plots will be leased and how much they might cost, if anything. The city used GIS (geographic information systems) technology to screen the parcels, selecting only properties of at least 0.2 acres in size with low tree canopy cover and less than 30 percent slope.
The first year will be a “pilot” in which 10-15 parcels will be leased out for gardens (more so than flowers). The success of the pilot will determine whether access to city-owned parcels of land can be opened up to more leaseholders in the future. Not only will these lots improve the looks of the property, this will help create a new supply of fresh local food and improve local diets.
This Cincinnati plan has broad support from Findlay Market, the Civic Garden Center of Greater Cincinnati and the gardeners themselves.
“It’s not so much about flowers as it food production,” said Michelle Dillinghaus, legislative aide to Crowley. “And these gardeners will have to bring their own tools, soil, seed and even water. We’re hoping some farmers will help donate compost or manure to help some of these gardeners get started.”
The only requirement, she said, is that each urban farmer has to carry liability insurance.
“And it’s not just a first-come, first-served situation,” Dillinghaus added. “We’ll select the 87 to help get this program off and running. We want a broad range of people to participate, and we anticipate having church groups, workers from garden centers of diehard individuals.”
“There’s a lot of energy here,” said Peter Huttinger, neighborhood gardens coordinator for the nonprofit garden center, which started its first community garden in 1980. “It’s really building. There are a lot of people who will want to do this. Many people want to garden, but live in apartments or don’t have farmable land.”
More than 660 gardeners used the garden center’s 42 community garden plots in 2007. Classes on topics such as organic gardening and composting draw 50 people or more.
Most all the parcels are labeled undevelopable and useless. These small and odd-shaped parcels usually go uncared for and turn blighted. Not only will this effort reduce the city’s overall carbon footprint, but it will help beautify it as well.
“We’ve learned that such gardens are successful when the people live within proximity of the gardens,” Dillinghaus said. “But we will not prohibit non-city residents from taking part in the venture.”
The name for this project is ever evolving. It started out as Cincinnati Farms. Then, it was changed to Healthy Urban Gardens. City officials haven’t agreed to the name of the program but they all agree it will be highly successful.
“I know that spring is around the corner and potential leaseholders and participants are eager to get started,” Crowley said.
Other cities, including New York City, Detroit and Milwaukee, also offer land to residents for small farms. |
