This farm feeds their spirits
[2008-7-28]
Tag : Vegetable Garden Gardening Organic Vegetables
Wedged between triple-deckers on a scruffy side street off BlueHill Avenue in Dorchester, it's not where you'd expect to find athriving little city farm brimming with rows of squash, tomatoes,raspberry bushes, and even greenhouses. But the reVision UrbanFarm, made up of three formerly vacant lots near Franklin Fieldthat have been converted into an acre of organic gardens, is aboutupending traditional notions of what a farm can be and who it canbenefit.
Started in 1990, the farm is part of a nonprofit effort run byVictory Programs to assist homeless mothers and their children. ThereVision House shelter, near two of the farm's three plots, housesup to 22 young mothers and families and offers them classes and jobtraining while in transition to a more permanent living situation,said Matt Kochka, the farm's full-time crop manager.
Bordered by a white picket fence, the fields grow an array ofeveryday vegetables such as carrots, zucchini, tomatoes, andcucumbers, plus slightly more exotic fare like callaloo, collardgreens, and sweet potatoes at the request of patrons, said Kochka.
Despite the weedy soil, ever-present pests, and persistent squashand zucchini thieves, the farm is surprisingly fertile, yielding5,300 pounds of produce last year, 200 pounds more than the stateaverage for its size, he said.
Even the back porches of reVision House have been repurposed intothree stories of small greenhouses filled with hydroponic gardensand an experimental tilapia fish farm. The latter hasn't been verysuccessful, said Kochka, because of frequent power outages theneighborhood experiences.
Each season, the farm offers paid internships for up to eightshelter residents to give them some job experience and buildvaluable life skills.
Wedged between triple-deckers on a scruffy side street off BlueHill Avenue in Dorchester, it's not where you'd expect to find athriving little city farm brimming with rows of squash, tomatoes,raspberry bushes, and even greenhouses. But the reVision UrbanFarm, made up of three formerly vacant lots near Franklin Fieldthat have been converted into an acre of organic gardens, is aboutupending traditional notions of what a farm can be and who it canbenefit.
Started in 1990, the farm is part of a nonprofit effort run byVictory Programs to assist homeless mothers and their children. ThereVision House shelter, near two of the farm's three plots, housesup to 22 young mothers and families and offers them classes and jobtraining while in transition to a more permanent living situation,said Matt Kochka, the farm's full-time crop manager.
Bordered by a white picket fence, the fields grow an array ofeveryday vegetables such as carrots, zucchini, tomatoes, andcucumbers, plus slightly more exotic fare like callaloo, collardgreens, and sweet potatoes at the request of patrons, said Kochka.
Despite the weedy soil, ever-present pests, and persistent squashand zucchini thieves, the farm is surprisingly fertile, yielding5,300 pounds of produce last year, 200 pounds more than the stateaverage for its size, he said.
Even the back porches of reVision House have been repurposed intothree stories of small greenhouses filled with hydroponic gardensand an experimental tilapia fish farm. The latter hasn't been verysuccessful, said Kochka, because of frequent power outages theneighborhood experiences.
Each season, the farm offers paid internships for up to eightshelter residents to give them some job experience and buildvaluable life skills.
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