GG Micro-Farm Project's Blog

In Bloom

ggmicrofarmproject — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 14:43:48 +0000

The Micro-Farm is in bloom! With almost 100 sixty-four square foot beds planted and thriving, the micro-farm workers continue to work hard. Currently there are over 10 Gettysburg Gateway residents working at the micro-farm. They have been hard at work constructing beds, planting, watering, weeding, and creating a rainwater collection system. Now they are starting to see the results of all their hard work. Cucumbers, eggplant, okra, tomatoes, peppers, and various others are just about ready to be harvested!

Why Raised Beds?

ggmicrofarmproject — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 20:42:36 +0000

With a small plot of land, a want to harvest a variety of foodstuffs, as well as our commitment to creating a farm that is not only profitable, but is also sustainable, we decided on creating a micro-farm that would utilize raised beds. Raised beds have become more and more prevalent in urban agriculture as they have proven to have a smaller environmental impact than mainstream agricultural farming, have higher yields in smaller spaces, and are less labor intensive.

How Did We Make Our Raised Beds?

Our raised beds are 64 ft² rectangular boxes with frames made from lumber from the Deconstruction Depot.

Each frame is placed directly on top of the grass (no tilling required!).

Once the wooden frame has been placed, newspaper is put down inside the frame to create the bottom layer of the bed. We used newspaper because it is 1. easy and cheap to find, 2. is completely biodegradable, and 3. it will serve to deter the weeds and grass underneath from entering into the nutrient rich soil that is placed on top.

On top of the newspaper, layers of compost, soil, and mulch are added to create nutrient-rich, loamy soil.

After filling the beds with loamy soil, we created a simple grid using string to mark off each square foot of space. The grids are used to accurately measure the distance needed between plants and will also be used to differentiate wanted plants from undesirable ones.

With the help of the grid, seeds and transplants are then planted into the beds in an easy to identify and uniform manner.

Tomatoes and cucumbers (above) require a little extra space than most plants; they are planted every other foot.

Eggplant and Brussel sprouts (above) both only require one square foot of space; there is one plant per square.

Posted by Lisa

This is the beginning of something big…

ggmicrofarmproject — Thu, 06 May 2010 23:05:27 +0000

Local Dayton nonprofits The Other Place and TransPlant Project have come together to create a program that will help the men residing at the new men’s Gateway shelter learn useful job and life skills while earning a paycheck. Through intense horticultural training offered by TransPlant, and case management and life skills classes offered by The Other Place, we are hopeful that the Gettysburg Gateway Micro-Farm will lead its employees to permanent employment in the “green” job sector. The Micro-Farm will not only provide jobs for individuals who have high barriers to employment, but it will also provide a needed source of healthy, sustainable, local food to our community.

The Micro-Farm will feature 200 raised beds full of produce grown using sustainable, best agricultural practices. The produce harvested will be used at the Gateway shelters, with surplus sold to the community and surrounding areas. The Gettysburg Gateway Micro-Farm is part of the Farm2ForkFresh CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), a collaborative CSA of many of Dayton’s local farmers that will offer a box brimming with fresh produce to its members with pick-up points available throughout Dayton.

Check it out! WHIO-TV came out to interview The Other Place’s Executive Director Tina Patterson and TransPlant Project’s Howard Solganik.

Keep up with our blog to track the micro-farm’s progress from its creation to its harvests!

For pictures of the area the micro-farm will be constructed on keep reading.

Posted by Lisa

May 6: Before raised bed construction begins

This is the area in front of the men’s shelter where the micro-farm’s raised beds will be constructed. Tune in next week for more pics of its progress!

Posted by Lisa