Carl Skalak owns Blue Pike Farm, an acre of income-generating vegetables and flowers in downtown Cleveland named after and extinct Great Lakes fish.  Skalak has been growing onions, sugar snap peas, heirloom tomatoes and much more on E. 72nd St. north of St.

The front page of the July 21st edition of the Columbus Dispatch announced "Schmidt's Restaurant rescues Oktoberfest" with the full article in the Metro section.  It brings to mind the fragility of local food systems in an urban setting and how difficult it is for them to establish and gain sustainability.  An annual food festival sponsored by an anchor institution, e.g., schools,

The July 6th edition of the Cleveland Plain Dealer included two articles about urban farming.  The first one, "Cleveland's for-profit urban gardens are growing", focused on the profit potential for those in the Cleveland metropolitan area who already are or might consider getting into urban farming as a viable business opportunity.  The second, "Many say the timing is right for urban f

The attached PDF file of the Community Gardening Toolkit was distributed in hard copy at the June 8, 2009 Urban Agriculture / Farming Roundtable meeting.  This document was written by Bill KcKelvey, MU Extension Associate, as part of the Healthy Lifestyle Initiative.  It is available for online viewing or download on the MU Extension website.

Thanks to Susan Shockey, OSU Extension, for providing this information at the meeting!

Summary:

Green and Growing Initiative Draft Proposal "Quick Start"

Some of the key items covered in the minutes:

• Creating North Market in the Linden Area and incorporating indigenous cultures within the building.
• Presenting in front of the school board – Implementing education within the new STEM school
• Get young people to man the gardens, as well as the two beehives
• Continue to put together the proposal, which may not be submitted now

Agenda:

• Want to have an opportunity for fresh produce within the inner city
• Get there by teaching a new means of entrepreneurship
• Want fresh produce rather than beer and wine and junk food in our neighborhood stores