Greening of Detroit to expand focus on local food and land use

Greening of Detroit already has its calendar booked for 2007, and true to their core mission, it includes lots of tree plantings. It also includes an expansion of their goals in the arenas of land use and urban agriculture. The organization, as a partner in the Garden Resource Collaborative, is working to promote projects and programs that are both “environmentally sound and economically sound,” program director Ashley Atkinson says.

There are several "Food for Thought" discussion nights planned. The first, on land use issues, will start off with a panel discussion featuring Katy Locker from the Coalition for a Detroit Land Bank, Betsy Johnson from the American Community Gardening Association and a representative from the Land Trust Alliance. The event will be held 6-8 p.m. Jan. 18 at Catherine Ferguson Academy. Future Food for Thought sessions will present films on urban gardening in Cuba and Vietnam, and a session on food justice.

From March 30-31, John Jeavons will present a two-day workshop on bio-intensive agriculture. Jeavons has pioneered extreme mini-organic gardens that are capable of producing $40,000 worth of crops on just one-quarter of an acre of land. On April 1, Jeavons will lead a session on creating an economic plan for a mini-farm.

Catering to the increasing number of entrepreneurs in Detroit who are producing home-grown products for income, the organization is also planning a four-part educational series on marketing. Another multi-day program will be a three-part workshop on solar passive greenhouses that will culminate with a hands-on working session at Michigan State University’s Student Organic Farm.

Greening is also conducting an Urban Roots Community Garden Training Program to train leaders in community gardening, hopes to put on a clinic on apiaries, and has plans to connect gardeners to farmers markets throughout the harvest season.

For more information, call 313.237.8733 or go to www.greeningofdetroit.com.

Source: Ashley Atkinson, Greening of Detroit