Spirit of Hope urban farm brings bounty to blighted neighborhoods

In Detroit, it’s still illegal to plant a garden on an empty lot without a primary house. That’s the main reason Kathleen Brennan says she began farming on the grounds of Grand River Ave.’s Spirit of Hope Church.

Four years later, four parcels of land produce an overwhelming bounty (just a quarter of the year’s produce helps stock 160 different food pantries) and an education on using what’s around (old tires as soil beds, for example) to build something beautiful.

Excerpt:

Spirit of Hope fills what used to be four residential parcels, and it’s nowhere near the largest in the city. Brennan says that the urban gardening community is tight-knit, and organizers and volunteers feed off one another’s energy and dedication. “It’s technically illegal, so it’s good to hang out with other people doing illegal stuff,” she laughs. On a more serious note, she continues, “For the city as a whole, the whole gardening movement is good. It gets people active, healthier.”

Dig in here.