Once MUG merged with Groundwork Milwaukee, leveraging public funding and grant sources to employ youth in garden maintenance and service-learning activities became a core function of the program. In its grant applications, media statements and newsletters, the program highlighted the benefits of urban agriculture as a tool for youth development and economic opportunity. MUG was…
All posts in October 2024
How do advocates secure long-term use of garden and farm sites in cities?
How do the organizations involved and the local political economy influence what is valued, and what is considered possible, for these spaces? What are the outcomes of preservation efforts in terms of policy, program characteristics, and garden accessibility? In this chapter, I take up what urban agriculture research has suggested about forms of urban growing,…
The workers on every level of the ladder worry about factors over which they lack control
Responsibilities, stressors, and privileges differ from the top to the bottom of this hierarchy. Everyone on the farm is structurally vulnerable, although the characteristics and depth of vulnerability change depending on one’s position within the labor structure. Control decreases and anxieties accumulate as one moves down the pecking order. Those at the top worry about…
The best time of year to start citrus or avocado seedlings is in early spring
While the importance of considering soil aggregate stability, soil texture, and management history when assessing soil indicators is well-documented in the soil health literature , in practice there continues to be a gap in soil health indicators that are tailored to be site-specific and/or farming system relevant . Given that soil indicators can vary by…
All 13 farms selected for this soil health study were located in Yolo County
As shown in Figure 1 , if the range of ecosystem type is constrained to include only agricultural systems, the relationship between indicators for SOM and gross N mineralization is less evident. In summary, our results suggest that SOM indicators, while not significant, do play a role in influencing N cycling across the farm systems…
Air dried samples were measured for gravimetric water content and BD
Destroying soil structure was relatively easy but had irreversible, long-term consequences and often took years, in some cases even a decade, to rebuild. This key soil health practice voiced by a majority of farmers interviewed represented a different framing compared to messaging about soil health vis-a-vis extension institutions , where soil health principles focus on keeping…
Squash residues incorporated into soil also aids in the prevention of seed germination for many weed species
Clear boundaries between households were not necessarily marked with physical materials or through strategic placement of cultivated flora. The closest evidence for any physical boundaries are the rows of agave outside Household 4, but the spatial location of these suggest more of a garden patch, which provided a source of fiber rather than a natural…