CLEVELAND, Ohio — In Cleveland, with 20,000 vacant lots and 1,000 houses torn down per year, the city managers are spending exorbitant amounts to maintain properties. In one neighborhood, however, something is growing again: food and farms.
At the Kinsman Farm, 26 acres where houses burned years ago, a small band of farmers trained by Ohio State University extension are growing vegetables and selling them at six farmers’ markets. During a webinar earlier this month, members of extension outlined a few of its successful urban farms.
Participants can "find out if they want to be a farmer," said Jacqueline Kowalski, extension educator. They are able to lease a quarter-acre from year to year, for $250.
"This project removes barriers for new and beginning farmers. They network together to develop a sustainable urban farm," she said.
Urban farmers are offered fencing, equipment for rental and access to a water hydrant. Water rights are often at a premium in Ohio.
Kowalski said the project is not without difficulty. The previous residents left behind many hints of their prior existence: boats, cars, refrigerators and foundations of homes, all of which have to be removed. When starting an urban farm on recovered land, she said to always do a soil test. If there is lead contamination, the land cannot be used to grow food.
One of the longest-standing programs in Ohio, Kinsman Farm is a model for urban agriculture. Elements of the lease agreement with farmers are as follows:
•They must complete a garden training program.
•They must develop a business plan.
•They agree to a land use protocol, including no camping on the property.
•They agree to give 50 hours of community service to the farm per year, which may include mowing, clearing, and remediation.
When marketing the produce, "produce perks," or ways to capture more sales, are in accepting EBT and incentive programs, WIC coupons, senior coupons and debit cards, Kowalski said. Other tips include checking zoning laws early in the process, using good signage and marketing.
Another model for an urban farm is the Greater Cincinnati Food Hub, which is Ohio’s first union worker-owned cooperative farm, said Brad Bergefurd, horticultural specialist and OSU extension educator.
"The workers own and have a stake in the co-op. It’s not just a food hub model; it’s a co-op model. The result is that the workers are more self-motivated, more productive and more creative," he said.
The location was an established produce farm, Dale Farm, whose former owner has worked to manage and train the workers.
He will retire as soon as a new manager is found, Bergefurd said.
"It was good soil that we could turn over and begin production right away," he explained. "Having a highly skilled farm manager is the biggest hurdle for new urban farms."
The farm uses high tunnels, which were built by the farm’s workers, and plastic mulches to extend the growing season.
The produce is marketed directly to the city. For more information on OSU urban ag, email gardner.1148@osu.edu