Mr. Smith breaks into urban agribusiness (and he may have to go to Washington).

[Rhizomorph13]

For me I would want to turn a profit and work with something that would be challenging to grow to assure my place in a niche market. I wouldn't mind growing something that would be a luxury item. Think acai palms, domesticating the black morel, or finding a way to grow blue agave in Oregon.

I don't have a lot of land so my entry into the market would have to be high return on investment. I can afford to fuck around though because of my employment and weird schedule that would allow me a couple days a week to work on the side business without going broke.

[jonb]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRz34Dee7XY

I don't think it needs too much planing, in fact often that can get in the way, often all a gardener needs is access to a bit of space. Because it will often be small scale, just a simple capitalist system of a small charge for a space, and then the gardeners can produce what they wish , and access to local markets where they could sell some produce is more than enough to suffice.

[cratehorus]

I really appreciate all the activity folks.

Since the "how-to" post that's upcoming is going to begin with this directly (and just to ask the question again to get feedback)...If any of you were going to start an urban farm why would you do it? Would it be strictly business for you? Social activism? Environmental activism? A labor of love with no regard for returns? Maybe some mixture of the above (and if so which motivations are the strongest?) Maybe motivations I haven't even touched on?

social activism, i don't even think projects like this can turn a profit, not enviromentalism either, the only effects I can picture would be improved air quality for the neighborhood, and besides would you want to eat food that wa grown in the most polluttted neighborhood on earth?

if I were to start a farm it would look like this:

[Cinjin]

I'm 100% all for giving any how-to lesson in urban gardening to any person willing to learn.

Sadly, you'd have better luck drilling for water on the moon than you will converting entire ghetto communities into garden utopias. Teaching old ladies to grow corn in their flower boxes isn't going to convince gang bangers to box up their automatic weapons and stop dealing smack.

MHO

[jonb]

social activism, i don't even think projects like this can turn a profit, not enviromentalism either, the only effects I can picture would be improved air quality for the neighborhood, and besides would you want to eat food that wa grown in the most polluttted neighborhood on earth?

if I were to start a farm it would look like this:

Those images show a way of thinking that would turn, the notion from a good green project, into the worst most debilitating scheme that could be imagined. The infrastructure needed to support them would pull in so many resources that could be used elsewhere that it would not make anything better, but would in fact mean that those resources could not be used to help people directly. On the point of pollution, what sort of pollution? A very good way of removing even radio active pollutants is to grow plants that have been shown to absorb it and then remove the plants, this method was used over large parts of farm land after Chernobyl.
Of course what crops you grow would depend on what pollutants are present. But in truth as an ex-garden designer the biggest problem I had was dealing with townies that have no idea. I was always being asked to design a bit of the garden as a plot to supply the kitchen and I found myself having to advise people against it. Not because there was anything wrong with growing a few herbs and vegetables, but because people in towns are now so divorced from nature they have no understanding whatsoever of how things grow, and although they may grow a few carrots they never use them. Why? This is what I found in garden after garden. I would come back after setting up a nice little veg patch and see all the plants gone to seed. I would ask why they had not been used, and the owners would look all sheepish and try not to answer the question. Eventually I would find out they had seen a cat or similar crapping near the veg and it had put them off eating it. This is typical, of townies thinking, they eat meat, but do not want to know about how an animal is killed, they understand in a field all sorts of things crap all over the plants, but once washed and put in a supermarket they don't have to think about that stuff, but in the back garden, they can't avoid the knowledge.
However knowledge can be taught, and people can learn, even if growing things in towns never produced one item which was eaten, if it was just used to educate it would have worthwhile effects, so much so It could be worthwhile for money to go from agriculture, into teaching townies about the business of which they are so ignorant.

Lastly, as part of a beautification scheme, no it won't stop international drug barons, but it does have an effect, small, but enough to make these sort of schemes potentially pay for themselves.

[The Grand Nudger]

I wouldn't eat anything a cat shit on either. The USDA prohibits producers from selling things that cats shit on for human consumption. I find that a .22lr works wonders on cat (and other rodent) problems. Don't fuck with my food pussy.....or you gonna get dead-ed. Ground contamination is a huge issue for a perspective urban producer btw. That's why alot of them turn to above ground systems. Bags filled with potting soil, containers, hydroponics...etc. Others do go through the trouble of re-mediating the soil, but whether or not it's economically feasible or even possible is site specific. Now, mind you, a home gardener isn't quite subject to the regulations (in truth they are for the most part..but the regulations aren't strictly enforced) that someone who is producing for market toils under.

[jonb]

I wouldn't eat anything a cat shit on either.

So you eat from wildlife free farms, where there are no cats? And how would cat shit affect your potato. No I'm not talking about cleaning and discarding lettuce leafs. We are talking about people not touching a row of carrots, because there is an animal dropping at one end of it, or they might have seen at one point in the year a fox relieve itself somewhere in the vicinity, maybe not even on the plot, they are just worried it might happen. You would not believe how out of touch with nature some people are.

[The Grand Nudger]

I'll gladly continue to be out of touch with what comes out of natures ass end, specifically, I'll gladly continue to keep my tongue and digestive tract out of touch with the feces of animals known to transfer disease to us through excrement via the pipeline of vegetative uptake. I think that, in the case of garden veggies going to seed...it's likely that said gardener-to-be was just lazy...or didn't know when they needed to dig up the carrots. Cats provide a convenient (but compelling) excuse..hehehe.

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So you eat from wildlife free farms, where there are no cats?

I would hope so, yes...because I like to think that the producers of the things I buy are in compliance with federal regulations. That's part of the next post, gotta know the regulations if you want to run a business.

And how would cat shit affect your potato.

Not all crops have a reliable way to transmit things like mycoplasma...granted, some do, and this is why the regulation exists.

No I'm not talking about cleaning and discarding lettuce leafs. We are talking about people not touching a row of carrots, because there is an animal dropping at one end of it, or they might have seen at one point in the year a fox relieve itself somewhere in the vicinity, maybe not even on the plot, they are just worried it might happen. You would not believe how out of touch with nature some people are.

No I would, I would, I promise you..lol. I share your amusement (and frustration) in many instances. From the point of view of a for-market producer though, these are reasonable objections to consumption (and a barrier to sale in compliance with law).

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[Creed of Heresy]

Well unfortunately, I am just an amateur gardener. My knowledge extends to "dirt = plant things here, hope they grow + water will help = flowers/veggies maybe possibly if the garden gnomes allow it." So this sort of thing? *gestures to the rocket ship flying way over his head* Waaaay somewhere up there.

Now, I know a bit about growing tomatoes and quite a decent bit about growing kale, and a decent amount about growing pot. If it were me I'd probably grow a bunch of kale amidst pot plants since the Kale provides hearty foliage, moisture control, and is high in vitamin C. Everyone loves VC!

[The Grand Nudger]

I think a strategy is forming..lol. Kale for moisture control, okra for camo...I'm still waiting on some info from Chicago(believe that was the city Summer suggested) to move forward with the next bit, the dollars and cents for a startup..if they don;t get back to me soon I'll just go with Lexington KY, since I've already got those numbers