Rebuttal to Reading Eagle Reportings: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=399975
Canal Street Farm Site Statement
July 19, 2012
Today we lost our Canal Street farm site. It has been ten months since we broke ground last October with an outpouring of community support for our project. As part of our Reading Roots Urban Farm, the Canal St. site was a major—some said impossible—undertaking. The trials and tribulations of urban farming efforts are well-known, but we began inspired by the story of Will Allen and Growing Power as a compelling catalyst for lasting community change.
The issues that led up to the revocation of our five-year lease agreement revolved around complaints about the appearance of the site and the methods we were using to begin cultivation. The cardboard and weeds were cited as unsightly, “destroy[ing] the open space” and otherwise degrading the vacant property that had remained an empty expanse of lawn in the 40 years following the 1972 flood.
While the effort this Spring suffered a number of setbacks in getting started, including funding limitations, regular vandalism, storage and supply logistics, and heatwave after heatwave, progress was being made. The cardboard was spread across the ground to smother the grass and prepare the garden beds, a common practice called sheet mulching. The several types of “weeds” that were allowed to proliferate, primarily chicory, provided cover for valuable edible plants and bushes from theft, attracted more beneficial insects than ever experienced on the site, and improved the soil by accumulating nutrient concentrations and breaking through the compaction. Much of the overall work was actually done manually, with traditional tools.
These methods are central to the discipline of permaculture, whose ethics and principles form the basis of our organization’s mission and values. We knew that such unconventional practices might stir up discontent by passers-by, but underestimated the amount of engagement that would be needed to foster understanding and interest in the neighborhood. For all future projects, especially in urban environments, we’ve learned essential lessons on the social dimension of design.
In the weeks leading up to the end of the lease, major developments were in motion to begin the farm operation. A secure shipping container provided all the storage needs for equipment and supplies, and water access and irrigation were being installed. Several large volunteer days were scheduled, including for this weekend, giving our many supporters an opportunity to finally begin digging in. We are forever grateful for our army of volunteers for all the help they’ve already contributed to the site, and will be quickly shifting people to our many other opportunities to get involved.
It is important to note that one of the biggest considerations in ending our efforts, even with the steady buildup of momentum, was the ever-present threat of ultimately losing the land to development. Our lease for the land, like most urban farming projects, required us to vacate the property if a developer committed to purchasing the property, which put our investments of time and money in jeopardy even if the land was maintained to neighborhood standards.
With our limited resources and an interest in creating more “permanent agriculture” projects, the most responsible thing to do is seek out a more certain situation for our garden sites. We hope that someday soon the Canal Street site will be developed and further improve the South of Penn community, and thank the Redevelopment Authority for the opportunity to explore large-scale site development.
So where do we go from here? The Reading Roots Urban Farm is alive and well, including the greenhouse in City Park, our many market plots in the Berks County Conservancy’s community gardens, and our weekly stand at the Penn Street Farmers' Market. We’re still in need of additional space for our perennial nursery and research gardens, and will be reaching out to our partners to explore new opportunities. In the meantime, we plan to discuss the situation with our volunteers and begin cleaning up and moving out of the site.Since breaking ground last Fall, we’ve experienced a freak snow storm several weeks later, the warmest winter in history, record heat waves, storms, and wildfires, and economically-crippling drought conditions.
Permaculture is about creating a future in which we can grow food, build homes, manage water, capture energy, and eliminate waste by working with nature, not against it.
With so many of us living in concentrated urban centers, adopting these practices will be critical to building resilient and regenerative human habitats in the face of an increasingly uncertain future. Permacultivate will continue to lead in this effort in the City of Reading and surrounding Berks County and Schuylkill River watershed. We hope you will continue to support us in this critical effort.
–The Permacultivate Team
