The City of Cincinnati is offering an urban gardening pilot program to transition vacant, city-owned parcels of land into food production areas. For 2009 approximately 15 parcels of land in 11 neighborhoods have been identified that can be rented out.
If you're interested in participating, there will be a public information meeting in Council Chambers at City Hall (3rd Floor, 801 Plum Street, 45202) on March 9 from 5pm-6:30pm.
I think this is a great program for many different reasons. The food production and environmental advantages of locally produced food are wonderful. Findlay Market will surely benefit, and the City will get unproductive properties (assets) off of its hands (accounting books) and be able to rid themselves of that liability. Win, win, win if you ask me.
ReplyDeleteI'm also glad they've decided to officially refer to it as an 'Urban Gardening Program' and not an Urban Farming Program.' I just think farming used in a urban context gives off the wrong impression and creates a negative connotation.
ReplyDeleteAre they soil testing these lots for lead?
ReplyDelete^It's my understanding that some plants (i.e. Sunflowers) will naturally remediate a site long-term. If the site is indeed contaminated then you wouldn't want to consume those plants, but it could still be a productive purpose nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteInteresting question about the lead testing -- how much does that cost?
ReplyDeleteContainer gardening is an great option in contaminated sites
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