A Microfarm Grows in an L.A. Front Yard

An urban gardener in Los Angeles has transformed a small front yard into a thriving microfarm, reports Donovan X. Ramsey in the Los Angeles Times. Jamiah Hargins, who started with a backyard garden and swapping produce with neighbors, now manages a farm that "can grow over 600 plants and feed about 50 families."

According to Food Forward Agency Relations Manager Pearson King, Asante Microfarm, housed in a front yard in L.A.'s View Park neighborhood, is "an example of the need for more innovative approaches to food sovereignty that are created by, for, and within the communities that have been systematically and strategically excluded from food production."

To create Asante, "Hargins partnered with a group called Enviroscape LA to map out the irrigation and landscaping" and harnessed a team of volunteers to prepare and cultivate the farm. "The crops grow from nutrient-rich sacks of compost and the whole farm is supported by an irrigation system that not only recycles water but uses just 8% of the water previously used for grass. The farm was built using part of a $50,000 LA2050 grant from the Goldhirsh Foundation but will be sustained by subscriptions that cost $36 per month and $43 with delivery. For that, subscribers get a 3-pound mix of greens and vegetables every week."

Hargins says the Asante Microfarm "is a proof of concept for a much larger goal" to "empower underserved communities while giving them access to fresh food." Eventually, "he hopes to help build and manage 400 microfarms across the city."