There’s a revolution growing in America’s backyards, and Will Allen aims to feed it.
Allen, a hulking former professional basketball player turned urban-farming evangelist, brought his guerrilla farming techniques formulated for intensive inner-city agriculture to Lynchburg Grows for a hands-on, two-day workshop Friday.
A diverse group of backyard gardeners, small-scale farmers and federal officials forked over compost beds and dropped handfuls of worms inside, after building three-tiered aquaponic fish gardens — food, fish and fountain in one.
“Can we do this?” Allen asked about 50 participants from as far as Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
“Yes we can,” they answered.
The concepts of local food and sustainable farming are becoming mainstream, bolstered by a host of authors and activ-ists like Allen and, for some, by the grip of necessity in the recession.
“My personal goal is to be able to feed my family out of my garden, year-round,” said Leslie Riehl, taking notes on com-posting techniques to help her squeeze more produce from the 25-by-30-foot garden at her Washington Street home. “To have (Allen) come and demystify it is cool.”
Njathi Kabui grew up farming coffee in Kenya and now cultivates sweet potatoes, beans and okra on a small plot in Apex, N.C. He teaches an urban farming course at a North Carolina community college, but said he came to broaden his knowledge with Allen’s help.
“Once you go to your garden and get first fruits, you never go back,” Kabui said.
For Allen, who has gained national recognition for reclaiming urban lotsas gardens, the cause is deeper than simply whetting appetites. His Milwaukee, Wis.-based Growing Power is also on a mission to foster new green jobs in neglected neighborhoods and bring nutritious food to “food deserts” — inner-city areas with little access to healthy ingredients.
His fertilizer — compost heaps composed in part of the cast-offs from corporate cafeterias and brewery waste — is chemical free.
“Soil is everything in this farming,” he said. “It’s not about having a green thumb.”
In Lynchburg Grows, Allen said he’s found a passionate partner. The nonprofit community garden, powered in large part by volunteers, has become one of eight training centers for Growing Power’s techniques. Friday marked Allen’s third visit since 2005.
“Lynchburg Grows has been the most impressive group that we’ve worked with,” he said. “I know a lot of people here, from what I hear, have a passion for this stuff.”
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