by Urban-Farm Intern Noreen Lucic
“This produce was grown only a few blocks away from here. It was picked fresh this morning and grown using all organic farming methods. Proceeds from these sales go back into our work study program where inner city high school students practice agriculture and marketing.” These are the things we say at farmer’s markets. After so many weeks, they’ve started to roll off my tongue and every week they mean more and more to me.
“Picked fresh this morning” means minimal nutrient loss. “Grown a few blocks away” means community rejuvenation. “All organic” means environmentally friendly and resistant towards the dominant agricultural paradigm. “Proceeds go back into our program” only makes the customer feel good. Really, all costs considered, Green Corps makes slightly over $1 per square foot of growing land. We would not persist if it weren’t for grant money – we’re not for profit, we’re not for food production, we’re for education.
Herbs are amazing. Scents are therapeutic. Lavender, oregano, parsley, sage, cilantro, thyme, tarragon, rosemary, chamomile, fennel, dill, yarrow, chicory, basil, mints – these are just some herbs we grow. Between tea and air freshener, perfumes and decorations, cooking and spiritual rejuvenation, herbs are where it’s at! The difference between a headache and feeling good is lavender. The difference between mediocre salsa and extraordinarily delicious salsa is cilantro. The difference between a sore throat and a soothed one is yarrow. The difference between a lowly spirit and a lively one is rubbing hands back and forth with living herbs in between them and then surrounding your entire face with your hands to observe a most pleasant sensory stimulation.
Each of our farms has one or two of what we call “herb spirals.” They are salvaged brick or recycled chunks of concrete placed in an upside down, cone shaped spiral. The herbs planted at the highest levels should be woody, desert plants that don’t require much water such as sage and rosemary. Plants at the bottom should need the most water, parsley and tarragon are examples. By setting up a vertical-type planter, we are saving floor space.
Farming is truly a bodily experience. All senses are stimulated, whether we hear the weak popping pluck of a strawberry, taste the sweetness of a raw turnip root, feel the smooth and waxy outer walls of a pepper, smell fresh picked cilantro, or see the harvest gather before our eyes. Farmers hands are always splintered with tiny thorns. They’re always squatting and getting back up and carrying heavy arm-fulls. Farmers gnaw on raw beets caked with a light coating of soil and they sweat a lot. This experiential form of learning has been a refreshing break from academia.
