Saturday Sources: Brick City Farm

It has been a while since my last installment of Saturday Sources but I have several local farms lined up for interviews over the upcoming weeks and months. Here is one that you can help get off the ground right now by contributing to their Kickstarter!

~PattyLA

Brick City Farm is a new urban farm coming to the South City area of St. Louis. I had a chance to chat with Joanna Landis about this new venture and I’m excited to share these details with you here today! Below is an artists rendering of what it will look like once it is up and running.

As I said above Brick City Farm is currently doing a Kickstarter to get the funding that they need to get started! I love kickstarter because it makes it possible to easily gather small donations from lots of sources and fund small projects like this one. Even if you do not live in St. Louis please consider contributing toward this project. Growing food where we live is so important! The more farms that we have doing this in our cities the better! Every urban farm that is successful encourages another one to start and the next one may be near you!

Go here to watch a video about Brick City Farm and to contribute to their Kickstarter Campaign.

Now I have some questions that I asked Joanna in bold and her answers below each one. If you have more questions for Joanna please post them in the comments below and I’ll get her answers for you.

What does the name “Brick City Farm” mean?

St Louis is a city known for its brick buildings, especially south city where Brick City Farm is located. We wanted to choose a name that demonstrated our commitment to being in south city, where we live and work.

Why start an urban farm? Why not farm “out in the country”?

One of our main motivations for starting this project is finding a way to bring food production back to the community that will be consuming that food. And for us, that means locating it in our neighborhood. Building a farm right in the city it makes the connections between people and the food they eat that much more direct. Another huge goal for us is to find ecologically sustainable ways to provide food to the city. This is one obvious way to cut down on the long distances that most of the food we find in the grocery store travels before it gets to us. This also allows us to provide south city with the most fresh and quality vegetables.

What sorts of food do you intend to grow and how much of it do you think you can grow in a farm this size?

This first year we’re planting a variety of heirloom and other organic vegetables. Specifically that includes one or more types of tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, carrots, spinach, onions, shallots, pole beans, cucumber, basil and celery.

The lot we’re farming on is 2/3 of an acre. We have planned out the first several years as a slow growth into the full space, starting with a relatively small size this first year. The amount of food we grow will depend on several factors, but we’re planning for an efficient use of space so that we’ll be able to grow as much as possible in this relatively small space.

What unique challenges are there in Urban farming?

Since most of the vacant land in the city once had old buildings on it, one concern for growing food in the city is lead or other contaminants in the soil. While our soil test came back non-toxic, we are still choosing to build new soil beds on top of the lot to ensure a healthy product.

Do you have any experience with urban farming or farming in general prior to this?

My experience with farming really started four years ago when I was living in Indiana and was lucky to be part of a group growing vegetables on about an acre of land. When I moved to St. Louis I began working as the garden leader at Columbia Elementary School and also have participated in several community gardens in the city. Through these experiences I have also met so many gardeners and farmers in the city who have been a priceless resource as we’ve planned this new project!

Will this farm be an organic farm? If not what is your philosophy about pesticide, herbacide, and fertilizer use on the farm. Also what about GMO foods.

We will be growing food using organic and sustainable practices. At this time we are not planning to seek organic certification due to the large time and money drain required for that process. However, we are committed to using non-GMO seeds and only using soil additives that are OMRI (Organic Materials Review Institute) certified.

Tell me about your kickstarter. What will it fund?

We’ve launched a kickstarter campaign to help with some basic start-up costs to get us off and running. Specifically, these big expenses are installing a water line on the property for irrigation, and purchasing soil and compost to establish our garden beds.

Are there ways for local people to help out in addition to the kickstarter?

The biggest help we need now is raising the kickstarter funds to make it possible to do this project really well. Otherwise, the best way to help is to purchase our produce this summer either on the menu at Gelateria Del Leone or at the new Grove East Provisions which will be opening in June on Arsenal and Minnesota (right across the street from the farm!).

Is there anything else you would like to share with my readers?

We are really excited to be embarking on this new project. We want this urban farm to be a beneficial and lasting addition to the neighborhood, and one contributes to the health and awareness of the community. Thanks for your interest in this new venture!

Don’t forget to go watch a video about Brick City Farm and contribute to their Kickstarter Campaign!

Joanna Landis has lived in south St. Louis for two and a half years. Since moving to the area she has been involved in school and community gardens, and worked at several specialty food establishments in the area.

Joanna is excited to be active in creating local food spaces and continuing to find ways to collapse the space between farm and table.