KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Community gardens and urban farming plots in Kansas City may look brown and lifeless right now, but there’s still a lot these farmers can do in the winter.
“Farmers don’t just stop working during winter, especially small-scale organic growers. We spend lots of time planning,” said Dan Krull, manager of the Westport Commons Farm, which is run by Cultivate KC.
Cultivate KC helps get farmers’ businesses off the ground. The nonprofit budgets and plans for the upcoming growing season in the winter.
Soil improvement and management, mulching, and composting in the winter are what give farmers an abundance for the community in the spring.
Volunteers are always out at Westport Commons, helping turn soil to continue a sweet potato growing project.
Many may hate the snow, but Krull said it charges the groundwater and keeps the soil moist.
“When you go to plant in the spring, you have a surplus of moisture. This winter is a pain for us when we’re driving but it’s really great for a farmer,” Krull said.
Urban farming in Kansas City has grown in the last several years. Farmers say part of that is people wanting to know where their food comes from.
The other big reason for the growth is addressing food access to low-income folks while helping people make a living.
“One clear solution to places where you can’t always get fresh produce is growing your own,” Krull said.
Hope Faith Ministries feeds and helps the homeless and those who are on the brink of homelessness. In one day, the organization might help more than 100 people.
“Since we couldn’t grow any food outdoors with the weather, we had to come up with something because we needed food year-round,” said Qayyim Durant, who runs Hope Faith’s gardens.
In parts of 2018, Hope Faith served double the people it did in 2017.
The organization now grows food indoors with nine tower gardens.
“You have less trouble growing inside. You don’t have to worry about insects or anything like that,” Durant said.
Each tower garden was donated and cost between $700 and $1,100. Durant eventually wants to expand to 30 tower gardens, which he says will get Hope Faith over the hump of winter.
“That would give us enough food to carry us through, pretty much, the winter months,” Durant said.
Hope Faith grows turnip greens, mustard greens, kale, collard greens and lettuce. In the kitchen, workers use the greens in a variety of ways, whether in a salad or on a burger.
Durant said growing on tower gardens is easy. He starts the seeds on a tray, then puts them into the pods on the tower.
Water is pumped from the top and filters down to all the routes. Durant runs the pump 15 minutes on and 45 minutes off.
Lights hanging down on the sides keep the plants growing for five months, which yields about seven harvests. Then, Durant cleans out the tower and starts the process over.
“[Before], we were looking for a lot more donations from different organizations, so now we’re getting more self-sufficient and going toward being able to serve our population ourselves,” Durant said.
Hope Faith, Cultivate KC and other organizations that feed the community say they are always looking for volunteers.
