2010 Harvest Report
Between hot temperatures, low rainfall, and extreme weather in the fall, last year stood out as an intense growing season for gardeners. Despite these obstacles, many participating gardeners recorded high yields from their intensively grown raised-bed garden plots. Each harvest logbook tells a story, and pooling them together brings us a greater narrative about food in NYC’s community gardens.
In 2010, 110 community gardeners weighed their harvests and crop inventory was conducted in 67 community gardens as part of Farming Concrete’s efforts. We used the average yields from the gardeners who weighed their harvests to estimate that in those 67 gardens, 87,700 lbs of fresh produce was grown on just 1.7 acres, worth more than $200,000. Explore the results in more detail using our interactive webmap.
Sign up for Farming Concrete this year to find out how much food your garden grows!
Report and data analysis by Mara Gittleman and Eric Brelsford. Report layout and design by Kelli Jordan, with help from Joe Wirtheim. Many thanks to GreenThumb for generously providing research materials and to Brooklyn Community Foundation for generously funding printed materials. Last but not least, HUGE thank you to the gardeners, interns, and volunteers who made this project a success! Each participating community garden will be provided with a copy of their own individual garden report – please email gardens [at] farmingconcrete [dot] org to request more copies for your garden.
[...] The Farming Concrete team is pleased to present the results from measuring food production in NYC community [...]
[...] You may view the latest post here. [...]
[...] beds. This small chunk of land is where the plants were grown that produced the results that we published in April: at least 88,000 pounds worth of food worth well over $200,000 came from 67 community gardens in [...]
What great data you all are generated. Our Vegetable Varieties for Gardeners project at Cornell University is also trying to tap the enthusiasm and expertise of gardeners to gather valuable information for gardeners. Share your reviews of the varieties you grow and check out what your fellow gardeners are saying about the ones they grow.
http://vegvariety.cce.cornell.edu/
We also mention this report in our facebook group vegetable varieties for gardeners. Join our group.
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Farming Concrete: Measuring Food Production in NYC’s Community Gardens
The American Community Garden Association defines a community garden as "any piece of land gardened by a group of people." These spaces - peaceful enclaves where one can reconnect with their soil, food, and fellow gardeners - are meaningful across age groups and cultures, and serve as valuable assets for community identity. Healthy food production in community gardens is especially relevant today, when the number of New York City residents who rely on emergency food and lack access to affordable fresh produce in grocery stores is increasing. In the context of a dysfunctional food system, urban agriculture is becoming evermore indispensable.
No one knows just how much food NYC community gardeners are growing. That is what this project seeks to measure.
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