Urban agriculture - the healthy way to live

Located in a corridor of a neighborhood deemed by most folks as not being very safe even for its residents, an oasis of some sort has blossomed in the Englewood neighborhood. If you drive by too quickly on 58th & Wood Street you just might miss several permanent hoop houses. Collectively these structures are called the Wood Street Urban Farm.

The Wood Street Urban Farm, along with Su Casa Catholic Worker House Farm on 50th & Laflin, are part of an organization called Growing Home, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to helping ex-offenders and homeless people rebuild their lives through urban farming.

Wood Street is especially unusual because it is Chicago’s first permanent, year-round urban farm, meaning, produce grows in their hoop houses even in Chicago’s winter months. In fact, Wood Street was able to harvest spinach during the record-breaking cold of December and January. In addition, and although the site is small, Wood Street was able to grow a great deal of produce, including salad mix, arugula, Swiss chard, (which all like to grow in the warm, moist hoop house climate), tomatoes, zucchini, beets, turnips, kale, and mustard and collard greens.

At this time only the small garden located at the Su Casa Farm is certified organic but the process for Wood Street is in the works. Su Casa grows small crops like salad mix, snap peas and carrots. In addition, Su Casa houses a small apiary where they keep three beehives from which they extract honey to sell at market.

 “When we buy food that is grown locally it is picked at its peak and can get to you quickly,” says Harry Rhodes, Executive Director of Growing Home. “The produce is fresher because it is packed with more vitamins and minerals for your good health. And because the produce is not grown on large corporate factory farms that use pesticides, antibiotics and hormones, there’s no polluting the soil, water supply, air and wildlife. Local sustainable farms preserve our environment. Being in tune with the land by eating local seasonal fare provides needed diversity in our diet.”

Englewood organizers say neighbors living near both farm locations – who get a share of the produce along with an insight into food production and nutrition – protect the farms from any rodents, animals and vandalism.

Growing Home operates farmer’s markets in Englewood and in Lincoln Park on Saturdays and Sundays. For more information on buying healthy foods right in your own neighborhood contact Growing Home, Inc. at www.growinghomeinc.org, or at 773.549.1336.