Urban Farming: Anyone?

People, budget and lifetyle...I tagged these words to describe about this hub that will concentrate on farming.

Being part of an agricultural environment, it is saddening to see that people in the major cities in the Philippines or even in the United States are forgetting the backbone of each country's economy: and that's farming.

Through farming, we can feed millions of hungry people in our cities or even donate to those countries, like in Africa whose people are suffering from famine and hunger.

How about replacing your ornamental or flowering plants on the terrace and turning it into a house garden full of different types of vegetables. That will be called Urban Farming (http://www.urbanfarming.org/).

Urban Farming's mission is to create an abundance of food for people in need by planting gardens on unused land and space while increasing diversity, educating youth, adults and seniors and providing an environmentally sustainable system to uplift communities. You can watch its segment in the daily show GMA (Good Morning America).

So while I was tinkering my small netbook (mini-laptop) awhile ago, at the same time looking for the falling statistics of my other hubs, my sister told me about her friend, also a mother (her house just across the alleyway) who's into urban farming. With just a small space at the back of her home, she converted it into a lively intermission of green colors of leaves and flowers of vegetables.

Human Resources

If we mobilize all people, young and adult, to venture into this interesting hobby in their cities, then hunger for food will be solved.

Let us start from our homes. Home gardening or backyard gardening can be a very relaxing hobby. Not only you will get your vegetable fresh from the garden, you will also provide the proper nutrients from your organic products.

Organic farming is also promoted in this kind of activity. It relies mainly on crop rotation, using green manure or compost, organic pest control, etc. to maintain the richness of the soil.

Budget

You don't have to worry about the expenses. Spending money in home gardening or backyard gardening is very minimal. Buying latest video games is more costly or expensive than buying seeds from the store.

I've seen grown seedlings at the agriculture section (usually located outside your nearest mall or store). If you want to grow it by yourself, you can buy seedlings inside the mall (flowering, fruits or vegetable seeds). There are also instructions given, how-to-do pamphlets provided included in the box or seed envelop. It involves the soil or compost you will use, fertilizer (preferably organic) and the best weather or season to plant your choice of seeds.

Lifestyle

Motivation is all we need to get started with this lucrative livelihood.

Even you're single or married already, you can still insert gardening in your to-do list. If you have children who are interested to help you or not, you can still encourage them and tell the importance of having a garden (a vegetable farm) at home.

Social groups and other organizations can extend a helping hand if this kind of project is nationwide. I think it's worlwide or the concern of everyone. Neighborhood associations, homeowners group, fraternities and sororities can revive the backbone of every country. And that is farming.

Encouraging them can be through "Green" contest. Meaning there will be a corresponding monetary prizes to those group who can start growing vegetables, flowers or fruits in a public , home or backyard garden.

Through urban gardening, other menace or crimes of the society will be lessen or eradicated. With this positive hobby, gardening that is, hunger and food shortage will be minimized.

Are You a Green Thumb?

To tell you frankly, I don't know the exact meaning of being a 'green thumb'. My parents told me that I am one of them. Whew! That's heavy.

I used to utilize our backyard by making garden plots and planting what's the available seeds I can get from our community (like tomatoes, bitter gourd, watermelon, eggplant, squash, peanuts and corn). How happy was I when I began harvesting my tomatoes, then and the other crops. I also planted cassava stems and vines for additional food.

At school since elementary grades, we have this subject called Home Economics.It's all about nutrition and food but also included clothing and sewing and also house management as in carpentry, etc.

All about Allotments

Allotments are public agricultural lands that can be cultivated by the community residents. The town or city council, parish community or private landowner can lease you an allotment if you don't have available land to farm.Assigning an allotment to a particular family or group is always discussed in a meeting in the council or in the community. However, private landowners can also provide you an allotment or they're kind enough to delegate for you a piece of land to grow your own produce aside from working with them.

It takes a Hub Community

Yes, the encouragement starts with us here, all hubbers (HubNuggets and Wannabees as well). We are not only writers, but we are also doers. We write what we do, we do what we write. Don't take this words on the wrong side of the law.

Urban farming takes us into the positive light of living in the city. By doing so, we can minimize the effects of pollution in our city and of course, global warming.

So take your shovel and hand gloves from your basement. It's time to cultivate our own home garden.

The first-ever urban farming summit in Toronto, Canada last August 15 -18 was attended by urban professionals, community groups, tenants and developers, homeowners, urban farmers and other people's organization from around the world who tackled the issues of the conference.

Food security is the main reason. Another one is incorporating farming with the design of buildings being built in major cities.

Scaling up gardening in urban areas are what a particular community needs in order to meet the demands of the city dwellers.

Why in Toronto?

From what I've experienced as our cargo vessel loaded cargo at one of its ports way back May, 2009, I observed that residential areas and even the commercial ones are advocating urban gardening.

Toronto is a very good example of a leading city in urban gardening. The city has an innovative urban gardening programs the help residents of the community and building designers to merge at one common goal: food sustenance in the city!

(Updated September 22, 2012)