← Back to news feed

microfarming in north carolina

Posted: September 4 2009

our friend Jay Dunbar is posting regularly to a rad little blog that focuses on microfarming & agricultural experimentation in and around Winston-Salem, NC.
Check it out: http://astralamerica.wordpress.com/

Here's what he has to say about his work:
Winston-Salem Microfarms is devoted to small-scale agriculture experiments, permaculture design efforts, and local foods events and organizations in Winston-Salem, NC and beyond. Our immediate mission is to create and sustain a network of urban microfarms that would provide goods and services for a higher order, interactive local food economy.
It is our belief that one imminent direction in contemporary agriculture is the urban micro-farm. Whether it's the backyard garden plot and chicken coop in the small grad student rental house or the quarter-acre homestead out in the suburbs, more and more people are wanting to play an active role in making their own food. Such projects in and of themselves provide the participants with fresh foods and fulfill a contract with nature that commercial petro-agriculture has mostly eschewed, but the potential exists to serve additional community needs. For example, organized microfarm co-ops have the potential to grow and use surplus foods to barter or sell in the local market, create value-added goods, or fuel the food needs of a restaurant partner. Surpluses can also be used to provide fresh, healthy foods for the poor or otherwise under-served members of the community. There are a wealth of possibilities in a diverse, de-centralized urban agricultural model and within this myriad of possibilities are the seeds of even further-reaching social and political transformations.
Our lofty mission stems from a simple desire to document the birth and growth of the Werehouse Microfarm located in the back lot of the temporary autonomous zone known as the Werehouse which is also home and incubator for half a dozen small businesses, several artists and residents, and a whole host of community activities. The Werehouse Microfarm currently raises chickens for eggs, diverts some of building's waste stream to create compost and build soil, and cultivates a variety of fruits and herbs. The road is long but the conversation is endless.

Categories:

Resources