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Urban farming keeps growing and growing
Malls may not be just for shopping anymore, and you can think again about the traditional uses of a truck. Urban farming is becoming increasingly popular throughout the U.S., and creative farmers around the nation are coming up with new and interesting ways to approach growing plants and vegetables in the city.
Gardens Under Glass, a Cleveland, Ohio-based project created by Vicky Poole, took an abandoned shopping mall in the downtown area and transformed it into a large agricultural center. After securing a grant, Poole went about creating a giant greenhouse within the mall’s space, utilizing the glass ceilings and controlled mall temperatures to provide energy for her project.
According to its website, Gardens Under Glass is "designed to educate the public on the ease of integrating urban agriculture and natural energy sources into our lives." The project aims to eventually develop the entire mall into a "retail ecovillage," reports Grist, housing vegetarian restaurants, health food stores, farmers’ stalls and environmentally minded shops.
Truck farming is another trend that’s been reaching small-time gardeners. Strapped for fertile gardening space in Brooklyn, Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis, the creators of the film King Corn, decided to make a 1968 Dodge Ram the site of a new vegetable and herb garden last year. Truck farms are literally gardens on wheels – the cabs of old vehicles are transformed into mini vegetable farms. The creators of the original truck farm have gone on to use the project as a community education initiative.
No matter what space gardeners use to plant their vegetables and herbs, urban gardening is beneficial. Not only do urban gardens brighten up a city’s dreary landscape and increase community action, they are environmentally friendly as they reduce the costs of transportation and the use of harmful chemicals.
Causecast recently reported the top five cities for urban farming and gardening in the U.S. According to the website, urban farmers might want to consider heading to Detroit, Philadelphia, New York City, Austin or Chicago to plant their next perennials.
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