Our compost workshop on October 17th at the Humphrey Calder Community Garden was attended by 25 brave folks, who cared more about compost than 45 degree rain.  We talked about how to manage and build compost piles while Jocelyn Tice from Green Duck talked about large scale composting and Jim Ashley from Worm Crusaders talked about the magic of vermicompost.  Our worm bin has been serving us well, getting rid of both food scraps and newspaper!  Thanks to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation for making this happen.  We will be having a winter workshop in January to get people prepared for their spring gardens!

The next week, we started sprouts with the members at Senior Connections in Innsbrook.  Senior Connections is a community program for senior citizens who live in the Innsbrook Area, and we had lunch with several folks and talked about salad flats, mason jar sprouting and WORMS!

It only takes a couple seconds to get sprouts started, as members of the Senior Connections Center learned at our Indoor Gardening Workshop

Backyard Farmer was a $2500 sponsor at the Partnership for Smarter Growth’s River City Saunter, held on October 26th.  PSG serves the Greater Richmond Area by organizing citizens to address issues of farm land development and suburban sprawl.  We were glad to donate our time and services to support this great organization.  We worked with Edible Landscaping in Afton Virginia to supply 12 fruit trees for silent auction, which we then planted for the generous supporters.  We also helped organize the local-food heavy appetizers for 100 attendants, foraging food from Manakintowne Specialty Growers, Nadolskis Butcher, Lucilles Bakery, AgriBerry, Sullivan Pond Farms, Farm To Family and Fall Line Farms. 

On October 29th, Backyard Farmer took to the Forum at the University of Richmond with a full spread of tasty compost ingredients and talked to students as they went from classes about the importance of composting.  Many people took part in a compost layering demonstration and played games made of recylcled materials offered by Save the Trash. 

Just one week later we were on-site with the Urban Garden Collective and other volunteers starting the new community garden at Sacred Heart Community Center in Manchester.  Together with enthusiastic students at the center, we built 2 garden beds and planted garlic and cover crops.  It was a beautiful day and we put a whole lot of leaves to good use!  We will continue to work with the Urban Garden Collective and the Sacred Heart Community Center to plan and expand a community garden at this site in the spring. 



Students from Sacred Heart work together to build a garden bed

It certainly has been busy, but we dont expect to slow down.  Keep checking back for more updates or if you know of any event or opportunity for us to teach something about gardening, let us know!

Backyard Farmer is a new business serving the Greater Richmond Area.  We build sustainable, organic gardens for homes, businesses, community organizations and schools to provide access to fresh, local produce.  We research sustainable agricultural technology and practices to better preserve the tradition and knowledge of growing food.  We start seeds on a regular basis and search for bugs at night with flashlights attached to our heads.  Most importantly, we believe in creating a more sustainable local food system, in which fresh, nutritious vegetables are both valued and available in our communities. 

Across the country and throughout the world, communities are taking it upon themselves to secure a safe, reliable, sustainable, food source for their families and neighbors.  We are proud to be part of a growing global movement whose core values lie in the backyard gardens of communities around the world.  The simple effort of using available land to grow food is a huge step towards achieving sustainability. 

We have been helping people throughout the Greater Richmond area build gardens, and in just 7 months, we have brought food and knowledge into dozens of homes.  While introducing people to the fundamental joys of growing and eating home grown food, we research and rediscover sustainable agricultural techniques and technologies that have been lost to the era of commercialized agriculture. As we continue to grow, we encourage others to take an active role in their communities and in their own lives to engage with their food sources. 

The Backyard Farmer Blog will be a way for others to follow our gardening adventures and for us to share the information that we acquire along the way.  We have built gardens in myriad locations, each with unique conditions.  Perhaps, we have had the same problem that you are dealing with.  We gain insight from our successes and setbacks, as do our customers.  It is important to share these stories of a developing local food movement in Virginia so others can benefit as well. 

The Backyard Farmer blog will serve as a platform for us to discuss important news and exciting examples of sustainable agriculture locally and as a worldwide movement.  Interspersed with our tips and garden stories you will find a variety of news and information on urban agriculture, small scale farming, sustainable practices, organic growing, agricultural policy, and cutting edge techniques and technology.  Stay on top of your garden and sustainable agriculture globally with Backyard Farmer. Thanks for visiting our blog.

Enjoy.