Season extension: we’re still growing
2013 was a productive season at KCC Urban Farm. Despite smaller growing area due to construction, we grew over 3,000 lbs of fresh produce, all of which went to the KCC community!
While the weather is getting cold outside, it’s still a few degrees warmer in the hoop house, where we’ll be growing cold hardy crops through the winter.
KCC Urban Farm has been working intimately with KCC Reads, since this year’s book, Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer, is all about our food system. We co-hosted an event on Food Day, a national celebration of healthy, affordable, and sustainably produced food, that brought over a hundred students to the farm. We led tours of the farm and discussions about our food system for dozens of classes that are reading the book, and produced a toolkit of resources for faculty who are teaching about food and farming.
One of the best things about growing food is eating it. We are so grateful for having been able to hire Denia, KCC Culinary Arts graduate, to showcase what we produce in healthy, delicious ways. Throughout the semester, Denia cooked up fresh dishes at our Single Stop distributions, at events such as Homecoming, and in the Breezeway.
Farm-based education
Congrats to Project Rise Cohort 5 for completing your pre-internship on the farm! Twice a year, for four weeks each, KCC Urban Farm works with 25-30 students from Project Rise, a program at CEWD that provides educational, internship, and employment services to young adults. As part of their pre-internship on the farm, students completed projects that outlined big dreams for healthier, more accessible food access on campus.
We also taught 17 new gardeners through our introductory course under Continuing Education. With tools in hand and experience under their belts, there will be a lot more veggies growing in the city next year!
Faculty Forum
On November 20, Silvia and Mara presented the ongoing farm-based education and research happening on the farm at the KCC Faculty Forum. Stay tuned for more STEM on the farm and program evaluation next year, thanks to the President’s Faculty Innovation Award. In the meantime, view our eye candy below: