DA SKINNY

HEY You,

As an urban gardener and recent transplant to New Orleans, I hope to provide a forum for people interested in being producers.  I spent three seasons growing vegetable starts in Oakland for various urban gardening projects and I hope to do the same in New Orleans.  The growing interest in urban gardening, food justice and local food has been a constant inspiration.  This blog is a fusion of several  interests.  It will include adventures, projects, plant descriptions and philosophical musings.  CitySown will also list plants available in my nursery, upcoming classes and workshops and community events.  After spending three years soaking up knowledge and inspiration from the mothership (bay area) I hope I can be effective propagating permaculture techniques in New Orleans. 

We are fortunate to have an amazing climate in the New Orleans that permits a wide range sub-tropical species. From Okra to bananas, there are many different species that one can experiment with in our bio-region.  My main mission is to provide hearty, well adapted annual and perennial edible plants for individuals, nurseries, landscapers, non-profits and any other interested NOLA planters.   Introducing more unusual species into the retail chain will hopefully build awareness and demand for an assortment of incredibly useful, but relatively unknown plants.  Selling plants to nurseries and other for-profit operations enables me to donate many more plants to our community!  Contact me for veggies!

A huge expense and externality in the nursery business is transportation costs.  By locating the nursery operation within the urban framework, plants can be delivered by bike cart.  There are numerous arguments for buying locally produced goods: creation of local jobs, utilization of local resources, transportation costs diminished, stronger relationships and interdependency… the list goes on and on.  There are a sea of rooftops spread across our cities.  I hope that this project/business/community endeavor, can serve as an example of how to manage our city’s negative space in an ecologically intelligent manner.

BOOM! dkjfs.  DANNG BOOM.

Let the Planting Begin!

Wiley