The new edition of Natural Home magazine lists KC Community Farm among the top 10 urban farms in the nation. "I just heard that news. We think it's wonderful. We love our farms and we're pretty pleased to get that national attention," said Katherine Kelly, executive farmer for the Kansas City Center for Urban Agriculture (KCCUA), which runs the KC Community Farm.
Kelly hadn't seen the complete list when I called, and as I read her the names, she acknowledged the ones she knew. "That's an impressive list. I'm kind of surprised at there being no San Francisco on the list. [Boston's] ReVision is great. I used to live in Boston, and I'd drive past the area where it now is and would say that would make a great farm." In any event, she said, "It's great getting attention doing what you love."
KC Community Farm is an all-organic, 2-acre farm in Argentine District of Kansas City, Kansas. Even though they don't have fabulous soil, Kelly said, "We grow somewhere around 30,000 pounds of vegetables a year... What the data shows is that the less acreage you have, the more productive you are with it. It's like a studio apartment where you cram a closet, living room and bathroom all right on one another."
Kelly and the KCCUA are planning a June open-house/farm/garden tour of more than 31 urban sites, showing off everything from a farm on a back-and-front yard on less than half an acre to farms of six acres.
KCCUA is looking for volunteers to help plan the tour and to work on the farms. "If they want to get their hands dirty, we'll get their hands dirty," Kelly said. "And if not, we have plenty else for them to do." Find more information about KCUAA at its Web site.
The Natural Homes article is online here.
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