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If you’d like to have a backyard vegetable garden but don’t want to tackle it yourself, hire an urban farmer from Backyard Harvest, a nonprofit program of the Permaculture Research Institute Cold Climate. They offer everything from complete garden planting and maintenance to garden coaching. Krista Leraas, a Slow Food member, coordinates the program.

In October 2008, the folks at the Permaculture Research Institute Cold Climate began hatching a plan to pilot a program in urban agriculture and permaculture. After much preparation, Backyard Harvest was unveiled in January 2009 to an enthusiastic public. The program’s mission is to strengthen the Twin Cities local foods infrastructure — one yard at a time — by turning lawns into nourishing gardens. To that end, it has three main goals:
• Connecting eaters directly to their food
• Connecting neighbors to one another and
• Connecting urban farmers to professional opportunities.
Since its beginnings, the fledgling program has stretched and flourished.

With three outstanding urban farmers, the team set out last spring to grow a diverse array of vegetables, herbs and edible flowers for 15 South Minneapolis households. These garden owners came with a wide variety of garden experiences, expectations and income levels. Some sought to learn gardening skills by following along with their farmers, while others were just getting started with gardening and cooking fresh seasonal foods.

According to an end-of-season survey, participants felt the experience of having gardens was just as important as receiving the high quality, fresh food they produced. Learning about gardening techniques, plant varieties and cooking with fresh produce were important parts of this experience. Garden owners also reported having made related changes in their lives, such as connecting more with their neighbors, buying other locally produced products and becoming more adventurous in their cooking and eating. Many participants recommended Backyard Harvest to their friends, family and neighbors.

This season — the program’s second — promises to be even better than the last. Clients can choose from full service vegetable and herb gardens; do-it-yourself potato bins, strawberry patches or asparagus patches; or garden coaching from experienced and trained urban farmers. In addition to expanding services, Backyard Harvest will also be frequenting more areas of Minneapolis, St. Paul and Edina.

Working across the demographic spectrum

One of the program’s goals is to provide good, healthy food to families across the demographic spectrum. A great way to accomplish this goal is through collaborations with local organizations that serve low-income families. One blossoming partnership is with the Cornerstone Group, which operates an affordable housing complex in the Frogtown neighborhood of St. Paul. By invitation, Backyard Harvest is piloting a project that will serve the diverse residents of this complex, called Rivertown Commons.

At the site this summer, a 400-square-foot plot (equal in size to four Backyard Harvest gardens) will be sown with a multiplicity of vegetables, herbs and edible flowers. The garden will be nestled amid six potato bins, a 24-square-foot strawberry patch and a row of serviceberries. Through collaborations with the Rivertown Commons staff and resident leadership committee, Backyard Harvest staff are planning many occasions for connecting with the garden, including a community event on Earth Day. During this event, residents will be introduced to the garden and celebrate the possibilities that it will provide: high quality food, youth engagement and community-building.

To learn more about the Backyard Harvest program, visit the PRI Cold Climate Web site, www.pricoldclimate.org >>
Check out the Backyard Harvest blog, www.backyardharvest.wordpress.com >> or contact program coordinator, Krista Leraas at harvest(at)pricoldclimate(dot)org.

- Krista Leraas

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