Today I rode over to the Georgia Street Community Garden on Detroit’s eastside, not far from the Better Maid potato chip factory.  Cub is developing the garden first for growing vegetables and later for fruit trees.  Members of the DetroitYES forums came by today to help kick start the garden effort.  It was simply a great day to work outside and meet other DetroitYES forum members as well.

The Ford tractor shown in the gallery below was from another nearby urban farm.  The more I bike around Detroit, the more of these I’m bumping into.  A new community garden is underway on Second Avenue in Highland Park.  I noticed an established garden over in North Corktown.  And then there are the goats.

It’s a great thing to grow your own food.  It costs less, it’s fresher, and it’s local.  With all the vacant land and lower density,  urban farming is something Detroit can pull off easier than nearly any other urban city.

On Easter morning, I hoped on my bike and rode towards downtown. There were a lot of folks waiting for buses on Woodward. I love being that friendly bike guy. My hellos returned many smiles and “Happy Easters”.

Not having enough time to ride the Riverwalk, I headed west to Trumbull and south towards Old Tiger Stadium. Just north of I-75 and near the shadows of the Motor City Casino are some goats. Seriously. Not just one or two, but a whole family of them with a bunch of hens and roosters.

Welcome Urban Farming in Detroit

With more than half of your population gone and large swaths of vacated open land, urban farming seems like a fine choice. The Greening of Detroit and Eastern Market Corporation are both involved in spreading the urban farming idea. As I bike around the City, I don’t always see goats, but I do see more large garden plots. According to the Greening folks, some of those urban farmers are now seeing their excess food at Eastern Market.

With sprawl continuing to push the country further away from my home in Royal Oak, it’s exciting to see it reborn closer to home.