Urban Farm Presentation

Last Saturday, we traveled to Cedar Rapids to present and gather your feedback on our urban farm design. We were very pleased to see that so many neighbors turned out to discuss the project with us, and your advice was very helpful in figuring out the completion of the urban farm project and the direction that this studio will take in the coming months. For those of you who couldn't be there, here's a summary of the work that we presented.

Site Context

The Ellis Urban Village is on the corner of F Avenue and Ellis Boulevard, in the area between Rumors Bar and Grill and the Diamond V Mills factory. The site is right on the edge of the 100-year floodplain and the levee construction zone, so normal residential construction would be difficult; as a result, part of the motivation for this project was a desire to introduce a new kind of rebuilding that could exist in a floodplain while still being a real part of the neighborhood.

Fields and Gathering Places

The purpose of the Ellis Urban Village goes beyond fields. In addition to produce-growing gardens for community-supported agriculture, it is meant to serve as a community gathering place that the neighborhood can take pride in. As a part of Cultivate Hope, the urban farm will host educational programs to teach the skills needed to grow fresh food. Beyond its use by Matthew 25, it will contain a play area for children, a pavilion that can be reserved for community events, and spaces for relaxation and reflection.

Growing in the Neighborhood

The urban farm is meant to beautify and lend an atmosphere of growth to the surrounding area. The farm fields will be garden plots designed to be tended with as little machinery and as much human care as possible. Planting will include a wide and colorful range of crops and vegetables throughout the year. The urban farm is meant to fit into the neighborhood, and so to conserve resources and help keep up the neighborhood's history and continuity, we'll be reusing or replacing existing buildings on the site whenever possible.

Play Area

The urban farm will be a place for the neighborhood to come together, learn and enjoy. Part of that goal is the inclusion of an interactive play space for children. There will be spaces to explore, climb, meet with friends and learn, as well as sitting places for resting parents. Imagination is the best of toys, and the urban farm will contain a wide variety of ways to exercise it for young and old alike.

Pavilion

The centerpiece of the urban farm will be a pavilion constructed at the heart of the farm, nestled between two existing garages that will be restored and reused for farm storage. In the heat of the summer, the pavilion will draw in cool summer wind while keeping the sun and rain off of classes and events. Movable dividers will make it possible to set aside part of the pavilion for a small group or open it up for a large event. As part of our goal of responsible resource use, the pavilion will also collect and store rainwater from its roof for use throughout the farm in times of little rain.

Storage and Demonstration

As the urban farm produces crops, there will be a need for on-site cool storage of vegetables while crops wait to be picked up. With some insulation and modifications to a normal window air conditioner, it's possible to convert a small room into a walk-in cooler without the expense. Another existing garage on site is the best candidate for conversion into this kind of storage space.

In addition to farming and community space, we want the urban farm to be educational and understandable. Some of the benches created to give the farm sitting space will also have an educational function, teaching by example how storm water can be collected and dealt with without flooding basements and overloading storm sewers.

Putting Plants to Work

The most important part of our strategy for dealing with storm water is the use of swales. Swales are shallow ditches filled with growing plants and absorbent soil. Water flows into swales and is absorbed into the ground slowly, filtering and safely dealing with any pollutants. We've placed swales in the path of water flow throughout the site, to absorb water from the farm before it flows onto neighbors' yards and streets. There are a variety of possible plants that will be grown in our swales, ranging from rows of stately trees when placed next to neighbors' lawns to thick, multi-level planting to quiet sound from the railroad.

Another creative use of plants that will be applied in the urban farm is the addition of a food forest. This will be an area planted with several levels of edible plants, ranging from low herbs and berry shrubs to taller fruit trees. In addition to growing delicious food, the forest will be a restful, shaded space for quiet contemplation.

Year-Round Production

To make the most use of the land, the urban farm will include a moveable greenhouse to lengthen the growing season. When sheltered in a greenhouse, some crops can be grown and harvested months earlier and later than would otherwise be possible. A greenhouse that can be moved on rails from site to site makes this process even more efficient, sheltering the hardiest crops first and moving on so that months can be added to production time. While other farm buildings are based in existing garages, the greenhouse will be placed in the site of an old house lot - by putting something there again, we want to help restore the image of the neighborhood and make the block more whole.