Green Series: 15Thousand Farmers

15Thousand Farmers is a local group that is working to inspire 15,000 new farmers in Louisville, KY. It was founded by Gary Heine, of Heine Bros. Coffee, Valerie Kausen, and Steve Vice.

One strategy of their plan is to encourage the use of Square Food Gardening. This isn't a new concept, but one that is quickly taking hold as more and more people show interest in growing their own produce, even deep in urban areas. It is easy because the size is manageable for beginners and your yards soil quality is of little importance. Using small areas, people with limited yards can still grow significant amounts of food for their families and communities.

The nice thing about Square Food Gardening is that you don't have to deal with your own soil. You don't even need any land to start with. All of the gardening can be done in raised beds. Just fill the bed with quality gardening soil and compost and suddenly you have a garden to sow seeds in.

Those of us from the Fisherville area are already at a huge advantage in this movement. Most of us have plenty of land to grow vegetables. Even if you start with just a 4x4 area, you could then increase the size each year until you had several 4x4 boxes, or even a small farming operation.

The Next 15Thousand Farmers Informational Meeting:

Saturday March 27, 2-4 pm
at
Clifton Center
2117 Payne Street
Louisville, KY 40206-2011

For more information on 15Thousand Farmers, check out the recent article from the Courier-Journal, Clifton Group Urges People to Grow Food, or visit their website 15ThousandFarmers.com.

You can find more information on square foot gardening at the The Square Foot Gardening Foundation website. There is a handy garden planner at Gardener's Supply that can help you visualize the growing method.

Here are some raised beds for sale on Amazon: