Importance of homegrown goods emphasized in seminar

An increased interest in urban agriculture is resulting in more opportunities for education.

Courtney Tchida, student personnel coordinator for the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture and member of the teacher’s guild with the Permaculture Research Institute, is holding the third of three workshops tomorrow at the Minnesota College of Art and Design about how to grow vegetables and sustainable gardens in an urban area.

“There’s been a pretty strong interest in urban agriculture lately, and I was trying to key in on that and provide educational opportunities for people that were interested,” Tchida said.

The third workshop is full, but Tchida said she was planning to run the same presentations in May to provide those that missed a session another chance to attend. Participation and interest were high during the entire series, Tchida said. She said there were between 30 and 50 at each, and that she was “very happy” with the turnout.

The third workshop Tchida is hosting will focus on bio-intensive gardening. Tchida will discuss the components of gardening on a small scale, such as digging double beds, how to utilize compost and how to help growth reach maximum potential in a small area.

The first workshop, held in late March, focused on people that had little to no land or resources. She discussed case studies, marketing strategies and how to grow an urban garden.

The second workshop focused on people with less than five acres on which to grow. The workshop covered things like crop rotation and how to deal with weeds.

“The idea is that you start in your own backyard and then move onto your neighbor’s backyard and eventually you have enough for a sort of farmer’s market,” Tchida said.

Stephanie Hankerson, Community Garden Organizer for the South East Como Improvement Association , said she added the events Tchida is hosting to the community calendar because she said there was a growing interest in her neighborhood. She said more people are realizing that self sufficiency is important in these economic times.

“The economy is getting people thinking about their food bill,” Haukerson said. “It used to be, they would to go to Cub and pick up things that came from Mexico, or wherever, and it just doesn’t make sense anymore when they look outside and see a little space with sun that could be productive.”

In fact, Dan Halsey, who worked with Tchida to set up the classes, said that membership in the Permaculture Research Institute, blog interest and the number of community gardens have all increased within the last four or five years. He attributed this to a number of different factors, including the economy, climate change and education. He said although he was biased, he believed that early education in urban gardening was important and that people he called “early adopters” would be at an advantage.

“Courtney is the leading edge of all of this (urban gardening),” he said, referencing a student organic garden she runs and research she is involved in.

Tchida’s presentations are based on her research and studies she has done.

There is a $20 charge for non-Institute members, and $15 for members for each class. More information on future classes can be found at the Permaculture Research Institute’s website.