Santa Fe Urban Farming Program

350 Santa Fe / XR Urban Farming Program

(UNDER DEVELOPMENT)

Our urban farming program is a collaboration between 350 Santa Fe and Extinction Rebellion to establish and maintain a regenerative local foodshed in Santa Fe. <more content about what we do to promote this (e.g. setup farms, permitting, seeds, soil trainings, what ever else we decide to do.)

Our team

Our team is dedicated to helping you establish your own residential garden, participate/launch a neighborhood garden, participate it trainings, and anything else to get you tied into the community.

You can also sign up to get email updates at the following site:

Project coordinator? (picture)

• Nathalie Volkle-Castillo?
• Email@email.com

Read the guide below, and send us an email if you need help getting going!

Tackling climate change and deep adaptation

Reducing GHG

• (Talk with Wildcat about the proper way to setup regenerative soil)

Healthy soil not only promotes healthy crops and plants, but also has a huge capacity for storing carbon. Plants capture carbon in the form of carbon dioxide through photosynthesis. Some of that carbon is transferred to the roots of the plant and excreted into the soil in the form of organic acids and sugars. Microorganisms like fungi, nematodes, and bacteria feed on carbon sources from the plant roots, establishing what is referred to as mycorrhizae. All of this makes up a healthy soil structure that promotes plant growth and stores carbon. Conventional agriculture destroys the soil structure and depletes carbon and nutrients in the soil through chemical fertilizers, tilling, and monoculture.

For farming and gardening to reduce GHG, the health of the soil must be maintained. Several practices should be followed:

• No-till farming: The soil should not be tilled and turned over. This disturbs the structure of fungi in the soil around plant roots. Soil can be aerated without tilling it using the right tools.
• Avoid synthetic fertilizers and pesticides: Nitrogen-rich synthetic fertilizers and herbicides have carbon-intensive manufacturing processes.
• Use cover crops: Cover crops like legumes and grasses actually deposit nitrogen into the soil, which helps feed other plants and organisms in the mycorrhizae. Cover crops planted in the off-season also protect the soil from wind and water erosion.
• Rotate crops: In large garden spaces and farmlands, it is important to rotate the type of crops grown in each area on a yearly basis. Continuously planting the same crops will deplete soil of certain nutrients. Rotating crops lets the soil recover and maintain a balance of nutrients.

Blogs and websites curated by highly experienced sustainable farmers and gardeners are great resources to get started:

• If You Love Your Soil, Ditch the Tiller by Joe Gardener

Building community farms

Residential garden

• (plans and pictures as a demo)

Let us help you establish a residential garden in your own yard!

Home gardens generally fall into two categories: raised beds, and in-ground beds. The most important part of either one is to ensure you have healthy soil. There are several sources of information about establishing your garden online.

In-ground
The Spruce blog has excellent instructions for establishing an in-ground garden bed, from removing grass to nourishing your soil, here.

Raised Beds
Raised beds can be made out of essentially anything-- wood, cinderblocks, bricks, galvanized metal, the list goes on. The links below include a guide from Joe Gardener, and some raised bed kits available for sale online.

• Raised Bed Gardening, Part 1 (links to 2 and 3 within)
• Ground-level kit
• Box stand
• There's even guides from large hardware stores

Neighborhood Garden

• Potential locations for neighborhood farms

• (plans and pictures)

• Other community supported agriculture

Planting

Seed exchange program

• (Frenchy Barn seed exchange / other seed exchange methods)

Seedling Delivery Program

• (What are our sources for seedlings, and how will

Resources

Backyard Gardening Carbon Sequestration Guide

Backyard Carbon Sequestration: What does Synthetic Fertilizer Have to do With it?