A visit to Growing Home’s Wood St. Urban Farm

Kristin Ostberg and I took a bike ride down to Englewood to visit Larry O’Toole and see Growing Home’s .75 acre operation, www.growinghomeinc.org. Larry and I know eachother from way back in the early days of Critical Mass and our paths are again crossing on the subject of urban agriculture. Not being a farmer myself, I appreciate Larry’s words of wisdom. Growing Home focuses on transitional job training and does an amazing job of helping formerly homeless people build self confidence and marketable skills. The Wood St. Urban Farm recently received organic certification, which is a great feat considering its location on a fairly “dirty” site. They did this by building their growing beds and hoop houses on a deep layer of compost, which can be certified in only three months, as opposed to topsoil which takes years. SHED Studio designed the classroom building and other structures. Cool stuff. Watch this space for a potential partnership with Growing Home, providing training for folks to have permanent, year-round jobs at the Plant.