Programs: Urban Farm

You can find the Urban Farm at the Corner of
Smith and Fay Streets in central Columbia.
Credit: Maria Kritikos

Want to see an urban farm in action? Drop by the CCUA’s Urban Farm located at 1209 E. Smith Street – and see how we’ve changed an empty lot into a serene, green, veggie-producing machine. Late winter 2009, CCUA secured a lease on a 1.3 acre piece of land in central Columbia. Since then volunteers have worked around the clock to make this empty lot a productive and diverse Urban Farm. The farm is our main educational worksite for interns, apprentices, and volunteers.

In 2011, the farm experienced great growth. Here are some highlights of the season:

• Our lease agreement was extended until December 2016. Thank you Mark Stevenson and REMI!
• Volunteers helped build two sheds constructed out of recycled materials, those sheds provided us with much needed on-farm storage.
• A little bit of planning and lots of hard work hurled out yields through the roof, in spite of the extreme weather.
• We increased our chicken production. The Columbia Health Deparment granted us permission to raise up to 50 chickens at our farm.

In 2010, our first year of production, we have installed:

• Permanent planting beds for annual vegetable production
• Blackberry and blueberry bushes
• Perennial stands of asparagus and herbs
• Fruit Trees
• A garden to attract native pollinators
• Moveable “chicken tractors” to house our hens throughout the property
• Two bee hives to improve pollination and produce honey, courtesy of Art and Vera Gelder at Walk-About Acres.

Beehive at CCUA's Urban Farm.
Credit: Valerie Mosley

Rows of future produce at CCUA's Urban Farm.
Credit: Valerie Mosley

Compost is laid into rows as the Urban Farm is established in Spring 2010.
Credit: Billy Polansky

Rows are mulched to retain moisture, increase soil fertility, and prevent erosion.
Credit: Valerie Mosley

Spring cabbage is planted at the Urban Farm.
Credit: Valerie Mosley

In the heat of the summer the garden is busy with red amaranth plants,
tall trellises and bushy beans and peppers.
Credit: Maria Kritikos