Page 4 summer 2014 Arcadia’s Edible Garden Tour showcases urban agriculture Bounty By Katie Mayer Backyard T he day is sunny, the temperature is balmy and the telltale signs of spring have arrived. Small green fuzzy fruits dot the branches of a tree that will soon yield a bounty of white peaches. Across the way, delicate blossoms adorn a plum tree, while a nearby orange tree has already produced its flowers, leaving a scent of ripe citrus lingering in the air. Nearby, a brood of speckled and multi- colored hens quietly cluck in their coop – the peacefulness interrupted once in a while by a series of squawks which signal one is about to lay an egg. Two adjacent goats appear unfazed by the screeches, but occasionally peek out curiously through a fence. The quaint and vibrant garden feels like a slice of land somewhere far away from the common rock and cactus landscapes of Arizona, but it’s actually just the backyard mini farm and orchard of Arcadia residents Hall and Jill Green, owners of Sweet Life Garden. “A garden is so basic to your soul that you come in and you realize, ‘I’m missing this. I need this,’” Green said. “There is a remembering that this is really the way it’s supposed to be.” To share her love of gardening and bring the local community closer, Green and fellow urban gardener Rebecca Kidwell, owner of Farmyard, launched Arcadia’s Edible Garden Tour four years ago. Today, the tour is held twice a year and offers up to 600 guests the chance to visit about nine of the area’s most unique and impressive urban agricultural gardens and farms. Urban agriculture is growing food in gardens throughout heavily populated towns or cities. The tour is self-guided and lasts for a half day, showcasing a diverse mixture of large and small urban farms and providing a space for gardeners to share ideas and artisans to sell goods such as jams, soap and pillows. The next tour will be held on May 10, and tickets sell out quickly. “It’s a wonderful way to spend a day doing something that not only builds camaraderie, but does something good for the community and your family,” said Arcadia resident and past tour attendee Robbie Shaw, who is also an urban gardener. Initially, the tour started as a small group of local gardeners who wanted to see one another’s yards. The group gathered together and drove from one home to the next and enjoyed a potluck meal. “We all kind of felt like there was a movement going on where people want organic, clean food,” Green said. “But it’s pretty expensive, and since we were all gardeners, we felt like it was time to open our gardens and extend it to the community.” So together, Green and Kidwell, started a largely word-of-mouth event that has today grown as successfully as the gardens they tend. “People think you can’t grow here in Arizona,” said Kidwell, “but this tour is inspiring and instills hope that you can grow here…like, ‘Look at their edible landscapes; I can do it too.” Contributing to the local food supply Kidwell is a native Arizonan who has gardened since she was a child. Her business Farmyard currently feeds 65 families a week through its collection of four urban farms. One of the farms is located at Kidwell’s home near 42nd St. and Indian School Rd. and the other three are on other people’s properties. “A neighbor came to us when he was out walking one day and said ‘My entire front yard is wasted space, can you put something in there?’” Kidwell said. “We’ve now been maintaining his property for two years; he wants to contribute to the local food supply.” Naturally, the people whose land Kidwell farms also get to enjoy some tasty rewards. “We grow about 15 different vegetables and a full selection of herbs,” Kidwell said. The food produced at the farms is sold through Community Supported Agriculture, called CSA for short. This means that clients pay for shares of a portion of the harvest up front, which helps fund seeding and fertilization, and later get their investment back in the form of fresh organic food. “Whatever is ripe and harvested in the morning, is delivered in the afternoon,” Kidwell said. “It doesn’t get any fresher.” Since it’s not possible to farm every single type of fruit and vegetable in the limited space of an urban garden, Kidwell relies on other famers, such as Green, to supply additional organic produce for clients. For example, when Green has peaches, Kidwell will buy them so that her customers can enjoy fresh peaches. “We’re pretty serious about gardening, but you don’t have to be like that,” Green said. “We just started with one tree and one box and you can just add to it.” Crafting a meal from the backyard Green and her husband have gardened for 30 years and first started as a way to provide their children with healthy organic food. Also, the children were homeschooled and part of their curriculum included spending time outside, Green said. The Greens started small with just a peach tree – and in two seasons – found themselves with more peaches than they could eat. The family ended up selling the excess to neighbors, who then began requesting to buy other types of produce. Eventually, the Greens started planting more, and today sell a wide variety of food, including apples, cherries, pears, jams and eggs. At home, the family makes meals from their garden, processes their own chickens for meat, eats fresh eggs from the hens and drinks milk from their goats. “You don’t need to go to the grocery store,” Green said. “When I do go, I’m like, ‘There’s nothing here except boxes.’” Marianne Sattler, who has attended Arcadia’s Edible Garden tour twice and buys jams from Green, compares eating processed foods to “putting half gas and half water into your gas tank.” “Anybody who tries to eat healthfully is in awe of what these women have accomplished in their yards,” Sattler said. “It’s just inspiring.” Jill's Sweet Life Garden Continued on page 8 A Co-founders Jill Green and Rebecca Kidwell Left: Boho Farm and Home, photo by Caroline Van Slyke. Right: Farmyard, photo by Michael Woodall Photography.

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