Sorry it has been so long since my last post. I don’t have long, but I had to stop and share in more detail this great story about an urban food forest being proposed for a Seattle neighborhood:
A plot of grass sits in the middle of Seattle, feet from a busy road and on a hill that overlooks the city’s skyline. But it’s no ordinary patch of green. Residents hope it will become one of the country’s largest “food forests.”
The Beacon Hill park, which will start at 2 acres and grow to 7, will offer city dwellers a chance to pick apples, plums and other crops right from the branch.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for the people of Seattle to be able to connect to the environment,” said Maureen Erbe, who walked her two dogs next to the plot on a recent overcast day.
Would she pluck some fruit from the forest?
“Heck yes, I love a good blueberry. You’re not from Seattle if you don’t like a good blueberry,” she said.
For health-conscious and locally grown-food-loving Seattle, the park is a new step into urban agriculture. Cities from Portland to Syracuse, N.Y., already have their own versions. In Syracuse, for example, vacant lots were turned into vegetable gardens to be tended by local teens.
Seattle is an awesome place to have an urban garden. People already replace the little strips of grass between the sidewalk and the street with gardens, and in the summer Seattle is practically overrun with feral blackberry bushes and other fruit.
This is also a great way to improve your environment and make it just a little bit healthier and happier.
This idea has been getting a lot of attention in the media (see related links below), and I hope it will inspire other cities to do the same. Even in cities where it doesn’t rain allll the time, it is more than possible to create spaces for people to garden or for crops to grow feral and let nature take its course.
Related articles
- ‘Food forest’ in middle of Seattle will feature an urban view (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
- In Seattle, plans for a harvestable ‘food forest’ (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
- Seattle Grows an Urban Food Forest (macrospectra.com)
- Seattle Plans for Urban ‘Food Forest’ (myfoxphoenix.com)
- Seattle Plans for Urban ‘Food Forest’ (myfoxny.com)
- In Seattle, plans for a harvestable ‘food forest’ (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
- In Seattle, plans for a harvestable ‘food forest’ (sfgate.com)
- Seattle to Build Nation’s First Food Forest (InnovationToronto.com)
- Seattle to Create Nation’s Largest Public Food Forest (treehugger.com)
Mental Flowers 
Reblogged this on ArtoftheSTEM.