By Anna Smith
Updated spaces, classes, and initiatives provide new value to the community and increase the program’s need for volunteers
Metro Caring’s Urban Agriculture Program has grown significantly since its inception over a decade ago. Initially centered around the greenhouse, the program aimed to offset some of the food ordered for the Fresh Foods Market. The greenhouse quickly became a community hub, providing plants to local residents and space for other organizations to grow their food.
This growing season, the program has evolved to meet the needs of the community, with team members Eve Hemingway (Urban Agriculture Coordinator), Ewan Scribner (Hydroponic Farmer), and Ashley Pearson (Seasonal Gardener) contributing their expertise and passion for growing.
Eve said that the biggest misconception about urban agriculture is that people can’t grow their own food at home. Folks often say they don’t have enough time, expertise, space, or sunlight.
“You can grow in almost any space, you just have to get creative,” Eve said. “One window has the potential to produce up to 20 pounds of food. We’re trying to remove the barriers to growing food at home by offering gardening resources and classes. We hope to use gardening as a path toward increased food security in our community.”
Eve Hemingway, Metro Caring's Urban Agriculture Coordinator
Updated spaces and their new roles
Indoor Garden
The Indoor Garden opened in spring this year to share free plants, seeds, and other materials—like pots, worm compost, and soil—with our community. Located in the Welcome Center on the first floor, you can find demonstration models on how to grow food at home with a variety of setups and budgets. Volunteers help run the Indoor Garden and have guides on the pros and cons of the different models and information about our various garden classes. Our community is even welcome to harvest produce from the Indoor Garden.
Volunteers share seeds, seedlings, and resources in the Indoor Garden, located in the Welcome Center.
The Greenhouse
Over time, this greenhouse transformed from growing food for the market into a community hub, providing space for organizations and individuals to grow plants. Currently, the greenhouse provides growing space for six community partners who grow food for the community—both in the Fresh Foods Market and at local farmers markets. One example is Mo’Betta Green, which organizes community farm dinners and a farmers market in Charles R Cousins Plaza every Saturday from June 22 to October 12, where they invite other Black, Indigenous, and people of color producers to sell fresh produce with them. They grow all of their starts in the greenhouse and share harvests with our Fresh Foods Market. Metro Caring shares volunteers with Mo’Betta Green during the summer months to support their farm sites.
Volunteer Jessica Austriaco pours soil into a nursery pot in the greenhouse at night.
Community-centric educational opportunities
The program’s evolution has always been community-driven, responding to the needs and feedback of community members. For instance, hearing that many community members lack access to outdoor space, the program developed workshops on indoor gardening. The program now has 25 classes—all of them free to our community.
Hydroponics class
Our Hydroponics 101 class, led by Metro Caring Hydroponic Farmer Ewan Scribner teaches participants how to implement hydroponic systems at home.
Gardening 101 workshops
Taught by Chuck from Gardening with Chuck, a community farmer who uses our greenhouse, this 5-part series of workshops covers essential gardening skills and is offered in both Spanish and English.
For the young gardeners
Designed for middle and high schoolers, these Urban Gardening 101 classes welcome young people to learn about the importance of food sovereignty for all people, land rights and land use, and urban agriculture as a professional field.
Additional specialized classes
From container gardening and beekeeping to seed saving and vermicomposting, diverse learning opportunities aim to leave participants with both the knowledge and necessary materials to get started on their own.
Have an idea for a gardening class you’d like to take? Email Eve.
Randle Loeb leads a compost class for gardeners at Humboldt Community Garden.
New initiatives for a healthier, more just world
Vermicomposting
Metro Caring recently started vermicomposting, a method of turning food scraps and other organic waste into nutrient-rich soil using worms. There is a big bin of worms in the office who get fed every week. Those worms’ excrement becomes compost, or worm castings, which is great for garden beds. The worm castings are distributed to community members and farmers on a six-month basis when worms are rotated. We also have worm castings from Princess Garden Farms available all spring and summer in the indoor garden. The vermicomposting program is particularly popular with kids programs, providing a fun and educational experience that highlights the importance of sustainable practices.
Seed saving program
The Urban Agriculture team saves seeds each season to distribute in the indoor garden. This is important because seeds will retain information about climate and environment, which will help the next generation grow more successfully. For example, if Denver had a big drought and a plant survived and went to seed, those seeds would be more drought-tolerant than if the drought hadn’t happened. The more localized your seeds are, the better the chances that they’ll grow to be strong and produce a lot of food.
Part of the initiative is preserving seeds for Palestinian communities, ensuring the survival of culturally significant plants. Food banks and seed banks were some of the main targets of bombing over the past year, and many seeds that held knowledge of the Palestinian land were lost. Metro Caring keeps the seeds of three culturally relevant plants from Palestine—sage, cilantro, and holy basil—to give to Palestinians in Denver.
Rematriating land
Land rematriation, also known as “land back,” is the process of returning stolen Indigenous land to Indigenous people. The goal of Metro Caring’s rematriation initiative is to make sure that Indigenous folks in the region can access land to grow on if they want it, instead of having to rent land. While the initiative is still in the beginning stages, staff are currently identifying community members who have yards or extra space available that can be used by Native leaders and partner organizations like Spirit of the Sun.
Community gardeners help each other prepare their beds for the season at Humboldt Community Garden.
How to get involved
One of the most pressing challenges for the Urban Agriculture program is staffing volunteers. The program always needs more hands for:
- Distributing seedlings and gardening resources at the Indoor Garden during our Fresh Foods Market hours of operation.
- Monthly community garden workdays to help maintain and weed gardens.
- Watering, planting, and transplanting plants in the greenhouse.
If you’re interested in any of these volunteer opportunities, email Eve to get signed up.
The Urban Agriculture program will continue to evolve with community input and participation. By making it easier for individuals to grow their own food, we hope to create options outside of the traditional food system and foster community joy around gardening.
