Project team

Head: Ecovillage Produce

Partners: Ithaca Court Community Garden, Gordon Square Farmer’s Market

Project description and goals

The project leverages the gardening expertise of a group of Master Gardener’s by turning a plot of vacant land in Detroit Shoreway’s EcoVillage community into a fruit and vegetable polyculture.  Moreover, the project allows for increased capacity in the supply of an existing food stand within the neighborhood farmer’s market, thus allowing for fresh food access within the inner city, not to mention the fostering of a local sustainable small business. Beyond the goals of access and entrepreneurship, the goal of EcoVillage produce is to develop a viable economic development model that can be replicated in other neighborhoods where land surplus and food inaccessibility exist.

Existing conditions

The 2,144 sq. ft. site (002-31-068) is located on W. 57th St. within Cleveland’s EcoVillage, which is a nationally-recognized demonstration project for urban sustainability.  The lot is adjacent to a number of existing plots which—together—make-up the EcoVillage Produce farms. The site was chosen for a number of reasons, including its proximity to the group’s other gardens, its unbuildable lot size, and because its location is within an area that will eventually receive zoning as an “Urban Garden District”.

Proposed interventions

Given the lot’s small size, the land will be used for the installation of one unit of a modular ecological design system developed out of the Ohio Agricultural and Development Center.  The system—in brief—is intended to maximize output while minimizing footprint.  For the current project, the one unit consists of: 4 tree/shrub fruit crops (apples, blueberries, peaches, raspberries) and 4 herbaceous commodities (strawberries, edamame soybeans, tomatoes, and snap peas).  Horticultural particulars of the system of include:

• the use of a mixed row pattern of plantings as a method of pest management
• the construction of raised beds using landscape timbers
• the use of cultivars for each perennial commodity, and
• the use of such ecological principles as biocontrol, compost, and storm water retention through a developed irrigation system.

It is expected that the system will yield $10 per foot of row within three years, with the system itself measuring 1280 sq. ft. (or 640 row feet).

Site maintenance

Maintenance schedules will be based off of existing work schedules. Particularly, EcoVillage Produce has weekly schedules running year round, with tasks including: watering, mowing, trash removal, composting, planting, harvesting, market preparation, and end-of-the-season duties.  In winter months duties involve the collection of composting materials from neighboring restaurants, with a compost pile being maintained year round.  Watering of the site will be accomplished through the installation of an above-ground metered site.