Vance County has declared the third week in November each year as Farm-City Week. During that time, local residents are encouraged to reflect upon the connections and interdependence between the people and businesses in our towns, and the farms that surround them. This great nation was built on agriculture, but the towns and cities provide the markets and support businesses that make farming possible.

URBAN AGRICULTURE: A FARM AND CITY MASHUP

By Diana Lewis, Natural Resource Conservation Service

Vance County has joined the ranks of many cities across the United States to begin reviewing local land use permit codes to include urban agriculture and allow locally grown, year round production of fresh foods within city limits. On November 3, 2015, the Henderson Zoning Board unanimously granted a Special Use Permit to two of our city homeowners that will be transitioning into Organic production of vegetables.

Local governments throughout the U.S. and NC in cities such as Seattle, Baltimore, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Boston, Asheville, Boulder, Austin, Salisbury, Portland, and Greensboro have already implemented special-use permits to allow installation of non-permanent structures such as greenhouses or high tunnels. This opens up a great opportunity to revitalize vacant inner city lots vandalized for years or just allowed to grow up or be trash dumps. It also provides opportunities for communities to partner with local agencies or community groups and implement educational projects for residents to be a part of.

Neighborhood kids, young adults and retirees can now be a part of growing vegetables from seed to harvest and bringing dying communities back to life. High tunnels provide a great opportunity to grow Fall/Winter/Spring/Summer produce, herbs, berries and greens in a protected environment and avoid extreme environmental conditions that can cause expensive crop failures. Produce such as tomatoes, sweet peppers, cucumbers, melons, summer squash, eggplants, ginger, garlic, collards etc. grown in high tunnels, can be in turn sold to local restaurants, day care centers, and schools providing healthy and delicious locally grown veggies right here in Henderson, NC!!

Vance County has declared the third week in November each year as Farm-City Week. During that time, local residents are encouraged to reflect upon the connections and interdependence between the people and businesses in our towns, and the farms that surround them. This great nation was built on agriculture, but the towns and cities provide the markets and support businesses that make farming possible.

SOIL HEALTH: THE FOUNDATION OF FOOD PRODUCTION

By Byron Currin, Vance County Soil and Water Conservation District

What’s the difference between dirt and soil?  The simple answer, dirt is dead and soil is alive! Soil is comprised of air, water, decayed plant residue, organic matter (living and dead organisms), and mineral matter (sand, silt, clay).  Healthy functioning soil needs to be able to sustain and nourish plants, soil microbes, and beneficial insects.  Healthy soils are porous, allowing air and water to move freely through them, and are often home to earthworms.

A balance between the chemical and physical components of a soil community is important.  Chemically; monitoring the pH, not over applying nutrients, and paying close attention to the nutrients you apply is important. Physically; compaction and drainage problems can also be issues.  A lack of pore space is often a result of compaction, which slows the proper movement of air and water.  Mechanical influences, such as wheel traffic, usually have a greater influence on compaction than natural causes would, and sometimes the use of deep tillage on an annual basis can be more detrimental than beneficial.

Proper drainage prevents soil from becoming anaerobic or waterlogged, prevents microorganisms from going to sleep, and helps eliminate disease and nutrient deficiencies from showing up in crops.  We can improve soil health by disturbing the soil as little as possible, growing different species of plants through rotations and a diverse mixture of cover crops, planting cover crops around our harvest to keep living roots growing in the soil for as much of the year as possible, and keeping the soil surface covered with residue year round.

Well managed, multi-species cover crops improve soil biology, increase soil life, increase organic matter, improve soil structure and fertility, increase water infiltration and water holding capacity, increase production, decrease cost, and increase profits.  Growing more plants in a rotation increases biodiversity, and diversity above ground improves diversity below ground.  Are we just growing crops or are we focusing on growing a soil biological community around the plant?