Urban Agriculture
Urban agriculture is a great way to support your local community by providing fresh food or flowers. In some forms it can even reduce soil contamination, noise pollution, and food access inequities. Despite these great benefits, urban agriculture does not need to be large scale. Whether you are turning a vacant lot into a sustainable garden, using a roof for green space, or just growing some tomatoes on your balcony urban agriculture is a great opportunity for our community.
Soil Safety
Soil testing is highly recommended. Lead and other containments may be present in soil and may be inhaled, absorbed into crops, or otherwise ingested. Children and pregnant women are especially vulnerable. The University of Illinois Extension maintains a list of soil testing labs in the area including those that test for hard metals.
Recommended but not required actions include,
Recommended but not required actions include,
- Use raised beds and bring in new soil
- Locate gardens away from old painted structures and heavily traveled roads
- Give planting preferences to fruiting crops (tomatoes, squash, peas, sunflowers, corn, etc.)
- Incorporate organic materials such as finished compost, humus, and peat moss
- Lime soil as recommended by soil test (pH 6.5 minimizes lead availability)
- Discard old and outer leaves before eating leafy vegetables; peel root crops; wash all produce
- Keep dust to a minimum by maintaining a mulched and/or moist soil surface
Resources
The easy to use USDA Community Gardens and Planting Guide
The University of Illinois Extension offers many resources on local food and horticulture
The USDA offers an Urban Agriculture Tooklit and a series of Urban Agriculture Resources
The EPA a series of tools including information on urban agriculture and brownfields
Neigborhood Exhange Guide on creating raised beds, composting, and more
The Seed Savers Exchange offers crop-by-crop growing guides
The American Community Gardening Association offers diverse resources on successful gardens
The University of Illinois Extension offers many resources on local food and horticulture
The USDA offers an Urban Agriculture Tooklit and a series of Urban Agriculture Resources
The EPA a series of tools including information on urban agriculture and brownfields
Neigborhood Exhange Guide on creating raised beds, composting, and more
The Seed Savers Exchange offers crop-by-crop growing guides
The American Community Gardening Association offers diverse resources on successful gardens
Danville Farmer's Market
The Danville area benefits from the local Danville Farmers Market which includes a winter market.
