URBAN HUBS
Our Organoponico systems in the urban landscape evolve from a local "hub". The Hub is a plot of land that has been designated to provide the support structure for local home or garden scale organoponico's.
The hub contains composting facilities, seedbank, plant raising facilities (greenhouses or polytunnels), storage sheds for tools and equipment and containers plus the formers and timber supplies for making the raised structures. The hub also has an area set out with beds that are growing and producing food as a working example and to encourage locals as to what is possible. Training and guidance workshops are held at the hub for locals to further enhance their knowledge and skills in urban farming. Hubs are at the heart of a successful local food production system. From the support hub small garden growing systems spring forth in the local area.
Once a hub is established local people are encouraged to join up to have an area within their own garden set up. The hub organisers would then help to set up the bed(s) within the new garden area alongside the new member who would join in and learn the set up process. The new person would then undertake to be part of the next team to locate the second home set up and so forth. The principle is a simple one that facilitates in the rapid spreading of the organoponico's within a neighbourhood.
Each new member or participant would choose the type of vegetables that they wish to grow and would be supplied with either seed or young plants from the hub along with growing medium and be given access to all printed and video guides. Where possible the new participant would return a proportion of gathered seed to the hub so that future new members could benefit.
All seeds and plants supplied by the hub are of heirloom or heritage types, chosen for flavour and taste and ease of growth in local conditions.
New participants may wish to concentrate on growing certain varieties or types of vegetable, in which case they would be encouraged to exchange excess with others who have grown other types within their local area.
Each new member would undertake to provide support for an agreed number of further new set ups.
The Hub is at the heart of the organoponico system, most individual home growing that fails, does so because of lack of knowledge and the disappointment that follows failure of a crop the hub provides the support that will overcome this. Founder organisers of the hub will be contactable and will visit participants to offer guidance and help when required. Once a new member has tasted success from their own crops they usually gain interest and their involvement itself grows, the community then begins to tighten and improve as more participants become involved.
We are now showing details of a pilot project in Nottingham that has just started. The Urban Hub project is called "Grow For It". Please visit the projects website HERE.
