Spring in Baltimore means...
We are growing collective power, growing food, growing solidarity in our communities -- even growing new urban farmers! Here are some of the many events going on around town where you can connect with your neighborhood farms and farmers:
Monday, March 25, 9am -11am at the Impact Hub: Bandana Breakfast with #CampesinasRising and National Farmworker Awareness Week. Join Farm Alliance of Baltimore and Centro de los Derechos del Migrante for this free event with bagels and coffee to honor the work of women migrant farmworkers who are organizing to fight back against sexual violence in the fields. We will decorate bandanas to send to the farmworkers to show our solidarity with their struggle. All are welcome! RSVP here.
Wednesday, March 27, 11:15 am to noon: Community Cooking Demo at the Baltimore Free Farm, 3510 Ash St., 21211. Join chef Crystal Forman of Holistic Wellness and Health for a cooking and nutrition demonstration to learn how to use spring produce from your local farm! Free to all; no RSVP required.
Saturday, March 30, 10:30am at Yellow House Farm, 4415 Mary Avenue, 21206: Keep Chickens! A workshop on how to keep chickens in the city. $5 suggested donation. RSVP here at the Facebook event page.
Saturday, March 30, starting at noon, Cherry Hill Urban Community Garden at 900 Cherry Hill Road, 21225: Season kickoff event at the Cherry Hill Urban Community Garden, with music, celebration, food, and a garden tour. Hosted by Black Yield Institute. Free to all; no RSVP required.
Saturday, April 6, 7pm, Red Emma's Bookstore& Cafe: Agricultural Resistance and the Black Freedom Movement, book talk at Red Emma's Bookstore Cafe. Hear author and scholar Monica White read from her new book, Freedom Farmers, about the Mississippi-based Black agricultural cooperative movement founded by Fannie Lou Hamer.
Sign up for a CSA: Fresh, local produce directly from your farmer, all season long!
By Lizzie Crespi, Program Coordinator, Farm Alliance of Baltimore
Many of our member farms offer Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs throughout the summer season. In exchange for supporting the farms at the beginning of the season, our farmers will provide you with fresh, local, chemical-free produce and/or flowers each week throughout the season. This provides farmers with the support they need to purchase seeds, compost, and other materials at the beginning of the season, when resources are often scarce after the cold winter months. These CSAs are filling up fast, so be sure to secure your spot as soon as possible! Support your neighborhood and Baltimore City through local investment - sign up for one of the following CSAs:
Hillen Homestead, Coldstream-Homestead-Montebello
Hillen Homestead offers a 4-week, $85 specialty flower CSA, with a Monday evening pickup in Charles Village. The wrapped bouquets feature a unique mix of double, parrot, fringe tulips, and more - these are not your grocery store tulips!
Real Food Farm, Clifton Park
Real Food Farm offers a variety of CSA options, ranging from $150 to $580, over the course of 29 weeks, depending on your produce needs. They even have the option to include coffee from Thread and/or fresh-baked bread from A Friendly Bread Company!
Whitelock Community Farm, Reservoir Hill
Whitelock Community Farm offers a 22-week CSA, with a cost of $350 to $450. Your share will include 5-7 items each week, plus an herb, recipes, storage tips, and information about upcoming farm events! Pick-up can be Wednesday evenings or Saturday mornings at various locations.
Yellow House Farm, Cedmont
Yellow House Farm offers a 23-week CSA, at a rate of $350 for the season, with a delivery option for those in Northeast Baltimore. You’ll receive 5-7 items per week, including vegetables, small fruits, and the occasional preserve (jams, pestos, pickles), along with produce storage and cooking tips!
Farm Alliance Member Farms are also able to offer reduced prices to SNAP/EBT and WIC recipients through the Farm Alliance Double Dollars program. Ask your farmer for more information!
Update on Filbert Street Garden:
You really came through in signing the Change.org petition to save Filbert Street Garden in Curtis Bay! We gathered over 1100 signatures from communities from Baltimore to the Netherlands. The Department of Public Works has not made a commitment to spare the garden, but the Curtis Bay community is rallying around it. Check out this interview published today on The Real News Network with garden manager Rodette Jones and others involved with the garden. We are hopeful that DPW will agree to work around the garden as it develops its plans for a new water pumping station in Curtis Bay.
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