“You’re looking at the future of food. We are dedicated to helping create local food security in an organic and sustainable way, to protect our communities.”
– Joe Nelson Icet, Founder,
The Last Organic Outpost
On Saturday, June 14, we had the opportunity to visit The Last Organic Outpost, which was celebrating Urban Farm Day. This community garden, located in the heart of Houston’s fifth ward, started as a backyard garden project for founder Joe Nelson Icet. Over the years, it has grown in size as Joe’s mission has expanded: to establish an agricultural park in the inner city, to help the surrounding community learn about health and nutrition through the act of cultivation, and to create an environment of self-reliance.
We had discovered The Last Organic Outpost’s website just two days before starting 100 Mile Harvest. Knowing our family was going to be faced with changes in seasonal availability over the coming year, I was intrigued by the concept of a community farm. I placed a telephone call to Joe that evening, and was immediately struck by his passion as he discussed the concept. The land, formerly an abandoned parking lot, has been transformed with raised beds that have been planted with everything from tomatoes, melons and squash to eggplant, carrots and leeks. Visitors to the urban farm can bring seeds for planting, and one can volunteer labor or make a donation in order to harvest vegetables.
On Urban Farm Day, we finally got a chance to see it firsthand. Driving through the narrow neighborhood streets lined with shotgun houses, it was hard to imagine what the garden would be like. When we arrived, it was clear that this was really was an oasis…neatly arranged beds of earth were moist with irrigation, and the thick, undulating green vines of dozens of varieties of vegetables looked perfectly at home there.
From talking to others at the event, it was clear that this urban garden represented a shift in possibilities for the neighborhood as a whole. The community has embraced the outpost, and just as importantly, outsiders have been drawn to the farm’s bold mission and more great works are on the way. In an adjacent lot, a group called Brigid’s Paradigm is looking to build a series of low-cost homes utilizing green building methods and recycled materials that were otherwise destined for a landfill. It just goes to show that one man’s dream to improve his own life can positively affect the world around him.
Guerilla Farmers Documentary, Part I:
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