Cool Urban Homestead in Cuba.

[seedspreader]

http://www.newfarm.org/international...ian_cuba.shtml



.Container on-farm stand: "America's" curbside farm stand, fashioned from an old railroad car. Note the apartment building in the background -- food is produced and marketed very close to where it will be consumed.

[LostnEurope]

Great post..I have seen a couple of programs about Cuba on National Geographic or somewhere..They really revamped their farming practices after the breakup of the Soviet Union...Small family and community gardening are encouraged, most of it sustainable, using compost to rebuild the soil..Now if only our Goverment would wake up......If Cuba had not done this there would have been a lot of Famine and hunger due to the US embargo..........Mike

That's a shipping container, not an old railroad car.

.....Alan.

[seedspreader]

I just copied the "copy" at the bottom of the description.

[bgak47]

Ah yes! Cuba... the paradise of the Caribbean! Just the place to Homestead! Can you say Communist Dictatorship?

[seedspreader]

Originally Posted by bgak47

Ah yes! Cuba... the paradise of the Caribbean! Just the place to Homestead! Can you say Communist Dictatorship?

What does that have to do with this lady's urban homestead efforts.

You may want to read up on how she does it, since we could face the same thing here some day.

[Farmer Dave]

Originally Posted by bgak47

Ah yes! Cuba... the paradise of the Caribbean! Just the place to Homestead! Can you say Communist Dictatorship?

Can you say Bush Dictatorship?

[Pony]

Originally Posted by Farmer Dave

Can you say Bush Dictatorship?

Golly, Dave, while I agree that the probability is high that things are going to go from bad to worse, I can most definitely assure you that it is, in fact, a bi-partisan effort by the politicians of our single-party system. You can't blame one person or one flavor of politician (Republocrat or Demican).

If we had more than one party, I probably would not be so skeptical.

Now, as to the New Farm site: Thanks for the link, ZYG! It is so cool, and I'm going back right now to read more!

Pony!

A vote for Republican or Democrat is a wasted vote.
VOTE LIBERTARIAN!

[pancho]

The embargo is not a true embargo. Ms. has just contracted to ship cotton to Cuba. There is quite a bit of trading with Cuba and a lot of tourist visiting.

[seedspreader]

You know Pony, I found this statement pretty amazing:

One major strategy to ease the crisis was to implement urban agriculture, with folks farming their backyards, or bringing new life to abandoned lots or defunct manufacturing sites. Because of free-market incentives established by the government in response to the crisis, there is now enough organic produce grown within the city limits of Havana to feed each of the city’s 2.5 million residents a minimum of 300 grams (about 10 ounces) of fruits and vegetables each day.

I agree Pancho, the embargo is selectively enforced... just think "Cuban Cigars".

[seedspreader]

Success in achieving sustainability of Cuban livestock production lags behind that achieved with vegetables and fruit. It is impressive, though, that pork and poultry production, now occurring in more diversified systems on small farms, have reached levels that existed before the crisis, when most all animals were raised in conventional confinement facilities. And university research conducted in Cuba, using sustainability indicators they have developed, has concluded that a 20-cow dairy provides the maximum level of efficiency.

I also found this pretty interesting.

[littlebird]

Great post! I have long been fascinated by the Cuban people's strategies for becoming self-sustaining since the collapse of the USSR. It looks as though these strategies are going to stand them in good stead for a long time to come.

[Selena]

I would love to visit Cuba, some day when the dual citizenship is completed. Cuba's infant mortality rate is lower than the US rate. And life expectancy in Cuba is just slightly shorter than in the US. Where there is a will there is a way. I too find the self-sufficiency of Cubans quite interesting. And those cigars are only ok for the "right" person. I'm sure I'd get busted for possessing any.

[michiganfarmer]

pretty cool bob

[Madroaster]

Just to add some more info here (perhaps with a little more detachment than the original article):

These are organoponicos. You can read about them here: Wikipedia on Organoponicos.

I worked with these in Cienfuegos, Cuba in 2001 for several months. Essentially, it's a state-run program to convert any unused urban space into food production. The produce from each garden is sold to the residents living around the garden; the gardens are peppered throughout the city. In Cienfuegos, a city of 100,000 people, there were (at that time) some 30 gardens in the city, and another 25 or so just at the edge of town. The residents are able to buy the produce at reduced cost direct from the garden, which reduces costs for transportation, and provides fresher produce.

The gardens are not grown in the ground, but in raised beds consisting of 50% soil and 50% organic material. The gardens are almost exclusively organic. They employ natural fertilizers and pest control (mainly through insects and companion growing), and have an established program of city-wide composting, and daily manure deliveries (a common form of local transportation is horse-drawn canopied carriage for up to 10 people); the manure is collected in a tarp behind the horse and delivered daily to the gardens. Each garden has a vermiculture bed that churns the compost and manure into the organic matter that makes up the bed material.

The program is largely successful, but it does suffer from the kinds of problems one might expect: I observed gardens run by skeleton crews because half of the employees never came to work, and I found instances where produce was directed to other neighborhoods where family or friends lived. Most distressingly, though, was the rigid time line for harvest that was sometimes adhered to--if radishes were to be harvested on May 28, up they came, ready or not (a government decision strongly opposed by the farmers). These problems weren't universal, but they existed. As for the organicness of the program, that is entirely a matter of economics. I believe they would employ chemicals (not exclusively, but they are aware of the benefits some chemical applications would provide) if they were available; however, they simply are not.

My feeling about the organoponicos is that they're an excellent program. They were highly productive, and produced food year-round, year after year. They alleviated food shortages for thousands of people, and were a source of great pride for everyone involved. They work very well in Cuba, and would (and do) work very well in many other places around the world.