Farms: Sidewalk Ends Farm

Help us buy 47 Harrison Street—vacant lot turned Sidewalk Ends Farm—to secure it as a farmer-owned urban farm! Three years ago when we started Sidewalk Ends, it was with a verbal agreement that we could use the land to start a farm. Though we've been here for three years—and made many attempts to communicate with our landlord—we've never been able to procure a secure lease agreement. He doesn't live in Providence, but we have sent letters, e-mails, and phone calls his way, to no avail. About two years ago, he stopped paying the taxes on 47 Harrison Street. The present situation is thus: - The city of Providence puts lots up for tax sale a year after the current owner stops paying property taxes. A tax lien gets put on the property, and bidders—many of whom are land speculators—bid on this lien, worth the sum of taxes owed. - 47 Harrison Street goes up for tax sale on May 22, 2013.  - We have talked to many people all around Providence about our predicament: city employees, city farmers, lawyers, neighbors, anyone who wants to talk about tax sale.  - We decided: we want to buy it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - There are people who have experience with the Providence tax sale process ready to bid on the lot on our behalf.  - We need help raising the funds to cover the cost of the lien: $4691.00. We have spent the past three years building Sidewalk Ends Farm into the beautiful, productive space it is now. Land costs so much in the city, and if we want small agricultural producers to be able to succeed here, we need to create pathways for securing land for farming in cities. The tax sale process makes it very difficult for outsiders to the system (like us) to access these properties. We are working with people who have experience in the system to secure this particular lot, and we are excited to ensure that 47 Harrison Street remains a farm in perpetuity. We need help raising the money to buy the tax lien that is going up for sale later in May. Anything you can give to help us reach that goal is so appreciated by us, and the worms, and chickens, and Kevin.  If our plan falls through and we are not able to acquire this lot through tax sale, we will use the money to buy the land from whoever gets the lien in the auction. If nobody will take our money in exchange for a tax lien or deed, we'll pay you back, and we can all just be very sad together about our fallen dreams. (If you have any more questions about our contingency plans, please be in touch with us! We are happy to answer any questions about the tax sale process, and our plan of action as best we can.) We have already poured many hours and dollars into turning this former vacant lot into the verdant farm it is today. For the past three years, our land insecurity has been hanging over us as a concrete reason to invest only in movable infrastructure. We are eager to put down even more lasting roots: rebuild our fence, develop educational programs based in this space, build a farm stand, and continue to develop our soil. We know the land at Sidewalk Ends has great potential, but we have been hesitant to pour even more of ourselves into it for fear that we could be evicted at any time. If we own this land, we will be newly encouraged to grow a beautiful and lasting farm.  We know that if we ever move out of the city for more farmland in the country, we could never let this land be turned back into a vacant lot. We know that there are plenty of urban growers who would do stunning things in this space, and we will work with our community to make sure that the only development that goes down at 47 Harrison Street is in the micro-ecology of the soil. HOW YOU CAN HELP Visit our Indiegogo campaign! Watch our video to meet the three farmers, and to get a lil of the backstory of our farm, and some details on why we are passionate about the work we do at Sidewalk Ends. Please share it, and spread the word (the word is MAY 22!). We only have just over two weeks to reach this goal, so please help us get the word out! Donate if you can. If you can't donate, come visit us this season at the Armory Park Farmers market on Thursdays, where we'll give you a taste the sweetest cherry tomatoes in Rhode Island.  Many thanks to our friends, family, neighbors, and supporters! We are so proud to grow food for you, and feel lucky to be members of this beautiful community.