Farms: Urban Farm Grows over 1000 Pounds of Produce on 2 Lots to Feed the Community

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1. Grow some brassicas or some legumes in the toilet, just to send the message home.
2. John, good to see you made it to Baltimore.  I've been following you for a few years now and you really inspired me to start a garden and feed my family the right way, the organic way.
    
   As a side note, I would like to say the first two years I planted kale and cabbage and had no problems whatsoever.  The second year however my plants got invaded but what I thought were lady bugs so I did not try to stop them because I thought they were beneficial.
   I was so wrong.  It turns out that Maryland has a native stink bug that has the same coloring as the lady bug.  The Harlequin bug!!!. 
   Beds of Brassica's (Red Russian kale, purple broccoli, purple cauliflower, sea kale, flowering kale, collard greens, Brussels sprouts) destroyed.  These suckers went after everything in the cabbage family.
    
   I have been trying to use manual control on these guys but it is very labor intensive.
    
   I really love my kale but I don't want to spray my garden.  What can I do?
3. John, thanks for your service to humanity. I have been following your channel for over 18 months now and I believe you are the most consistent and informative Youtube Gardener on the web. I also appreciate that you actually do the stuff on your own property that you are suggesting to the public and you promote a healthy practical methodology. We the people have a basic responsibility to become educated and work with the natural elements and patterns of our personal environments. Because we have abdicated our responsibilities to men and women who have an agenda that serves their appetite for political power we find ourselves in a society that expects a local and federal government to make decisions for us. In most cases it is not until our personal liberties are extracted from us that we become motivated to do something about it. Taking responsibility for the food we eat is a first step in reclaiming our personal liberties. I haven't viewed every single episode of "Growing Your Greens" so you may have spent some time discussing Permaculture principles but I haven't seen it yet on a full on broad scale but I was happy to see the Boone Street Farm In Baltimore at least practicing what looks like the message of Permaculture in the use of their contoured micro-swales in the annual garden. Whether they are true to the core Permaculturists is not important but how that group and the city of Baltimore is working with locals to reclaim and reuse some of the land is a beautiful thing. 
4. +07Negative   ummm yea  ok...   wait till you see 100's of ppl sick because consumer foods are not inspected to meet quality controls.  It only takes one person to do something slightly wrong for things to go drastically wrong.  Never mind  someone doing something intentional.    If you think the masses are educated enough to select foods not grown by  themselves  (and even then..) for mass consumption, then you are living under a stone. 
5. John, we don't need more laws but current laws changed or eliminated. We gardeners need to educate our neghibors on the benefits of growing and raising our own food. We also need to make a bettor effort to keep our gardens/urban homesteads neat and clean so invasive city laws are not created or enforced.
6. time to move away from that jurisduction
7. don't ask permission. Just do it. Growing food for ourselves is our most fundamental right
8. god bless you john. you are a true warrior.
9. most citys don't allow chickens or front yard gardens and some have outlaw gardens alltogether very sad
10. If you need a government department to label things for you to eat. I think natural selection should take it's course with folks like you. The FDA is a waste of tax payers money. They bully farmers and raise prices on food. 
11. No shit!
12. John, It is important to note when you are reclaiming urban lots Hazardous Building materials should be considered. Often the City has resourced to allow you to assess the materials on and around the area. This can help prevent the ingestion of contaminated material. in the past things such as Lead, Mercury, Asbestos among other things were used in construction and operations of these types of houses. Great idea though
13. think I'm buying stuff from someone I don't know and isn't FDA certified / inspected? Hell no. There is a reason that department exists. They may be abusive, but that is an entire different topic. 
14. If you're interested in intensive organic farming, check out this site. It's about a book written by a couple who produce an amazing amount of food organically on less than one hectare, up here in the frozen north -- themarketgardener(dot)com -- and about the farm itself and the progressive methods used which are the admiration of farmers all over the world.
15. That area of Baltimore looks kinda depressing. Quiet, devoid of birds, children, i didn't see many cars. Its like life stopped
16. Is it the federal government or the local council you have the problem with? if it is the local council their is not much point blaming Obama when you could be focusing on the real issue. (of course the same is true in reverse)
17. Excellent point.
18. My bad :( I apologize but I'm glad were on the same page :) 
19. No, never. The only thing a law can do is restore some freedoms a previous law took away.
20. City kids need good food and need to know where it's from. Keep em coming John. Well done to the gardeners keep growing guys ;-)