Taja Sevelle started the organization, Urban Farming, which we featured last week. She began six years ago in Detroit with nothing but a dream, some pamphlets, and a small amount of startup money. Being a recording artist, she had come to Detroit to make a record but upon arrival was shocked by the loss of jobs and lack of good food in the city. So she put her recording on hold temporarily to pursue another goal: helping people grow good food right there in the city of Detroit. Now, Urban Farming has over 55,000 community, residential and partner gardens. The cause appeals to many  receiving support that ranges from individuals, to city officials, companies and celebrities, and it has received mention on national radio and television. It’s also the adopted charity of Atlantic Records. But perhaps most importantly, Taja and those who have signed on to the cause have produced more than 400 tons of fresh produce — enough to feed about 800,000 people. We interviewed Taja to learn more about her work.

AC: Can you tell us more about how you came to start this organization in 2005, going from music recording to farming?

TS: While recording a CD for Sony Records in Detroit, I became acquainted with the job loss due to jobs being shipped overseas, and the poverty, along with the vast amounts of unused land in the city.  I pulled from the experience I had as a teen, living on a farm for three years.  In my mind, I visualized food on that unused land, food that would feed people in need.  So I put my music career on the back burner for awhile, and started the global organization, Urban Farming, with a pamphlet, $5,000.00 and three gardens.

AC: Were you inspired by other urban farming initiatives? 

TS: I didn’t know of any other urban agriculture initiatives in Detroit at that time.  There were a few start ups and there was a history of community gardening in Detroit, like so many other cities, but I was really only focused on the global vision to end hunger in our generation.  We ended up creating quite a buzz in Detroit and our story began breaking in National and International news six months after we planted our first seeds.  The Urban Agriculture movement was catapulted forward with much of our momentum as well as that of other great people like Will Allen.

 AC: Did you garden growing up? How did you know how to get started?

TS: I was born and raised in the city, but I also lived on a farm for three years as a teen and I wanted to become a botanist before I decided to pursue a recording career.  I had 150 houseplants in my bedroom as a teen.

AC: What’s the best way for young gardeners to get involved with Urban Farming?

TS: They can register their gardens with the Urban Farming Global Food Chain(R), donate food from their personal gardens to their local food bank and let us know about their story. They can also email us if they are serious about volunteering at a community garden in their area, or donate to the charity to help us continue our work in the community.

AC: How do you go about setting up a new garden? Does the community have to agree to maintain it? What sort of training and materials do you supply?

TS: If the funding stream is there for a new garden, we first soil test the selected area.  If the soil is clean, we still drop and spread about two semi-trucks of topsoil in to start a 20 by 20 foot garden.  The recipient of our Urban Farming Garden(TM) gift must have a sustainability plan in place in order to receive the gift, which generally includes community residents maintaining the garden. We provide training and tools for our fully funded community gardens.  We also teach groups how to plant and maintain the gardens.

AC: What sort of vegetables do you plant? Are the seeds organic, heirloom, gmo-free, etc?

TS: We plant vegetables that are in season for the area and we try our best to stick to organic and heirloom, but cannot always guarantee it.  We use organic methods of planting and maintaining the gardens though.

AC: How do you find the vacant lots to plant in? What happens if someone wants to build there?

TS: We are a movable feast and if someone wants to build, we work with city planning to locate another spot.  We recognize that cities need to develop and we encourage development because that means new jobs and we feel that giving people jobs is the best way to get rid of hunger ultimately.  We scout for potential spots and have an intake process for potential recipients of an Urban Farming Community Garden(TM) gift.

AC: Can you tell us a bit about edible walls? That sounds like something out of Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. :-)

TS: The Urban Farming Edible Walls(TM) are literally gardens on the wall.  The can save on up to 60% of the heating and cooling costs of the host building, they cut down on the rainwater runoff in urban areas and they also cut down on the urban heat index.  They provide LEEDS certification points for the host building as well and they may be planted indoors or outdoors.

AC: Can you tell us the story of one garden that was especially inspiring?

TS: The Gladstone and Linwood Garden in Detroit is the largest Urban Farming Community Garden(TM) that we have. It is about two acres in total and It is located at the epicenter of where the 1967 riots occurred. The area looks exactly the same as it did after the riots.  About 50-75 people pick from that garden every day during the harvest season.  People have come up to me crying on many gardens, including and especially that one, and thanking us for the garden.  They say that they don’t know how they would have fed their families without it.  There is a woman named Rose who diligently picks from that garden and brings the food to shut in seniors who are unable to get fresh food easily.  The garden is in the middle of a food desert, which means that there are no grocery stores within miles of that location, so people in that community do not have access to fresh produce.  When we first started it, a generous donor named Delores, who has a composting/topsoil company called Uni-Dig, had the entire vacant block mowed.  Then Delores trucked in eighty semi-trucks of topsoil and compost and had it spread out with a back-hoe.  Next, she hired a farmer to come down from the countryside to plant cucumber seeds.  It was an entire city block.  At first, we were watering it with fire hoses, and to curious onlookers, it looked like we were just watering dirt.  When people asked what we were doing, many were in happy, shocked disbelief when we told them that we had just planted a really big garden and that all the food was free for the community.  As the plants grew, so did the community excitement.  Harvest season was delightful.  A woman told me that the community was smiling more, talking to each other more and that they had more hope, all because of that garden.

AC: Thank you so much Taja for sharing your inspiring story with us.