Summer Lettuce Project at JGTF
New Roots Farmers Visit Counterparts in Des Moines
This July, New Roots farmers-in-training and graduates got the chance to take a trip to visit the incubator farm Global Greens, in Des Moines, IA.
One might think that a 9-acre urban training farm for refugees and immigrants starting their own businesses seems like a unique program. And in many ways, New Roots is unique— Juniper Gardens Training Farm provides not only the land, tools, and supplies New Americans need to succeed, but it provides a deep and meaningful multi-cultural community to boot.
However, New Roots is far from the only program of its kind around the country. Incubator farms from Tucson to Seattle, from Minneapolis to Charlotte, are helping bridge cultural and linguistic gaps between immigrants and ownership stake in American agriculture.
Global Greens and LSI
Global Greens, a program of Lutheran Services in Iowa, reconnects former refugee farmers with the land as they build their new life in the U.S. Through Global Greens, farmers access space to grow food, learn more about U.S. agriculture, and start their own business by selling produce at the Global Greens International Market and in a CSA. New Roots partners with Global Greens in the development of plain language learning materials, and sharing best practices.
During the trip to Iowa, New Roots farmers were able to meet in round table discussion with farmers from Global Greens, and around the Midwest. This was followed by a tour of two Global Greens sites where farmers-in-training learn about growing and selling in Des Moines. The differences in local markets, and subtle differences in climate were areas of interest for the New Roots farmers. Also of interest were variations in culturally specific crops, seeds and growing methods which participants were happy to share.
Farmer Takeaways
Global Greens and New Roots curriculum both focus on climate resilient agriculture.
What does that mean? Curriculum for both programs focus on an approach to small scale production which accommodates unpredictable weather patterns which are becoming more frequent. This includes topics like season extension practices which can help account for shifting frost dates, periods of intense drought, and increased pest pressure.
No till agriculture is one such strategy. No, or low till approaches seek to maintain the integrity of soil biology by taking care to only minimally disturb the soil. This improves plant available nutrients, water retention and drainage, and carbon sequestration.
New Roots farmers were able to see the various tools used by Global Greens farmers to make this sometimes-unintuitive approach to farming work for their hosts. For example, silage tarps are already used at Juniper Gardens Training Farm but seeing these tools used with success elsewhere demonstrated the long-term value for crop production.
All in all, the trip was a wild success, and Juniper Gardens is looking forward to hosting their friends from Global Greens next year!
