Urban Grown Stories
Welcome to Urban Grown Stories, the companion podcast for the Urban Grown Tour hosted by Cultivate KC.
This podcast tells the stories of urban farmers, growers, and advocates across the Kansas City metro area. From the history of local food in KC, to the challenges new farmers face, and the impactful ways you can get involved in our local food system, this story collection will leave you inspired, informed, and hungry for change.
Check out all the episodes below or head over to our Spotify to listen.
History of the Urban Grown Tour
Join us in looking back at the beginnings of the Urban Grown Tour, how it shaped farmers and their communities. We also take a moment to honor Janet Moss Awaken, a long-time supporter of the Urban Grown Tour and community activist.
Global One Urban Farm is a non-profit charitable organization that produces and distributes free organic vegetables at our 1.5-acre garden site to seniors, veterans, youth, and low-income families to raise health levels throughout Kansas City in USDA-defined food insecurity communities. Their team converts unused land into sustainable organic community vegetable gardens. They provide access to healthy organic vegetables made available in the food desert areas in their community for our neighbors.
They started with tomato plants in their backyard and now plant and harvest on 66,000 square feet (1.5 acres) of inner-city reclaimed and repurposed land. They distribute over 30,000 pounds of produce each year.
Bread and Roses Farm began as a community garden in 2010, with garden plots for individuals to use, extra produce given to neighbors, and a few classes. Over the years, as the space expanded and the land required more stewardship, it has evolved into a CSA and market garden, allowing a hopefully growing number of people to farm full-time, putting all their energy into restoring this land.
They are committed to increasing biodiversity and soil life on the farm, both for healthier plants and as a haven for insect and plant species that would otherwise not thrive in the city. They are currently based on the original 4 vacant lots that were a community garden in East KCMO, as well as a few satellite lots.
George Washington Carver
George Washington Carver Farm is a small farm on the East Side of Kansas City, MO, where they grow fruits and vegetables for our neighborhood and city. They were told that we live in a food desert, but they see an oasis with untapped potential.
Their 2/3 acre site was neglected for decades after the demolition of the homes built there. At some point, it was covered with gravel, almost a foot deep! They aim to restore this small bit of land to be a thriving and integral part of our neighborhood’s source of food, community, and healing.
We sell online, to restaurants, and at a market right here on the farm Saturdays 10 am – 2 pm, beginning in May.
Juniper Gardens Training Farm is a 9-acre site just minutes from downtown Kansas City, KS, and right across the river from Kansas City, MO. JGTF is home to the New Roots program, helping resettled refugees and new Americans start and operate independent farm businesses that supply healthy produce to feed our community. In addition to New Roots, Juniper has 18 community garden plots, 5 program graduates leasing plots on-site, and a large staff plot.
Kansas City Community Gardens is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit located in Kansas City, KS KCCG has assisted community and backyard gardeners throughout the Kansas City metropolitan area to improve nutrition, reduce food costs, combat obesity, increase physical activity, encourage neighborhood leadership, and promote locally grown and sustainable food.
KCCG has grown from a staff of three to 18 and currently supports 768 community garden, schoolyard garden, and orchard sites and 3,427 home gardeners!
KC Farm School (sometimes referred to as Gibbs Road Farm) is a 14.5-acre farm located in Kansas City, KS, with the mission of inspiring people of all ages, ancestries and abilities on-farm, hands-on to connect to land and soil, food, community, and opportunities. Folks at the KC Farm School are committed to regenerative and organic agriculture with practices including no-till, chemical-free, soil building through cover cropping, perennial integration, and rotational planting; carbon sequestration; rainwater harvesting; and animal integration. They are also supporting their community through promoting an equitable, circular economic system with Pay What You’re Able (PWYA), food assistance programs, bartering, and trading.
KC Urban Farm Co-Op is a locally owned, member-operated economic engine fueled by a sustainable urban agriculture industry established in 2016. The largest urban orchard in Kansas City. Our fruit orchard includes apples, pears, peaches, bush cherries, blackberries and raspberry plants. They also have raised garden beds for members to use year-round. In addition to providing our community with a place to grow organic food, the KCUFC donates thousands of organic fresh fruits and vegetables every year to the local community.
“The People that FEED themselves, LEAD themselves!”
Manheim Gardens is an inclusive community garden and green space in the urban core of Kansas City, Missouri. At almost 2 acres, the garden provides an enriching place for neighbors, children, and adults alike to learn, grow, play, and thrive.
As a 100% volunteer-run 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, dedication and heart are at the core of everything we do. We offer growing space and free produce for neighbors, host community events and educational activities, and practice regenerative gardening and farming.
Maple Creek Urban Farm is a calming oasis located in Kansas City, KS, where Sandra Machin has been steadily creating a beautiful urban farm situated on a calming creek, also home to her very happy ducks! Maple Creek Urban Farm is for the community to gather, grow, and to feed.
MO Hives KC is an educational organization that involves urban residents in the creation, preservation, and expansion of pollinator habitats in the KC Metro Area, utilizing vacant land to support community health and wellness, as 33% of food depends on pollinators for growth. With their pollinator garden located in Kansas City, MO, MO Hives aims to not only educate folks about the importance of pollinators in our local food systems, but also the vast career opportunities available in urban agriculture for young adults in their communities.
MyCo Planet is an indoor mushroom farm located in North Kansas City, started by Robin Moore, a proud mother and biologist by training, to harness the amazing power of mushrooms to build a sustainable business that is technology and science-driven to feed KC. The largest organism on the planet is a mushroom, at over 2.4 miles across, and over 80% of the earth you walk on is covered in mycelium, the part of the fungus that lives underground. Mushrooms have been on this planet for nearly 800 million years, helping to decompose waste material and provide nutritious soils and carbon dioxide for plants to grow. Mushrooms are an amazing superfood, they are used to treat many ailments, with new research coming out all the time. Mushrooms are one of the most eco-friendly crops that can be cultivated. With mushrooms, the possibilities are endless.
Two Birds Farm is an urban farm located in Kansas City, KS, on 20 acres of rolling hills and woods just above the Kansas River. Started by long-time Kansas City urban agriculture community members Laura Christensen and Katherine Kelly, Two Birds Farm grows practically every kind of vegetable you can imagine and manages an adorable herd of meat and grazing goats. Tucked away just minutes from conventional suburban neighborhoods, Two Birds Farm is a taste of classic farmstead here in the city.
Visit Laura at the Brookside Farmers Market on Saturdays from 8 am-1 pm!
Urbavore Urban Farm is a biologically diverse farmstead set on 13.5 acres in Kansas City’s urban core. Their energy-independent systems for food production, waste, water, and shelter redefine sustainability to build community and ecology. Self-described rebel farmers and adventurous eaters, Brooke Salvaggio and Dan Heryer are hard at work creating a wholly sustainable, off-grid farmstead that includes an organic orchard, vineyard, heritage livestock, and alternative infrastructure. All while managing Compost Collective KC and fighting for fairer regulations for urban farms.
Young Family Farms, located in the Ivanhoe neighborhood in Kansas City, MO, provides food to their community in a food desert and area where the median household income is under $ 30 K. They are deeply passionate about their work to grow food with organic practices, and they use no-till, spin-farming techniques. In a community that doesn’t always have access to fresh and healthy food, the Young Family is committed to encouraging their community to try new things, whether that’s a new vegetable or learning to grow food generally.