He Turns Parking Lots Into Gardens

He Turns Parking Lots Into Gardens FARM HOME Miscellaneous With many inner city areas in decline an Ohio State University professor has come up with methods for “farming” abandoned asphalt parking lots “One research study suggested there’s enough abandoned land in Cleveland Ohio to feed the entire metropolitan area ” says Joe Kovach “Our goal is to show that we can produce $10 000 worth of produce on 1/8 acre of land ” Kovach has been testing different methods of production The first is to grow plants in pots set on the asphalt Deep rooted fruit trees and berries are planted in giant pots with deep-rooted vegetables in mid-sized buckets with drain holes Shallow rooted vegetables and fruits such as strawberries and green beans are planted in wide gutters hung on cattle panels The second system involves cutting 3-ft wide trenches in the asphalt and building low beds over each trench Kovach hopes to show that taking out part of a parking lot would be cheaper and as productive as taking out the entire lot before planting The third system uses raised beds set on the asphalt The bottom 18 in of the beds are filled with wood chips with several inches of soil added to the tops of the beds The chips provide height drainage and a rooting medium for deeper-rooted fruits and vegetables Kovach is planting a comparison garden on a nearby lawn He notes that lawn areas where abandoned houses and other buildings have been knocked down also may make good areas for urban food production “Lead can be an issue but that’s usually localized to where a house stood and paint chipped off ” says Kovach “Asphalt is largely hydrocarbons and they are hydrophobic ” explains Kovach noting that plant’s won’t take in hydrocarbons Kovach will be continuing all three systems and the control plot though he already has a favorite “I’m quite pleased with the trenches ” he says Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Joseph Kovach Dept of Entomology 138 Selby OARDC Wooster Ohio 44691 ph 330 263-3846; kovach 49@osu edu

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